til? Sltbrarg of 
 Prtnrrtun Slj^nlngtral ^^mtttar^ 
 
 BR 307 .P33 1901 1 
 
 Painter, F. V. N. 1852-1931.| 
 The reformation dawn 
 
THE REFORMATION DAWN, 
 
 Price 40 cents, 
 
 By F. V. N. PAINTER, A. M., D. D., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF MODERN LANGUAGES IN ROANOKE COLLEGE AND AUTHOR OF 
 " A HISTORY OF EDUCATION," " LUTHER ON EDUCATION," " HISTORY OF 
 ENGLISH LITERATURE," " INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LITERATURE," ETC. 
 
 Lu&Vi ex-c\r\ HcMna-loo ok S&l t. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA. t 
 LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 
 
Copyright, 1901, 
 
 BY 
 
 The Lutheran Publication Society. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It is believed that the present work is not 
 untimely. In parts of the Protestant Church 
 there has been, since the days of the Tractarian 
 movement in England, a turning toward Rome. 
 The righteousness and benefits of the Reformation 
 are questioned among those who owe their culture 
 and freedom to its liberating achievements. In 
 recent years the Papacy, in its zeal to re-establish 
 its waning power, has attempted to re-write the 
 history of the great Protestant movement, and, in 
 the interests of the Roman Church, to overthrow 
 commonly accepted facts. In our country the 
 Papal power, with smooth plausibility, is aggres- 
 sive and contemptuous in its attitude toward 
 Protestantism. 
 
 Under these circumstances, it has been thought 
 wtII to go over the ground once more, and in a 
 judicial spirit investigate the facts. The character 
 and tendencies of Romanism have been inquired 
 into, and plainly set forth under the illumination 
 of history. The principles of the reformers have 
 again been brought under examination in the light 
 of modern progress. The results of this investiga- 
 tion are presented in the present work. In its 
 preparation, recognized Roman Catholic as well as 
 evangeUcal Protestant authorities have been freely 
 consulted and quoted. Agnostic or skeptical 
 writers, who make a point of depreciating the 
 Reformation in favor of the Renaissance, have not 
 been neglected. 
 
 (iii) 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 This investigation, which has not been hasty. 
 1ms led to the firm conviction that the Protestant 
 Reformation was not a mistake, but a righteous 
 and inevitable movement demanded, not only by 
 the errors and tyranny of Rome, but also by the 
 intellectual, civil, and religious progress of our 
 race. The facts upon which this conviction rests 
 are clearly but l)riefly presented ; and their 
 perusal, it is believed, will hardly fail to demon- 
 strate that the politico-religious organization known 
 as the Papacy is to-day, as it has been for more 
 than five hundred years, a dangerous foe to the 
 intellectual, jiolitical, and religious freedom of 
 man. 
 
 If, in spite of the overwhelming testimony, the 
 picture here given of the corrupt state of the 
 Roman Church at the l)eginning of the sixteenth 
 century still seems almost incredible, it is only 
 necessary to read the report of the Philippine 
 Commission as submitted l)y the Secretary of ^^"ar 
 to the Senate of the United States in Document 
 190. In that report it will be seen that the 
 Roman Church, especially through its religious 
 orders, exercised in the Philippine Islands the 
 same greed and tyranny, deliberately kept the 
 natives in the same helpless ignorance, and shame- 
 lessly exhibited the same gross immoralities, 
 against which the Teutonic nations of Europe re- 
 belled in the Reformation. The condition of the 
 Philippines under Si^anish control affords a strik- 
 ing proof that the Papal system, when unrestrained 
 by Protestantism, naturally leads to-day, as at the 
 close of the Middle Ages, to popular ignorance, 
 ecclesiastical oppression, and insolent immorality. 
 
 F. V. N. Painter. 
 
tibe IRctormation 2)awn. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction 7 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 THE PAPAL SYSTEM, OUT OF WHICH NATURALLY 
 AND INEVITABLY GREW THE EVILS LEADING TO 
 THE REFORMATION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Growth and Organization of the Papacy 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Doctrinal System of the Papacy 33 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 State of the Church 47 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 INEFFECTUAL EFFORTS AT REFORM BEFORE THE 
 REFORMATION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 The INIystics 64 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Biblical Reformers 78 
 
 (V) 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Reformatory Councils 103 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Literature and the Papacy 114 
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 THE CIRCUMSTANCES PREPARING THE WAY FOR THE 
 REFORMATION AND ITS BEGINNING. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 National Growth 135 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Renaissance , 146 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Preliminary Conflicts 162 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Beginning of the Reformation in Germany 176 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Beginning of the Reformation in Other Parts of 
 Europe 217 
 
 Conclusion 235 
 
THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The progress of humanity cannot be perma- 
 nently stayed. It may be hindered or checked 
 for a time by formidable obstacles ; but, like a 
 strong river stopped for a season in its course, the 
 tide of progress bursts forth sooner or later with 
 resistless momentum. A divine breath lives in 
 humanity ; and with irresistible power mankind 
 is moving forward to greater intelligence, freedom, 
 and goodness. 
 
 The Church, by Avhich is meant the communion 
 or congregation of saints, is a divine institution. 
 It was founded by Christ, and, like the individual 
 Christian, it is a temple for the indwelling of the 
 Holy Spirit. By reason of its divine origin and 
 the presence of divinity within it, the Church can- 
 not perish. " The gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it. ' ' In its outward manifestation and or- 
 ganization, it may, in large measure, exhibit hu- 
 man infirmity. Its official representatives may be 
 led by erroneous or unholy motives. Its splendors 
 may be hidden for a time ; but because the 
 Church, in its essential nature, is divine, it will 
 rise, like its Lord, from the tomb of error and 
 sin. 
 
 The great religious movement of the sixteenth 
 centurv, which shows the indestructible, recuper- 
 (7) 
 
8 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 ative energy resident in the Church, strikes its 
 roots deep in the life of the Germanic race. It 
 was associated with the earnest and sturdy char- 
 acter of the people. It had, like the coming of 
 Christ, many favoring circumstances, which con- 
 stituted a new ' ' fullness of time. ' ' Without these 
 favorable circumstances, in appearance accidental, 
 but in reality providential, it would have been 
 impossible. After a long period of ecclesiastical 
 oppression, the long-suffering Teutonic mind, 
 urged on and directed by a divine impulse, rose 
 in resistance, and achieved intellectual, civil, and 
 spiritual freedom. 
 
 No greater movement had taken place since the 
 advent of Christ. The Reformation stands as the 
 greatest achievement of the Germanic race. It may 
 well be taken as the principal event separating the 
 larger life of the modern world from the narrow 
 limitations of the ^Middle Ages. There is scarcely 
 an important human interest that it has not 
 touched with a beneficent influence. It has se- 
 cured greater purity and spirituality in religion ; 
 it has contriljuted to the elevation of the laity and 
 the advancement of woman ; it has confirmed the 
 separation of the secular and the ecclesiastical 
 power ; it has brought intellectual freedom, and 
 given an extraordinary impulse to education, sci- 
 ence, and literature ; it has established the right 
 of freedom of conscience ; and, in a word, it has 
 l)een favorable to all that distinguishes and en- 
 nobles our modern civilization. 
 
 The causes of the religious revolution, which 
 rescued the Teutonic nations from subjection to 
 the See of Rome, are found in the doctrinal errors, 
 oppressive tyranny, and wide-spread corruption of 
 the Papal Church. Toward the close of the Mid- 
 dle Ages, the Paj^acy had succeeded in building 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 Up a monstrous system of usurpation and oppres- 
 sion. On the basis of false teachings, which will 
 be considered later, it sought to establish a univer- 
 sal spiritual and temporal dominion. In western 
 Europe, for a time, it succeeded in realizing, in 
 large measure, this supreme aim of the Bishops 
 of Rome. But unlimited, irresponsible wealth 
 and power are intoxicating. And in the exercise 
 of its immense power the Papacy displayed so 
 much avarice, luxury, and vice that it frequently 
 aroused censure and resistance. It failed to com- 
 mand the confidence and reverence of a large part 
 of the people ; and finally, in the great revolt 
 knoAvn as the Reformation, it lost its sovereignt}" 
 over the north of Europe and the fairest portion 
 of the New World. Of ecclesiastical organiza- 
 tions, as well as of individuals, the divine law 
 holds good that ' ' the wages of sin is death. ' ' 
 
 The central point involved in the reformatory 
 conflict was the supremacy of the Pope. Accord- 
 ing to Roman Catholic assumption, the Pope is 
 the Vicar of Christ on earth ; and in virtue of this 
 exalted position, he is entitled to supreme authority 
 in Church and State. The entire Papal system is 
 but a logical development of this prime assump- 
 tion. The Pope is made an absolute monarch ®r 
 despot, from whom emanates, directly or in- 
 directly, all authority and truth. He is invested 
 with divine prerogatives, possessing the keys of 
 heaven and hell. In his governmental adminis- 
 tration he surrounds himself with a graduated 
 hierarchy, which constitutes a special class or 
 order, and mediates between the central despotism 
 and the subject laity. It becomes the official 
 agency for the transmission of all spiritual bless- 
 ings. The princes and officers of this ecclesiasti- 
 cal despotism surround themselves with an im- 
 
10 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 jDOsing ceremonial and the insignia of authority. 
 To bind them more closely to the central power, 
 they are excluded, through the law of celibacy, 
 from the beauty and tenderness of family ties. 
 Various ceremonies have been shrewdly devised, 
 through which, in an external way, the blessings 
 of salvation are officially communicated. The 
 religious life of the laity is made to consist chiefly 
 in observing the external rites and regulations im- 
 posed by the hierarchy. The Papacy demands 
 absolute submission of intellect, heart, and life ; 
 and the rejection of this central, supreme author- 
 ity is the most flagrant of all heresies. 
 
 Though the full significance of their work was 
 not at first fully understood, it was in reality the 
 authority of the Pope that was called in question 
 by the reformers. Instead of accepting his official 
 utterances as final, which acceptance would have 
 speedily ended the Reformation, they appealed to 
 the Scriptures as the ultimate rule of faith and 
 practice. The Word of God was placed above the 
 Pope. Instead of finding salvation in the perform- 
 ance of external rites of hierarchical invention, 
 they taught the great truth of justification by 
 faith. Spiritual obedience to God was substituted 
 for external subserviency to the priesthood. In- 
 stead of a priestly order or caste mediating between 
 God and man, they maintained that all men 
 through faith become kings and priests unto God. 
 The reformers, rejecting the colossal ecclesiastical 
 despotism that had been built up in imitation of 
 the Roman Empire, returned to the teachings of 
 the New Testament, which presents the Church of 
 Christ as a spiritual kingdom of righteousness and 
 truth. If the fundamental principle of the Papacy 
 is the authority of the Pope, the fundamental 
 principle of Protestanism is the authority of the 
 
INTRODUCTION. li 
 
 Word of God. The Reformation was an evangel- 
 ical reaction — a return to the principles, and, in a 
 measure, to the forms of primitive Christianity. 
 
 But the reformers would not have been able to 
 carry their work through to success, if they had 
 not been favored by attending circumstances. 
 These favoral)le conditions have been admirably 
 summarized by jNIacaulay : ' ' The clergy were no 
 longer the sole or the chief depositaries of knowl- 
 edge. The invention of printing had furnished the 
 assailants of the Church with a mighty weapon- 
 Avhich had been wanting to their predecessors. 
 The study of the ancient Avriters, the rapid devel- 
 opment of the powers of the modern languages, 
 the unprecedented activity which was displayed in 
 every department of literature, the political state 
 of Europe, the vices of the Roman Court, the ex- 
 actions of the Roman Chancery, the jealousy with 
 which the wealth and 23rivileges of the clergy were 
 naturally regarded by laymen, the jealousy with 
 which the Italian ascendency was naturally re- 
 garded by men born on our side of the Alps, all 
 these things gave to the teachers of the new theol- 
 ogy an advantage which they perfectly understood 
 how to use." * 
 
 This great religious movement, which liberated 
 the most progressive and powerful nations of the 
 modern world, has sometimes been ascribed to in- 
 significant and utterly inadequate causes. There 
 liave been writers of high rank, like Hume and 
 Voltaire, who have alleged the rivalry between the 
 Augustinian and the Dominican friars as the origin 
 of the Reformation. ' ' You are not unaware, ' ' sa3'S 
 the Frenchman, " that this great revolution in the 
 human mind and in the political system of Europe 
 began with Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, 
 
 * Macaulay's " History of P^ngland," I., p. 52. 
 
 W 
 
12 THE kp:formation dawn. 
 
 Avhom his superiors deputed to preach against the 
 traffic in indulgences, which had been refused them. 
 The quarrel was at first between the Augustinians 
 and the Dominicans." * Great social and relig- 
 ious revolutions do not spring from trifling causes. 
 Tetzel's blasphemous auction of indulgences was 
 not the cause of the Keformation ; it was merely 
 the occasion of its beginning — the accidental spark 
 that fired the mine which had been preparing for 
 a century. 
 
 To the Roman Catholic, who recognizes the 
 Papacy as a divine institution, and regards the 
 Pope, in his official utterances, as infallible, the 
 Reformation is not intelligible. He cannot speak 
 of it without prejudice and injustice. It appeai-s 
 to him as an indefensible revolt and schism. He 
 is trained up to detest Protestants as heretics. The 
 Roman Catholic writer, in treating of the Reforma- 
 tion, exhibits a bias and subserviency of spirit un- 
 w^orthy of an honest inquirer after truth. He 
 starts out with assumptions and presuppositions 
 that distort his vision and invalidate his conclu- 
 sions. He is bound by his Papal devotion to dis- 
 credit the reformatory movement, and to justify 
 the Roman Church in its beliefs and acts. He 
 misunderstands and maligns the reformers. He 
 writes under the baleful shadow of ecclesiastical 
 authority, and, with servile spirit, subjects his con- 
 clusions to clerical revision. At the order of the 
 Pope, he is ready to declare light darkness and 
 darkness light. All this is exemplified in Balmes, 
 whose able work on ' ' European Civilization, ' ' 
 written in reply to Guizot, did much to arrest 
 Protestant tendencies in Spain. " I am not 
 aware," he says in the closing paragraph of his 
 book, ' ' in the multitude of questions which have 
 
 * A^'oltaire's " Essai sur lesTMoeurs," chap. 127. 
 
INTRODUCTION. IS 
 
 presented themselves to me, and which it has heen 
 indisi)ensahle for me to examine, that I have re- 
 solved any in a manner not in conformity with the 
 dogmas of the religion which I was desirous of de- 
 fending. Before publishing my work, I submitted 
 it to the examination of ecclesiastical authority ; 
 and, w^ithout hesitation, I complied with the slight- 
 est hint, on its part, purifying, correcting, and 
 modifying what had l)een pointed out as worthy 
 of purification, correction, or modification. Not- 
 withstanding that, I submit my whole work to the 
 judgment of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman 
 Church ; as soon as the Sovereign Pontiff, the Vicar 
 of Jesus Christ upon earth, shall pronounce sen- 
 tence against any one of my opinions, I will hasten 
 to declare that I consider that opinion erroneous, 
 and cease to profess it." 
 
 The treatment of the Reformation by Roman 
 Catholic writers is an interesting and instructive 
 study. It illustrates the dwarfing and blinding 
 influence of the Papal despotism. Fair-minded 
 Protestant historians are charged with partisan 
 prejudice ; the teachings of the reformers are mis- 
 represented and their characters traduced ; the 
 corrupt condition of the Church at the beginning 
 of the sixteenth century is minified or denied en- 
 tirely ; and outrageous cruelties and persecutions 
 — even the horrors of the Inquisition and the 
 massacre of St. Bartholomew's eve — are excused 
 or explained away. Thus, in a book published 
 under Episcopal authority, it is said that Luther 
 ' ' rejected many articles of faith which the Church 
 had received from Christ and His apostles; "* that 
 1 icing "of a quarrelsome, imperious disposition, 
 and full of i)resumption, he was much incensed at 
 the indulgences granted by Leo X. , because their 
 
 * Deharbe's " Full Catechism," p. 42. 
 
14 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 publication was intrusted to the Dominicans, and 
 not to his order ; " * that ' ' he was proud, im- 
 moral, impatient, and wholly shameless ; " f and 
 that ' ' the ' Reformation ' was engendered in 
 l^eastly lust, brought forth in h^^pocrisy and per- 
 fidy, and cherished and fed by plunder. ' ' I Even 
 Alzog, one of the ablest and fairest of Roman 
 Catholic historians, uses every opportunity to dis- 
 €redit the Reformation, and says that "Luther's 
 religious system was a 'pantheistical mysticism — not 
 indeed the outcome of his controversy on indul- 
 gences, but the result of his youthful stuhhornness 
 and perversity, and of his subsequent tcayward 
 and erratic religious exercises. ' ' § 
 
 It is not uncommon for skeptical writers to de- 
 preciate the Reformation. They seek to minimize 
 the influence of the great religious movement by 
 magnifying its attendant and favoring circum- 
 i^tances. A recent German writer declares that 
 ' ' the Reformation is over-estimated ; for, besides 
 being an effect itself, it left Christianity unchanged, 
 and made only unessential modifications in Cath- 
 olicism ; it set up in Protestantism the Bible as 
 authority, which stands in contradiction with the 
 results of modern science." || Apart from its 
 misapprehension of the facts, this statement shows 
 only a superficial insight into the nature of the 
 Reformation. In addition to momentous changes 
 in doctrine, that movement placed man in direct 
 l^ersonal relations with his Maker, impressed a 
 moral significance upon his daily duties, and, in 
 matters of faith, freed him from ecclesiastical and 
 civil tyranny. With true insight, Michelet char- 
 
 * Noetlien's " History of the Church," p. 414. 
 t Spalding's " History of the Prot. Ref.," p. 100. 
 X Cobbett's "Protestant Reformation," p. 26. 
 
 g Alzog's "Universal Church History," III., p. 27 
 II Kolb's " Culturgesehichte der Menscheit," II., i 
 
 p. 293. 
 
INTRODUCTION-. 15 
 
 acterizes Luther as ' ' the restorer of hberty. " ' ' If 
 he did not create," the Frenchman continues, 
 ''he at least courageously affixed his signature to 
 that great revolution which rendered the right of 
 examination lawful in Europe. And if we exer- 
 cise in all its plenitude at this day this first and 
 highest privilege of human intelligence, it is to 
 liim Ave are most indebted for it ; nor can we 
 think, speak, or write without being made con- 
 scious at every step of the immense benefit of this 
 intellectual enfranchisement. To whom do I owe 
 the power of publishing what I am even now 
 inditing, except to the liberator of modern 
 thought?"^ 
 
 It is the purpose of this work to present a 
 study of the Reformation in its causes, circum- 
 stances, and beginning. A glance at the table of 
 contents will reveal the i)lan and divisions of the 
 investigation. In Part First, the Papal system, 
 out of which naturally and inevitably grew the 
 evils leading to the Reformation, is presented on 
 the basis of recognized authorities and official 
 documents. In Part Second, the various ineffect- 
 ual eftorts at reform during the later JNIiddle Ages 
 are grouped and studied. This will reveal to us 
 more clearly the character and methods of the 
 Papacy. In Part Third, the circumstances pre- 
 paring the way for the Reformation, and the be- 
 ginning of that great movement up to the point 
 where tlie issue was fully joined, are given with 
 some fullness of detail. The period covered is 
 chiefly the fifteenth and the opening decades of 
 the sixteenth century. Most prominence is given 
 to the Reformation in Germany, for both in point 
 of time and extent of influence that country was 
 the principal storm-centre. But the general char- 
 
 * Michelet's " Life of Lather," p. xii. 
 
16 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 acter of the movement is not forgotten, and tlie 
 dawn of reform in Switzerland, England, Scandi- 
 navia, and elsewhere is briefly discussed. In the 
 Conclusion there is a brief survey of the causes- 
 which checked the progress of the Reformation. 
 
PART FIRST. 
 
 THE PAPAL SYSTEM, OUT OF WHICH NATUR- 
 ALLY AND INEVITABLY GREW THE EVILS 
 LEADING TO THE REFORMATION. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 GROWTH AND ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPACY. 
 
 In tracing the origin and growth of the Papacy, 
 it is important to distinguish three things. The 
 first is Christianity, Avhich as a form of rehgion 
 Inings the individual into a relation of love and 
 cheerful ol^edience to God. Its source and power 
 i\Ye found in the Gospel of Christ. The second is 
 the development of theological doctrines in sys- 
 tematic form. This development is a result of the 
 scientific instinct of man. The third is the ex- 
 ternal organization of the Church, which depends 
 largely on surrounding conditions. The religious 
 life is, in a measure, independent of s.ystematic 
 theology and of ecclesiastical organization ; and 
 thus it happens that in every part of the visible 
 Church, and even under the Papacy in its most 
 degenerate days, we find examples of saintly, con- 
 secrated men. The true, invisible Church, in 
 which vital and spiritual Christianity finds its 
 abiding-place, is to be distinguished from dog- 
 matic systems and particular forms of Church 
 ritual and government. 
 
 2 (17) 
 
18 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 The Papacy — the oldest and most powerful of 
 existing organizations — rests on a doubtful inter- 
 pretation of Scripture and on a doubtful fact of 
 history. It assumes that our Saviour's words, 
 " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build 
 my church," bestowed upon that apostle an offi- 
 cial pre-eminence over the other disciples, and 
 made him, together with his successors, the visible 
 head of the Church. It accepts as an established 
 fact that Peter founded the See of Rome, from 
 which he exercised control over the Christian 
 communities of Europe and Asia. This interpreta- 
 tion and this statement of facts are both alike 
 disproved by the New Testament ; for it shows 
 that Peter never claimed or exercised a Papal 
 primacy over the other apostles, and it makes 
 no mention of his presence in Rome. Further- 
 more (and this fact ought to be conclusive), the 
 hierarchical idea did not exist at all in the 
 Apostolic Church. "One is your master, even 
 Christ, and all ye are brethren ' ' * — this is the 
 fundamental jirinciple laid down by the Lord 
 Himself. 
 
 The Papacy is a gradual growth, the process of 
 which can be clearly traced. It required nearly 
 a thousand years to reach maturity. The primi- 
 tive Church was an exalted democracy, in Avhich 
 all true believers, to use the language of Peter, 
 became "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, 
 a holy nation, a peculiar people." f The sacer- 
 dotal idea of the ministry is utterly foreign to the 
 Apostolic Church. The presbyters or bishops — 
 different names for the same office — were chosen 
 by the local congregations. But as the Church 
 grew in extent and power, it was found expedient, 
 for the sake of better administration, to have, in 
 
 * Matt, xxiii. 8, 1 1 Peter ii. 9. 
 
GROWTH AND ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPACY. 19 
 
 imitation of the civil government, different grades 
 of officers. The bishop was raised above the 
 presbyter. Jewish ideas of the priesthood crept 
 in ; and hence, as early as the middle of the third 
 century, Cyprian maintained that the ]:)ishops are 
 the successors of the apostles, possess the same 
 divine authority, and are amenable to none but 
 God. 
 
 Under the emperor Constantine, Avhen Christi- 
 anity became the State religion, the Church as- 
 sumed the character of an inmiense visible organ- 
 ization. At the head stood the emperor himself 
 as " bishop in externals." Next under him were 
 the patriarchs of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, 
 and Constantinople ; then came the exarchs, who 
 presided over several provinces ; the metropoli- 
 tans, who governed each a single district; archbish- 
 ops, who watched over a more limited territory ; 
 and, lastly, ordinary bishops, whose jurisdiction 
 had variable limits. These various dignitaries na- 
 turally affected a style of living in keeping with 
 their station. They lived in palaces, dressed in 
 magnificent attire, and surrounded themselves 
 with the insignia of power. 
 
