Various opinions were entertained as to the punishment which ought to be inflicted on them. Luther by a letter expressed clearly and briefly what he thought on the subject. He was not greatly troubled. 'It does not disturb me much,' he said; 'Satan is in a rage, but the Scripture stands fast.'[532] The landgrave Philip was always an advocate of the most lenient measures; he had no desire that the punishment of death should be inflicted upon them, as had been done in other countries. He consented only to their being imprisoned; and he insisted that they should be instructed. The evangelical towns of Upper Germany acted upon the same principle and refused to stain their hands with the blood of these unhappy men. But it was decreed by a majority of the Germanic Diet, that all enthusiasts who persisted in their false doctrines should be put to death. Thus were confounded, as it has been said, two things as remote from each other as heaven and earth, evangelical doctrine and the confusion introduced into churches and states by these fanatics. The unfortunate men were put to death, whether they were visionaries or not; and not only were culpable disorders put down with a strong hand, but evangelical doctrine was also banished from Munster.[533] [Sidenote: CAUSES OF THE DISORDERS.] Three causes especially contributed to bring about these hideous disorders of the fanatics. First, the bloody persecutions carried on by Charles V. in the Netherlands against all those who desired to worship God according to their conscience; next, the doctrines of the enthusiasts, mingled sometimes with immorality, which Tanchelme of Antwerp, Simon of Tournay, Amalric of Bena, the Turlupines, the Pseudo-Cathari, and the Brethren of the Free Spirit, had for centuries professed in different countries, and especially in the Netherlands and on the banks of the Rhine, and which had lately been revived there by emissaries from Germany; and finally, the need for a change in the social order felt at this period by the least industrious and most fanciful men of the lower orders, and especially of the class of artisans. After the terrible catastrophe which put an end to the kingdom of Zion, there still remained, undoubtedly, some enthusiasts and libertines, particularly David Joris. But many of them settled down and returned to more wholesome doctrines. One of these, Ubbo of Leuwarden, had been consecrated bishop of the new sect and had in turn consecrated others, Menno Simonis in particular. Ubbo made public confession of his error; 'I have been miserably mistaken,' he said, 'and I shall lament it as long as I live.'[534]