‘We swear to defend the privileges of the clergy, and to extirpate heresy.’ This oath was not sufficient. The energetic bishop of Linkoping demanded that an engagement should be made in writing; and he drew up a declaration, which they all signed. They swore to keep the secret; and lest the document should fall into the hands of the king, they concealed it under a tombstone in the church, and there it was found fifteen years later. This proceeding ended, the conspirators went clandestinely out of the church as they had gone in, and made preparation for the Reichstag. But Brask had something else to do beforehand. He wished to come to an understanding with his friend Thure Joensson, marshal of the kingdom, the highest dignitary in the land after the king, and a devoted partisan of Rome. This person had little to boast of except his honors. Full of vanity, proud of his birth and of his rank, he was weak and without resources. The bishop of Linkoping related to him what had just occurred. The marshal, full of vainglory, felt highly flattered at finding himself head of a party opposed to the king, and agreed to all the proposals which Brask made to him for saving the Roman priesthood. The head of the clergy and the head of the nobility, finding themselves thus in agreement, thought it possible to carry the States with them and to destroy Reform. While the marshal, delighted with his own importance, assumed an air of haughtiness, the bishop put forth all his energy in endeavoring to gain over to his cause the nobles and the peasants. [Sidenote: The Diet Of 1527.]