 The hierarchical tendencies, which had been 
 insidiously at work during the two preceding cen- 
 turies, became firmly established. The bishops 
 became a mediating priesthood, dispensing life 
 and death, and exercising authority as the vicars 
 of Christ. Thus in the so-called ' 'Apostolic Con- 
 stitutions ' ' — a work dating from about this time— 
 we read such passages as the following : ' ' The 
 ])ishop is the minister of the Word, the keeper of 
 knowledge, the mediator between God and you in 
 the several parts of your divine worship. He is 
 the teacher of piety ; and next after God, he is 
 your father, who has begotten you again to the 
 
20 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 adoption of sons by water and the Spirit. He is 
 your ruler and governor ; he is your king and po- 
 tentate ; he is, next after God, your earthly god, 
 who has a right to be honored by j^ou. ' ' * 
 
 As a result of the new organization and condi- 
 tion of the Church, public worship underwent a 
 change. Magnificent basilicas, in rivalry with the 
 splendor of heathen temples, were erected. An 
 elaborate ritual was sul^stituted for the worship in 
 spirit and in truth commended by our Saviour. 
 Ceremonies were borrowed from heathen worship 
 in order to attract people to Christianity. ' ' There 
 Avas little difference," says Mosheim, "in these 
 times between the pubhc worship of the Chris- 
 tians and that of the Greeks and Romans. In 
 both alike there were splendid robes, mitres, tia- 
 ras, wax tapers, crosiers, processions, lustrations, 
 images, gold and silver vases, and numberless 
 other things." f 
 
 This externalizing, sacerdotal, monarchical ten- 
 dency a little later reached its complete develo])- 
 ment in Rome. By virtue of its wealth and 
 prestige in the political centre of the world, the See 
 of Rome claimed a primacy over all other bishop- 
 rics. ' ' It was in the atmosphere of Rome, ' ' says 
 Adams, in- his interesting work on the Middle 
 Ages, ' ' where every influence was of empire and 
 all the traditions imperial, that the idea first took 
 shape that the one great Church should find its 
 head, its divinely ordained primate, in the Bishop 
 of Rome ; vaguely at first, no doubt, and with 
 slowly growing consciousness, Init definitely enough 
 to form a consistent working model, through all the 
 varying circumstances of their different reigns. ' ' J 
 
 * Apostolic Constitutions, Book II., chap. 26. 
 
 t Mosheim's "Ecclesiastical History," I., p. 276. 
 
 X Adams' " Civilization During the Middle Ages," p. 118. 
 
GRO^VTII AND OKGAMZATION OF THE PAPACY. 21 
 
 By means of far-siglited diplomacy and ceaseless 
 aggression, the Bishops of Rome, in spite of earn- 
 est and prolonged resistance, at last succeeded in 
 making good their pretensions in western Europe. 
 In the fifth century Leo the Great declared that 
 "the care of all the churches belonged to himself, 
 as the successor of the Apostle Peter, to whom, as 
 the reward of his faith, the Lord had assigned the 
 })rimacy among the aj^ostles, and upon whom he 
 had founded His Church." * This claim to pre- 
 eminence, based on succession to Peter, was a 
 happy after- thought. It was never recognized by 
 the Eastern or Greek Church, and several centuries 
 later, along with a few doctrinal differences, it led 
 to a permanent separation. 
 
 The Pope of Rome had now succeeded in plac- 
 ing himself at the head of the W^estern Church. 
 Only one more step remained. For several cen- 
 turies the Pope remained subordinate to the civil 
 ])Ower. Charlemagne, while seeking to advance 
 the interests of the Church in every way, still re- 
 garded himself as sovereign over the occupant of 
 the See of Rome. He exercised the right of inves- 
 titure, placing in the hands of the bishops the 
 insignia of their office — the staft' and ring — and 
 receiving from them an oath of fealty. A conflict 
 for the absolute supremacy of the Papacy followed 
 with varying fortunes. A theocracy, at the head 
 of which stood the Pope as the Vicar of Christ, 
 now became the Papal ideal. It was supported 
 ])y the forged ' ' Decretals of Isidore, ' ' prepared in 
 the ninth century, and l)y the still bolder fiction 
 that Constantine had donated to the See of St. 
 Peter all the provinces which composed the occi- 
 dental part of the Ronian Empire. 
 
 The conflict Avas a long one ; but through the 
 
 * Guericke's " Church History," p. 276. 
 
22 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 factions of the empire, the Papacy finally tri- 
 umphed under the reign of Gregor}^ VII. For 
 three days Henry IV., in the garb of a penitent, 
 stood barefoot in front of the Castle of Canossa, 
 before the proud Gregory deigned to give him 
 audience and to release him from the ban of ex- 
 conmiunication. The Paj^acy was at length ex- 
 alted above the empire in absolute supremacy. 
 "The world," said Gregory VII., in explaining 
 the relation of the Papac}^ to the secular author- 
 ity, ' ' is governed by two lights — by the sun which 
 is greater, and by the moon which is less. The 
 Apostolic power is the sun ; the royal power is the 
 moon. For, as the latter has its light from the 
 former, so do emperors, kings, and princes receive 
 power through the Pope, who receives it from God. 
 Thus the power of the Roman Chair is greater than 
 the power of the throne, and the king is subordi- 
 nate to the Pope, and is bound to obey him." 
 This has since remained the attitude of the 
 Papacy. 
 
 No great civil or ecclesiastical institution can be 
 built up unless it meets some want of the age. 
 Though ultimately resting, as we have seen, on 
 exegetical and historical error, and supported in its 
 development by acknowledged fiction and forgery, 
 the Papacy performed an important office in the 
 earlier part of the Middle Ages. During the period 
 of the Teutonic migrations and the dissolution of 
 the old empire, it supplied an element of stability 
 in the midst of confusion. It became the connect- 
 ing link between ancient and mediaeval Europe. 
 It became the agency through which Christianity 
 and something of the culture of the ancient world 
 were imparted to the Germanic peoples, which 
 were afterward to be the standard-bearers of human 
 progress. Without this monarchical organization of 
 
GROWTH AND ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPACY. 23 
 
 the Papacy, which gave it unity and strength, the 
 Church would have suffered far greater loss during 
 the confusion of the Germanic migrations. 
 
 Even the external Judaic character imposed upon 
 the Church hy the Papacy Avas not without its bene- 
 fits in an untutored age. The barbarians that over- 
 ran Europe were incapable of appreciating or under- 
 standing a purely spiritual worship. It could not 
 appeal to their childish stage of development. The 
 most effective method of reaching their minds was 
 through a splendid spectacular worship. Magnifi- 
 cent churches, ecclesiastics in brilliant robes and 
 mitres, smoking incense from swinging censors, 
 alid solemn chants in an unknown tongue, the 
 display and veneration of saintly relics — all this 
 Avas of a character to impress and subdue their 
 astonished senses. Besides, the easy terms of sal- 
 vation through the official administration of the 
 sacraments, through the founding and embellish- 
 ing of churches, through pilgrimages to holy 
 places, and through other outward exercises, facili- 
 tated the spread of Christianity among the uncul- 
 tivated nations of Europe during the earlier Middle 
 Ages. 
 
 The Papal system reached its summit of power 
 at the Ijeginning of the thirteenth century. The 
 Pope, as the Vicar of Christ, declared himself the 
 source of all spiritual and temporal power. He 
 reigned supreme as the head of an absolute theoc- 
 racy. He held himself above all human laws, and 
 claimed the right of dispensing with them in the 
 case of others. The army of ecclesiastics through- 
 out western Europe were under his unlimited con- 
 trol. He assumed to be the arbiter of nations, and 
 set up and deposed kings at will. Thus he excom- 
 municated John of England, and laid his kingdom 
 under an interdict. He dethroned Otto IV., of 
 
24 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 Germany, and brought forward Frederick II. in 
 his stead. As a climax t(^ this monstrous assump- 
 tion of power, he declared that submission to him- 
 self was an indispensa1~)le condition of salvation. 
 The famous bull Unam sanctam, issued by Boniface 
 VIII. in 1302, concludes with this sentence, which 
 has since remained an article of faith in the Roman 
 Church : "Indeed, we declare, announce, and de- 
 fine that it is altogether necessary to salvation for 
 every human creature to be subject to the Roman 
 Pontiff. "^-5^ 
 
 The organization of the Papal Church, as it 
 existed near the close of the Middle Ages, and as 
 it has since substantially continued, was magnifi- 
 cent in its perfection. At the heacl was the Pope 
 as the Vicar of Christ. Besides his diocese as 
 Bishop of Rome, and in addition to his temporal 
 sovereignty over the States of the Church, he pre- 
 tended to absolute authority throughout Chris- 
 tendom. He was the source of doctrine, the 
 administrator of the temporal concerns of the 
 Church, and the practical sovereign over the na- 
 tions. Under him, o1)edient to his orders, he had 
 a multitude of officials, who were bound to him, 
 not only b}^ the ties of a superstitious reverence, 
 but also by the bonds of comprehensive and solemn 
 oaths. The will of the liead of the Church was 
 promptly conveyed to the remotest parts of the 
 ecclesiastical organization . 
 
 The bishops, holding their authority from the 
 Pope, administered the affairs of the Church in 
 more or less extended dioceses. The bishop was 
 a prince of the Church. His episcopal duties 
 consisted in watching over the parish priests and 
 monasteries within his jurisdiction, in seeing that 
 all Papal regulations were duly observed, and in 
 
 * Henderson's " Documents of the Middle Ages," p. 437. 
 
GHOWTH AND ORGANIZATIOIs OF THE PAPACT. 20 
 
 furthering in every way the interests of the Church. 
 In addition to his ecclesiastical functions, he 
 usually had charge of extensive landed posses- 
 sions, which imposed ui)on him the duties of civil 
 administration, and brought him into close rela- 
 tions with the central secular government. "As 
 far back as Charlemagne's time," says Emerton, 
 ' ' we have bishops actually invested with the func- 
 tions of the court, and, as the feudal system 
 developed, such cases became so frequent as to be, 
 in many parts of Europe, almost the rule. The 
 l)ishop became, by virtue of his ofhce, a vassal of 
 the seignior in whose territory his lands might lie, 
 and he also became in his turn a seignior, often on 
 a great scale, Avith vassals and sub-vassals, ruhng 
 over a very wide extent of country. ' ' * 
 
 The local administration of the Church was in the 
 hands of the parochial clergy, who were divided 
 mto two classes. The first was the secular clergy, 
 who lived among the people in the discharge of 
 their pastoral duties. The other was the regular 
 clergy, who, in addition to their pastoral functions, 
 were likewise under monastic vows. Both classes 
 alike were under the law of celil^acy. Their prin- 
 cipal duty was the administration of the seven 
 sacraments. In public worship the celebration of 
 the mass occupied the central place, and the reli- 
 gious instruction of the people by means of preach- 
 ing was generally neglected. 
 
 Between the parochial clerg}^ and the bishops 
 there were other officers, as the archpresbyter and 
 archdeacon, as between the bishop and the Pope 
 were the cardinals, whose duty it finally became to 
 elect the successive occupants of the Papal Chair, 
 and the archbishops, who had charge of an eccle- 
 siastical province of several dioceses. The arch- 
 
 * Emerton' s " Mediaeval Europe," p. 547. 
 
26 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 liishops, as the highest representatives of the 
 Papacy in the several countries, were men of in- 
 fluence and power ; and not only during the 
 mediaeval era, but also at the period of the Refor- 
 mation, the archbishops of Cologne, Canterl^ury, 
 and Rheims played an important part in ecclesias- 
 tical history. 
 
 The power of the Papacy, the growth of which 
 has been briefly traced, was strengthened in vari- 
 ous ways. Like a towering building, it was sup- 
 plied with numerous buttresses. The first to be 
 mentioned was the Crusades — that remarkable 
 movement of western Europe to recover the sepul- 
 chre of our Lord from Saracen desecration. The 
 Popes placed themselves at the head of the move- 
 ment, and assumed and exercised an unlimited 
 authority. It was Urban II. who sent the enthus- 
 iast Peter the Plermit to rouse Italy and France. 
 At the close of this Pope's memorable address 
 at Clermont in 1095, the vast assembly, swept 
 away by enthusiasm, echoed his words, "It is 
 the will of God." Princes were exhorted and 
 commanded to engage in the holy enterprise. 
 Knighthood received the sanction of the Church. 
 The forgiveness of sin was promised to all who 
 went on the crusade, and to all who perished, 
 everlasting life. In the absence of the Crusaders, 
 the Pope undertook to watch over their interests 
 at home. In the summons of Eugene III. to the 
 crusade in 1145 he says: "We do deci^ee that 
 their wives and sons, their goods also and possess- 
 ions, shall remain under the protection of ourselves 
 and of the archbishops, bishops, and other pre- 
 lates of the Church of God." ^ The natural effect 
 of all this was to confirm the Popes in their as- 
 sumed headship of western Christendom. 
 
 * Henderson's " Historical Documents of the Middle Ages," p. 333. 
 
GROWTH AND ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPACY. 27 
 
 Monasticisin, which developed along with the 
 Papacy, became another source of aggressive and 
 defensive power. It grcAv out of the ascetic 
 spirit, which early manifested itself in the Church, 
 and sought a higher degree of piety in retirement, 
 meditation, and self-denial. The monastic ten- 
 dency was encouraged by the dissolution of an- 
 cient society. In the midst of social chaos, 
 lirought al)out by the barbarian invasions, men 
 found it congenial to retire from ceaseless turmoils 
 and conflicts to live in the solitude of deserts or 
 monasteries. Hermits or anchorites, of whom St. 
 Anthony may be taken as the type, most abounded 
 in the East ; but in the West the monastic system, 
 with its more practical aims, generally prevailed. 
 ^Monasteries were founded in Italy, Spain, Ger- 
 many, France, England, and Ireland; and, in their 
 best days, they were centres of industry, piety, and 
 learning. The monastery of St. Benedict, founded 
 on the heights of the Apennines in the sixth 
 century, became an incentive to monastic life in 
 the Western Church, and furnished the model of 
 organization and discipline. 
 
 In the latter part of the Middle Ages the mon- 
 astic spirit manifested itself with renewed vigor. 
 In the twelfth century Bernard, of Clairvaux, a 
 man of deep piety and moving eloquence, 
 founded the order of Cistercians, who were bound 
 by a rigorous discipline. Of the many orders 
 both for men and w^omen founded during this pe- 
 riod, there are two that deserve particular mention 
 l^ecause of their wide influence. The order of 
 Dominicans, Avhich was established at the l:)egin- 
 ning of the thirteenth century, aimed at dissemi- 
 nating the doctrines and extending the authority 
 of the Church. While bound by the monastic 
 vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, they did 
 
28 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 not live in ascetic seclusion, but moved among 
 the people as teachers and j^reachers. They were 
 the defenders of orthodoxy, and found their way 
 into the universities. Thomas Aquinas was their 
 ablest theologian. The order of Franciscans, 
 founded about the same time, was a similar organ- 
 ization. It gave itself particularly to missionary 
 work, preaching the Gospel even before the Sultan. 
 Their principal theologian Avas Duns Scotus. Both 
 organizations, known as the mendicant orders, 
 rapidly extended throughout the Western Church, 
 and lent a strong support to the Papacy. In less 
 than half a century after their organization, the 
 Franciscans had no fewer than 8000 monasteries 
 and 200,000 members. 
 
 The Papacy was likewise strengthened by the 
 adoption and enforcement of the law of celibacy. 
 A celibate condition was held to be holier than a 
 married state. In accordance with this view, 
 which seemed not entirely without Scripture sanc- 
 tion, the Papacy required celibacy in its priest- 
 hood. It was rejected in the Eastern Church, and 
 met with much resistance in the West. Councils, 
 emperors, and Popes legislated in the matter ; 
 but it was left to Gregory VII., in the eleventh 
 century, to enforce celibacy with extreme rigor. 
 In 1074 he issued a decretal ' ' that every layman 
 who would receive the communion from the hands 
 of a married priest should be excommunicated, 
 and that every priest who married or lived in con- 
 cu])inage should be deposed." By this law of 
 celibacy, the Papacy more closely attached to its 
 interests the vast body of its clergy, and added an 
 element of popularity and efficiency to their 
 work. 
 
 Another source of immeasurable power lay in 
 education, which the Papacy claimed as one of its 
 
GROWTH AND ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPACY. 29 
 
 exclusive functions. For centuries ecclesiastics 
 were the chief representatives of learning. They 
 became the lawyers, ambassadors, and prime min- 
 isters of kings. In connection with the monas- 
 teries and cathedrals, schools were frequently es- 
 tablished to train candidates for the priesthood. 
 Latin, the language of the Church, was made the 
 basis of instruction to the general neglect of the 
 mother-tongue. The seven liberal arts — the trivium 
 and the quadrivium — were pursued chiefly in the 
 interests of the Church. The parochial schools, 
 under the supervision of the local priesthood, 
 were designed to acquaint the young, not with the 
 elements of learning, but with the first principles 
 of Christian doctrine, to prepare them for intelli- 
 gent participation in public worship, and especi- 
 ally to introduce them into Church membership. 
 In schools of every class the principle of author- 
 ity prevailed, and, in place of independent thought 
 and investigation, the learners were forced to ac- 
 cept the instruction of their teachers. Through 
 its ecclesiastical schools, the Papacy in large meas- 
 ure controlled the opinions and beliefs of the peo- 
 ple for centuries. 
 
 Another powerful agency of the Papacy was the 
 Inquisition, which had as its object the discovery, 
 repression, and punishment of heresy. After the 
 complete development of the Papacy, the princi- 
 ple of authority reigned supreme in the Western 
 Church. The individual was required to accept 
 the teachings of the Church without question. 
 Inasmuch as heresy, which is a departure from 
 the accepted faith, was a virtual repudiation of 
 Papal supremacy, it was regarded as a serious of- 
 fense. For its more effective repression and 
 punishment, the Inquisition was established by 
 Gregory IX. in 1232, and its general management 
 
30 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 committed to the Dominicans. ^ ^ Let loose against 
 the heretics as ^Domini canes ^ (a designation which 
 they coveted as an honor), the inquisitors pos- 
 sessed unhmited power. Any party suspected or 
 denounced could be imprisoned and tried without 
 being confronted either with accuser or witnesses, 
 and torture was freely employed to extort confes- 
 gion. Those who recanted were generally con- 
 demned to imprisonment for life ; those who 
 proved obstinate were handed to the secular tri- 
 bunal to be consumed at the stake. ' ' 
 
 The general administration of the Papacy is 
 regulated by Canon or Church Law, composed 
 of the opinions of the ancient Latin fathers, the 
 decrees of councils, and the decretals or bulls of 
 the Popes. First codified l)y Gratian near the mid- 
 dle of the twelfth century — a time of Papal ascen- 
 dency — the Canon Law seeks to establish the 
 doctrine of the Roman primacy in both spiritual 
 and temporal matters. Lender this law ecclesiastical 
 courts claimed a very wide jurisdiction. It took 
 cognizance, first, of all cases in which the clergy 
 was involved, and, secondly, of all questions in 
 which a religious element could be found. LTncler 
 this latter principle, there was scarcely any cause — 
 marriage, testaments, charities, tithes — that could 
 not be brought before the courts of the Church. 
 With the ultramontane conception of the Papacy 
 favored by the Canon Law, nearly every interest of 
 life was brought under ecclesiastical jurisdiction. 
 
 It is a fundamental princii^le of the Canon Law 
 that the Church is a sovereign state. Consequently 
 it is independent of secular authority, and has the 
 right to inflict penalties, both spiritual and cor- 
 poral, for the violation of its laws. As a general 
 thing, the penalties inflicted were of the class called 
 spiritual, which consisted in the limitation or de- 
 
GROWTH AND ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPACY. 81 
 
 privation of religious privileges. The extreme 
 penalty for individuals was excommunication and 
 death, and for nations the interdict and crusade. 
 In carrying out its extreme penalties, the Church 
 frequently invoked the aid of the civil power, over 
 which it claimed a directive authority. The State 
 often supported the excommunication and ban of 
 the Church by a sentence of outlaAvry or by execu- 
 tion at the stake. The interdict consisted in the 
 suspension of pubHc worship, the withholding of 
 the sacraments, and the denial of ecclesiastical 
 burial. In a superstitious age, the interdict was a 
 powerful means of coercion. The crusade was a 
 war of extermination, such as was waged against 
 the Albigenses. The attitude of the Papacy is 
 exhil)ited in a decree of the third Lateran Council 
 in 1179: "Though the Church does not thirst 
 after blood, yet it is often salutary for the souls of 
 men when they fear physical punishment. Since 
 the heretics no longer keep silent and hidden, but 
 boldly proclaim their errors, and lead the weak 
 and simple-minded astray, let the ban be pro- 
 nounced against them and their protectors. Let 
 no one any longer associate or have business rela- 
 tions Avith them, but, on the contrary, let an indul- 
 gence for two years be extended to those who make 
 war upon them. ' ' * 
 
 In the foregoing study of the origin, growth, 
 and organization of the Papacy, we must recognize 
 a masterpiece of human genius and sublime ambi- 
 tion. The hierarchy early supplanted the democ- 
 racy of the Apostolic Church. An imposing 
 splendor, in l^eeping with the State religion of the 
 Roman Empire, was introduced. The Bishop of 
 Rome, by virtue of his residence in the capital 
 city of the ancient world, aspired to pre-eminence 
 
 * Alzog's "Universal Kirchengeschichte," II., p. 2n. 
 
32 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 over all other ecclesiastics. He supported his 
 claims by a pretended occupancy of the See of 
 Peter, to whom, it was affirmed, the Lord had 
 given a position of primacy in the Church. He 
 laid claim to temporal sovereignty and pre-emi- 
 nence, supporting his pretensions by forged decre- 
 tals and imaginary imperial donations. At last — 
 and human ambition could not possibly go further 
 — he made himself the source of all authority and 
 religious truth, and, as Vicar of Christ, assumed 
 to be lord of all the earth. 
 
 In organization the Papacy showed the master- 
 ful practical sagacity of the ancient Roman Em- 
 pire. Every part of Europe was covered by 
 ecclesiastical princes and officials. No resource 
 was left unemployed to increase its power. It 
 placed itself at the head of the crusade movement. 
 It surrounded itself with an army of monastics. 
 It attached its priesthood to its interests more 
 closely by the law of celibacy. It made educa- 
 tion one of its exclusive functions, and thus kept 
 the training of the young in its hands. It organ- 
 ized the Inquisition for the detection and punish- 
 ment of those who refused to submit to its teachings 
 or authority. It emancipated itself from secular 
 control, and, as a sovereign state, developed its 
 ow^n system of laws, w^hich defended its most ex- 
 travagant claims and extended its jurisdiction to 
 the uttermost. So colossal and dangerous a des- 
 potism never before existed in the history of the 
 world. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE DOCTRINAL SYSTEM OF THE PAPACY. 
 
 Like its outward organization, the doctrinal 
 system of the Papacy has been a gradual growth. 
 Starting Avith the great primary truths embodied in 
 the ecumenical creeds, which are the common 
 heritage of Christendom, it has developed a dis- 
 tinctive body of doctrines which, as will be shown 
 later, are associated with insidious and far-reaching 
 errors. It w^as largely these errors that led, not 
 only to the scandalous moral condition of the 
 Roman Church at the beginning of the sixteenth 
 century, but also to the repudiation of the Papacy 
 by the reformers. Luther regarded his principal 
 work a reformation, not of abuses but of doctrines. 
 The reformatory movement can be understood in 
 all its significance only in the light of the gross 
 errors, against which it was a mighty protest. 
 
 The official title of the Papal organization, as 
 contained in its professions of faith, is " The Holy 
 Catholic A230stolic Roman Church," a title that 
 seems open to several objections. There is reason, 
 as we shall see, to question its holiness. It is not 
 Catholic, that is, universal, in either doctrine or 
 dominion. The fundamental Papal doctrines are 
 rejected alike by the Greek and the Protestant 
 Churches, which numerically embrace more than 
 half of Christendom. How far in organization it 
 has departed from Apostolic institution has already 
 been pointed out, and its further departure in 
 3 (33) 
 
34 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 doctrine will soon come under examination. 
 When the imposing title which the Papacy has 
 assumed is subjected to scrutiny, all that is accur- 
 ately descriptive is the " Roman Church," a title 
 that is unknown in the ecumenical creeds. 
 
