He went thither in humble garb and manner. He made his way on foot till
within a short distance of Augsburg, when illness and weakness overcame
him, and he was forced to proceed by carriage. Another younger monk of
Wittenberg accompanied him, his pupil Leonard Baier. At Nuremberg he was
joined by his friend Link, who held an appointment there as preacher.
From him he borrowed a monk's frock, his own being too bad for Augsburg.
He arrived here on October 7th.
The surroundings he now entered, and the proceedings impending over him,
were wholly novel and unaccustomed. But he met with men who received him
with kindness and consideration; several of them were gentlemen of
Augsburg favorable to him, especially the respected patrician, Dr.
Conrad Peutinger, and two counsellors of the Elector. They advised him
to behave with prudence, and to observe carefully all the necessary
forms to which as yet he was a stranger.
Luther at once announced his arrival to Cajetan, who was anxious to
receive him without delay. His friends, however, kept him back until
they had obtained a written safe-conduct from the Emperor, who was then
hunting in the environs. In the mean time a distinguished friend of
Cajetan, one Urbanus of Serralonga, tried to persuade him, in a flippant
and, as Luther thought, a downright Italian manner, to come forward and
simply pronounce six letters--"_Revoco_" ("I retract"). Urbanus asked
him with a smile if he thought his sovereign would risk his country for
his sake. "God forbid!" answered Luther. "Where then do you mean to take
refuge?" he went on to ask him. "Under heaven," was Luther's reply.
On October 11th Luther received the letter of safe-conduct, and the next
day he appeared before Cajetan. Humbly, as he had been advised, he
prostrated himself before the representative of the Pope, who received
him graciously and bade him rise.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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