Works of Martin Luther Part 13

[46] The complaint that the cardinals were provided with incomes by appointment to German benefices goes back to the Council of Constance (1415). C. Benrath, p. 87, note 17.

[47] The creation of new cardinals was a lucrative proceeding for the popes. On July 31, 1517, Leo X created thirty-one cardinals, and is said to have received from the new appointees about 300,000 ducats.

Needless to say, the cardinals expected to make up the fees out of the income of their livings. See _Weimar Ed._, VI, 417, note I, and Pastor, _Gesch. der Papste_ IV, I, 137. C. Hutten's _Vadiscus_ (Bocking IV, 188).

[48] The famous Benedictine monastery just outside the city of Bamberg.

[49] The proposal made at Constance (see above, p. 82, note 2) was more generous. It suggested a salary of three to four thousand gulden.

[50] As early as the XIV Century both England and France had enacted laws prohibiting the very practices of which Luther here complains. It should be noted, however, that these laws were enforced only occasionally, and never very strictly.

[51] The papal court or curia consisted of all the officials of various sorts who were employed in the transaction of papal business, including those who were in immediate attendance upon the person of the pope, the so-called "papal family." On the number of such officials in the XVI Century, see Benrath, p. 88, note 18, where reference is made to 949 offices, exclusive of those which had to do with the administration of the city of Rome and of the States of the Church, and not including the members of the pope's "family." The _Gravamina_ of 1521 complain that the increase of these offices in recent years has added greatly to the financial burdens of the German Church (Wrede, _Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Kaiser Karl V_, II, 675).

[52] On the annates, see Vol. I, p. 383, note 1. Early in their history, which dates from the beginning of the XIV. Century, the annates (_fructus medii temporis_) had become a fixed tax on all Church offices which fell vacant, and the complaint of extortion in their apprais.e.m.e.nt and collection was frequently raised. The Council of Constance restricted the obligation to bishoprics and abbacies, and such other benefices as had a yearly income of more than 24 gulden.

The Council of Basel (1430) resolved to abolish them entirely, but the resolution of the Council was inoperative, and in the Concordat of Vienna (1448) the German nation agreed to abide by the decision of Constance. On the use of the term "annates" to include other payments to the curia, especially the _servitia_, see Catholic Encyclopedia, I, pp. 537 f.

Luther here alleges that the annates are not applied to their ostensible purpose, viz., the Crusade. This charge is repeated in the _Gravamina_ of the German Nation presented to the Diet of Worms (1521), with the additional allegation that the amount demanded in the way of annates has materially increased (A. Wrede, _Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Kaiser Karl V._, II, pp. 675 f.). Similar complaints had been made at the Diet of Augsburg (1518), and were repeated at the Diet of Nurnberg (Wrede, _op. cit._, III, 660).

Hutten calls the annates "a good at robbery" (_Ed._ Bocking, IV, 207).

In England the annates were abolished by Act of Parliament (April 10, 1532)

[53] On the crusading-indulgences, see Vol. I, p. 18.

[54] i. e., As was done by the Council of Basel. See above, p. 84, note i.

[55] The canons are the clergy attached to a cathedral church who const.i.tuted the "chapter" of that cathedral, and to whom the right to elect the bishop normally belonged.

[56] This whole section deals with the abuse of the "right of reservation," i. e., the alleged right of the pope to appoint directly to vacant church positions. According to papal theory the right of appointment belonged absolutely to the pope, who graciously yielded the right to others under certain circ.u.mstances, reserving it to himself in other cases. The practice of reserving the appointments seems to date from the XII Century, and was originally an arbitrary exercise of papal authority. The rules which came to govern the reservation of appointments were regarded as limitations upon the authority of the pope, The rule of the "papal months," as it obtained in Germany in Luther's time, is found in the Concordat of Vienna of 1448 (Mirbt, _Quellen_, 2d ed., No. 261, pp. 167 f.). It provides that livings, with the exception of the higher dignities in the cathedrals and the chief posts in the monasteries, which all vacant in the months of February, April, June, August, October and December, shall be filled by the ordinary method--election, presentation, appointment by the bishop, etc.--but that vacancies occurring in the other months shall be filled by appointment of the pope.