 Two opposing views of the Church — utterly in- 
 consistent with the Papal claim of unity — long 
 prevailed in Roman Catholicism, producing end- 
 less discord and strife. The Galilean or episcopal 
 view, represented by many distinguished prelates 
 and defended by the Councils of Constance and 
 Basel, made the episcopacy the ultimate source of 
 ecclesiastical authority. The episcopacy found 
 utterance in general or ecumenical councils, which 
 were regarded as superior to the Pope, and com- 
 petent to pass laws binding upon him. The Gal- 
 ilean view restricted the Pope's jurisdiction to 
 spiritual things, and forbade his interference with 
 secular government. It thus harmonized Papal 
 supremacy with national independence. It is 
 called Galilean, because its exemplification and its 
 leading advocates, as Gerson and Bossuet, were 
 found in France. 
 
 The opposite of Gallicanism is Ultramontanism. 
 The Ultramontane view of the Church, which 
 after the time of Gregory VII. was held with great 
 firmness and consistency by the Bishops of Rome, 
 makes the Pope the Vicar of Christ on earth, and, 
 as such, the source of all spiritual and temporal 
 power. The Church is under his autocratic con- 
 trol. In his official utterance he is held incapable 
 of error. Princes are ]30und to obey him ; and 
 when he deems it desirable for the interests of the 
 Church, he may resist or depose them-^a power 
 which he frequently exercised. All episcopal au- 
 thority is derived from him. It is his prerogative 
 
to call councils, to watch over their proceedings, 
 and to give validity to their decrees. He is the 
 universal teacher of the Church, the authoritative 
 interpreter of Scripture and tradition, and the 
 source of all doctrinal truth. Ultramontanisni, 
 wliich is the logical outcome of the Papal system 
 and which guided the policy of the leading Popes 
 for centuries, was formall}" established as an irre- 
 versible part of the Roman creed by the decree of 
 Papal infallibihty in 1870. 
 
 The mediaeval doctrine of Papal supremacy, 
 which forms the l)asis of the Roman Church, finds 
 clear and full expression in the Dogmatic Decrees 
 of the Vatican Council of 1870. After pronounc- 
 ing an anathema upon those who ' ' should deny 
 that it is l\y the institution of Christ the Lord, or 
 by divine right, that l^lessed Peter should have a 
 perpetual line of successors in the Primacy over 
 the universal Church, or that the Roman Pontiff 
 is the successor of blessed Peter in this primacy, ' ' 
 the Decrees continue : ' ' ^^^herefore, resting on 
 plain testimonies of the Sacred Writings, and ad- 
 hering to the plain and express decrees both of 
 our predecessors, the Roman Pontiffs, and of the 
 General Councils, we renew the definition of the 
 Ecumenical Council of Florence,* in virtue of 
 which all the faithful of Christ must believe that 
 the holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff pos- 
 sesses the primacy over the whole world, and that 
 the Roman Pontiff is the successor of blessed 
 Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and is the true Vicar 
 of Christ, and head of the whole Church, and fa- 
 ther and teacher of all Christians ; and that full 
 power was given to him in l)lessed Peter to rule, 
 feed, and govern the universal Church by Jesus 
 
 * This Council was held in 1438. 
 
36 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 Christ our Lord ; as is also contained in the acts 
 of the General Councils and in the sacred Can- 
 ons." ^^ 
 
 This doctrine of the Papacy is inevitably at- 
 tended with two evils, both of which are abund- 
 antly exemplified, as will be shown later, in its 
 extended history. In the first place, the chair of 
 St. Peter offers a tempting prize to human amlii- 
 tion — the most tempting, indeed, that can be at- 
 tained or conceived on this globe. National 
 thrones sink into insignificance in comparison with 
 the Papal throne. It is no wonder, then, that it 
 has often become the object of ambitious, unscru- 
 pulous men, who exhausted every possible means 
 to achieve their unholy aims. Deception, bribery, 
 and even murder are frequently met with in the 
 history of Papal succession. But, furthermore, 
 the occupant of the Papal Chair is tempted to 
 abuse his power for selfish and unholy ends. By 
 virtue of his position, he is lifted above all ac- 
 countability. "All must be judged by the Pope," 
 according to the dictum of Innocent III. , ' ' but 
 he can be judged by no man." Men are apt to 
 become intoxicated at such divine altitudes of 
 power ; and it would be a marvelous thing if we 
 did not find worldliness, nepotism, and tyranny 
 in the history of the Papacy. Such an unlimited 
 and irresijonsil^le power as the Papacy is in theory 
 and aim is itself a dangerous and intolerable evil. 
 
 The Papal conception of the Church is that of a 
 visible organization or monarchy. The Church is 
 defined as ' ' the same congregation of all the faith- 
 ful, who, being baptized, profess the same doc- 
 trine, partake of the same sacraments, and are 
 governed by their lawful pastors under one visil>le 
 
 * Dogmatic Decrees of the Vatican Council, cliap. III., in Schaft''s 
 " Creeds of Christendom." 
 
THE DOCTRINAL SYSTEM OF THE PAPACY. 37 
 
 Head, the Pope." * By the lirst clause, this defi- 
 nition excludes all heretics and unbelievers ; by 
 the second, all the unbaptized ; and by the third, 
 all who reject the authority of the priests and 
 Pope. It is further taught that "everyone is 
 obliged, under pain of eternal damnation, to be- 
 come a member of the [Roman] Catholic Church, 
 to believe her doctrine, to use her means of grace, 
 and to su]:)mit to her authority." f 
 
 This conception of the Church as an absolute 
 monarchy or despotism, into which all Christians 
 are to be gathered, and which is to exercise uni- 
 versal dominion under the vicegerent of Christ, 
 must he acknowledged to possess the merit of sim- 
 plicity and grandeur. It is easily understood ; 
 and it perpetuates the tradition of the ancient 
 Roman Empire as a sovereignty of the world. In 
 so far as it was realized in the Middle Ages or is 
 realized at the present day, it gives us the oldest 
 and most widely extended, and, in many respects, 
 the most powerful monarchy that has ever existed. 
 
 But the despotic character of the Papacy is to be 
 especially noted. In matters of faith and conduct, 
 the laity are bound to an absolute obedience to the 
 local priests. These, in turn, are bound to the 
 l)ishops, from whom they receive their ordination 
 and pastoral appointment. And the bishops 
 themselves, by the most solemn oaths, are subject 
 to the Pope, the source of all episcopal authority 
 and the infallible head of the system. Thus, in 
 the sphere of religious faith and practice, under 
 which nearly the whole life may be included, the 
 laity are forj^idden all freedom of thought and lib- 
 erty of action. They are placed, under penalty of 
 their souls' salvation, in the power of the hierar- 
 
 * Deharhe's " Full Catechism," p. 129. 
 t Deharbe's " Full Caterhism," p. 145. 
 
38 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 chy. That this power might be more complete, the 
 laity have always been kept, as far as possible, in 
 a state of docile ignorance. ' ' The best ordered 
 and administered state," says a Papal writer in 
 presenting the ideal of his Church, "is that in 
 which the fcAV are well educated and lead, and the 
 many are trained to obedience, are willing to be 
 directed, content to follow, and do not aspire to be 
 leaders." ^ The impositions and frauds, to which 
 this system of sacerdotal tyranny over body and 
 soul inevitably led, will be pointed out in the fol- 
 lowing chapter. 
 
 In the Roman Church the priesthood, following 
 Jewish ideas, constitutes a sacerdotal class, divinely 
 set over the laity. The ofhce of the priesthood is 
 to mediate between God and the people, to offer 
 sacrifices in their behalf, and to communicate to 
 them, through the means of grace, the blessings 
 of salvation. The priesthood is the official agency 
 for conveying the salvation of God to men. ' ' If 
 anyone saith," so runs a Canon of the Council of 
 Trent, ' ' that there is not in the New Testament a 
 visible and external priesthood ; or that there is 
 not any power of consecrating and offering the 
 true body and l^lood of the Lord, and of forgiving 
 and retaining sins, but only an office and 1:)are 
 ministry of preaching the Gospel ; or that those 
 who do not preach are not priests at all : let him 
 be anathema." f The treasure of eternal life is 
 placed in the keeping of the priests. They can 
 bmd, and no man can loose ; they can loose, and 
 no man can bind. It is not possible to lay claim 
 to higher authority and power ; and where they 
 are recognized, what an instrument of oppression 
 they are capable of being made ! 
 
 * Catholic World, April, 1871. 
 
 t Canons and Decrees of the Councils of Trent, Canon 1, on the 
 Sacrament of Order. 
 
THE DOCTRINAL SYSTEM OF THE PAPACY. 89 
 
 The sacramental system of the Roman Church 
 is in keeping with its external and visible charac- 
 ter. A sacrament is defined as " A visible sign, 
 instituted by Jesus Christ, by which invisible 
 grace and inward sanctification are communicated 
 to our souls. " * It is maintained that the sacra- 
 ments effect ex opere operato, that is, by the per- 
 formance of the act itself, the grace or blessing for 
 which they were instituted. The Roman Church 
 enumerates seven sacraments — Baptism, Confirma- 
 tion, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Ordi- 
 nation, and IMatrimony — which are designed to 
 cover every period of life. From infancy to old 
 age, by means of the different sacraments, the lay- 
 man is kept in the power of the priesthood. 
 
 According to Papal teaching, baptism cleanses 
 from all sin, and confers the blessing of regenera- 
 tion and sanctification. Without baptism no one 
 can be saved. In confirmation, through the im- 
 position of the bishop's hands, unction, and 
 prayer, the baptized are strengthened, by the gift 
 of the Holy Ghost, for consistent living. In the 
 holy Eucharist, the bread and wine are transub- 
 stantiated into the true body and blood of Christ, 
 who, in the form of the elements, becomes an ob- 
 ject of adoration. In the communion, at which 
 onl}^ the wafer is given to the communicant, it is 
 held that Christ gives Himself bodily for the nour- 
 ishment of the soul. 
 
 The sacrifice of the mass is made a propitiation 
 for sin. It avails both for the living and th(^ 
 dead, specially for those for whom the priest offers 
 it, and for all those who are present with devotion 
 of heart. In the ' ' Profession of the Tridentine 
 Faith, " it is said that ' ' in the mass there is offered 
 to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice 
 
 * Deharbe's " Full Catechism," p. 245. 
 
40 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 for the living and the dead." The sacritice of the 
 mass may be apphed to shorten or alleviate the 
 sufferings of those in j^urgatory. As devout be- 
 lievers, at the approach of death, and affectionate 
 friends of departed ones have been found willing 
 to appropriate money for the celebration of masses, 
 this doctrine has i)roved a veritable mine of wealth 
 to the Church. 
 
 The sacrament of penance, which is distin- 
 guished from the virtue of penance or sorrow for 
 sin, consists in the priestly forgiveness of sins upon 
 satisfactory confession. The priest does not simply 
 declare the remission of sins, but really and truly 
 remits them ' ' in virtue of the power given to him 
 by Christ." " If anyone saith," so runs a Canon 
 of the Council of Trent, "that the sacramental 
 absolution of the priest is not a judicial act, but a 
 bare ministry of pronouncing and declaring sins to 
 be forgiven to him who confesses : let him be 
 anathema. ' ' The confession required is private or 
 auricular, and the penitent is required to confess 
 all sins, particularly those of a grievous character. 
 The number and circumstances of their commis- 
 sion must be enumerated to the priest in order to 
 receive entire forgiveness. The sacrament of pen- 
 ance is regarded as necessary to salvation, and 
 places within the hands of the i)riest the inmost 
 secrets of the hearts and lives of his flock. It 
 leads inevitably to cruel and monstrous al^uses. 
 
 Of the sacraments of Ordination and Matrimony it 
 is not necessary to speak. It is to be observed that 
 around each of these sacraments there grew up an 
 elaborate liturgical ceremonial. These forms were 
 borrowed in part from Jewish and in part from 
 heathen sources. In an age of ignorance and 
 superstition, the imposing ceremonial of the Roman 
 Church had its influence in attracting the heathen 
 
thp: doctrinal system of the papacy. 41 
 
 of the Empire and in overawing the Teutonic bar- 
 barian. This purpose, along with the exaltation 
 of ecclesiastics, may be regarded as the underljdng 
 motive of liturgical development. But, strange to 
 say, the elaborate liturgy of the Roman Church is 
 regarded as having divine authority, and is there- 
 fore held to be unchangeable. Hence we re^ad in 
 the ' ' Canons and Decrees of the Council of 
 Trent, " "If anyone saith that the received and 
 approved rites of the [Roman] Catholic Church, 
 wont to be used in the solemn administration of 
 the sacraments, may be contemned, or without sin 
 be omitted at pleasure by the ministers, or be 
 changed, by every pastor of the churches, into 
 other new ones : let him be anathema." * 
 
 The doctrine of good works occupies a promi- 
 nent place in the Papal system. It is made to fit 
 into the external character impressed on Christi- 
 anity. In Romanism faith is mere assent to the 
 dogmas proposed by the Church. In virtue of 
 this assent, the believer is willing to receive the 
 rite of baptism, by which, as already shown, he 
 is regenerated and sanctified. Through the grace 
 thus conferred upon him, he is able to do works 
 that merit a reward at the hands of God. These 
 are known as ' ' good works, ' ' and consist generally, 
 not in deeds of righteousness and love, but in acts 
 prescriljed by or beneficial to the Church. Keep- 
 ing holidays, observing fasts, making pilgrimages, 
 worshii)ing saints, using rosaries, em])racing 
 monkery, bestowing benefactions, particularly 
 upon the Church, are held to be good works, 
 througli which the individual merits grace and 
 eternal life. This was the accepted teaching of 
 the Pa[)al Church in the thirteenth century; and 
 the "Canons and Decrees of the Council of 
 
 * Seventh Session. Canon XII, 
 
42 THE REFOEMATION DAWN. 
 
 Trent," which simply reaffirm the doctrine of the 
 mechseval Church, declare : "If anyone saith 
 that the good works of one that is justified are in 
 such manner the gifts of God, that they are not 
 also the good merits of him that is justified ; or 
 that the said justified, by the good works which 
 he performs through the grace of God and the 
 merit of Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, 
 does not truly merit increase of grace, eternal life, 
 and the attainment of that eternal life, and also 
 an increase of glory : let him be anathema."* 
 
 Closely connected with the doctrine of good 
 works is that of indulgences. An indulgence is 
 defined in Roman Catholic theology as ' ' a remis- 
 sion of that temporal punishment, which, even 
 after the sin is forgiven, we have yet to undergo, 
 either here or in purgatory." The basis of the 
 doctrine is found in works of supererogation, 
 that is, works in excess of the actual needs of in- 
 dividual redemption. According to Papal teach- 
 ing, our Saviour and the saints accomplished 
 much more than was needed for salvation. This 
 excess constitutes a spiritual treasure, of which 
 the Pope is trustee or guardian, and which he may 
 draw on at will to meet the wants of individual 
 believers. Or, to quote from Deharbe, ' ' Indul- 
 gences derive their value and efficacy from the 
 spiritual treasure of the Church, which consists of 
 the superabundant merits and satisfactions of Christ 
 and the saints. This treasure is to be considered 
 as the common property of the faithful, commit- 
 ted to the administration of the Church ; since, by 
 virtue of the communion of saints by which Ave 
 are united as members of one body, the abund- 
 ance of some supplies the want of others. ' ' This 
 doctrine, as will be readily perceived, naturally 
 
 * Sixth Session, Canon XXXII. 
 
THE JX)(TRINAL SYSTEM OF THE PAPACY. 43 
 
 U'uds to gross abuses. At the period of the Ref- 
 ormation, unscrupulous vendors, with episcopal 
 authority and connivance, imposed upon the cre- 
 duhty of the ignorant masses, magnified the scope 
 and power of indulgences, and sold pardons, at a 
 fixed schedule of prices, not only for past, but 
 also for future sins. The sale of indulgences was 
 repeatedly used as a means of replenishing the 
 Papal treasury at Rome. 
 
 Another distinctive feature of the Roman sys- 
 tem, in contrast with that of Protestantism, is the 
 invocation of saints and the veneration of relics. 
 It is taught that the saints, who are present with 
 Christ, offer up prayers for the faithful on earth, 
 and that it is salutary to petition them for their 
 intercession. Their relics are to be cherished and 
 honored as sacred. The Council of Trent enjoined 
 upon bishops, and others who fulfilled the charge 
 of teaching, to instruct the faithful 'Hhat the 
 saints, w^ho reign together with Christ, offer up 
 their own prayers to God for men ; that it is good 
 and useful suppliantly to invoke them, and to 
 have recourse to their prayers, aid, and help for 
 obtaining benefits from God. . . . Also, that the 
 holy bodies of holy martyrs, and of others now 
 li\dng with Christ, are to be venerated by the 
 faithful ; through which bodies many benefits are 
 l)estowed by God on men; so that they who affirm 
 that veneration and honor are not due to the relics 
 of saints ; or that these, and other sacred monu- 
 ments, are uselessly honored by the faithful ; and 
 that the places dedicated to the memories of the 
 saints are in vain visited with the view of obtain- 
 ing their aid, are wholly to be condemned, as the 
 Church has already long since condemned, and 
 noAV also condemns them." -^ This doctrine, par- 
 
 * Twenty-fifth Session. 
 
44 THE EEFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 ticularly among people of low culture, is sure to 
 lead to superstition and fraud. Patron saints, 
 who come between the soul and God, are multi- 
 plied. As objects of increasing adoration, they 
 obscure, to a greater or less degree, the love and 
 mercy of God. Relics are credited with miracu- 
 lous powers, and are worn as amulets. As treas- 
 ures of priceless value, they l^ecome objects of 
 liargain and sale ; and the frauds connected with 
 them have always been a scandal to the Papal 
 Church. 
 
 This entire doctrinal system, which is skillfully 
 defended l)y Roman writers, will be recognized l)y 
 the Protestant reader as without Scripture warrant. 
 AMiat, then, is the source of doctrine in Roman- 
 ism ? The Roman Catholic Church recognizes two 
 sources of doctrinal truth, l^oth having equal au- 
 thority. The iirst of these is Holy Scripture, in- 
 cluding the Apocrypha ; the other is tradition, or 
 the beliefs transmitted orally from the apostles. 
 Both, however, are to be infallil^ly interpreted ])y 
 the head of the Church, that is, the Pope. The 
 right of private interpretation of the Scripture is 
 wholly denied to clergy and laity ; and the doc- 
 trine of tradition enables the Roman Pontiff to 
 promulgate any doctrine whatever that may be 
 deemed useful to the Church. With this double 
 source of authority, and this exclusive right of 
 interpretation, there is no doctrine that may not 
 be imposed upon the passive credulity of the 
 laity. 
 
 To the end that the laity may l)e wholly de- 
 pendent on the hierarchy for its faith and morals, 
 the circulation of the Scriptures, no less than the 
 promotion of popular education, has been re- 
 strained and discouraged by the Papacy. This 
 fact is often denied by Roman Avriters. In his 
 
THE DOCTRINAL SYSTEM OF THE TAPACY. 45 
 
 popular and plausible defense of the Papal sys- 
 tem, Cardinal Gibbons waxes eloquent on this 
 point. ' ' God forbid, ' ' he exclaims, ' ' that any 
 of my readers should be tempted to conclude from 
 what I have said that the [Roman] Catholic 
 Church is opposed to the reading of the Scriptures, 
 or that she is the enemy of the Bible. The [Ro- 
 man] Catholic Church the enemy of the Bible ! 
 Good God! What monstrous ingratitude, what 
 base calumny is contained in that assertion ! " ^ 
 But declamation does not alter facts. The Council 
 of Trent passed ten rules in relation to prohibited 
 books, which rules w^ere approved by Pius IV. in 
 a bull issued in 1564. The fourth rule is as fol- 
 lows : ' ' Inasmuch as it is manifest from experi- 
 ence, that if the Holy Bible, translated into the 
 vulgar tongue, be indiscriminately allowed to 
 everyone, the temerity of men will cause more 
 evil than good to arise from it, it is, on this point, 
 referred to the judgment of the bishops or inquis- 
 itors, who may, by the advice of the priest or con- 
 fessor, permit the reading of the Bible, translated 
 into the vulgar tongue by Catholic authors, to 
 those persons whose faith and piety, they appre- 
 hend, wdll be augmented, and not injured by it ; 
 and this permission they must have in writing. 
 But if anyone shall have the presumption to read 
 or possess it without such written permission, he 
 shall not receive aljsolution until he have first 
 delivered up such Bible to the ordinary. Book- 
 sellers, however, who shall sell or otherwise dis- 
 pose of Bibles in the vulgar tongue, to any person 
 not having such permission, shall forfeit the value 
 of the books, to be applied by the bishop to some 
 pious use, and be subjected by the l)ishop to such 
 other penalties as the bishop shall judge proper, 
 
 * Gibbons' " The Faith of Our Fathers," p. 112. 
 
46 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 according to the quality of the offense. ' ' ^ This is 
 the official expression of the Papacy's attitude 
 toward the circulation of the Scriptures. 
 
 From the foregoing considerations, it is made ap- 
 parent that nearly every leading distinctive doc- 
 trine of the Papacy, when free to assert itself fully, 
 naturally and inevitably runs out into gross and 
 often dreadful al^uses. The dogmatic system of 
 the Papacy impresses on Christianity, which orig- 
 inally consisted in truth, love, and righteousness, 
 a predominantly external character. It has im- 
 ported Jewish and heathen elements. It makes 
 the Church a visible despotism, over which the 
 hierarchy, with the Pope at the head, reigns su- 
 preme. The sacraments, which are craftil)^ mul- 
 tiplied, are made efficacious in and of themselves. 
 The religious life of the laity consists primarily in 
 o])edience to the teachings of the Church. Good 
 works par excellence are those duties imposed by the 
 Church — pious acts of human invention. All 
 freedom is taken from the laity ; as far as possible 
 their intellectual culture is dwarfed ; and for their 
 l)eliefs, as well as for their salvation, they are ab- 
 solutely dependent on the hierarchy. Such was 
 the Papacy at the close of the Middle Ages, and 
 such in spirit is it to-day. 
 
 * Smets' " Coucilii Tridentint" 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 STATE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Our study up to this point will help us to 
 understand better the condition of the Roman 
 Church at the close of the Middle Ages. The 
 moral and spiritual decadence of the hierarchy 
 and monasteries was not an accident, as might be 
 supposed, but a natural and inevitable result of 
 the organization and errors of the doctrinal system 
 of the Papacy. The same degeneracy Avill be 
 found, to a greater or -less degree, wherever 
 Roman Catholicism is left free to work out its 
 natural tendencies. In contact with Protestant- 
 ism, the evil tendencies of Romanism are more or 
 less restrained. It is forced to a higher moral and 
 spiritual plane — a fact that sometimes deceives the 
 unwary as to the real character of the Papal sys- 
 tem. 
 
 The actual condition of the Roman Church in 
 the fifteenth century has given rise to no little dis- 
 cussion. Papal writers endeavor to present the 
 condition of the Church in the most favorable 
 light, and without exception maintain that the 
 evils of the time are grossly exaggerated. Car- 
 dinal Newman boldly charges Protestant writers 
 with wholesale Ijdng. Janssen has rewritten the 
 history of the Reformation period in order to pre- 
 sent it in a creditable light. But, in spite of 
 Roman Catholic denials, an examination of the 
 facts leaves no room for doubt in any unprejudiced 
 (47) 
 
48 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 mind. While there were not a few spiritual- 
 minded ecclesiastics and laymen, the state of the 
 Church as a whole was deplorable. As we shall 
 see, from the Pope down to the humblest servant 
 of the Church, there were unbelief, superstition, 
 worldliness, and wrong. Nearly every distinctive 
 feature of the Roman system produced a corre- 
 sponding abuse, scandal, or impiety. 
 
