Durer was a man of strong religious feelings; and when Luther began to preach in opposition to the church of Rome, he warmly espoused his cause. The following passages from his Journal sufficiently demonstrate the interest which he felt in the success of the great champion of the Reformation. Luther on his return from Worms, where he had attended the Diet under a safe-conduct granted by the Emperor Charles V, was waylaid, on 4th May 1521, by a party of armed men, who caused him to descend from the light waggon in which he was travelling, and to follow them into an adjacent wood. His brother James, who was in the waggon with him, made his escape on the first appearance of the horsemen. Luther having been secured, the driver and others who were in the waggon were allowed to pursue their journey without further hindrance. This secret apprehension of Luther was, in reality, contrived by his friend and supporter, Frederick, Elector of Saxony,[V-46] in order to withdraw him for a time from the apprehended violence of his enemies, whose hatred towards him had been more than ever inflamed by the bold and undisguised statement of his opinions at Worms. Luther’s friends, being totally ignorant of the elector’s design, generally supposed that the safe-conduct had been disregarded by those whose duty it was to respect it, and that he had been betrayed and delivered into the hands of his enemies. Durer, on hearing of Luther’s apprehension, writes in his Journal as follows. [Footnote V-46: Luther’s safe-conduct from Worms to Wittenberg was limited to twenty-one days, at the expiration of which he was declared to be under the ban of the empire, or, in other words, an outlaw, to whom no prince or free city of Germany was to afford a refuge. Luther, previous to leaving Worms, was informed of the elector’s intention of secretly apprehending him on the road and conveying him to a place of safety. After getting into the wood, Luther was mounted on horseback, and conveyed to Wartburg, a castle belonging to the elector, where he continued to live disguised as a knight--Junker Jörge--till March 1522. Luther was accustomed to call the castle of Wartburg his Patmos.]