speech.(215) They knew enough, however, to be able to impress on Luther
that he must restrain himself, and act in such a way as to force the hands
of his opponents, and gain permission to speak at length in a second
audience. The Estates wished to hear him if the Emperor and his entourage
had resolved to prevent him from speaking. These consultations probably
settled the tactics which Luther followed on his first appearance before
the Diet.(216)
Next morning (Wednesday, April 17th), Ulrich von Pappenheim, the marshal
of ceremonies, came to Luther’s room before ten o’clock, and, greeting him
courteously and with all respect, informed him that he was to appear
before the Emperor and the Diet that day at four o’clock, when he would be
informed why he had been summoned.(217) Immediately after the marshal had
left, there came an urgent summons from a Saxon noble, Hans von Minkwitz,
who was dying in his lodgings, that Luther would come to hear his
confession and administer the sacrament to him. Luther instantly went to
soothe and comfort the dying man, notwithstanding his own troubles.(218)
We have no information how the hours between twelve and four were spent.
It is almost certain that there must have been another consultation.
Spalatin and Brück had discovered that the conduct of the audience was not
to be in the hands of Glapion, the confessor of the Emperor, as they had
up to that time supposed, but in those of John Eck, the Orator or Official
of the Archbishop of Trier.(219) This looked badly for Luther. Eck had
been officiously busy in burning Luther’s books at Trier; he lodged in the
same house and in the room next to the papal nuncio.(220) Aleander,
indeed, boasts that Eck was entirely devoted to him, and that he had been
able to draft the question which Eck put to Luther during the first
audience.(221)
§ 5. Luther’s first Appearance before the Diet of Worms.(222)
A little before four o’clock, the marshal and Caspar Sturm, the herald,
came to Luther’s lodging to escort him to the audience hall. They led the
Reformer into the street to conduct him to the Bishop’s Palace, where the
Emperor was living along with his younger brother Ferdinand, afterwards
King of the Romans and Emperor, and where the Diet met.(223) The streets
were thronged; faces looked down from every window; men and women had
crowded the roofs to catch a glimpse of Luther as he passed. It was
difficult to force a way through the crowd, and, besides, Sturm, who was
responsible for Luther’s safety, feared that some Spaniard might deal the
Reformer a blow with a dagger in the crowd. So the three turned into the
court of the Swan Hotel; from it they got into the garden of the House of
the Knights of St. John; and, as most of the courts and gardens of the
houses communicated with each other, they were able to get into the court
of the Bishop’s Palace without again appearing on the street.(224)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account