 According to the authoritative teachings of the 
 Roman Catholic Church, as already pointed out, 
 the Pope as Vicegerent of Christ on earth is the 
 source of all spiritual and temporal ])ower. While 
 sitting in judgment on others, and while directing 
 the energies of a mighty despotism, he is himself 
 answerable to none. He occupies the giddy 
 height of the primacy of the world. The Papal 
 Chair thus becomes an incomparable prize for the 
 machinations of unholy men. The case of Alex- 
 ander VI. will serve for illustration. '' The simo- 
 niacal character of his election," says Richard 
 Garnett in a judicious sketch, ''is indisputable. 
 We need not believe that the opulent and high- 
 spirited Cardinal Ascanio Sforza was tempted Avith 
 four muleloads of silver, but his instant elevation 
 to the vice-chancellorship speaks for itself. Car- 
 dinal Orsino was bought with Borgia's palace in 
 Rome ; Cardinal Colonna with the Abbey of 
 Sabiaco ; money gained the minor members of the 
 Sacred College ; five cardinals alone are recorded 
 as incorruptible. ' ' * 
 
 The Popes for half a century before the Reforma- 
 tion — Sixtus IV., Alexander VI. , Julius II., Leo 
 X. — were worldly-minded, self-seeking men. 
 Nepotism was a common scandal. The only 
 
 * Encyclopaedia Brit., art. Alexauder VI. Alzog (" Kircheuges- 
 chiehte," II., p. 185) admits his criminal character and bribery. See 
 Hanke's " History of the Pope," I., p. 35 ; also D'Aubigue's " History of 
 tlie Reformation," I., chap. III. 
 
STATE OF THE CHURCH. 49 
 
 care of Alexander VI. , as Ranke states, ' ' was 
 to seize on all means that might aid him to 
 increase his power, and advance the wealth and 
 dignity of his sons ; on no other snl)ject did he 
 ever seriously bestow a thought." During his 
 pontificate Rome was terrorized by his son, Caesar 
 Borgia, whom he had raised to the cardinalate at 
 the age of eighteen. "His own brother," says 
 the able historian last quoted, " stood in his way ; 
 Ca3sar caused him to be murdered and thrown into 
 the Tiber. His brother-in-law was assailed and 
 stabbed, by his orders, on the steps of his palace. 
 The wounded man was nursed by his wife and 
 sister, the latter preparing his food with her own 
 hands to secure him from poison."* But Caesar 
 laughed at these precautions. " What cannot be 
 done at noon-day," he said, "may be accom- 
 plished in the evening. ' ' A little later his brother- 
 in-hiAv was strangled. 
 
 The Popes frequently engaged in wars to further 
 their amlntious projects. Julius II. was not so 
 much an ecclesiastic as a warrior and statesman. 
 Though a patron of art and science, he was almost 
 incessantly engaged in wars and political intrigues. 
 ' ' That this Julius II. , " says Mosheim, ' ' possessed, 
 l)esides other vices, very great ferocity, arrogance, 
 vanity, and a mad passion for war, is proved by 
 abundant testimony. In the first place, forming 
 an alliance with the emjDcror and the King of 
 France, he made war upon the Venetians. He 
 next laid seige to Ferrara ; and at last, drawing 
 the Venetians, the Swiss, and the Spaniards to en- 
 gage in the war with him, he made an attack upon 
 Louis XII. , the King of France. Nor so long as 
 he lived did he cease from embroiling all P]u- 
 rope." t 
 
 * Ranke's "History of the Popes," I., p. 37. 
 t Mosheim's " Ecc. History," III., p. 9. 
 
50 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 Leo X. , was no less worldlj^-mincled. ' ' Since 
 God has given us the Papacy, ' ' he said, ' ' let us 
 enjoy it. ' ' He cared far more for ease, elegance, 
 and luxury than for the flock of God, over which 
 he claimed to be supreme bishop. "An ardent 
 admirer of classic and human culture," says the 
 Papal historian Alzog, ' ' he possessed a refined 
 taste, had a love of elegant literature, and was sin- 
 cerely devoted to the arts and sciences. But, for 
 all this, he was entirely destitute of the motives 
 and spirit which should form the guiding princi- 
 ples in the life of an ecclesiastic, and was, more- 
 over, lavishly extravagant." * 
 
 In keeping with their exalted station as primates 
 over the whole earth, the Popes surrounded them- 
 selves with great splendor. The Papal court was 
 the most magnificent in Europe. To maintain 
 this outAvard splendor, large revenues were needed. 
 From four sources the Papal treasury Avas contin- 
 ually replenished : 1. The income from the States 
 of the Church ; 2. The Roman Law Courts, to 
 which cases were appealed from all parts of Eu- 
 rope ; 3. The annats or first year's income of 
 every bishop, priest, and abbot, who was pre- 
 sented to a benefice ; and, 4. The sale of pardons, 
 dispensations, and indulgences. The latter, as we 
 shall see, became a regular traffic, attended with 
 outrageous abuses. All parts of western Europe 
 were laid under heavy tribute to maintain the 
 more than regal splendor of the Roman Court. 
 The demands of Rome were insatiable. ' ' Nearly 
 all the disputes occurring at this period," says 
 Ranke, ' ' between the several states of Europe and 
 the Roman Court arose out of these exactions, 
 which the Curia sought by every possible means 
 
 * Alzog's " Universal Church History," II., p. 918. 
 
STATE OF THE THUKCH. 51 
 
 to increase, Avliile the people of all countries as 
 zealously strove to restrain them." --^ 
 
 An irreverent, skeptical, immoral tone prevailed 
 in Rome. When Luther in loll was dispatched 
 thither as envoy of the Augustine brotherhood, he 
 heard prelates boast that in the mass, instead of 
 the sacramental words, they mockingly pronounced 
 over the elemeiits, "Bread thou art, and bread 
 thou shalt remain ; wine thou art, and wine thou 
 shalt remain." The Sixth Lateran Council, which 
 met in 1513, deemed it advisable, in the presence 
 of prevailing skepticism, to prepare a decree 
 against those who denied the immortality of the 
 soul. Popes and cardinals not infrequently led 
 inmioral lives, and desecrated the Vatican with 
 dissolute entertainments. 
 
 Alzog, who shields the Papacy as far as possible, 
 admits that ' ' the frivolity and questionable tone 
 of morals which prevailed at the Papal Court after 
 Alexander had become Pope, and which, if he did 
 not openly encourage, he was at no great pains to 
 correct, gave opportunities to his many enemies to 
 spread all sorts of scandalous stories, and to in- 
 dulge in tlie most extravagant exaggeration. He 
 did indeed greatly abuse his power to secure posi- 
 tions of profit and honor for his children. He 
 created his oldest son, Juan, Duke of Gandia, and 
 fixed upon him man}^ estates in the kingdom of 
 Naples ; he also bestowed upon him the Duchy of 
 Benevento, which he had detached from the States 
 of the Church." f In like manner, Creighton, who 
 accepts only what can be established by indisput- 
 able testimony, and who rejects many statements 
 made by earlier historians, still says that ' ' the Vati- 
 can was frequently the scene of indecent orgies, at 
 
 * Ranke's " History of the Popes," I., p. 48. 
 
 t Alzog's " Universal Church History," II., p. 909. 
 
52 . THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 which the Pope did not scruple to be present. 
 Men shrugged their shoulders at these things, and 
 few in Rome were seriously shocked. The age was 
 corrupt, and the Pope's example sanctioned its 
 corruption.'' ^ 
 
 The worldliness, skepticism, and immorality 
 reigning at the Papal Court could not fail to exert 
 a demoralizing influence upon ev^ry grade of the 
 hierarchy. The head gave moral tone to the 
 members. Ecclesiastical ofhces were bought and 
 sold. ' ' The Pope nominated cardinals from no 
 better motive than personal favor, the gratification 
 of some potentate, or even, and this was no infre- 
 quent occurrence, for actual payment of money! 
 Could there be any rational expectation that men so 
 appointed would fulfill their spiritual duties ? One 
 of the most important ofhces of the Church, the 
 Penitenziaria, Avas bestoAved l)v Sixtus IV. on one 
 of his nephcAvs, This office held a large ])ortion of 
 the poAver of granting dispensations ; its privileges 
 AA^ere still further extended l)y the Pope, and in a bull 
 issued for the express purpose of confirming them, 
 he declares all Avho shall presume to doul)t the rec- 
 titude of such measures to be ' a stiff-necked peo- 
 ple and children of malice.' It folloAved as a 
 matter of course that his nephcAV considered his 
 office as a benefice, the proceeds of Avhich he Avas 
 entitled to increase to the utmost extent pos- 
 sible." f 
 
 Incompetent persons Avere frequently appointed 
 to high ecclesiastical j^ositions. The occupants of 
 rich benefices often handed OA'er their duties to 
 subordinates, Avhile they Avent to live amid the 
 splendors of courts and cities. One of the praise- 
 worthy features in the life of Chaucer' s ' ' poor 
 
 * Creighton's " History of the Papacy," A"., p. 57. 
 t Ranke's " History of the Popes," I.', p. 42. 
 
STATE OF THE CHURCH. 53 
 
 parson" was that, unlike the coninion practice of 
 liis clay — 
 
 " He sette not his benefice to hyre, 
 And leet liis scheep enconibred in the myre, 
 And ran to London, unto Seynte Ponies, 
 To seeken him a chaunterie "for sonles, 
 Or with a brotherhood to ben withholde ; 
 But dwelte at lionie, and kepte well his folde, 
 So that the wolf ne made it not myscarye ; 
 He was a schepherde and no mercenarie." ^ 
 
 The complaint against l)ishops was widespread. 
 They liyed in the midst of splendor, and S(iuan- 
 dered in sensual pleasures the revenues of the 
 Church. In seeking to extend their authority, 
 they were frequently at war with cities and princes. 
 Brantome, who was not friendly to the evangelical 
 movement, bears testimony to the debasement of 
 the episcopacy. After afhrming that the bishops 
 frequently bought their sees for money, he con- 
 tinues : ' ' And when they have attained these high 
 dignities, God knows what lives they led. Assur- 
 edly they were far more devoted to their dioceses 
 than they have since been ; for they never left 
 them. But it was to lead a most dissolute life 
 with their dogs and birds, with their feasts, ban- 
 quets, marriage entertainments, and courtesans, of 
 whom they gathered seraglios. ' ' f 
 
 Erasmus, commenting on INlatthew xxiii. in his 
 edition of the New Testament, which api)eared in 
 1516, thus speaks of the bishops : " You may find 
 a bishop here and there who teaches the Gospel, 
 though life and teaching have small agreement. 
 But what shall we say of those who destroy the 
 Gospel itself, make laws at their will, tyrannize 
 over the laity, and measure right and wrong with 
 
 * Chaucer's " Prologue," Hues 507-514. 
 t Baird's " Rise of the Huguenots iu F 
 
 ranee," p. 53. 
 
54 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 rules constructed by themselves? Of those who 
 entangle their flocks in the meshes of crafty canons, 
 who sit not in the seat of the Gospel, but in the 
 seat of Caiaphas and Simon ]\Iagus — prelates of 
 evil, who bring disgrace and discredit on their 
 worthier brethren ? " ^ 
 
 Ignorance was one of the most venial defects of 
 the parochial clergy. As their duties consisted 
 chiefly in the administration of the seven sacra- 
 ments, they had but little stimulus to learning. 
 Preaching the Gospel was generally neglected, since 
 in place of evangelical piety was substituted a 
 system of ecclesiastical or work righteousness. In- 
 asmuch as all theological truth was authoritatively 
 and infallibly determined by the Pope, there was 
 no need of superior learning. ' ' In almost every 
 council," says Hallam, "the ignorance of the 
 clergy forms a subject for reproach. Not one 
 priest of a thousand in Spain, about the age of 
 Charlemagne, could address a common letter of 
 salutation to another. In England, Alfred declares 
 that he could not recollect a single priest south of 
 the Thames (the most civihzed part of England), 
 at the time of his accession, who understood the 
 ordinary prayers, or could translate Latin into the 
 mother tongue. Nor was it l^etter in the time of 
 Dunstan, when, it is said, none of the clergy 
 knew how to write or translate a Latin letter." f 
 Similar causes produced sul^stantially the same 
 results up to the time of the Reformation. ^le- 
 lanchthon and Luther, who made a visitation of 
 the churches in Thuringia and Saxony, lament the 
 ignorance of the priesthood and the neglect of in- 
 struction among the people. 
 
 The immorality of the parochial clergy, grow- 
 
 * Fronde's " Life and Letters of Erasmus," p. 12L 
 t Hallam's " Middle Ages," p. 949. 
 
STATE OF THE (/HURCII. 55 
 
 ing out of the unscriptural and unnatural law of 
 t'clibacy, was a great scandal. This law, based on 
 the idea of a higher morality and of greater devo- 
 tion to the Church, was enforced more strictly after 
 the time of Gregory VII. Apart from other forms 
 of vice, celibacy frequently led to concubinage, 
 which was sometimes winked at both by the bish- 
 ops and the people. The former, by charging a 
 tax, made concubinage a source of income ; the 
 latter found in it a protection for their families. 
 Nicolas de Clemanges, a doctor of the University 
 of Paris, and Secretary to Benedict XIII. , says in 
 discussing the degenerate condition of the Church : 
 ' ' Bishops do not hesitate to sell to priests licenses 
 to keep concubines. No care is taken to ordain 
 proper persons to the priesthood. Men who are 
 lazy and do not choose to work, but who Avish to 
 live in idleness, fly to the priesthood ; as priests, 
 they frecjuent Ijrothels and taverns, and spend their 
 time in drinking, reveling, and gaml)ling, fight and 
 brawl in their cups, and with their polluted lips 
 l)laspheme the name of God and the saints, and 
 from the embraces of prostitutes hurry to the 
 altar."* 
 
 At the Nuremberg Diet in 1522, concubinage 
 was one of the evils complained of. It came to light 
 there that Bishop Hugo, of Landenberg, compelled 
 the relatively few clergymen who were living in 
 celibacy to pay the concubinage tax. It did not 
 concern him, he declared, that they Avere living 
 Avithout concubines, and that he could not lose his 
 income because they did not choose to avail them- 
 selves of the privilege. The income Avhich the 
 bishop received from this source is said to haA^e 
 amounted to six or seven thousand florins. In a 
 letter to the Bishop of Costnitz, ZAvingii refers to 
 
 * Creightou's " History of the Papacy," p. 301. 
 
56 THE REFORMATION DAAVX. 
 
 two well-established facts, namely : that the Ijish- 
 ops collected money from the concubines of clergy- 
 men and their children, and that the Swiss 
 congregations, according to ancient custom, made 
 it the duty of newly established pastors to keep 
 concubines for the protection of their own families. 
 ' ' In every country, ' ' says Hallam, ' ' the secular 
 or parochial clergy kept women in their houses, 
 upon more or less acknowedged terms of inter- 
 course, by a connivance of their ecclesiastical 
 superiors, which almost amounted to a positive 
 toleration. The sons of priests were capable of in- 
 heriting by the law of France and also of Castile. ' ' * 
 Under the operation of this same law of celi- 
 bacy, the monasteries frequently fell into great 
 moral depravity. Instead of maintaining the high 
 spiritual standard, Avhich was their ideal, they fell 
 under the grossest reign of the flesh. At its best, 
 the monastic life, as it is sometimes portrayed, ap- 
 pears very beautiful ; but in the latter part of the 
 Middle Ages, as is shown by abundant testimony, 
 they had generally become more or less idle, igno- 
 rant, and licentious. In reference to the monas- 
 teries, a contemi)orary author already quoted says : 
 " Generally the monks elected the most jovial com- 
 panion, him who was the most fond of women, dogs, 
 and birds, the deepest drinker, in short the most 
 dissipated ; and this in order that, when they had 
 made him abbot or prior, they might be permitted 
 to indulge in similar debauch and pleasure." f 
 Francis I. used to say that the monks were good 
 for nothing but to eat and drink, to frequent tav- 
 erns and gamble, to twist cords for the cross-bow, 
 set traps for ferrets and rabbits, and train linnets 
 to whistle. ' ' 
 
 * Hallam's " Middle Ages," p. 862. 
 
 t Baird's " Rise of the Huguenots," p. 55. 
 
statp: of the church. 57 
 
 The great scholar, Erasmus, Avho in his youth 
 was deluded into entering a monastery, frequently 
 refers to the ignorance and depravity of the monks. 
 "Monks are to obey their abbots. Oaths are ex- 
 acted that want of submission may l)e punished 
 as perjury. It may happen, it often does hai)pen, 
 that an abbot is a fool or a drunkard. He issues 
 an order to the brotherhood in the name of hoh^ 
 obedience. And what will such an order be ? An 
 order to observe chastity ? An ordei to be solder ? 
 An order to tell no lies ? Not one of these things. 
 It will be that a brother is not to learn Greek ; he 
 is not to seek to instruct himself. He may be a 
 sot. He may go Avith prostitutes. He may be 
 full of hatred and malice. He may never look 
 inside the Scriptures. No matter. He has not 
 broken any oath. He is an excellent memlier of 
 the community. While if he disobeys such a 
 command as this from an insolent superior, there 
 is stake or dungeon for him instantly. ' ' * 
 
 Unfavorable testimony in relation to both fria- 
 ries and nunneries might be indefinitely multi- 
 plied. Their general decadence and corruption 
 can he (juestioned only l)y denying the declarations 
 of councils and the reports of investigating com- 
 mittees, as well as the numl)erless statements of 
 individual writers. "In vain," says Hallam, 
 "new rules of discipline were devised, or the old 
 corrected by reforms. Many of their worst vices 
 grew so naturally out of their mode of life, that 
 a stricter discipline could have no tendency to ex- 
 tirpate them. Their extreme licentiousness was 
 sometimes hardly concealed by the cowl of sanc- 
 tity.'' t Even Alzog is forced to acknowledge 
 that ' ' the transactions of councils showed only too 
 
 * Froude's " Life and Letters of Kra^sIm^s," p. 68. 
 t Ilallam's " Middle Ages," \>. 960. 
 
58 THE REFOKMATION DAWN. 
 
 clearly that the religious spirit impressed on the 
 cloisters by their founders more and more de- 
 clined. Increasing wealth, especially after the 
 distracting effects of the schism, suppressed the 
 studious pursuits formerly carried on with so much 
 love, care, and tireless industry. Luxury and li- 
 centiousness took their place ; even the nunneries 
 sliared this disgrace." * 
 
 The avarice and worldliness of the Church were 
 exhibited in its vast accumulations of property. 
 AAliile a part of this wealth was accumulated in 
 legitimate ways — by the gift of princes and the 
 improvement of lands attached to monasteries — 
 much of it was obtained by oppression and fraud. 
 The payment of tithes was rigidly exacted. Leg- 
 acies for charitable purposes were misappropriated. 
 Charters were forged by ecclesiastics who were al- 
 most exclusively in possession of the ability to 
 read and write. "They failed not, above all,'' 
 says Hallam, "to inculcate upon the wealthy sin- 
 ner that no atonement could be so acceptable to 
 Heaven as liberal presents to its earthly delegates. 
 To die without allotting a portion of worldly wealth 
 to pious uses was accounted almost like suicide, 
 or a refusal of the last sacraments ; and hence in- 
 testacy passed for a sort of fraud upon the Church, 
 which she punished by taking the administration 
 of the deceased's effects into her hands. 
 The canonical penances imposed upon repentant 
 offenders, extravagantly severe in themselves, Avere 
 commuted for money or for immovable possessions 
 — a fertile though scandalous source of monastic 
 wealth, which the Popes afterward diverted into 
 their own coffers by the usage of dispensations 
 and indulgences. " f In these ways the Church at 
 
 * Alzog's " Universal Kirchengeschichte,'' II., p. 230. 
 t Hallam's " Middle Ages," p. 837. 
 
STATE OF THE CHURCH. oU 
 
 one period came into possession of nearly half the 
 lands of England, and, probably, a still greater 
 proportion in other parts of western Europe. 
 
 The doctrine of the mass as a sacrifice for the 
 living and the dead led to shameful abuses. The 
 most sacred rite of the Christian Church was pros- 
 tituted for money. It was often celebrated by pro- 
 liigate men, who hurried through the solemn cere- 
 mony in heartless and indecent haste. There were 
 large gifts and endowments to pay for the repetition 
 of masses for souls in purgatory. " It is evident, ' ' 
 the Lutheran reformers say in their confession 
 presented to Charles V. at Augsburg in 1530, 
 ' ' that of long time this hath been the public and 
 most grievous complaint of all good men, that 
 masses are l:)asely profaned, being used for gain. 
 And it is not unknown how far this abuse hath 
 spread itself in all churches ; of what manner of 
 men masses are used, only for a reward, or for 
 wages ; and how many do use them against the 
 prohibition of the Canons." 
 
 The so-called sacrament of penance, with its 
 minute auricular confession and its various pen- 
 alties, was likewise associated with crying evils. 
 The inmost secrets of individual and family life 
 were often communicated to corrupt priests to be 
 taken advantage of or to be laughed at. Through 
 the secrets thus obtained under penalty of the 
 soul's salvation, the laity frequently passed under 
 the complete control of the priesthood. "Con- 
 fessions, ' ' Erasmus declares, ' ' are notoriously be- 
 trayed. The aim of the monks is not to benefit 
 men's souls, but to gather harvests out of their 
 purses, learn their secrets, rule in their houses ; 
 and everyone who knows the facts will understand 
 Avhy these confessors need to be controlled." * 
 
 * Froude's " Life and Letters of Erasmus," p. 351. 
 
60 THE REFOKMATION DAWN. 
 
 Elsewhere he declares that secret confession is em- 
 ployed to extort money, and is made an instru- 
 ment of priestly villany. 
 
 A still more scandalous abuse grew out of the 
 doctrine of indulgences. It was bad enough to 
 compound for imposed penances Avith money. But 
 through the unscrupulous character of the licensed 
 vendors indulgences for sin and crime were freely 
 sold. A scale of prices for various iniquities was 
 fixed in advance. When Tetzel set up his indul- 
 gence market a few miles from Wittenberg, he de- 
 clared ' ' that his red cross Avith ,the Papal arms 
 was as mighty as the cross of Christ ; that he 
 would not exchange places in Heaven wath 8t. 
 Peter, for he had redeemed more souls with his in- 
 dulgences than St. Peter with his Gospel ; that the 
 grace of indulgences was precisely the grace by 
 which man is reconciled with God ; and that it 
 was to be had without sorrow or penitence through 
 the purchase of the Pope's letter of security ; for 
 as soon as the money rattled in the chest, the soul 
 leaped from purgatory to Heaven. " * It is diffi- 
 cult for us to realize the shamelessness with which 
 this traffic was carried on, or the superstition that 
 made it possible. About the time Tetzel appeared 
 in Germany, Sampson went to Switzerland. ' ' I 
 can forgive all sins, ' ' he exclaimed ; ' ' Heaven and 
 hell stand under my dominion ; and I sell the 
 merits of Jesus Christ to each and every one who 
 is willing to pay in ready monev for an absolu- 
 tion." f 
 
 The invocation or adoration of saints was at- 
 tended with two great evils. The first of these 
 was pilgrimages. The graves of martyrs or can- 
 onized saints were regarded as holy places, and 
 
 * Matthesius" " Leben Luthers," p. 18. 
 
 f Christoffers " Zwingli, or Rise of the Reformation," p. 139. 
 
STATE OF THE CHURCH. 61 
 
 pilgriiiiages there were accounted as meritorious 
 works. Furthermore, such visits were supposed 
 to incUne the saint to intercession in behalf of the 
 supphcant. Numerous miracles were supposed to 
 be wrought through the agency of the saints. 
 Nearly every countr}^ had its saintly shrine, as 
 St. Peter at Rome, St. Martin at Tours, and St. 
 Thomas at Canterbury. These pilgrimages, made 
 in a spirit of sui)erstition and credulity, were at- 
 tended with hardships, withdrew^ people from their 
 regular vocations, and, under ecclesiastical penal- 
 ties, imposed heavy burdens on Christian hospi- 
 tality. John Aurifaber, addressing the mayors 
 and aldermen of the imperial cities of Strasburg, 
 Augsburg, Nuremberg, and others, says of the in- 
 vocation of saints : ' ' By this doctrine i)eople were 
 seduced and carried aAvay to heathenish idolatry, 
 and took their refuge in dead saints to help and 
 deliver them, and made them their gods, in whom 
 they i)ut more trust and confidence than in our 
 blessed Saviour Christ Jesus ; and, especially, they 
 placed the Virgin Mary, instead of her Son Christ, 
 for a mediatrix on the throne of grace. Hence 
 proceeded the i)ilgrimages to saints, w^here they 
 sought for pardon and remission of sins. ' ' ^ 
 
 In like manner the veneration of relics gave rise 
 to innumerable superstitions and frauds. Relics, 
 worn as charms, were often credited with miracu- 
 lous powers. They were exhibited with ]>omp in 
 the churches. They were carried about through 
 the country for the veneration of the common peo- 
 ple, being exhibited to their superstitious gaze for 
 money. At Bamberg in Germany there was a 
 piece of the crib of Christ ; milk from the Virgin 
 Mary ; a piece of Aaron's rod, which, however, 
 was exhibited at ^lilan entire. At Trier the sa- 
 
 * Luther's " Table Talk," Preface. 
 
