History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume III Part 18

"You gained your pontificate like a fox," said the Romans; "you held it like a lion, and left it like a dog."

Such was the funeral oration with which Rome honoured the pope who excommunicated the Reformation, and whose name serves to designate one of the great epochs in history.

Meantime a feeble reaction against the spirit of Leo and of Rome was already beginning in Rome itself. Some pious men had there established an oratory for their common edification,[268] near the spot which tradition a.s.signs as the place where the early Christians used to meet. Contarini, who had heard Luther at Worms, was the leader in these prayer-meetings. Thus a species of reformation was beginning at Rome almost at the same time as at Wittemberg. It has been said with truth, that wherever the seeds of piety exist, there also are the germs of reformation. But these good intentions were soon to be frustrated.

[268] Si unirono in un oratorio, chiamato del divino amore, circa sessanta di loro. Caracciolo, Vita da Paolo IV. MS. Ranke.

[Sidenote: ADRIAN'S CHARACTER.]

In other times, a Gregory VII. or an Innocent III. would have been chosen to succeed Leo X., could such men have been found; but the interest of the Empire was now superior to that of the Church, and Charles V. required a pope devoted to his service. The Cardinal de Medici, afterwards Clement VII., seeing that he had no chance at present of obtaining the tiara, exclaimed: "Elect the Cardinal of Tortosa, a man in years, and whom every one regards as a saint." This prelate, who was a native of Utrecht, and sprung from the middle cla.s.ses, was chosen, and reigned under the t.i.tle of Adrian VI. He had been professor at Louvain, and afterwards tutor to Charles V., by whose influence he was invested with the Roman purple in 1517.

Cardinal de Vio supported his nomination. "Adrian," said he, "had a great share in Luther's condemnation by the Louvain doctors."[269] The cardinals, tired out and taken by surprise, elected this foreigner; but as soon as they came to their senses (says a chronicler), they almost died of fright. The thought that the austere Netherlander would not accept the tiara gave them some little consolation at first; but this hope was not of long duration. Pasquin represented the pontiff-elect under the character of a schoolmaster, and the cardinals as little boys under the rod. The citizens were so exasperated that the members of the conclave thought themselves fortunate to have escaped being thrown into the river.[270] In Holland, on the contrary, the people testified by general rejoicings their delight at giving a pope to the Church. "Utrecht planted; Louvain watered; the Emperor gave the increase," was the inscription on the hangings suspended from the fronts of the houses. A wag wrote below these words: "And G.o.d had nothing to do with it."

[269] Doctores Lovanienses accep.i.s.se consilium a tam conspicuo alumno.

Pallav. p. 136.

[270] Sleidan, Hist. de la Ref. i. 124.

Notwithstanding the dissatisfaction at first manifested by the people of Rome, Adrian VI. repaired to that city in the month of August 1522, and was well received. It was reported that he had more than five thousand benefices in his gift, and every man reckoned on having his share. For many years the papal throne had not been filled by such a pontiff. Just, active, learned, pious, sincere, and of irreproachable morals, he permitted himself to be blinded neither by favour nor pa.s.sion.

He followed the middle course traced out by Erasmus, and in a book reprinted at Rome during his pontificate, he said: "It is certain that the pope may err in matters of faith, in defending heresy by his opinions or decretals."[271] This is indeed a remarkable a.s.sertion for a pope to make; and if the ultra-montanists reply that Adrian was mistaken on this point, by this very circ.u.mstance they affirm what they deny, viz. the fallibility of the popes.

[271] Certum est quod (Pontifex) potuit errare in iis quae tangunt fidem, haeresim per suam determinationem aut decretalem a.s.serendo.

Comm. in lib. 4. Sententiarum Quest. de Sacr. Confirm. Romae, 1522 folio.

[Sidenote: ADRIAN'S REFORMS OPPOSED.]

Adrian arrived at the Vatican with his old housekeeper, whom he charged to continue providing frugally for his moderate wants in that magnificent palace which Leo X. had filled with luxury and dissipation. He had not a single taste in common with his predecessor.

When he was shown the magnificent group of Laoc.o.o.n, discovered a few years before, and purchased at an enormous price by Julius II., he turned coldly away, observing: "They are the idols of the heathen!"

