The Gravamina continued. Those of 1479 appealed against the Mendicant
Orders and against the appointment of foreigners. They clamored for a
new council and for reform on the basis of the decrees of Basle; they
protested against judicial appeals to Rome, against the annates and
against the crusade tax. It was stated that the papal appointees were
rather fitted to be drivers of mules than pastors of souls. Such words
found a reverberating echo among the people. The powerful pen of
Gregory of Heimburg, sometimes called "the lay Luther," roused his
countrymen to a patriotic stand against the Italian usurpation.
The Diet of 1502 resolved not to let money raised by indulgences leave
Germany, but to use it against the Turks. Another long list of
grievances relating to the tyranny and extortion of Rome was presented
in 1510. The acts of the Diet of Augsburg in the summer of 1518 are
eloquent testimony to the state of popular feeling when Luther had just
begun his career. To this Diet Leo X sent as special legate Cardinal
Cajetan, requesting a subsidy for a crusade against the Turk. It was
proposed that an impost of ten per cent. be laid on the incomes of the
clergy and one of five per cent. on the rich laity. This was refused
on account of the grievances of the nation against the Curia, and
refused in language of the utmost violence. It was stated that the
real enemy of Christianity was not the Turk but "the hound of hell" in
Rome. Indulgences were branded as blood-letting.
When such was the public opinion it is clear that Luther only touched a
match to a heap of inflammable material. The whole nationalist
movement redounded to the benefit of Protestantism. The state-churches
of {47} northern Europe are but the logical development of previous
separatist tendencies.
SECTION 7. THE HUMANISTS
But the preparation for the great revolt was no less thorough on the
intellectual than it was on the religious and political sides. The
revival of interest in classical antiquity, aptly known as the
Renaissance, brought with it a searching criticism of all medieval
standards and, most of all, of medieval religion. The Renaissance
stands in the same relationship to the Reformation that the so-called
"Enlightenment" stands to the French Revolution. The humanists of the
fifteenth century were the "philosophers" of the eighteenth.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account