62 THE rp:formation dawn. 
 
 cred coat of Christ is still kept. At Schaflfhausen 
 the breath of St. Joseph, contained in the glove of 
 Nicodemus, was shown. ^ At Wittenberg there 
 was a piece of Noah' s ark, some soot from the fur- 
 nace of the three Hebrew children, some hair from 
 the l^eard of St. Christopher, and nineteen thou- 
 sand other relics, f In his comment on ^Iatthe^^' 
 xxiii. 27, Erasmus says: "What would Jer- 
 ome say, could he see the Virgin's milk exhibited 
 for money, with as much honor paid to it as to 
 the consecrated body of Christ ; the miraculous 
 oil ; the portions of the true cross ; enough, if they 
 were collected, to freight a large ship ? Here we 
 have the hood of St. Francis, there Our Lady's 
 petticoat, or St. Anne's comb, or St. Thomas of 
 Canterbury's shoes ; not presented as innocent 
 aids to religion, but as the substance of religion 
 itself — and all through the avarice of priests and 
 the hypocrisy of monks playing on the credulity 
 of the people. Even bishops play their parts in 
 these fantastic shows, and approve and dwell on 
 them in their rescripts. ' ' I 
 
 Such were the results to Avhich the errors of the 
 Roman Church naturall}", and in an age of ignor- 
 ance and superstition, inevitably led. Were the 
 evidence not so abundant, we might be tempted 
 to question the truth of this travesty of Christi- 
 anity, and this prevalence of ignorance, fraud, 
 and oppression. But the proof, except to the 
 willfully and stubbornly blind, is overwhelming. 
 The virus of iniquity at Rome extended through- 
 out the realm of the Papacy. The Pope, though 
 claiming to be the Vicegerent of Christ, was, 
 through his unwarranted interference and his 
 
 * Kolb's " Culturgeschichte der Menschheit." 
 
 t D'Aubigne's " History of the Reformation," I., p. 60. 
 
 j Fronde's " Life and Letters of Erasmus," p. 122. 
 
STATE OF THE CHURCH. 63 
 
 exacted tributes, the oppressor of the nations. 
 Incompetent and worldly-minded men were ele- 
 vated to high ecclesiastical station through favor 
 and bribery. The sacred duties of their office 
 were neglected for voluptuous living. The reve- 
 nues of the Church, wrung from the })oor by cruel 
 exactions, were wasted in forbidden pleasures. 
 The parochial clergy, in violation of their vows, 
 often lived in adultery, which was condoned or 
 licensed by their superiors. The monasteries, 
 both for men and women, were centres of idle- 
 ness, ignorance, and uncleanness. The sacraments 
 w^ere sold or used to wrest money from the pockets 
 of the credulous. Evangelical piety, which con- 
 sists in a life of loyal obedience to God, was 
 replaced by pilgrimages, fastings, and other ec- 
 clesiastical prescriptions. The laity Avere kept in 
 ignorance, and, in this condition, their supersti- 
 tion was played upon to increase the wealth and 
 power of the Papacy. Surely, if truth and right- 
 eousness were not to perish from the earth forever, 
 the time had come for the Papal tyranny to be 
 l^roken. 
 
PART SECOND. 
 
 INEFFECTUAL EFFORTS AT REFORM BEFORE 
 THE REFORMATION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE MYSTICS. 
 
 In Part First we have traced the development 
 of the Papacy in its organization and doctrines, 
 and noted their effects upon the general life of the 
 Church. Among the different orders of the hie- 
 rarchy we have found world liness and corruption, 
 and among the laity gross ignorance and su})ersti- 
 tion, and an external conformity to ecclesiastical 
 requirements in place of a piety of love and obe- 
 dience to God. But, as already indicated, it 
 would be an error to su]3pose that the entire 
 Christian life of western Europe had been per- 
 verted. Below the prevailing error and supersti- 
 tion connected with the Papal system there still 
 glowed in many hearts the fervor of evangelical 
 piety. As in ancient Israel, when the prophet 
 felt solitary in his fidelity to God, there were 
 thousands that had not bowed the knee to Baal. 
 To some extent the existing errors, both in doc- 
 trine and practice, were recognized and deplored. 
 Not only were there individual protests, but the 
 voices of councils and entire communities were 
 raised against the existing evils. Throughout the 
 (64) 
 
TH1-: MYSTICS. 65 
 
 fifteenth century, and even earlier, there were 
 ])rc)phetic voices ; but, because the fuUness of 
 time had not yet come, they were uttered in vain 
 or even stifled in flame and blood. 
 
 The Papacy or Roman monarchy is not, as its 
 adherents fondly believe, synonymous with the 
 Christian Church. In its distinctive features, as 
 has already been made clear, it is anti-Scriptural 
 and anti-Christian. But, at the same time, the 
 Roman Church endDodies some of the fundamental 
 doctrines of evangelical faith. It accepts the ecu- 
 menical creeds, which declare the primary facts 
 concerning God and human redemption. In its 
 liturgical formularies it makes use of no small 
 amount of Scriptural truth. Thus the Roman 
 system of doctrine is mingled truth and error. 
 But there have always been souls in that commu- 
 nion who, in spite of the encumbering error, still 
 laid hold of the essential truth, and, on this Ixisis, 
 exhilnted a beautiful life of faith and consecration. 
 Not a few of the recognized saints of the Roman 
 Church were men and women of Christlike spirit, 
 as were also not a few whom she burned at the 
 stake. 
 
 In the morning twilight of the modern era, it 
 could hardly be expected that the facts connected 
 with the Roman Church in doctrine and life could 
 be clearly and fully apprehended. It was a time 
 of more or less groping. Hence we find that gen- 
 erally the reformatory efforts of the latter part of 
 the Middle Ages were only partial and inadequate. 
 In some cases, as we shall see, these efforts related 
 only to doctrinal errors ; in other cases, princi- 
 pally to practical reforms. For a time consider- 
 able liberty of speculation was tolerated ; but any 
 active efforts at reformation speedily issued in a 
 conflict with the Papal power, which ])y fire and 
 5 
 
66 THE REFOKMATION DAWN. 
 
 crusade endeavored to silence its enemies. Thus 
 the mystics and speculative theologians were 
 spared, while Savonarola and Huss and the Wal- 
 denses were destroyed. 
 
 It has often been noticed that in the course of 
 history one extreme tends to beget another. This 
 is true of scholasticism, which made theology a 
 matter of the intellect alone. Scholasticism made 
 the effort, often with astonishing dialectic acute- 
 ness, to embrace all theological truth in definitions 
 and logical statements. It developed or embod- 
 ied the principles and doctrines peculiarly distinc- 
 tive of the Roman Catholic Church. It reached 
 its climax in Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274), who 
 laid a scientific foundation for the doctrine of 
 works of supererogation, of transubstantiation, 
 and of withholding the cup from the laity. His 
 Summa Theologia, in which his views are most fully 
 expressed, Avas the first attempt at a complete and 
 consistent theological system. 
 
 But scholasticism, which seeks to embody all 
 theological truth in scientific logical statements, 
 can never be universally satisfying. There are 
 persons in whose soul-life the feelings are predom- 
 inant. Emotion becomes a greater need than 
 thought. Hence it happened that alongside of 
 scholasticism there ran parallel during the latter 
 part of the Middle Ages a more or less extended 
 mysticism. The mystic seeks an immediate com- 
 munion with God ; he strives for a direct vision 
 of the infinite. His method is contemplation. 
 He does not employ logical methods of argument 
 and deduction, but retires within himself to brood 
 and Avait for light. He yearns for tlie highest 
 sanctification that he may be prepared for the bea- 
 tific vision, though he is in danger, as has often 
 happened, of running into antinomianism. He 
 
TIIK MVrfTlCS. b/ 
 
 naturally seeks quiet and retirement as the most 
 favorable conditions for meditation ; and the con- 
 scious presence of God in holy benediction is es- 
 teemed as the highest good. The mystics have 
 sometimes afforded us beautiful types of spiritual 
 culture ; and the ' ' Imitation of Christ ' ' by 
 Thomas a Kempis has long been recognized, in 
 spite of its ascetic one-sidedness, as a religious 
 classic. 
 -John Ruysbroek (1293-1381), who in the 
 Netherlands and in Germany gave a new import- 
 ance to the mystical tendency, exerted a wide in- 
 fluence upon contemporary life and thought. As 
 a mystic, he escaped in a measure from meditative 
 one- sidedness, and labored actively for the im- 
 provement of the condition of the Church. He 
 recognized communion with God as the highest 
 aim and destiny of man. This union with the 
 divine, which God is ready to grant to everyone 
 coming to Him, is to be attained chiefly in two 
 ways — the active and the contemplative. The 
 former consists in a life of holy obedience after 
 the example of Christ. ' ' Without an outwardly 
 virtuous life," he says, "we cannot draw near to 
 God. ' ' * But in this life of obedience we are 
 turned chiefly to our fellow-men. In contempla- 
 tion, we are chiefly turned inward toward God ; 
 and by neglecting what is material and temporal, 
 we retire into the quietude of soul in which God 
 speaks to us and in which Ave discern Him. The 
 soul, in its beatific vision of the divine, rests in 
 perfect love and trust in Him. The soul and God 
 in a sense become one. 
 
 But this iuAvard, contemplative life did not, 
 as in the case of many other mystics, lead Ruys- 
 
 * Ullmann's " Reformers before the Reformation " (II., p. 41.), which 
 treats quite fully of the mystics. 
 
68 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 broek into ascetic retirement. The practical side 
 of his nature was not entirely submerged. His 
 eye surveyed the condition of the Church, and he 
 had the courage to denounce the existing evils and 
 to labor for their eradication. He reproved the 
 laity for their avarice, licentiousness, and love of 
 pleasure. He condemned all dishonesty in trade — 
 lying, false weights, l)ad money — which every- 
 where abounded. But he was no less severe to- 
 ward the representatives of the Church. ' ' Popes, 
 princes, and prelates themselves," he said, " boAV 
 the knee to wealth, and, in place of the improve- 
 ment and correction of souls, have only their purse 
 in their eye." A main cause of this corruption, as 
 seems to Ruysbroek, lies in the Church's being it- 
 self accessible to wealth, and offering its gifts for 
 money. "All sijiritual things are at the command 
 of the rich. For them chants are sung, mass read, 
 every external service the Church can render per- 
 formed. They obtain without dithculty indul- 
 gences for the pains of purgatory and all manner 
 of sins, and, when they die, requiems are sung on 
 every side, and the bells tolled. They are buried 
 before the altar, and numbered with the blessed."^ 
 No order of the hierarchy — priests, bishops, Popes 
 — escaped his condemnation for their avarice and 
 profligacy. 
 
 It will be readily understood how mysticism 
 came into conscious or unconscious conflict Avith 
 the Roman system of doctrine and practice. While 
 nearly all the mystics were faithful adherents of 
 the Church, their fundamental beliefs were directly 
 opposed to its teachings, and tended to undermine 
 its authority. As we have already seen, the Papal 
 system makes the Church an external despotism, 
 and religion an outward conformity to its laws. 
 
 * Ullmaun's " Reformers before the Reformation," II., p. 51. 
 
THE MYSTICS. 69 
 
 It is a vast system of externalism. But the mys- 
 tic places supreme emphasis on the subjective life 
 and experience. He goes back of priesthood and 
 sacrament to the evangelical principles of faith, 
 love, and obedience. He believes in the infinite 
 depths of divine love, wliich is willing, without the 
 mediation of priest or saint, to receive every yearn- 
 ing, penitent soul ; and he recognizes union with 
 God in sanctity and purpose as the essential ele- 
 ment of piety. It is this fellowship with the di- 
 vine, and not the performance of ecclesiastical 
 penances and works, that assures eternal life. 
 
 Mere outward conformity to ecclesiastical rites 
 and requirements could not satisfy the mj'stic 
 spirit. It sought more than a righteousness of 
 outward works. " If it happen," says Ruysbroek, 
 ' ' that a man occupies himself in, and addicts 
 himself to, the several kinds of works, more than 
 to their substance and motives, and that he con- 
 tinues exercising himself with sacraments, and 
 signs, and i)erformances of an outward sort, more 
 than with the objects and the truth which are 
 there])y signified and conveyed, it is very possible 
 that he may to a certain extent undergo a change, 
 ])ecome once more an outward man, and, with all 
 his good works, still be in captivity to silliness and 
 prejudice. But if so be that a man desires to 
 draw near to God, to elevate himself, and render' 
 his life fruitful, he must penetrate from the work 
 to the reason of it, and from the sign to the truth. 
 He thereby becomes master of his works, a pro- 
 fessor of the truth, and enters into the inner life.^^ 
 
 During the fourteenth century the course of 
 mysticism was divided into two branches, which 
 may be distinguished as the meditative and the 
 practical. Both agreed in seeking a more spiritual 
 type of Christianity. One of the principal repre- 
 
70 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 sentatives of the meditative type of mysticism 
 was John Tauler (1290-1361), one of the great 
 preachers of his age. He had a good acquaint- 
 ance with the Scriptm'es, as well as with the scho- 
 lastic learning of his time. A visit to Ruysbroek 
 confirmed him in his mystical tendencies, to which 
 his meditative temper and previous studies and 
 associations had inclined him. Less metaphysical 
 than Eckhart, who was pantheistic, and less poet- 
 ical than Suso, who was fantastic, he reached the 
 popular heart through the depth of his devotional 
 feeling. His ideal of religious life was complete 
 conformity to the image of our Lord. He looked 
 upon man as an emanation from God, and he 
 found man's highest destiny in a return to Him. 
 This great end is to be accomplished by resisting 
 the drawings of the flesh and the world, and by 
 seeking direct communion with God in the realm 
 of spirit. In this exalted communion with God, 
 the soul should find its highest treasures, and, from 
 the altitude of this blessed experience, look down 
 on all else as comparatively worthless. 
 
 This subjective and spiritual conception of Chris- 
 tianity, presented with great power in his sermons, 
 brought him into conflict with the existing eccle- 
 siastical system. His books were burned, and he 
 himself was excommunicated. But he wrote : 
 '•' None who hold the true Christian faith, and only 
 sin against the person of the Pope, are heretics, but 
 those are heretics who, in spite of remonstrance, 
 obstinately act contrary to God' s AA^ord and refuse 
 to amend." He rejected the claims of the Pope 
 to universal sovereignty. ' ' Magistracy, ' ' he main- 
 tained, ' ' is an estate instituted by God, and, in 
 temporal matters, all must obey it, even the 
 clergy, be they wlio they may. The emperor is 
 supreme magistrate, and therefore obedience is 
 
THE MYSTICS. 71 
 
 due to him before all. If he govern wrong, he is 
 responsible to God for his conduct, and not to 
 poor men." * Tauler's sermons were not without 
 effect upon Luther. ' ' If it will gratify j^ou 
 to become acquainted with a solid theology in 
 the German tongue, ' ' wrote Luther to his friend 
 Spalatin in 1516, "perfectly resembling tha{ of 
 the ancients, procure for yourself John Tauler's 
 sermons, for neither in Latin nor in our own lan- 
 guage have I seen a theology more sound, or more 
 in accordance with the Gospel. Taste and see 
 how gracious is the Lord, if you have previously 
 tasted and seen how bitter is all that we are in 
 ourselves. ' ' 
 
 All that was best in mediaeval mysticism was 
 at length summed up in a little work entitled 
 "German Theology." It was for a time attrib- 
 uted to Tauler, but the author is unknown. It 
 "'sets forth a living God, near to all, present and 
 active in every place, but most intimately present 
 and active in the soul of man. It therefore brings 
 man to this God, in a relation which not merely 
 is not outward or mediated by the priesthood and 
 Church, works, and exercises, but which is in the 
 highest degree inward, free, and childlike, and 
 vitally exercises the affections. In the same man- 
 ner, it sets forth a living Christ — a Christ to whom, 
 as the Son of God become man and Saviour, and 
 as the prototype and pattern of divine life in man, 
 it refers everything ; and who in that respect must 
 be embraced not merely in historical objectivity, 
 as an article of faith, but much more as a princi- 
 ple of life ; inasmuch as His highest and full sig- 
 nificance lies in the fact that He perpetuates and 
 reproduces Himself anew in humanity, and that 
 
 * Ullmann's "Reformers before the Reformation," II., p. 212. 
 
72 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 His spirit and theanthropic life are transfused into 
 the individual and impart divinity to him. ' ' * 
 
 At the suggestion of Stanpitz, himself a mystic, 
 Luther edited the ' ' German Theology. ' ' In his 
 preface, written in 1516, the reformer says: " This 
 excellent little work, poor and homely in language 
 and human wisdom though it be, is in the same 
 and even greater proportion rich and precious in 
 the skill and divine wisdom Avith which it is writ- 
 ten ; and to boast like an old fool, as I am, next 
 to the Bible and St. Augustine, from no l:>ook with 
 which I have met have I learned more' of what 
 God, Christ, man, and all things are." Thus 
 throughout Germany and the Netherlands, and 
 dou]:)tless also in other parts of Europe, the the- 
 ology of the mystics was producing a rich spiritual 
 fruitage, and by emphasizing the subjective char- 
 acter of the Christian life was gradually under- 
 mining the formalism of the Papal system. 
 
 But we turn now to consider the practical side 
 of the mystic movement as exemplified in the 
 Brethren of the Common Life. The founder of 
 this brotherhood was Gerhard Groot (1340-1384), 
 a man of great elocjuence and spiritual power. 
 After studying at the University of Paris, he 
 entered a Carthusian monastery, where he gave 
 himself to meditation and study for three years. 
 But his practical nature was not satisfied with a 
 life of inactivity ; and having l^een ordained a 
 deacon, he traveled through the diocese of L^trecht, 
 teaching and preaching. He was moved with 
 ardent zeal, and spoke with great power. As was 
 once said of a still greater teacher and preacher, 
 the common people heard him gladly, and many 
 were led to give themselves up to righteousness. 
 
 * Ullmann's "Reformers before tlie Reformation," II., p. 231. 
 
THE MYSTICS. 73 
 
 His zealous labors presented a strong contrast with 
 the prevailing idleness and inconsistency of the 
 secular and regular clergy. His denunciations of 
 their corrupt manners, particularly of their un- 
 chastity, were unsparing. As a result, he became 
 the object of persecution, and his license to preach 
 was withdrawn. 
 
 Groot now turned to the instruction of youth. 
 A few years before, he had visited Ruysbroek at 
 Griinthal, whose simple monastic life made a deep 
 impression on him. A truly fraternal spirit 
 reigned in the monastery, and placed all the in- 
 mates on the same level. At Deventer, Groot 
 founded a brotherhood, the members of which 
 held all things in common. While living under 
 a fixed rule, they were not sequestered from so- 
 ciet}', as were regular monks. Nothing was done 
 by constraint ; the motive principle was the love 
 of God. The main object of the brotherhood was 
 the spread of practical Christianity. Its members 
 sought, first of all, to maintain among themselves 
 a warm and genial piety through religious conver- 
 sation, devotional exercises, and the study of the 
 Scripture. Outside of the brotherhood they sought 
 to extend Christianity by multiplying and circu- 
 lating the Scriptures. Making copies of the Bible 
 and of other religious books was a prominent jMrt 
 of their work. The Psalms were translated into 
 the common tongue. But, above all, they gave 
 themselves to the instruction of youth ; and in 
 the history of education, their work occupies a 
 ]>lace of importance. The monastic and cathediTil 
 schools of the time were defective ; the toA\n 
 schools were accessible only to persons of consid- 
 erable means. Under these circumstances the 
 Brethren of the Common Life gave gratuitous 
 instruction to every class, the religious element. 
 
/4 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 however, being given the first place in tlie course 
 of stud3\ 
 
 "In the schools of the brotherhood," says 
 Johannes Janssen, an able Roman Catholic writer, 
 ' ' Christian education was placed high above the 
 mere acquisition of knowledge, and the practical 
 rehgious culture of the youth, the nurture and 
 confirmation of active piety, was considered the 
 chief object. All the instruction was penetrated 
 1)}" a Christian spirit, and the pupil learned to 
 regard religion as the most important human in- 
 terest and the foundation of all true culture. At 
 the same time a considerable amount of knowl- 
 edge and a good method of stud}^ were imparted, 
 and the pupil acquired an earnest love for literary 
 and scientific activity. From all quarters studious 
 youth poured into these schools." ^ 
 
 During the fifteenth century the houses or com- 
 munities of the Brethren of the Common Life were 
 greatly multiplied. They covered the Nether- 
 lands and northern Germany, and were highly 
 esteemed, not only by wealthy laj^men but by 
 many ecclesiastical dignitaries. Several of the 
 Popes — Martin V., Eugene IV., and Pius II. — 
 showed them favor. After the beginning of tlie 
 Reformation, Luther defended them ; and in 1532, 
 when it was proposed to abolish their houses, he 
 wrote to the Mayor and Council of Herford in 
 AVestphalia : ' ' Inasmuch as the brethren and sis- 
 ters were the first to begin the Gospel among you, 
 lead a creditable life, have a decent and well-be- 
 haved congregation, and at the same time faith- 
 fully to teach and hold the pure Word, may I af- 
 fectionately entreat your worships not to permit 
 any dispeace or molestation to l^efall them, on ac- 
 count of their still wearing the religious dress, and 
 
 * Janssen's " Geschicbte des deutschen Volkes." 
 
THE MYSTICS. 75 
 
 observing old and laudable usages not contrary to 
 the Gospel. For such monasteries and brother- 
 houses please nie beyond measure. Would to 
 (rod that all monastic institutions were like 
 them!" 
 
 But the Brethen of the Common Life did not 
 escape persecution. The sincerity of their spirit- 
 ual life and their zeal in the propagation of an 
 evangelical religion put the clergy and friars to 
 shame. The education of the people passed largely 
 into the hands of the Brethren. Accordingly, find- 
 ing their intluence and emoluments diminishing, 
 the priesthood and friars were roused to opposi- 
 tion. In some cases they succeeded in having 
 local houses of the brotherhood suppressed. At 
 the Council of Constance they made an effort to 
 have the organization suppressed altogether. The 
 Brethren, so the bill of indictment ran, observe the 
 three monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obe- 
 dience, and yet they do not belong to any particu- 
 lar order or religion authorized by ecclesiastical 
 law ; therefore they have no valid right to exist- 
 ence, and are guilty of mortal sin. The Brethren 
 were defended by the celebrated John Gerson, and 
 the venomous attack at Constance proved entirelv 
 futile. 
 