"I would rather serve G.o.d," said he, "in my deanery of Louvain, than be pope at Rome." Alarmed at the dangers with which the Reformation threatened the religion of the Middle Ages, and not, like the Italians, at those to which Rome and her hierarchy were exposed, it was his earnest desire to combat and check it; and he judged the best means to this end would be a reform of the Church carried out by the Church itself. "The Church needs a reform," said he; "but we must go step by step."--"The pope means," says Luther, "that a few centuries should intervene between each step." In truth, for ages the Church had been moving towards a reformation. But there was no longer room for temporizing: it was necessary to act.

Faithful to his plan, Adrian set about banishing from the city all perjurers, profane persons, and usurers; a task by no means easy, since they formed a considerable portion of the inhabitants.

At first the Romans ridiculed him; soon they began to hate him. The sacerdotal rule, the immense profits it brought, the power of Rome, the sports, festivals, and luxury that filled it,--all would be irretrievably lost, if there was a return to apostolic manners.

The restoration of discipline, in particular, met with a strong opposition. "To succeed in this," said the cardinal high-penitentiary, "we must first revive the zeal of Christians. The remedy is more than the patient can bear, and will cause his death. Beware lest, by wishing to preserve Germany, you should lose Italy."[272] In effect, Adrian had soon greater cause to fear Romanism than Lutheranism itself.

[272] Sarpi, Hist. Council of Trent, p. 20.

Exertions were made to bring him back into the path he was desirous of quitting. The old and crafty Cardinal Soderini of Volterra, the familiar friend of Alexander VI., Julius II., and Leo X.,[273] often let fall hints well adapted to prepare the worthy Adrian for that character, so strange to him, which he was called upon to fill. "The heretics," remarked Soderini one day, "have in all ages spoken of the corrupt manners of the court of Rome, and yet the popes have never changed them."--"It has never been by reforms," said he on another occasion, "that heresies have been put down, but by crusades."--"Alas,"

replied the pontiff with a deep sigh, "how unhappy is the fate of a pope, since he has not even liberty to do what is right!"[274]

[273] Per longa esperienza delle cose del mundo, molto prudente e accorto. Nardi. Hist. Fior. lib. vii.

[274] Sarpi, Hist. Council of Trent, p. 21.

CHAPTER III.

Diet of Nuremberg--Soliman's Invasion--The Nuncio calls for Luther's Death--The Nuremberg Preachers--Promise of Reform--Grievances of the Nation--Decree of the Diet--Fulminating Letter of the Pope--Luther's Advice.

[Sidenote: DIET OF NUREMBERG.]

On the 23d March 1522, before Adrian had reached Rome, the diet a.s.sembled at Nuremberg. Prior to this date the Bishops of Mersburg and Misnia had asked permission of the Elector of Saxony to make a visitation of the convents and churches in his states. Frederick, thinking that truth would be strong enough to resist error, had given a favourable reply to this request, and the visitation took place. The bishops and their doctors preached violently against the Reformation, exhorting, threatening, and entreating; but their arguments seemed useless; and when, desirous of having recourse to more effectual weapons, they called upon the secular authority to carry out their decrees, the elector's ministers replied, that the business was one that required to be examined according to the Bible, and that the elector in his advanced age could not begin to study divinity. These efforts of the bishops did not lead one soul back to the fold of Rome; and Luther, who pa.s.sed through these districts shortly after, and preached in his usual powerful strain, erased the feeble impressions that had been here and there produced.

[Sidenote: SOLIMAN INVADES HUNGARY--A NEW STORM.]

It might be feared that the emperor's brother, the Archduke Ferdinand, would do what Frederick had refused. This young prince, who presided during part of the sittings of the diet, gradually acquiring more firmness, might in his zeal rashly draw the sword which his more prudent and politic brother wisely left in the scabbard. In fact, he had already begun a cruel persecution of the partisans of the Reformation in his hereditary states of Austria. But G.o.d on several occasions made use of the same instrument for the deliverance of reviving Christianity that he had employed in the destruction of corrupt Christianity. The crescent appeared in the terrified provinces of Hungary. On the 9th of August, after a six weeks' siege, Belgrade, the bulwark of this kingdom and of the empire, fell before Soliman's attack. The followers of Mahomet, after having evacuated Spain, seemed bent on entering Europe by the east. The Diet of Nuremberg forgot the monk of Worms, to think only of the Sultan of Constantinople. But Charles V. kept both these adversaries in mind. On the 31st of October, he wrote to the pope from Valladolid: "We must check the Turks, and punish the abettors of Luther's poisonous doctrines with the sword."[275]

[275] Das man die Nachfolger derselben vergiften Lehre, mit dem Schwert strafen mag. L. Opp. xvii. 321.

