His confessor, who was a Spaniard, when on his death-bed, had acknowledged to him that he had not led him in the right way, and that Luther had hitherto taught nothing but the truth. It appears that the children of Joanna of Castile all resembled their mother in having some regard for the truth, while they resembled their grandmother, the illustrious Isabella, in submission to priests. King Ferdinand was therefore now less hostile to the reformers. Nevertheless, he was far from decided, and Rome had not lost in his case the influence which she knew how to exercise over princes. He had nothing more than passing gleams of light, which the clergy called caprices; he sometimes wavered, but always returned to the pope’s side. He was looked upon sometimes as a friend to the Protestants, and sometimes as their enemy. However this might be, Ferdinand did not yield this time to the demand of the priests; but he appointed (1538) a religious conference to be held at Schässburg between the priests and Szantai. The perplexity of the bishops equalled their astonishment. Not only did the king refuse to condemn Stephen without a hearing, but he commanded them to enter into discussion with him. Sensible of their incompetence, they were not at all concerned about it, and began to look for a good Roman Catholic who should be able to cope with the man they called _the heretic_. There was among the Franciscans a monk celebrated for his exploits in theological strife, one Father Gregory. He was now summoned to Schässburg, and went thither accompanied by other monks. For umpires Ferdinand selected Dr. Adrian, episcopal vicar of Stuhlweissenburg, and Martin de Kalmance, rector of the school of the same place. These men, in the king’s opinion, could not but be, considering their personal character, impartial judges; and he said to them, ‘I exhort you to conduct the whole affair in such a way that the truth may in no respect suffer.’[570] [Sidenote: Conference Of Schassburg.] The disputation began. Roman Catholics and Protestants had come together from all quarters. Stephen Szantai set forth the evangelical doctrine, and supported it with solid proofs. The clever Franciscan was unable to confute them; and the monks seeing this supplied by outcries and a great disturbance the place of the arguments which were lacking on the part of their colleague. A layman, John Rehenz, a learned doctor of medicine, indignant at this strange method of argument, sharply rebuked the monks and censured them for the uproar as a stratagem unbecoming a discussion so grave; and taking up the replies which Gregory had made, he showed their worthlessness. Szantai spoke again in his turn, and left on his hearers a deep impression that the cause which he was defending was that of the truth. The disputation lasted several days longer, during which the doctrine of the Reformation instead of losing gained ground.