 The devotional and scientific tendencies of the 
 l)rotherhood of the Common Life were exhibited 
 in two members, who stand out prominently in 
 the annals of the fifteenth century. One of these 
 was Thomas a Kempis, the author of the ' ' Imita- 
 tion of Christ," in which the mystical yearning 
 for communion with Christ is so strongly and so 
 beautifully expressed. He was a deep student of 
 the Bible, the perusal of which he repeatedly com- 
 mended to others. ' ' Woe, ' ' he exclaims, ' ' to the 
 clergyman without education or knowledge of the 
 
/b THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 Scriptures, for he often becomes the occasion of 
 error, both to himself and others ! A clergy- 
 man without the Holy Scriptures is a soldier with- 
 out weapons, a horse without a bridle, a ship 
 without a rudder, a writer without a pen, and a 
 bird without wings. And, equally, a monastery 
 which wants the Scriptures is a kitchen without 
 pots, a table Avithout dishes, a well without water, 
 a river without fish, a garden without flowers, a 
 purse without mone}^, and a house without furni- 
 ture." Though Thomas a Kempis remained a 
 faithful son of the Roman Church, his teaching, 
 unconsciously perhaps to himself, was hostile to 
 the existing spirit of the Papacy. He made piety 
 consist in a personal relation to God in self-sur- 
 rendering love. He left no place for a mediating 
 priesthood or mechanically efficacious sacraments. 
 Unlike Thomas a Kempis, who loved to live in 
 devotional retirement with his books, John "\^"essel 
 preserved, along with deep piety, an energetic and 
 practical nature. "The true philosopher," he 
 said, ' ' would fain remodel all kingdoms and na- 
 tions, and bring them into a better and more pros- 
 perous condition." He expostulated with his 
 aged friend, Thomas a Kempis, who was a zealous 
 adorer of Mary. "Father," he said, "why do 
 you not rather lead me to Christ, who so graciously 
 invites those who labor and are heavy laden to 
 come to Him ? ' ' His bold, independent spirit at 
 length questioned the leading princij^les of the 
 Papal system. He became in theology a Protes- 
 tant. He regarded the Scri]:>tures, without tradi- 
 tion or the authoritative interpretation of the 
 Pope, as the source of religious doctrine. He was 
 not satisfied with an intellectual assent to the 
 teachings of the Church, but insisted on a vital 
 piety of the heart and life. He rejected the ' ' good 
 
THE MYSTICS. 77 
 
 works" taught by the Roman system, and a,s- 
 sailed, Hke another Luther, the doctrine of indul- 
 gences. Beheving in the Christian's immediate 
 access to God through Christ, he rejected the doc- 
 trine of a mediating priesthood and of intercessory 
 saints. As a matter of prudence, he pubhshed 
 nothing, but in 1521 Luther printed his principal 
 writings. " If I had read Wessel sooner," the 
 great reformer said, ' ' my adyersaries would haye 
 presumed to say that I had borrowed my whole 
 doctrine from him, our minds are so consonant 
 with each other. "^^ In Germany Wessel may be 
 regarded as the most prominent precursor of the 
 Reformation. 
 
 • John Wessel was called for a time to the Uniyer- 
 sity of Heidelberg, where his liberal yiews were not 
 without influence. He Avas succeeded by one of 
 his pupils, Agricola, who perpetuated his critical 
 and independent attitude toward the Church and 
 its errors. John Reuchlin, a still more famous 
 pupil, likewise took up his abode for a time at 
 Heidelberg. The Uniyersity thus became a centre 
 for scientific and theological inyestigation, and it 
 is remarkable that so many of the reformers — 
 Melanchthon, Martin Bucer, John Brenz, and 
 others — receiyed a part at least of their training 
 there. The reforming tendencies of the fifteenth 
 century were perpetuated into the sixteenth, w^hen 
 the conditions were far more fayorable for organized 
 and effectiye resistance to the errors of the Papac}^ 
 
 * Ullmann's "Reformers before the Reformation," II., p. 579. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 BIBLICAL REFORMERS. 
 
 In the case of the mystics, dissatisfaction with 
 the Roman system grew out of a subjective and 
 spiritual apprehension of Christianity. The poAver 
 and the preciousness of the Gospel in the soul were 
 felt to be more or less discordant with the external 
 character that had ])een impressed on the Church, 
 and with the worldliness that prevailed in every 
 rank of the clergy. Alongside of this mystical 
 movement or reaction there was another reforma- 
 tory tendency, which found its basis and power in 
 the Scrij^tures. This tendency was wide-spread ; 
 it had its representatives, as we shall see, in Eng- 
 land, Bohemia, Italy, and France. Because its 
 adherents were active in their opposition to exist- 
 ing errors and evils they Avere subject to persecu- 
 tion from the hierarchy, and some of them suffered 
 a martyr's death. 
 
 1. One of the earliest and greatest of these biblical 
 reformers before the Reformation was John Wyc- 
 liffe, of England, whose active life embraces the 
 latter part of the fourteenth century. The condi- 
 tions were not unfavorable for reformatory efforts. 
 It was the period of the Babylonish captivity of 
 the Papacy, when the Popes passed under the in- 
 fluence of France at Avignon. The subserviency 
 of the Papacy at this time to the French mon- 
 archy naturally excited distrust and opposition in 
 England. Accordingly, under Edward III., the 
 (78) 
 
BIBLICAL REFOKMEKS. < V) 
 
 Statute of Provisorj^ devolved upon the king the 
 right to fill the Church offices, and the Statute of 
 Prteniunire forbade subjects to bring before a for- 
 eign tribunal a cause that fell under royal juris- 
 diction. A few years later Parliament refused to 
 pay the tribute of a thousand marks demanded b}' 
 the Pope in recognition of England' s position as a 
 Papal fief since the days of King John. Thus the 
 sentiment of patriotism re-enforced the dissatisfac- 
 tion with the Papacy awakened by the worldliness 
 and profligacy of many of its representatives. 
 
 ^V^ycliffe was a man of great intellectual force, 
 and had mastered the learning of his age. He 
 resided for many years at Oxford as master of 
 Balliol College and teacher of divinity. His in- 
 fluence in the University was for a time very great. 
 He had a firm grasp on evangelical truth ; and 
 with a brave and independent spirit he set about 
 correcting the evils in the Church. Like Luther, 
 he possessed a genuine martyr spirit. When the 
 mendicant monks were clamorous for his death, 
 he said : "I know from the evangelical faith that 
 antichrist with his blows can only destroy the 
 body ; but Christ, for whose cause I fight, can 
 destl'oy both soul and body in hell. And I know 
 that He will suffer nothing to be wanting of that 
 which is most needful for His servants, when He 
 has freely surrendered Himself to a terrible death, 
 and permitted all the disciples who were dearest 
 to Him to endm-e severe torments for their own 
 benefit."* 
 
 The key of Wy cliff e' s teachings and reformatory 
 work is found in the authority he assigns to the 
 Scriptures. He recognized the Scriptures, without 
 the aid of tradition or Papal interpretation, as the 
 ultimate rule of faith and practice. For this rea- 
 
 * Neauder's " History of the Church," V., p. 145. 
 
80 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 son he was called the doctor evangeUcus. He gave 
 the English people the first translation of the Bible 
 in the vernacular. ' ' The Holy Scripture, ' ' he 
 said, ' ' is the faith of the Church, and the more 
 familiar the people become with it, in a right be- 
 lieving sense, the better." He finds fault with 
 the clerg}^ for withholding the Scriptures. "As 
 all belicA^ers must stand before the judgment seat 
 of Christ to give account of the talents committed 
 to them, so all should rightly know these talents 
 and their use, in order that they may know how 
 to render account of them ; for then no answer 
 which might be given through a prelate or steward 
 could be of any avail, but each must answer in 
 his own person." He, maintained that the New 
 Testament is intelligible to the laity who make an 
 lionest effort to understand it, and that its truth 
 is sufficient for the salvation of a Christian Avith- 
 out the ordinances and ceremonies of ignorant 
 and sinful men. 
 
 AVycliffe's reformatory activity was at first 
 politico-ecclesiastical. He defended Edward III. 
 in his resistance of Papal aggression. He de- 
 nounced the Pope as ' ^ the most cursed of clippers 
 and purse-kervers. " The large amounts paid into 
 the Papal treasury would be better expended, he 
 said, if given for "the support of the poor. ' 'And 
 certainly, ' ' he Avrote, ' ' though our realm had a 
 huge hill of gold, and no man took therefrom but 
 this proud, worldly priest's collector, in process 
 of time the hill would be spent ; for he is ever 
 taking money out of our land, and sends nothing 
 back but God's curse for his simony, and some 
 accursed clerk of antichrist to rob the land still 
 more for wrongful privileges." 
 
 Wycliffe maintained that no political and tem- 
 poral rule had been committed to the Pope in 
 
BIBLICAL REFORMERS. 81 
 
 perpetuity ; that, contrary to the teaching of the 
 mendicant orders, the righteous might pro])erly 
 hold and enjoy earthly possessions ; that Avhen 
 the Church fell into corruption the state had a 
 right to deprive her of the temporal goods which 
 she abused ; that every prelate, and even the 
 Pope, when he is wrong, might be accused, 
 judged, and imprisoned by laymen ; that only a 
 just excommunication, in accordance with the 
 law of Christ, was valid ; that an unconditional 
 power to bind and loose had not been, and could 
 not be, conferred on any man. 
 
 These doctrines, actively proclaimed, did not 
 fail to provoke resistance. The mendicant orders 
 collected from his works nineteen propositions, the 
 substance of which has been given, and forwarded 
 them to Rome. Gregory XL, in 1377, issued 
 three l)ulls against Wycliffe — one addressed to the 
 University of Oxford, another to the bishops of 
 Canterljury and London, and the third to King 
 Edward III. — in which he commanded that the re- 
 former should be arrested and tried for heresy. 
 Owing to Wy cliff e's popularity, this order could 
 not be carried out ; and when he was summoned 
 before an ecclesiastical court in London, he was 
 accompanied by the Duke of Lancaster and the 
 grand marshal of England, Lord Henry Percy. 
 Through the protection of the nobility, this trial, 
 as well as subsequent ones, came to nothing. 
 
 After 1378, Wycliffe's reformatory teachings 
 covered a wide field, and his reformatory measures 
 were comprehensive and vigorous. Apart from his 
 translation of the Bible, he organized an evan- 
 gelistic itinerancy for the preaching of the Gospel. 
 His itinerants were known as the "poor priests," 
 tmd after the manner of the apostles traveled from 
 place to place i)rea(;hing the A\^ord. They at- 
 6 
 
82 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 tacked the prevalent worldliness and vice among 
 the different orders of the clergy, and exhorted 
 their hearers to repentance and piety. Wycliffe's 
 conception of the clerical office was truly evan- 
 gelical. ' ' If thou art a priest, ' ' he says, ' ' and 
 by name a curate, live thou a holy life. Pass 
 other men in holy prayer, holy desire, and holy 
 speaking ; in counseling, and teaching the truth. 
 Ever keep the commandments of God, and let His 
 Gospel and His j^raises be ever in thy mouth. Let 
 thy open life be thus a true book, in which the 
 soldier and the layman may learn how to serve 
 God and keep His commandments. For the ex- 
 ample of a good life, if it be open and continued, 
 striketh rude men much more than open preach- 
 ing with the Word alone." 
 
 This type of the Christian minister was unhke 
 what he saw about him. And elsewhere he com- 
 plains that ' ' prelates and great religious posses- 
 sioners are so occupied in heart about worldly 
 lordships and with plans of business that no habit 
 of devotion, of praying, of thoughtfulness on 
 heavenly things, on the sins of their own heart, or 
 on those of other men, may be preserved ; neither 
 may they be found studying and preaching the 
 Gospel, nor visiting and comforting poor men." 
 Through his own preaching, which was of a vig- 
 orous, practical kind, through the labors of his 
 itinerants, and through his numerous writings, the 
 doctrines of Wycliffe became Avidely disseminated 
 in England. 
 
 Accepting the Scriptures as the sole standard of 
 authority, Wycliffe, like the reformers of the six- 
 teenth century, rejected nearly every distinctive 
 doctrine of the Papal Church. He was unwilling 
 to receive any doctrine on mere ecclesiastical au- 
 thority. ' ' Even though there were a hundred 
 
BIBLICAL REFORMERS. 83 
 
 Popes," he declared, '•and all the monks were 
 transformed into cardinals, in matters of faith their 
 opinions would be of no account, unless they were 
 founded on Scripture." His concej^tion of the 
 Church w^as not that of an external organization 
 with a supreme pontiff at its head, but that of a 
 communion of saints — the unorganized body com- 
 posed of all the believers. He rejected the doc- 
 trine of ecclesiastical good works. ' ' Many think, ' ' 
 he says, ' ' if they give a penny to a pardoner, they 
 shall be forgiven the breaking of all the command- 
 ments of God, and therefore they take no heed 
 how they keep them. But I say to thee, for cer- 
 tain, though thou have priests and friars to sing 
 for thee, and though thou each day hear many 
 masses, and found chauntries and colleges, and go 
 on pilgrimages all thy life, and give all thy goods 
 to pardoners — all this shall not bring thy soul to 
 heaven. While, if the commandments of God are 
 revered to the end, though neither penny nor half- 
 penny be possessed, there shall l:>e everlasting par- 
 don and the bliss of heaven." He rejected the 
 doctrine of works of supererogation, and with it the 
 doctrine of indulgences resting upon it. He op- 
 posed the worship of saints, first, because it is im- 
 possible to tell with certainty who are to be ranked 
 as such ; and, secondly, because it derogates from 
 the Avork and honor of Christ. ' ' For Christ, ' ' he 
 says, ' ' ever lives near the Father, and is the most 
 ready to intercede for us, imparting Himself to the 
 soul of every wayfaring pilgrim Avho loves Him. 
 Therefore should no man seek first the mediation 
 of other saints, for He is more ready to help than 
 any one of them." 
 
 But no part of ^^'ycliffe's theology Avas more 
 Avide-reaching in its immediate effects and excited 
 more bitter hostility than his rejection of the doc- 
 
84 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 trine of transul^stantiation. His arguments against 
 this Papal doctrine were based on Scripture and 
 reason. He dwelt on the philosophical absurdity 
 that the qualities of the elements — shape, odor, 
 color — should continue after the annihilation of 
 the ol)ject or substance — ])read and wine — in which 
 they inhere. ' ' It cannot be proved by reason or 
 Scripture, ' ' he argued, ' ' that such an illusion is 
 necessary for men as an accidens sine subjecto, when 
 bread and wine remaining would in a more suit- 
 able way represent the l^od}^ of Christ. ' ' The re- 
 jection of this doctrine took away from the Papal 
 priesthood its highest function, abolished the sac- 
 rifice of the mass for the living and the dead, and 
 freed the Church from all the abuses and super- 
 stitions connected with it. He disseminated his 
 views among all classes of people ; for the learned 
 he wrote treatises in Latin, and for the commonalty 
 he prepared pamphlets in English. 
 
 In spite of the malice and efforts of his enemies, 
 Wy cliff e died a natural death in 1384. But his 
 body was not to be left in peace. In 1415 the 
 Council of Constance declared him a heretic, anath- 
 ematized his writings, and ordered his bones to be 
 removed from consecrated ground. For a number 
 of years the command went unheeded ; but in 
 1438 his body was taken up and burnt, and the 
 ashes scattered on the S^vift, a tributary of the 
 Avon. But the truths proclaimed by the fearless 
 reformer were not thus to be extinguished. In the 
 lines of Wordsworth : 
 
 ''As thou these ashes, little brook, wilt bear 
 Into the Avon, Avon to the tide 
 
 Of Severn, Severn to the narrow seas, 
 Into the main ocean they, this deed accurst 
 
 An emblem yields to friends and enemies. 
 How the bold teacher's doctrine, sanctified 
 By truth, shall spread throughout the world dispereed." 
 
BIBLICAL REFORMERS. bO 
 
 Wyclift'e had the grcnitest confidence that sooner 
 or later the truth of the vScriptures would prevail. 
 He was confident that the hierarchy would not 
 always be able to stifle the Gospel. In his 
 writings there is found a remarkable prophecy of 
 Luther's reforming work. " I suppose," he says, 
 ' ' that some brothers, whom God may vouchsafe 
 to teach, will be devoutly converted to the primi- 
 tive religion of Christ, and abandoning their false 
 interpretations of genuine Christianity, after hav- 
 ing demanded or acquired for themselves per- 
 mission from antichrist, will freely return to the 
 original religion of Christ ; and then tliey will 
 build up the Church like Paul." 
 
 The followers of WyclifTe in England, of whom 
 there were large numbers, were stigmatized as Lol- 
 lards, a name of uncertain origin. The doctrines 
 of the reformer were industriously propagated by 
 enthusiastic itinerant preachers. They ' ' were 
 picturesque figures in long russet dress down to 
 the heels, who, staff in hand, preached in the 
 mother-tongue to the people in churches and 
 graveyards, in squares, streets, and houses, in 
 gardens and pleasure grounds, and then talked 
 privately with those who had ])een impressed. ' ' 
 But about the year 1400 the Church and State 
 combined to suppress the reformatory movement. 
 Arundel, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was very 
 active in the persecution that ensued. In 1408 he 
 secured the passage of an ecclesiastical law which 
 forbade anyone to preach without a bishop's 
 license, prohibited all preaching against the clergy 
 before a congregation of laymen, and required all 
 Lollard books and translations of the Bible to be 
 delivered up and ]>urned. Nothing contrary to 
 the doctrines of the Church was anywhere to be 
 taught, and the translation of any portion of 
 
86 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 Scripture into English was forbidden. The Par- 
 hament, under clerical influence, passed an enact- 
 ment ' ' that whatsoever the}^ were who should read 
 the Scriptures in the mother-tongue, they should 
 forfeit land, cattle, body, life, and goods from 
 their heirs forever ; and so be condemned for here- 
 tics to God, enemies to the Crown, and most ar- 
 rant traitors to the land." But the truth was not 
 without its martyrs, among Avhom was Sir John 
 Oldcastle, the friend of Henry V. , who was burned 
 at the stake in 1417. The Lollard movement was 
 checked, but not annihilated ; and its traditions, 
 including Wycliff e' s translation of the Bible, lived 
 on till the Reformation of the sixteenth century. 
 
 2. But the greatest influence of Wycliffe, after the 
 suppression of Lollardy in England, was to be ex- 
 erted in Bohemia. His doctrines were conveyed 
 to the University of Prague, at the beginning of 
 the fifteenth century one of the most influential in 
 Europe, by Oxford students. His works became 
 well known in the Bohemian capital, where they 
 found warm adherents and defenders. The most 
 influential of his disciples was John Huss, who, 
 through the earnest preaching of Mihtz, Conrad, 
 of Waldhausen, and especially Matthias, of Janow, 
 had been turned toward an evangelical conception 
 of Christianity. With less intellectual force but 
 with no less earnest purpose, he embraced the 
 fundamental teachings of Wychffe. He made the 
 Scriptures the ultimate rule of authority in relig- 
 ious l^elief and practice, though he did not apply 
 it, in its whole extent, to the Papal sj^stem. Thus 
 it happened that he adhered to the doctrine of 
 transubstantiation and of the seven sacraments. 
 ' ' I am attracted by his writings, ' ' Huss says in 
 speaking of the English reformer, ' ' in which he 
 expends every effort to conduct all men back to the 
 
BIBLICAL REFORMERS. 87 
 
 law of Christ, and especially the clergy, inviting 
 them to let go the pomp and dominion of the 
 world, and live with the apostles according to the 
 life of Christ. I am attracted by the love wdiich 
 he had for the law of Christ, maintaining its truth 
 and holding that not one jot or tittle of it could 
 fail." ^ 
 
 Huss was educated at the University of Prague, 
 in which he became a lecturer in 1398. He grew 
 in popularit}^, and four years later he was made 
 rector. He was a diligent student of Wycliffe's 
 Avri tings. The year of his election as rector of the 
 University, he became pastor of the Bethlehem 
 Chapel^ which a pious citizen of Prague had en- 
 dowed for the maintenance of practical preaching. 
 His earnestness, spiritual power, and fearless de- 
 nunciation of sin among clergy and laity drew 
 about him a large circle of adherents. His 
 conception of preaching was evangelical. ' ' This 
 must ever be the great and especial concern of the 
 ministers of the Church, ' ' he wrote, ' ' to preach to 
 the people the Gospel of Christ in its purity and 
 with fruit, so that the people may know God's 
 will, avoid the bad, and be led in the good way of 
 a just and virtuous life. Woe, therefore, to the 
 priests who neglect God's Word, who lead lives of 
 indolent repose when they might be preaching it. 
 And woe to those who hinder the preaching and 
 the hearing of the divine Word. But ])lessed are 
 they who hear it and treasure it up in their hearts, 
 and by good works observe it." 
 
 For a time Huss stood in favor with the eccle- 
 siastical authorities ; and in 1403 he was appointed 
 by the Archbishop Zl^ynek on a commission to re- 
 port on a reputed miracle at Wilsnack. According 
 to popular belief, three sacramental wafers had 
 
 * Neander's "History of the Church," V., p. 242. 
 
88 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 turned red with the blood of our Lord. The 
 church at Wilsnack became a place of pilgrimages 
 from all parts of Europe. The report of Huss was 
 unfavorable to the superstition, and pilgrimages 
 from the Archbishop's diocese were prohibited. 
 On this occasion IIuss wrote a tract, in which, 
 while he held in transubstantiation, he attacked 
 the superstition and fraud connected with it. 
 ' ' The glorified body of Christ, ' ' he says, ' ' exists 
 dimensionally in Heaven alone, though truly and 
 really in the sacrament of the altar. Nothing that 
 belonged to this body could be separated from it 
 and present by itself alone upon earth. All that 
 is said, therefore, about relics of Christ's body, or 
 of His ):>lood, as l)eing present in this place or that, 
 must be false. He who pretends to believe any- 
 thing of this sort dishonors the blood of Christ. 
 But, also, the iniquity of greedy ecclesiastics has 
 increased to such extent that messengers of anti- 
 christ, following their master, the devil, have ex- 
 hibited their own blood as the blood of Christ, at 
 the Eucharist, and the same is adored by foolish 
 and unbelieving Christians, who, unbelievingl}^, 
 seek after wonders." 
 
 But a conflict Avith the hierarchy was only a 
 question of time. Huss's zealous appeals for re- 
 form, and especially the authoritative eminence he 
 assigned to the Scriptures, were inconsistent with 
 the existing immorality of the clergy and the 
 ecclesiastical absolutism of the Pope. Four prin- 
 cipal points may be noted in the reformatory 
 movement he inaugurated — points that are prac- 
 tical rather than doctrinal : 1. To luring the people 
 together in harmony under the law of Christ ; 2. 
 To abolish anti-Christian ordinances, by which the 
 people were deluded ; 3. To require the clergy, 
 banishing pomp, cupidity, and luxury, to live 
 
BIBLICAL REFORMEHS. 89 
 
 pure and honest, according to the Gospel ; and 4. 
 To regard the niiUtant Church as consisting of the 
 orders instituted by our Lord ; namely, priests 
 faithfully fultilling the law, secular nobles govern- 
 ing the people in righteousness, and the lower 
 classes serving both orders according to the law of 
 Christ. His view of the Church, like that of 
 Wycliffe, makes it consist essentially of the body 
 of the elect. He does not look upon it as a visible 
 organization with the Pope as head. He regards 
 the Pope, whom he sometimes characterizes as 
 antichrist, as a hindrance. "It is evident, ' ' he 
 affirms, ' ' that the greatest errors and the greatest 
 divisions have arisen by occasion of this head of 
 the Church, and that they have gone on multiply- 
 ing to this day. For before such a head had been 
 instituted by the emperor, the Church was con- 
 stantl}^ adding to her virtues ; but after the ap- 
 pointment of such a head, the evils have contin- 
 ually mounted higher ; and there will be no end 
 to all this, until this head, with its body, be 
 brought back to the rule of the apostles." 
 
 In 1408 Huss was forbidden to exercise any 
 priestly function within the jurisdiction of the 
 Archbishop of Prague. A bull of Alexander V. , 
 in 1409, ordered the abjuration of all Wychffite 
 heresies, and a general prohibition of preaching. 
 Three years later, when Huss opposed a Papal 
 crusade against the King of Naples, and de- 
 nounced the indulgences promised to all who 
 should participate in it, he was excommunicated 
 and banished from the city. Though an interdict 
 was laid on all places that should give him shelter, 
 he continued, as he had opportunity, his open-air 
 preaching, and employed his leisure in writing his 
 princi})al work, De Ecdesia. 
 
 This ecclesiastical persecution brought to light 
 
90 THE REP^ORMATION DAWN. 
 
 the character of Huss. He was a conscientious, 
 heroic spirit. Life was less dear to him than the 
 truth of Christ. He held himself ready at all 
 times to yield to clear reason or* Holy Scripture, 
 but not to arbitrary authority. ' ' I avow it to be 
 my purpose, ' ' he said, ' ' to defend the truth which 
 God has enabled me to know, and esi^ecially the 
 truth of the Holy Scriptures, even to death ; since 
 I know that the truth stands, and is forever mighty, 
 and abides eternally ; and with her there is no 
 respect of persons. And, if the fear of death 
 should terrify me, still I hope in my God, and in 
 the assistance of the Holy Spirit, that the Lord 
 Himself will give me firmness. And if I have 
 found favor in His sight. He will crow^n me with 
 martyrdom. ' ' 
 
 Huss stood, like Luther, for the principle of 
 individual liberty, as over against ecclesiastical 
 authority. This was, indeed, his great heresy. 
 When a Paj^al legate demanded of him whether 
 he would obey the apostolical mandates, he re- 
 plied : "I am ready, with all my heart, to fulfill 
 the apostolical mandates ; but I call apostolical 
 mandates the doctrines of the apostles of Christ ; 
 and so far as the Papal mandates agree with these, 
 so far I will obey them most willingly. But, if I 
 see anything in them at variance with these, I shall 
 not obey, even though the stake were staring me 
 in the face. ' ' He refused to give up preaching at 
 the command of the Pope, because he recognized 
 his call to the ministry of the Word as coming 
 from God. He felt, as did the apostles under sim- 
 ilar circumstances, that it is better to obey God 
 than man. 
 