The storm which seemed to be pa.s.sing away from the Reformation, and turning towards the east, soon gathered anew over the head of the reformer. His return to Wittemberg, and the zeal he had there displayed, rekindled animosity. "Now that we know where to catch him,"

said Duke George, "let us execute the decree of Worms!" It was even a.s.serted in Germany that Charles V. and Adrian would meet at Nuremberg to concert their plans.[276] "Satan feels the wound that has been inflicted on him," says Luther; "and this is why he is so furious. But Christ has already stretched out his hand, and will soon trample him under foot in spite of the gates of h.e.l.l."[277]

[276] c.u.m fama sit fortis et Caesarem et papam Nurnbergam conventuros.

L. Epp. ii. 214.

[277] Sed Christus qui cpit conteret eum. Ibid. 215.

[Sidenote: CALL FOR LUTHER'S PUNISHMENT.]

In the month of December 1522, the diet again a.s.sembled at Nuremberg.

Everything seemed to indicate, that if Soliman had been the great enemy that had engaged its attention in the spring session, Luther would be that of the winter meeting. Adrian VI., in consequence of his German descent, flattered himself with the hope of a more favourable reception from his nation than any pope of Italian origin could expect.[278] He therefore commissioned Chieregati, whom he had known in Spain, to repair to Nuremberg.

[278] Quod ex ea regione venirent, unde n.o.bis secundum carnem origo est. Papal Brief. L. Opp. Lat. ii. 352.

As soon as the diet had opened, several princes spoke strongly against Luther. The Cardinal-archbishop of Salzburg, who enjoyed the full confidence of the emperor, desired that prompt and decisive measures should be taken before the arrival of the Elector of Saxony. The Elector Joachim of Brandenburg, always decided in his proceedings, and the Chancellor of Treves, alike pressed for the execution of the edict of Worms. The other princes were in a great measure undecided and divided in opinion. The state of confusion in which the Church was placed filled its most faithful servants with anguish. The Bishop of Strasburg exclaimed, in a full meeting of the diet, "I would give one of my fingers not to be a priest."[279]

[279] Er wollte einen Finger drum geben......Seck. p. 568.

Chieregati, jointly with the Cardinal of Salzburg, called for Luther's death. "We must," said he in the pope's name, and holding the pontiff's brief in his hands, "we must cut off this gangrened member from the body.[280] Your fathers put John Huss and Jerome of Prague to death at Constance; but they live again in Luther. Follow the glorious example of your ancestors, and, with the aid of G.o.d and St. Peter, gain a signal victory over the infernal dragon."

[280] Resecandos uti membra jam putrida a sano corpore. Pallavicini, i. 158.

[Sidenote: THE NUREMBERG PREACHERS.]

On hearing the brief of the pious and moderate Adrian, most of the princes were awe-stricken.[281] Many were beginning to understand Luther better, and had hoped better things of the pope. Thus then Rome, under an Adrian, will not acknowledge her faults; she still hurls her thunderbolts, and the provinces of Germany are about to be laid waste and drowned in blood. While the princes remained sad and silent, the prelates and members of the diet in the interest of Rome became tumultuous. "Let him be put to death,"[282] cried they, according to the report of the Saxon envoy, who was present at the sitting.

[281] Einen grossen Schrecken eingejagt. Seck. p. 552.

[282] Nicht anders geschrien denn: _Crucifige! crucifige!_ L. Opp.

xviii. 367.

Very different language was heard in the churches of Nuremberg. The people crowded into the chapel attached to the hospital, and to the churches of the Augustines, of St. Sebaldus, and St. Lawrence, to listen to the preaching of the Gospel. Andrew Osiander was preaching powerfully in the latter temple. Several princes, and especially Albert, margrave of Brandenburg, who, in his quality of grand-master of the Teutonic Order, took rank immediately after the archbishops, went there frequently. Monks, leaving the convents in the city, were learning trades in order to gain a livelihood by their labour.

Chieregati could not endure so much boldness. He insisted that the priests and rebellious monks should be thrown into prison. The diet, notwithstanding the resolute opposition of the envoys of the Elector of Saxony and of the Margrave Casimir, determined on seizing the monks, but consented to make a previous communication of the nuncio's complaint to Osiander and his colleagues. A committee, of which the fanatical Cardinal of Salzburg was president, was intrusted with this duty. The danger was threatening; the struggle was about to begin, and it was the council of the nation that provoked it.