THEME 3 - THE DEVELOPMENT OF LUTHERANISM, 1521-46

Who was the new emperor?

Charles V

What did Pope Leo’s representatives want the Diet of Worms (1521) to come to?

To condemn Luther, immediately and completely

However, what was the top of Charles’s agenda?

The Ottoman issue and a request for the money needed for a crusade

What was the top of the prince’s agenda?

A list of 102 grievances to do with the Church in Germany, issues that they wanted remedied by a general council

What was Luther’s journey like to Worms?

He had a promise of safe conduct, the emperor’s herald as an escort and a carriage provided by Wittenberg town council

His month long journey was a triumphal procession. When he arrived 2000 people escorted him to his lodgings

What happened at the Diet of Worms?

His books and pamphlets were on a table and their titles were read out. He was asked if he had written them. He said yes. He was then asked if he upheld their content, or did he wish to retract. Luther hesitated with an answer and asked for time to consider.

The following day, he was more confident and did not retract and said that some were ‘harmless and fit to be read by Christians’. He agreed that some were overly aggressive, but all were based on the scriptures.

What did the Edict of Worms declare Luther?

An outlaw

All of his works were to be burned, and in future all printers had to have the approval of a uni faculty of theology before they could print anything even mentioning the Christian faith

Why did the Edict fail?

• If it had been put into action immediately, then perhaps that would have been the end to the matter

• The structure of the empire meant that Charles had to rely on the princes and on the city authorities to enforce the edict

• The princes were putting pressure on Charles saying, they would only enforce the edict if Charles put pressure on the Pope to call a general council to address their grievances. The vast majority did not agree with Luther’s doctrines, but they agreed that Germany was being exploited by Rome and that there was a great deal wrong with the Church in Germany

• Immediate action would have been difficult. Luther had vanished and no one appeared to know where he was

Should Charles just have executed Luther at Worms?

• Luther was a national hero and if Charles broke the safe conduct and arrested him then it would have made him a martyr and stirred up even more anti-Rome feelings

• It would not have executed his ideas

• Charles was a man of his word and did not want to sour good relations with the princes by backtracking on his word so early in his reign

How did Luther disappear after the Diet of Worms?

Abbot of Hersfeld treated him as an honoured guest and look after him well.

Luther was then ‘kidnapped’ by 5 agents of Frederick the Wise and taken to the elector’s castle at Wartburg and put in the care of the castle governor and 2 servants

He grew a beard, dressed in plain clothes and changed his name to Junker George

What did Luther do while he was gone?

He was bored and lonely. The governor took him hunting a couple times but still did not get enough exercise

He wrote pamphlets and sent and received letters. He also decided that he wanted to translate the Bible into German

Who was Andrew Carlstadt?

He replaced Luther while he was gone

He had been a late convert to Luther’s ideas but was very enthusiastic about them

He was the one who initiated the debate with Eck in Leipzig

Now he and Zwilling decided to speed up the reformation and put into practice everything that Luther had so far put only on paper

What did Andrew and Zwilling do?

• Mass was denounced

• The laity in Wittenberg were to be offered communion in ‘both kinds’

• Monks denounced their vows, which they had decided had been made redundant by sola fide. They grew out their tonsures and wore secular clothing

• He supported clerical marriage and led the way for it

What reputation was Wittenberg acquiring?

A reputation for extremism and Zwickau prophets arrived later in the year

Frederick was angry and had deep displeasure

Who were the Zwickau prophets?

They were a group that came from Zwickau in Saxony. They had been radicalised by Thomas Muntzer

They were inspired by direct revelations from God and made bold prophecies

They denounced Luther for excessive caution.

What did the prophets do in Wittenberg?

They preached that only adults should be baptised as Jesus was baptised when we was an adult. Carlstadt stopped baptising infants, going beyond anything that Luther advocated

Services were delivered in German, and the clergy did not wear there normal vestments

Luther’s teachings on the Real Presence were overruled in favour of the Eucharist as purely symbolic

Carlstadt and them suggested setting up a ‘poor relief fund’ to relieve social problems and implement Jesus’ teachings on charity

How did the pace of change quicken?

They announced that all holy statues and images were the work of the Devil and symbols of materialism, and should be destroyed. Zwilling led the ensuing iconoclasm. There was violent anti-clerical outbursts and people taking reform into their own hands widespread across the country

What was Luther’s reaction?

He decided to return to Wittenberg, both to stop the extremism and to prevent the bloodshed that would ensue if Frederick decided to use force.

He returned against Frederick’s wishes but managed to restore order and authority in just 8 days by preaching what are now known as his 8 ‘Invocavit Sermons’

The prophets were expelled and Carlstadt was dismissed from the uni, and left town of his own violition in 1524

Why were the Wittenberg tumults important?

• In derailing Carlstadt and the prophets, Luther made clear his conservative approach to change. Change was to be slow, and was to be implemented by the authorities in an orderly fashion

• It also opened Luther’s eyes to the fact that he has created a vacuum. He spent most of the 1520’s creating the means by which ordinary people could learn and understand his new doctrines

What is the difference between the knight’s roles previously compared to now?

They used to the military arm of the emperor which had given them power and status

Now they lacked purpose and wealth and their position was almost pathetic

What was the cause of the Knight’s Revolt (1522-23)?

Hutten was inspired by Luther’s reforming ideas, but even more so by his German nationalism. He wished to accelerate the pace of the change with military force, using his fellow knights as the tool.

They were genuinely motivated by religious fervour, but equally sought a way to resume their old imperial position?

What were their target?

Franz von Sickingen led it. Their chosen target was the city of Trier. The Archbishop of Trier had played a key role at the Diet of Worms. He represented Rome, and his vast territories demonstrated Rome’s exploitation of Germany.

What happened during the Knight’s Revolt?

They believed that the Archbishop’s removal would be the trigger to a political revolution and reforming crusade

Their attack was woefully misjudged and the archbishop refused to surrender and his requests for help were met by the local prince’s.

When the knight’s attack on Trier failed, Hutten fled to Switzerland. Sickengen retreated to his strongest castle where he was besieged by the forces of the Swabian League

What was Luther’s response?

Though he had not been involved in the Knight’s Revolt, it had been carried out in his name, and posters linking him and Hutten were widespread. Luther was remarkably silent. However in the eyes of the establishment, Luther’s silence was damaging. This is because it implied he was hostile to princely authority and in favour of governmental reform