 The great Council of Constance assembled in 
 1414 for the purpose of healing the distractions 
 of the Church. Huss was invited to appear be- 
 
BIBLICAL REFORMERS. 91 
 
 fore it ; and to protect him from the treax^liery of 
 his enemies, he was granted a safe-conduct by the 
 Emperor Sigismund. He was anxious for an op- 
 portunity to explain his doctrines and to defend 
 them before the Council. But this privilege was 
 long denied him. Shortly after his arrival in 
 Constance he was seized, in violation of the em- 
 peror's safe-conduct, and thrown into a noisome 
 prison. In June, 1415, he was brought before 
 the Council, and professed his readiness to retract 
 every statement of his writings that could be 
 shown to be erroneous. But the Council de- 
 manded submission rather than argument ; and 
 after several hearings, when his voice was fre- 
 quently drowned by hostile outcries, he was con- 
 demned to be burnt at the stake. The principal 
 articles in his condemnation were as follows : 
 ''1. The Church consists of those who are j^re- 
 destined to eternal life ; 2. The head of the Church 
 is Christ alone ; the militant Church does not need 
 a visible head, nor can it be shown that Christ 
 ordained one ; 3. The Papacy owed its origin to 
 imperial favor and power ; 4. Ecclesiastical obedi- 
 ence is an invention of the priesthood and a con- 
 tradiction of Holy Scripture ; 5. A priest, when 
 he is not conscious of a fault, should not cease to 
 preach, even though the Pope forbid him ; 6. The 
 Holy Scriptures are the only source and rule of 
 Christian hfe." ^ 
 
 Huss bore his condemnation and martyrdom 
 with a heroic, Christian spirit. When, in degrad- 
 ing him from the priesthood, the bishops said, 
 ''Now we give over thy soul to the devil," he, 
 raising his eyes to Heaven, replied, ' ' But I com- 
 mend into Thy hands, Lord Jesus, my soul re- 
 deemed by Thee." Before being chained to the 
 
 * Alzog's " Universal Kirchengeschichte," II., p. 205. 
 
92 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 Stake he knelt and prayed : ' ' Lord Jesus Christ, 
 stand by me, that by Thy help I may be enabled, 
 with a strong and steadfast soul, to endure this 
 cruel and shameful death, to which I have been 
 condemned on account of the preaching of the 
 holy Gospel and Thy Word." Before the faggots 
 were lighted. Von Pappenheim, the marshal of 
 the empire, rode up and called upon him once 
 more to recant. ' ' What error should I recant, ' ' 
 he replied, ' ' when I am conscious of no error ? 
 The chief aim of my preaching was to teach men 
 repentance and the forgiveness of sins according 
 to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the 
 expositions of the holy fathers ; therefore am I 
 prepared to die with a joyful soul. ' ' With the 
 words, ' ' Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy 
 upon me, ' ' upon his lips, his spirit took its flight. 
 His ashes Avere scattered upon the Rhine. 
 
 A few months afterward there followed another 
 martyrdom on the same spot. It was that of 
 Jerome, of Prague, the friend and fellow-reformer 
 of Huss. He had defended the doctrines of 
 Wycliffe in Paris, Vienna, and other cities of 
 Europe, and had thereby excited the distrust and 
 enmity of the ecclesiastical authorities. He went 
 to Constance incognito ; but, finding it dangerous 
 to remain there, and being unable to secure a safe- 
 conduct, he started to Bohemia. He was arrested 
 on the way by his enemies, and cited to appear 
 before the Council to defend his teachings. Like 
 Huss, he held himself ready to recant so soon as 
 he was convicted of error from Holy Scripture. 
 While he spoke there was heard among the noisy 
 shouts, " Jerome must be burnt." He was sub- 
 jected to a cruel imprisonment for nearly a year. 
 At his final trial he defended himself with so 
 much eloquence that he excited the admiration 
 
BIBLICAL REFORMERS. 93 
 
 even of his enemies. But refusing to recant what 
 he held as truth, he was condemned to the stake. 
 When the fire flamed around him he exclaimed in 
 a loud voice, " Into Thy hands, God, I commit 
 my spirit. ' ' In the words of an eye-witness, ' ' He 
 feared neither death nor the fire and its torture. 
 No stoic ever suffered death with so firm a soul as 
 that with which he seemed to demand it. Jerome 
 endured the torments of the fire with more tran- 
 quillity than Socrates displayed in drinking his 
 cup of hemlock." * 
 
 But the truth Avas not to be destroyed by tjie . 
 burning of these two faithful preachers. The news 
 of their martyrdom produced great excitement in 
 Bohemia ; and soon, at a diet in Prague, a protest, 
 signed by four hundred and fifty-two magnates 
 and barons, defended the character of Huss as a 
 man and evangelical teacher. A few days later, the 
 nobles who had signed the protest formed them- 
 selves into a league to defend the preaching of the 
 Gospel in their estates, and to obey the bishoi3s 
 and Pope only so far as they might be in agreement 
 with the Scriptures. War was the result. In 
 1418 the new Pope, Martin V., issued various bulls 
 in which he placed all obstinate Hussites under 
 the ])an, and urged all the ecclesiastical and civil 
 authorities to proceed against them. The em- 
 l^eror, Sigismund, invaded Bohemia, but his armies 
 were successively defeated in three great battles. 
 The failure of the crusade inclined the Papal party 
 to peace. The demands of the more moderate 
 ])art of the Hussites were embodied in the famous 
 four articles of Prague : 1. Free preaching of the 
 Word of God throughout Bohemia ; 2. The admin- 
 istration of the communion under both kinds, ac- 
 cording to the institution of Christ ; 3. Deprivation 
 
 * Neander's " History of the Church," V., p. 380. 
 
94 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 of the clergy of secular lordship and of secular 
 property ; and 4. Repression of all public scan- 
 dals. Negotiations with the Council of Basel 
 ended in 1433 with the signing of the ' ' Com- 
 pactata," in which the demands of the Hussites 
 were more or less fully conceded. The Hussites 
 maintained their existence into the sixteenth cen- 
 tur}^, when some of them returned to the Roman 
 Church, while others allied themselves with the 
 Protestant movement, and have perpetuated their 
 existence to the present day as Moravians or 
 United Brethren. 
 
 3. While a refined paganism characterized the 
 social and ecclesiastical life of Italy, a prophetic 
 voice was heard at Florence. Savonarola spoke 
 and labored in the spirit of the Hebrew jDrophets, 
 whose writings were his study and delight. 
 Though his career was not free from a fanatical 
 element, the sincerity of his pur23ose can hardly be 
 questioned, and the reform he effected for a time 
 in the dissolute ' ' City of Flowers ' ' is truly re- 
 markable. A political element is found in his 
 work ; but in all that he undertook he was ani- 
 mated by a devout Christian spirit. 
 
 The reformation he tried to effect was one of 
 morals rather than of doctrine. But the basis of 
 his teaching was the Scriptures. "Amid the lux- 
 urious, aesthetic, semi-j^agan life of Florence," to 
 use the words of Hill in his Introduction to 
 Savonarola's "Triumph of the Cross," "in the 
 ears of the rich citizens, the licentious youth, the 
 learned Platonists, he denounced the revival of 
 paganism, the corruption of the Church, the igno- 
 rance and consequent slavery of the people, and 
 declared that God would visit Italy with some ter- 
 rible punishment, and that it would come soon. 
 He spoke severe words about the priests, declared 
 
BIBLICAL REFORMERS. 95 
 
 to the people that the Scriptures were the only 
 guides to salvation ; that salvation did not come 
 from external works, as the Church taught, but 
 from faith in Christ, from giving up the heart to 
 Him; and if He forgave sin, there was no need for 
 any other absolution." 
 
 In his youth Savonarola was of a studious, med- 
 itative temperament. He found social festivities 
 vain and repulsive ; and, though brought up in 
 fashional)le surroundings, he felt a contempt for 
 the pomp and splendor of court life. He aban- 
 doned the medical career, which his father wished 
 him to pursue, to devote himself to a religious 
 life. His daily prayer was, " Lord, teach me the 
 way my soul should walk." In 1475 he entered 
 the Dominican monastery at Bologna, where he 
 passed the next six years. "The motive," he 
 wrote to his father, ' ' which determines me to enter 
 into a religious life is this : The great misery of the 
 Avorld, the misery of man ; the rapes, the adulteries, 
 the roiiberies, the pride, the idolatry, the monstrous 
 blasphemies by which the world is polluted, for 
 there is 7ione that doeth good, no, not one^ His 
 writings at this period, particularly his poems, 
 show a strong sense of the worldliness and wicked- 
 ness prevailing about him in Church and State. 
 
 In 1490, during the reign of Lorenzo the Mag- 
 nificent, he was transferred to the Dominican mon- 
 astery at Florence. He had won renown as an el- 
 oquent preacher ; and when the cloister garden 
 became too small for the crowds that thronged to 
 hear him, he spoke in the Cathedral of St. Mark. 
 ' ' Your sins, ' ' he declared to the people, ' ' make 
 me a prophet. ' ' He spoke as one inspired ; and 
 several of his predictions having been fulfilled, he 
 acquired great authority with the people. Lorenzo 
 was anxious to conciliate his favor ; and at his 
 
96 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 suggestion a commission of five distinguished men 
 waited on Savonarola to beg him to be less i)erso- 
 nal in his denunciations of vice, and to deal more 
 in generalities. ' ' Go tell your master, Lorenzo. ' ' 
 the dauntless preacher replied, ' ' to repent of his 
 sins, or God will punish liini and his. Does he 
 threaten me with banishment ? Well, I am but a 
 stranger, and he is the first citizen of Florence ; 
 V)ut let him know that I shall remain, and he must 
 soon depart. ' ' The fulfillment of this fearless pre- 
 diction a short time afterward enhanced his repu- 
 tation and infiuence with the populace. 
 
 After the overthrow of the Medici house, the 
 city of Florence turned to Savonarola as its law- 
 giver. Through his influence, a popular form of 
 government was adopted, the principal features of 
 Avhich were as follows : 1. The fear of God and 
 the purification of manners ; 2. The promotion of 
 the public welfare in preference to that of private 
 persons ; 3. A general amnesty to political offend- 
 ers ; and 4. A council on the Venetian model, but 
 with no doge. ' ' Pleasure-loving Florence, ' ' says 
 Madame Villari, " was completely changed. Ab- 
 juring pomp and vanities, its citizens observed the 
 ascetic regime of the cloister ; half the year was 
 devoted to abstinence, and few dared to eat meat 
 on the fasts ordained by Savonarola. Hymns and 
 lauds rang in the streets that had so recently eclioed 
 with Lorenzo's dissolute songs. Both sexes dressed 
 with Puritan plainness ; husl:>ands and wives 
 quitted their homes for convents ; marriage be- 
 came an awful and scarcely permitted rite ; 
 mothers suckled their own babes ; and persons of 
 all ranks — nobles, scholars, and artists — renounced 
 the world to assume the Dominican rol)e. ' ' There 
 was a reign of Puritan rigor. All the articles that 
 
BIBLICAL REFORMERS. 97 
 
 minister to pleasure and luxury — cards, dice, per- 
 fumes, pictures, musical instruments, and licen- 
 tious books — were collected and burned ou the 
 public square. 
 
 This ascetic rigor, so strongly in contrast with 
 the prevailing tone of society and the Church, 
 naturally provoked opposition. It was distasteful 
 to the worldly-minded of the city. Savonarola's 
 avowed purpose to reform the Church at large upon 
 the apostolic model was not acceptable to the in- 
 famous Pope Alexander VI. He rejected the doc- 
 trine of Papal infallibility. "I lay down this 
 axiom," he said in one of his sermons, "there is 
 no man that may not deceive himself. The Pope 
 himself may err. You are mad if you say the 
 Pope cannot err ! How many wicked Popes have 
 there been who have erred? You say that the 
 Pope may err as a man, but not as Pope. But I 
 say the Pox)e may err in his processes and in his 
 sentences. How many constitutions have Popes 
 issued, annulled by other Popes ; hoAV many 
 opinions of Popes are contrary to those of other 
 Popes ! He may err by false persuasions ; he may 
 err by malice, and against his conscience. ' ' These 
 words are entirely in the spirit of Luther. 
 
 Savonarola was summoned to Rome, but refused 
 to go. His effort to have a general council con- 
 vened by the sovereigns of Europe decided his 
 fate. Alexander VI. threatened Florence with the 
 interdict, if the fearless preacher was not silenced. 
 The reformer appealed to liis work. ' ' There are 
 briefs arrived from Rome, is it not so ? " he asked. 
 ' ' They call me the son of perdition. He whom 
 you so call has no concubines ; he preaches the 
 faith of Christ. His spiritual daughters and sons, 
 those who listen to his doctrines, pass not their 
 7 
 
98 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 time in perpetuating such wickedness ; they con- 
 fess, commune, hve godly hves. This friar would 
 build up the Church which you destroy." 
 
 At length Savonarola was brought to trial. By 
 means of confessions wrung from him under re- 
 peated tortures — confessions that were afterward 
 mutilated and i^erverted — he was condemned to 
 death. While the sacerdotal robes were being 
 stripped off in the ceremonial of degradation, the 
 bishop uttered the solemn formula : "I separate 
 thee from the Church militant and the Church tri- 
 umphant. " " Not from the Church triumphant, ' ' 
 replied the martyr, in firm tones, ' ' that is beyond 
 thy power." His body was then burned, along 
 with two discij^les, and the ashes thrown into the 
 Arno. 
 
 4. Among the earhest of the biblical reformers 
 before the Reformation were the Waldenses. 
 Though efforts have been made to trace their 
 origin to an earlier date, it is now generally con- 
 ceded that they originated in the latter part of the 
 twelfth century. Their founder was Peter Waldo, 
 a wealthy citizen of Lyons, in southern France. 
 The sudden death of a friend at a convivial assem- 
 bly startled him into serious reflection upon relig- 
 ious truth ; and, finally abandoning his mercantile 
 career, and distributing his wealth among the 
 poor, he exhorted all who would hear him to lives 
 of righteousness. 
 
 He made the Scriptures the basis of his teach- 
 ing ; and to him belongs the honor of having first 
 translated the New Testament into the dialect of 
 southern France. He discovered the contradic- 
 tions existing between the teachings of the Gospel 
 and the doctrine and practice of the Roman Church. 
 He attacked the reigning vices of the clergy, and 
 denounced the arrogance of the Pope. He ex- 
 
BIBLICAL reformp:rs. 99 
 
 horted the people to an imitation of the Hfe of 
 Christ ; and, as he gained many adherents, he soon 
 attracted the attention of the Papal hierarchy, who 
 for]:)ade his preaching. With apostolic spirit, he 
 rei)lied that it is l)etter to obey God than men. 
 
 The followers of ^^"aldo were filled with the zeal 
 of the primitive Church, and their preachers 
 spread their doctrines throughout southern France 
 and northern Italy. Their doctrines, in sharp 
 contrast with the Papal system of belief, are not 
 unlike the leading principles of the Protestant re- 
 formers. ' ' The Holy Scriptures alone, ' ' they 
 said, ' ' contain all things necessary to our salvation, 
 and nothing ought to l:>e received as an article of 
 faith but what God hath revealed to us. " * This 
 is a rejection of tradition and ecclesiastical au- 
 thority. They conceived of the Church, not as a 
 visible organization united under the Pope, but as 
 the body ' ' of the elect of God from the beginning 
 to the end of the world, by the grace of God, 
 through the merit of Christ, gathered together by 
 the Holy Sj)irit, and foreordained to eternal life." 
 Holding that Christ is the sole mediator between 
 God and men, they rejected the worship of saints 
 and the sacerdotal character of the priesthood. 
 ' ' They receive, ' ' says Vignaux, ' ' two sacraments, 
 baptism and the Lord' s Supper. They affirm that 
 all masses are damnable, especially those which 
 are repeated for the dead, and that, therefore, they 
 ought to be abolished ; to which they add the re- 
 jection of numberless ceremonies. They deny 
 the supremacy of the Pope, especially the power 
 which he hath usurped over the civil government ; 
 and they admit no other degrees, except those of 
 bishops, priests, and deacons. They condemn 
 the Popedom as the true Babylon, allow the mar- 
 
 * Milner's "Church History," IL, p. 54. 
 
100 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 riage of the clerg}', and define the true Church to 
 ])e those who hear and understand the Word of 
 God."^ 
 
 The Waldenses required of candidates for the 
 ministry an extended and accurate acquaintance 
 with the Scriptures, To this end, the candidates 
 were expected to learn by heart the Gospels of 
 Matthew and John^ all the canonical epistles, and 
 a considerable part of the writings of David, Sol- 
 omon, and the prophets. Afterward, upon evi- 
 dence of a consistent Christian life, they were 
 ordained as pastors by the laying on of hands. 
 The younger pastors submitted themselves to the 
 older, and all were supported by the voluntar}^ 
 contributions of the people. They taught the 
 fundamental truths of the Christian faith as em- 
 bodied in the ecumenical creeds. 
 
 The evangelical teaching of the Waldenses pro- 
 duced a simple but beautiful type of piety. Their 
 character has been outlined by an inquisitor in an 
 interesting passage. "The heretics are known," 
 he said, "by their manners and words ; for they 
 are orderly and modest in their manners and be- 
 havior. They avoid all appearance of pride in 
 their dress ; they neither wear rich clothes nor 
 are they too mean and ragged in their attire. 
 They avoid commerce, that they may be free from 
 falsehood and deceit ; they live by manual in- 
 dustry, as day-laborers or mechanics ; and their 
 preachers are weavers and tailors. The}^ seek not 
 to amass wealth, but are content with the neces- 
 saries of hfe. They are chaste, temperate, and 
 sober ; they abstain from anger. Their women 
 are modest, avoid slander, foolish jesting, and 
 levity of words, especially falsehood and oaths." 
 
 Notwithstanding their earnest faith and simple 
 
 * Milner's " Church History," II., p. 54. 
 
BIBLICAL REFORMERS. 101 
 
 piety, they were calumniated by their enemies. 
 As in the early Church, they were stigmatized witli 
 opprobrious names, and accused of horrible wick- 
 edness. In Provence they were called cut-purses. 
 Because they denied the doctrine of transubstanti- 
 ation, they were characterized as Arians. They 
 were charged with lewdness, with disregard of the 
 sanctity of marriage, and with other abominable 
 vices. Through these and similar calumnies, re- 
 ligious hatred was inflamed and the sword of 
 persecution sharpened. 
 
 From the close of the twelfth to the beginning 
 of the sixteenth century and later, the Waldenses 
 were subject to almost ceaseless persecution. The 
 Inquisition, instituted by Innocent III., was first 
 employed against them. Hundreds of these 
 simple-minded and inoffensive Christians were 
 thrown into prison, and afterward tortured, 
 hanged, and burned. They were frequently at- 
 tacked by secular princes, urged on by the Papacy 
 and the hope of plunder. Innocent VIII. himself 
 sent an army of ten thousand men against them 
 under his legate. Fire and slaughter desolated their 
 peaceful and flourishing valleys. Horrible pictures 
 of suffering are handed down to us. ' ' The poor 
 people," says Milner, "seeing their caves pos- 
 sessed by their enemies, who assaulted them during 
 the severity of winter, retreated to one of the high- 
 est mountains of the Alps, the mothers carrying 
 cradles, and leading by the hand those little chil- 
 dren who were able to walk. ^lany of them were 
 murdered, others were starved to death ; a hundred 
 and eighty children were found dead in their 
 cradles, and the greater part of their mothers died 
 soon after them." 
 
 But bitter and unrelenting persecution failed to 
 destroy them. As happened at an earlier period, 
 
102 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 the blood of the martyrs proved the seed of the 
 Church. At the period of the Reformation thej 
 numbered, it has been estimated, nearly a million, 
 scattered throughout the various countries of 
 Europe. They survived the storm of the Reform- 
 ation era, and have maintained their existence 
 down to the present time. The Waldensian 
 Church of Italy is active in its missionary work 
 to-day. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE REF0RMINC4 COUNCILS. 
 
 One of the most remarkable events of the fif- 
 teenth century was the assembhng of the Reform- 
 mg Comicils of Pisa, Constance, and Basel. 
 Though the}^ failed in their immediate object, the 
 general effect Avas to shake the power of Papal 
 absolutism and to turn the thought of Europe to 
 the crying evils existing in the Church. Though 
 the times were not ripe for reform, many truths 
 were emphasized during the agitations of this period 
 that prepared the way for the Protestant movement 
 of the following century. 
 
 The calling of the Reforming Councils was due, 
 first, to the Papal schism, and, second, to the cor- 
 rupt state of the Church. In 1378 the cardinals, 
 offended by the tyranny of Urban VI., withdrew 
 for the most part from Rome, and at Fondi chose 
 Clement VII. as Pope. The latter took up his 
 residence at Avignon. The C'hristian nations of 
 Europe were divided in their allegiance, France, 
 Scotland, and Spain adhering to Clement, and 
 England, Germany, and Scandinavia to Urban. 
 The result was disastrous. The maintenance of 
 two Papal courts led to increased extortion ; and 
 the rival Popes, by their intrigues, anathemas, 
 and excommunications, confused and scandalized 
 the religious life of Europe. ' ' You know, ' ' says 
 Philargi, Archbishop of Milan, "how those two 
 wretched men calumniate one another and dis- 
 grace themselves by invectives full of rant and 
 (103) 
 
104 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 fury. Each calls the other antipope, ohtruder, 
 antichri.st. Each of them, to gain patrons in the 
 world, to make his own party stronger by this or 
 that person, dares not give a repulse to anybody 
 that asks for anything. The man whom one 
 rightly condemns, the other pronounces not bound. 
 And thus all order is turned into confusion. ' ' ^ 
 
 At various times efforts were made to heal the 
 unhappy schism. The cardinals, in advance of 
 election to the Papal chair, pledged themselves to 
 use every effort, even to the point of al^dicating, 
 to restore unity. Gregory XII. , the Italian Pope, 
 and Benedict XIII., the French Pope, agreed to 
 meet in 1407, at Savona, to take steps to heal the 
 division. But regal power is a tempting posses- 
 sion ; and in spite of their promises and preten- 
 sions, the rival Popes were not in earnest, and the 
 proposed meeting never took place. ' ' If either 
 one of the two," says Aretin, an eye-witness and 
 member of Gregory' s court, ' ' was really willing 
 to do what he has sworn to do, the other would 
 be obliged to fulfill his part, whether willing or 
 not willing. For what excuse or evasion could 
 he have? But now, when both delay, one fur- 
 nishes the other with means of evasion and ex- 
 cuse. . . More acrimony of hatred, more 
 violent indignation could not exist. ' ' 
 
 The cardinals of both parties finally became 
 dissatisfied with the insincerity and selfishness of 
 the Popes, and put forth a proclamation calling 
 for a General Council at the city of Pisa, in 1409. 
 All other efforts to restore peace to the Church 
 having failed, the eyes of western Europe were 
 turned hopefully to this assembly. It was largely 
 attended. Two great problems confronted the 
 Council : first, the healing of the Papal schism, 
 
 * Neander's " History of the Church," V., p. 82. 
 