[57] i. e., Church offices which carried with them certain rights of jurisdiction and gave their possessors a certain honorary precedence over other officials of the Church. See Meyer in _Realencyk._, IV, 658.

[58] Charles V, though elected emperor, was not crowned until October 22d.

[59] i. e., A living which has not hitherto been filled by papal appointment.

[60] This rule, like that of the "papal months," is found in the Concordat of Vienna. Luther's complaint is reiterated in the _Gravamina_ of 1521. (Wrede, _Deutsche Reichstagsakten_, etc., II, 673.)

[61] _Des Papstes und der Cardinale Gesinde_, i. e., all those who were counted members of the "family" or "household" (called _Dienstverwandte_ in the Gravamina of 1521) of the pope or of any of the cardinals. The term included those who were in immediate attendance upon the pope or the cardinals, and all those to whom, by virtue of any special connection with the curia, the name "papal servant" could be made to apply. These are the "courtesans" to whom Luther afterwards refers.

[62] In 1513 Albrecht of Brandenburg was made Archbishop of Magdeburg and later in the same year Administrator of Halberstadt; in 1514 he became Archbishop of Mainz as well. In 1518 he was made cardinal.

[63] This rule, like the others mentioned above, is contained in the Concordat of Vienna.

[64] Cf. The _Gravamina_ of 1521, No. 20, _Von anfechtung der cordissanen_ (see above, p. 88, note 3), where the name _cordissei_ is applied to the practice of attacking t.i.tles to benefices. (Wrede, _op.

cit._, II, pp. 677 f.)

[65] The _pallium_ is a woolen shoulder-cape which is the emblem of the archbishop's office, and which must be secured from Rome. The bestowal of the _pallium_ by the pope is a very ancient custom.

Gregory I (590-604) mentions it as _prisca consuetudo_ (_Dist._, C.c.

3). The canon law prescribes (_Dist. C. c. I_) that the archbishop-elect must secure the _pallium_ from Rome within three months of his election; otherwise he is forbidden to discharge any of the duties of his office. It is regarded as the necessary complement of his election and consecration, conferring the "plenitude of the pontifical office," and the name of archbishop. Luther's charge that it had to be purchased "with a great sum of money" is substantiated by similar complaints from the XII Century on, though the language of the canon law makes it evident that Luther's other contention is also correct, viz., that the _pallium_ was originally bestowed gratis. The sum required from the different archbishops varied with the wealth of their sees, and was a fixed sum in each case. The _Gravamina_ of 1521 complain that the price has been raised: "Although according to ancient ordinance the bishoprics of Mainz, Cologne, Salzburg, etc., were bound to pay or the _pallium_ about 10,000 gulden and no more, they can now scarcely get a _pallium_ from Rome for 20 or 24 thousand gulden." (Wrede, _op. cit._, II, 675.)

[66] The oath of allegiance to the pope was required before the pallium could be bestowed (_Dist. C, c._ I). The canon law describes this oath as one "of allegiance, obedience and unity" (X, I, 6, c. 4).

[67] See above, p. 86, note 2.

[68] cf. Luther to Spalatin, June 25, 1520 (Enders, II, 424; Smith, No. 271).

[69] i. e., The benefices are treated as though they were vacant.

[70] In the case of certain endowed benefices the right to nominate the inc.u.mbent was vested in individuals, usually of the n.o.bility, and was hereditary in their family, This is the so-called _jus patronum_, or "right of patronage." The complaint that this right is disregarded is frequent in the _Gravamina_ of 1521.

[71] _Commendation_ was one of the practices by which the pope evaded the provision of the canon law which prescribed that the same man should not hold two livings with the cure of souls. The man who received an office in _commendam_ was not required to fulfil the duties attached to the position and when a living or an abbacy was granted in this way during the inc.u.mbency of another, the recipient received its entire income during a subsequent vacancy. The practice was most common in the case of abbacies. At the Diet of Worms (1521), Duke George of Saxony, an outspoken opponent of Luther, was as emphatic in his protest against this practice as Luther himself (Wrede, _op. cit._, II, 665); his protest was incorporated in the _Gravamina_ (_ibid._, 672), and reappears in the Appendix (_ibid._, 708).

[72] A monk who deserted his monastery was known as an "apostate."

[73] i. e., Offices which cannot be united in the hands of one man.

See e. g., note 3, p. 91.

[74] A gloss is a note explanatory of a word or pa.s.sage of doubtful meaning. The glosses are the earliest form of commentary on the Bible.

The glosses of the canon law are the more or less authoritative comments of the teachers, and date from the time when the study of the canon law became a part of the theological curriculum. Their aim is chiefly to show how the law applies to practical cases which may arise. The so-called _glossa ordinaria_ had in Luther's time an authority almost equal to that of the _corpus juris_ itself. Cf.

_Cath. Encyc._, VI, pp. 588 f.

[75] The thing which was bought was, of course, the dispensation, or permission to avail oneself of the gloss.

[76] _Dataria_ is the name for that department of the curia which had to deal with the granting of dispensations and the disposal of benefices. _Datarius_ is the t.i.tle of the official who presided over this department.

[77] See above, p. 88, note 2. For a catalogue of papal appointments bestowed upon two "courtesans," Johannes Zink und Johannes Ingenwinkel, see Schulte, _Die Fugger in Rom_, I, pp. 282, 291 ff.

Between 1513 and 1521, Zink received 56 appointments, and Ingenwinkel received, between 1496 and 1521, no fewer than 106.

[78] See above, p. 87, note 1.

[79] So Albrecht of Mainz bore the t.i.tle of "administrator" of Halberstadt.

[80] The name of this practice was "regression" (_regressus_).

[81] The complaint was made at Worms (1521) that it was impossible for a German to secure a clear t.i.tle to a benefice at Rome unless he applied for it in the name of an Italian, to whom he was obliged to pay a percentage of the income, a yearly pension, for a fixed sum of money for the use of his name (Wrede, _op. cit._, II, 712).

[82] _Simony_--the sin of Simon Magus (Acts 8:18-20)--the sin committed by the sale or the purchase of an office or position which is normally conferred by a ritual act of the Church. In the ancient and earlier mediaeval Church the use of money to secure preferment was held to invalidate the t.i.tle of the guilty party to the position thus secured, and the acceptance of money for such a purpose was an offence punishable by deposition and degradation. The "heresy of Simon" was conceived to be the greatest of all heresies. The traffic in Church offices, which became a flagrant abuse from the time of John XXII (1316-1334), would have been regarded in earlier days as the most atrocious simony.

[83] The _reservatio mentalis_ or _in pectore_ is the natural consequence of the papal theory that the right of appointment to all Church offices of every grade belongs to the pope (see above, p. 86, note 3). According to the theory of the canonists (Lancelotti, _Inst.i.tutiones juris canonici. Lib. I, t.i.t._ XXVII) this right is exercised either _per pet.i.tionem alterius_, i. e., by confirmation of the election, appointment, etc., of others, or _proprio motu_, i. e., "on his own motion." In ordinary cases the exercise of the appointing power was limited by rules, which though bitterly complained of (see above, pp. 86 ff, and notes), were generally understood, but the theory allowed any given case to be made an exception to the rules. Of such a case it was said that it was "reserved in the heart of the Pope," and the appointment was then made "on his own motion." Hutten says of this _reservatio in pectore_ that "it is an easy, agile and slippery thing, and bears no comparison to any other form of cheating"

(Ed. Booking, IV, 215).

[84] For a similar instance quoted at Worms (1521), see Wrede, _op.

cit._, II, 710.

[85] The three chief centers of foreign commerce in the XV and the early XVI Century. The annual fairs (_Jahrmarkt_), held at stated times in various cities, brought great numbers of merchants together from widely distant points, and were the times when the greater part of the wholesale business for the year was done.;

[86] Built by Innocent VIII (1454-1490).

[87] See above, p. 93, note 2.