THE KEFOKMING COUNCILS. 105 
 
 and, second, the reformation of the moral and 
 administrative condition of the Church. In 1401 
 Nicolas de Clemanges, who has already been 
 quoted, wrote a remarkable work, De Ruina 
 Ecdesise, in which he portraj^s its corrupt and 
 disorganized condition. Speaking of the priest- 
 hood, he says: "Brought up without learning, 
 in idleness, they busy themselves onl}^ with look- 
 ing out for their pleasures, feasting, and sporting. 
 Hence in all places there are so many bad, 
 wretched, ignorant priests, whose scandalous lives 
 make them offensive and sources of corruption to 
 the communities. Hence the expressions of con- 
 temi)t for priests on the lips of all the people. AA' hile 
 it Avas formerly the case that with people of the 
 world the ])riesthood stood in the highest honor, 
 and nothing was considered more worth}' of respect 
 than this order, now nothing is considered more 
 deserving of contempt." 
 
 The Council of Pisa was dominated b}' the lil>- 
 eral principles of the University of Paris. Chan- 
 cellor Gerson, while recognizing the Papal hie- 
 rarchy as necessary, still placed the Church above 
 the Pope. "It is from Christ," he said, "the 
 Head and Bridegroom of the Church, that the 
 mystical body, which is the Church, has her 
 origin ; and directly from Him she has her power 
 and authority, so that she may, for the purpose of 
 preserving her unity, cause the assembling, in a 
 regular manner, of a General Council which repre- 
 sents her. This is evident from the words of 
 Christ : ' ^Mlere two or three are met together in 
 My name, there am I in the midst of them ; ' 
 where it is to be carefully observed that He does 
 not say in the name of Peter or of Paul, but in 
 My name, thus intimating that wherever the faith- 
 ful do but assembk^j if this be done in His name, 
 
106 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 that is, in faith on Christ and for the weal of His 
 Church, He himself stands by them as an 
 infallible guide. ' ' * 
 
 In accordance with these principles, the Council 
 declared its supremacy over the Pope. The rival 
 Popes were summoned before it ; and when they 
 failed to appear, they ' ' were declared to be diso- 
 bedient and mendacious, and, as incorrigible 
 heretics and schismatics, were deposed and ex- 
 communicated." t The faithful throughout 
 Christendom were absolved from all allegiance to 
 them. The Council elected Peter Philargi, Arch- 
 bishop of Milan, as Pope, who assumed the name 
 of Alexander V. Before his coronation the Pope 
 declared that he would occup}^ himself Avith the 
 reformation of the Church. But the resolution 
 passed at the final meeting of the Council, through 
 his influence, shows how little he was in earnest : 
 ' ' Whereas the Pope had it in purpose, in con- 
 nection with the Council, to reform the Church 
 in its head and members ; and whereas, by the 
 grace of God, much has been set in order b}^ him ; 
 and whereas many other things relating to the 
 order of the prelates and other subordinate eccle- 
 siastical persons still remained to be done, which, 
 owing to the j^remature departure of the i)relates 
 and delegates, could not be brought about ; there- 
 fore, the transactions respecting the reformation 
 should be suspended until the meeting of the 
 Second Council, and then and there be continued. ' ' 
 The date of the Second Council was fixed three 
 years later. 
 
 Thus the first Reformatory Council ended in 
 failure. The sentence of deposition against Gre- 
 gory and Benedict had been unavailing ; and so 
 
 * Neander's " History of the Church," V., p. 79. 
 
 t Alzog's " Universal" Kirchengeschichte,' II., j). 162, 
 
THE REFORMING COUNCILS. 107 
 
 far from restoring harmony, the schism had been 
 aggravated by the addition of a third Pope. The 
 Council had been rash and injudicious. "Those 
 who attended the Council of Pisa," wrote Nicolas 
 de Clemanges, ' ' decreed and published that by a 
 new election, which was hastily made in com- 
 pliance with the wishes of a few ambitious men, 
 they had removed schism from the Church and 
 restored peace to her. And who in the Church is 
 so blind as not to understand clearly, by expe- 
 rience, how much they themselves and the whole 
 Church were deceived l:)y that opinion ? Nothing 
 worse could have been done to the Church, noth- 
 ing more dangerous to union, than before every- 
 thing had been duly arranged, and placed on the 
 basis of sincerity and concord, so as to be able to 
 treat of peace at all, to proceed to a new election, 
 the very thing which from the beginning had laid 
 the foundation of schism, had prolonged it to such 
 duration, and had in so incredible a manner 
 brought the Church down to the ground. So long 
 as the hankering after benefices causes this same 
 thing to be done, so long shall we look in vain for 
 a union of the Church." * 
 
 Alexander V. did not long survive. He was 
 succeeded by Balthazar Cossa, as John XXIII. , 
 one of the most abandoned men who ever occu- 
 pied the Papal throne. ' ' He shrank from no 
 crime, ' ' says Neander, ' ' practiced the most un- 
 blushing extortions and every species of impu- 
 dent simony, and abandoned himself to every 
 excess. In such a time of corruption, he was 
 able, by his immense wealth, to obtain great in- 
 fluence, which enabled him to carry out his ob- 
 jects. ' ' He made an effort to gain over the Uni- 
 versity of Paris by the bestowment of numerous 
 
 * Neander's " History of the Church," V., p. 88. 
 
108 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 benefices. He made Gerson's friend, Peter 
 d' Ailly, a cardinal. But his efforts were in vain ; 
 and Gerson, in a work, De Modis Unieiidi, 
 continued to urge reform and to undermine the 
 Papal supremacy. ' ' See, then, ye behevers, ' ' he 
 exclaims, ' ' that if we obey those who are thus 
 contending with each other and rending in pieces 
 the Church, we grievously sin. Long ere this 
 would they have quitted the grasp of their tyran- 
 nical rule, had you not indulged them with your 
 obedience." * 
 
 Though he would gladly have avoided doing so, 
 -John XXIII. united with the Emperor Sigismund 
 in calling a General Council at Constance in 1414. 
 It is notable as being the largest Council of the 
 Middle Ages. The twofold task of the Council of 
 Constance, as of that of Pisa, was to heal the divi- 
 sions of the Church, and to reform it, as the ex- 
 pression went, "in its head and members." 
 ' ' Although I am no prophet, nor the son of a 
 prophet, ' ' wrote d' Ailly at this time, " yet I ven- 
 ture to say, without asserting anything rash, that 
 if at the next Council means are not found to re- 
 move these scandals, by the entire healing of the 
 schism and by the reformation of so corrupt a 
 Church, then we must set it down as probable 
 that still more and greater evils will ensue. ' ' 
 
 The Council of Constance, like that of Pisa, was 
 dominated by the liberal views of the University 
 of Paris. In a discourse delivered before the 
 Council, Gerson took strong grounds against Papal 
 supremacy. ' ' If the Church or General Council, ' ' 
 he said, ^ ' decrees anything relating to the guid- 
 ance of the Church, the Pope is not so exalted, 
 even above positive law, as to be authorized 
 arbitrarily to annul such decrees, in the way and 
 
 * Neander's " History of the Church," V., p. 95. 
 
THE REFORMING COUNCILS. 109 
 
 in the sense in which they are decreed. Although 
 a General Council cannot annul the Pope's pleni- 
 tude of power, conferred on him by Christ in a 
 supernatural way, still it may modify the use of 
 that powder by determinate laws, and by confining 
 it within a certain range for the edification of the 
 Church, with reference to which the Papal power, 
 as well as all other authority entrusted to man, 
 w^as instituted. And this is the ultimate basis of 
 all Church reformation. A Church assembly may 
 be convoked in many cases without the express 
 sanction and the express proposal of the Pope, 
 though he may have been lawfully elected and 
 still living." 
 
 In accordance with these principles, which de- 
 stroyed the doctrine of Papal absolutism, the 
 Council promulgated the following decree : ' ' The 
 Synod of Constance, regularly assembled in the 
 Holy Ghost, forming a Universal Council, and 
 representing the militant Church, has its authorit}^ 
 hnmediately from God, and everyone, the Pope 
 included, is bound to obey it in what pertains to 
 the faith, and to the extirpation of schism, and 
 the reformation of the Church in head and mem- 
 bers." * When John XXIII. showed himself 
 refractory, he was solemnly deposed by the Coun- 
 cil. He w^as charged, not only with promoting 
 schism, but with perjury and a stubborn denial 
 of the immortality of the soul. A little later 
 Gregory XII. w^as induced to abdicate ; and wdien 
 Benedict XIII. remained obstinate, he was de- 
 serted by his adherents, who now recognized the 
 supremacy of the Council. Thus, in the year 
 1417, the way was opened to heal the long- 
 standing schism by the election of a universally 
 acknowledged Pope. 
 
 * Fisher's "History of the Christian Church," \>. 257. 
 
110 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 Two questions now remained l^efore the Coun- 
 cil : first, the election of a new Pope, and, second, 
 the reformation of the Church. The self-seeking 
 of the members did not give promise of the best 
 results. ' ' Nearly all go to the Council, ' ' says 
 Nicolas de Clemanges, "to seek their own in- 
 terests, and but very few to promote whatever 
 makes for peace and for the cause of Christ. Be- 
 lieve me, such persons ought never to have been 
 selected for this business, persons of whom it is to 
 be expected that they will do more by their covet- 
 ousness to perplex the cause, than they can do by 
 any zeal for peace to promote it in any way ; but 
 we should have chosen men who were especially 
 free from ambition and inspired with zeal for 
 peace and Church unity from heartfelt love, who 
 would not do fawning homage to Popes for the sake 
 of gain, would not be slaves to part}^ zeal, but 
 seek to form alliances for the promotion of a 
 wholesome concord, and not their own private 
 ends." * 
 
 The Council was divided on the question whether 
 the election of a Pope should precede or follow 
 the measures of reform. The German party, 
 headed by the Emperor Sigismund, advocated the 
 postponement of the election. But the Italians 
 and Spaniards, who were more wedded to the old 
 order of things, urged the immediate election of a 
 Pope. The Germans were finally forced to give 
 Avay, but not till they had made a vigorous protest. 
 ' ' It must be acknowledged as a painful fact, ' ' they 
 said, " that for the last one hundred and fifty years, 
 or thereabouts, several Popes with their courts 
 had been devoted to the fleshly life, immersed iii 
 worldly pleasure, and thus they had sunk down- 
 ward to what was still worse, had forgotten the 
 
 * Neandei's " History of the Church," V., p. 114. 
 
THE REFORMING COUNCILS. Ill 
 
 things of Heaven ; had taken no concern what- 
 ever in the welfare of souls and things purely 
 spiritual, but looked merely at what was subser- 
 vient to gain ; had usurped to themselves, by re- 
 sorting to any means, the rights of other churches. 
 They had brought all tribunals under their own 
 control ; decided on all matters, even secular ; dis- 
 pensed unusual indulgences for money ; and finally 
 they had amassed such an amount of wealth that 
 many of them could enrich all their kinsmen, and 
 some had even sought to make them princes. And 
 hence covetousness, which is called idolatry, pay- 
 ing court for si^iritual dignities, heresy, and sim- 
 ony, had spread far and wide." --^ 
 
 The election took place in 1417, when Otto Col- 
 onna became ^lartin V. Though pledged to a 
 reformation of the Church in advance of his elec- 
 tion, he made no serious effort to set about the 
 work. He rejected conciliar authority, as it had 
 been previously set forth by the Council, and made 
 some vague promises to abate the evils connected 
 with indulgences. The Council broke up April 
 22d, 1418. The schism had been healed, but the 
 evils of Papal administration and the ignorance 
 and vice of the clergy were left untouched. The 
 greatest Council of the Middle Ages had, in a large 
 measure, been a failure. 
 
 After a futile attempt to hold a Council, first at 
 Pavia and then at Sienna, Martin V. called the 
 third and last of the Reforming Councils at Basel 
 in 1431. The laity were becoming restive under 
 existing conditions. Ominous mutterings were 
 heard among the Teutonic people. Cardinal Julian, 
 who had been appointed to preside at the Council, 
 wrote to Pope Eugene IV. : ' ' What impelled me 
 
 * Neander's "History of the Church," V., pp. 121-124, whex"e u full 
 summary of this remarkable protest is given. 
 
112 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 to come here is the false position and the Hcentious- 
 ness of the German clergy, owing to which the 
 laity are exasperated beyond measure against the 
 ecclesiastics. Wherefore it is very much to be 
 feared that if they do not reform, the lait}^ will, 
 after the manner of the Hussites, fall out with the 
 whole body of the clergy, as is already openly 
 threatened. ' ' 
 
 Three principal questions came before the Coun- 
 cil of Basel : 1. The Bohemian heresy ; 2. The 
 , union of the Latin and Greek Churches ; and, 3. 
 Ecclesiastical reform. In reference to the first, the 
 use of the cup was allowed to the Bohemians. 
 Nothing was accomplished in reference to the sec- 
 ond. The question of reform, particularly on its 
 fiscal side, met with opposition from the Roman 
 Curia, whose wealth and luxury were at stake. In 
 December, 1431, Eugene IV., alarmed at the activ- 
 ity of the Council in relation to reform, attempted 
 to dissolve it. In this attempt he was opposed l)y 
 his legate. Cardinal Julian, who wrote him a letter 
 of vigorous protest. ' ' So many Councils have 
 been held in our days," says the cardinal, "and 
 no reformation has resulted from one of them. 
 The nations were expecting that from this Council 
 some fruit would come. But if it shall be thus 
 dissolved, it will be said that we have trifled with 
 God and man. And as no remaining hope of one 
 amendment will exist, the laity will, with good 
 reason, set upon us as the Hussites have done ; 
 and, in truth, rumors to that effect are already 
 afloat. The minds of men are full of mischief ; 
 they already begin to spew out the poison that is 
 to bring death to us. They will think that they 
 do God an acceptable service in assassinating or 
 robbing ecclesiastics. Because these will seem to 
 be sunk in the lowest depths of sin, they will be 
 
THE REFORMING COUNCILS. 113 
 
 hateful to God and men ; and the .slight reverence 
 which is paid them now will then vanish entirely. 
 This Council was one means still by which the 
 people of the world could ])e in some measure re- 
 strained ; but when they see every hoi)e dashed to 
 the ground, they will let loose the reins and perse- 
 cute us openly. Alas ! What honor is it which 
 is to accrue to the Roman court for dissolving 
 a Council assembled for the reformation of the 
 Church? Assuredly will all the odium, all the 
 guilt and shame fall back on them, inasmuch as 
 they were the first occasion of so great an evil, and 
 carried it to a higher jntch." -^ 
 
 Giving no heed to the Pope's bull of dissolution, 
 and reaffirming its supremacy as declared at Pisa 
 and Constance, the Council of Basel continued its 
 sessions. AMien the Pope opened a rival Council 
 at Ferrara, he was deposed by the Council of Basel 
 as contumacious, and Felix. V. was elected to the 
 Papal throne. But these violent measures of the 
 Council did not meet with the approval of the 
 Church. In the schism and conflict that ensued, 
 Eugene gained the ascendancy, and at his death his 
 successor, Nicholas V., was generally recognized. 
 In 1449 the Council decreed its own dissolution, 
 leaving the Papacy in al^solute control, and failing 
 in every measure of extensive reform. But the 
 Council of Basel, as well as those of Constance and 
 Pisa, had not l)een in vain. They in a measure un- 
 dermined the |)ower of the Papacy ; they aroused 
 the laity of Europe to a deeper sense of existing 
 evils ; and they indicated some of the lines upon 
 w^hich a reformation, in the fullness of time, was 
 to proceed. 
 
 * Neander's " History of the Church," V., p. 131. 
 
 8 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LITERATURE AND THE PAPACY. 
 
 The attitude of the rising national literatures 
 toward the Papacy during the later Middle Ages is 
 full of interest. This literature grew out of the 
 opening intelligence of Europe. In every country 
 there were men, apart from the clergy, who ac- 
 quired the elements of learning, either through the 
 knightly education of chivalry or through the old- 
 est universities and the revival of learning. These 
 men escaped from the enthralling tutelage of the 
 l^riesthood, observed and thought for themselves, 
 and in story, poem, and satire set forth the con- 
 dition and abuses of the Church. The work thus 
 accomplished by literature, along Avith that of the 
 mystics, biblical reformers, and Reforming Councils, 
 helped to prepare the way for the Reformation of 
 the sixteenth century. 
 
 In the fourteenth century the English language 
 assumed essentially its modern form. The Anglo- 
 Saxon and the French elements, Avhich had ex- 
 isted side by side since the conquest by William of 
 Normandy, harmoniously coalesced. This new 
 language, 'which gradually supplanted French and 
 Latin, gained official recognition in 1362, when it 
 became the language of the courts of law ; and the 
 following year it was employed in the speech made 
 at the opening of Parhament. About the sarne 
 time it was used, as we have seen, by Wy cliff e in 
 his sermons, tracts, and translation of the Bible ; 
 (114) 
 
LITERATURE AND THE PAPACY. 115 
 
 and what is still more important for us here, it be- 
 came the vehicle of a rising English literature in 
 Langland, Gower, and particularly 
 
 "Dan Chaucer, the first warbler, whose sweet breath, 
 Preluded those melodious bursts that fill 
 The spacious times of great Elizabeth 
 AVith sounds that echo still." * 
 
 It was the opinion of Hallam that " the greater 
 part of literature in the Middle Ages, at least homi 
 the twelfth century, may be regarded as artillery 
 leveled against the clergy. ' ' This statement may 
 be a little too strong ; but it is remarkable that 
 the three principal English poets of the fourteenth 
 century all set forth, to a greater or less degree, 
 the avarice, inconsistency, and impurity of the 
 Papacy and its representatives. No class of the 
 hierarchy is spared. 
 
 John Gower was of noble family. He wrote 
 three principal poems, only one of which, the 
 " Confessio Amantis," or Lover's Confession, was 
 in English. It was wTitten, as he tells us in a 
 prologue, at the request of Richard II. , who met 
 him while rowing on the Thames. It contains a 
 large number of tales drawn from the Scriptures, 
 and from classical and medieval sources. In Book 
 11. , which treats of Envy, the poet tells the ' ' story 
 of Pope Boniface's supplantation of Pope Celes- 
 tine." Through a guileful artifice Celestine V. 
 was induced to resign the Papal throne, which Boni- 
 face VIII. succeeded in securing for himself. The 
 treacherous artifice is told in full. It is followed 
 by a description of the reign of Boniface, who is 
 pronounced treacherous in all his work, and ' ' mis- 
 leader of the Papacie. ' ' 
 
 * Tennyson's " Dream of Fair Women." 
 
116 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 " Thine entry, like a fox, was sligh, 
 Thy reign also, with pride on high, 
 Was like the lion in his rage ; 
 But at the last of thy passage 
 Thy death was to thehoundes like." 
 
 In Book y. , which treats of Avarice, Gower de- 
 scribes the idleness and luxury of the clergy. A 
 brief extract, with the spelling someAvhat con- 
 formed to present usage, will serve for illustration. 
 After declaring that ' ' the faith decreaseth and all 
 virtue ceaseth," the poet continues : 
 
 " Christ died Himself for the faith, 
 But now our fearful prelate saith, 
 * The life is sweet,' and that he keepeth 
 So that the faith unholj^en sleepeth, 
 And they unto their ease attenden 
 And in their lust their lives dispenden, 
 And every man doth what him list. 
 Thus stands the world fulfilled of mist, 
 That no man seeth the right way." 
 
 Langland's " Piers the Plowman" is a poem of 
 about twenty-five hundred lines, retaining the old 
 Saxon alliteration. It sets forth in seven cantos a 
 series of visions in which the condition of the State 
 and the Church is clearly reflected. Langland 
 wrote for the yeomanry, as Gower for the nobility ; 
 and in his poem we find, no doubt, the common 
 opinion about the monks and priests. It must 
 have been very popular in its day, for no fewer 
 than forty-five manuscripts are still extant. 
 
 "Langland is antipapal," says Dean Milman 
 in an excellent summary, ' ' yet he can admire an 
 ideal Pope, a general pacificator, reconciling the 
 sovereigns of the world to universal amity. It is 
 the actual Pope, the Pope of Avignon or of Rome, 
 levjdng the wealth of the Avorld to slay mankind, 
 who is the subject of his bitter invective. The 
 
LITEKATURE AND THE PAPACY. 117 
 
 Ccirdinals he denouiKies with the same indignant 
 scorn ; but chiefly the cardinal legate, whom he 
 has seen in England riding in his pride and pomp, 
 with leAvdness, rapacity, merciless extortion, and 
 insolence in his train. Al)oye all, his hatred (it 
 might seem that on this all honest English indig- 
 nation was agreed) is against the mendicant orders. 
 The friars furnish eyery impersonated 
 yice, are foes to eyery yirtue ; his bitterest satire, 
 his keenest irony (and these w^eapons he wields 
 with wonderful poetic force) are against their dis- 
 soluteness, their idleness, their pride, their rapac- 
 ity, their arts, their lies, their hypocrisy, their 
 delicate attire, their dainty feasts, their magnificent 
 buildings, eyen their })roud learning ; aboye all, 
 their hardness, their i)itilessness to the poor, their 
 utter want of charity, which with Langland is the 
 yirtue of yirtues. ' ' * 
 
 In the prologue the poet describes a yision of 
 ' ' a fair field full of folk ' ' busily engaged in their 
 usual yocations. Various classes of English life 
 are represented, particularly in connection with the 
 Church. There were some who ' ' for loye of our 
 Lord liyeth full strait," but they seemed to be 
 fcAy in number. Pilgrims and palmers yisited St. 
 James and saints in Rome — 
 
 ** And hadden leave to lie all their life after." 
 
 There were many hermits — 
 
 " Great lubbers and long, that loth were to work, 
 Clothed themselves in copes, to be known from others, 
 And made themselves hermits, their ease to have." 
 
 The poet saw friars, ' ' all tlie four orders, ' ' who 
 " Preached to the people for profit of themselves." 
 
 * Milmau's " Latiu Christiauity," VI. 
 
118 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 Bishops are accused of going to London instead 
 of watching over their charges ; priests are charged 
 with having concubines : 
 
 *' And bringen forth barnes against forbidden laws." 
 
 And the Pope himself is charged with selling 
 bulls. In Passus or Canto V. , there is a full por- 
 trait of a priest who, though he does not know his 
 paternoster, can recite "rhymes of Robin Hood 
 and Randolph, Earl of Chester, ' ' He was never 
 sorry for his sins, and when he told his beads, 
 ' ' What he said with his tongue was two miles from 
 his heart." He preferred harlotry to visiting the 
 sick and " fettered folk in prison." The priest is 
 made to say : 
 
 * ' I have been priest and parson passing thirty winters, 
 Yet can I neither say nor sing, nor saintly lives read ; 
 But I can find in a field or in a furrow a hare, 
 Better than in beatus vir or in beati omnes 
 Construe one clause well, and preach to my parishoners. 
 I can hold love-days and hear a reves reckoning, 
 But in canons or decretals I cannot read a line. ' ' 
 
 The close of the poem is full of significance. 
 Though the poet does not break with the existing 
 Papal system, he does not wholly rely on it. A 
 godly life appears to him far better than priestly 
 forgiveness or Papal indulgence : 
 
 " At the dreadful doom when the dead shall arise, 
 And comen all before Christ, accounts to yield. 
 How then laddest thy life here, and His laws keptest. 
 And how thou didest day by day, the doom will 
 
 rehearse ; 
 A poke full of pardons there nor provincial letters, 
 Though you be found in the fraternity of all the four 
 
 orders. 
 And have indulgences double-fold, unless Do- well you 
 
 help, 
 I set your patents and your pardons at a pea's hull." 
 
LITERATURE A^'D THE PAPACY. 110 
 
 The picture that Geoffrey Chaucer gives of the 
 worldly and corrupt character of the representa- 
 tives of the Papal Church is no more pleasing or 
 favorable than the ])ictures presented by his con- 
 temporaries. The ' ' Canterbury Tales ' ' is his 
 greatest work ; and in the prologue he gives us, 
 with great artistic and dramatic power, a descrip- 
 tion of the pilgrims who are on their way to the 
 tomb of Thomas a Becket. It is a living picture of 
 contemporary life, showing us the features, dress, 
 manners, customs, and religious life of the English 
 people in the latter half of the fourteenth century. 
 Nothing escapes the microscopic scrutiny of the 
 poet ; and the general truth of his description is 
 beyond all question. 
 
 In the group of twenty-nine pilgrims, Avho in- 
 clude the various classes of English society, not a 
 few representatives of the Church — a prioress, a 
 monk, a friar, a parson, a summoner, and a par- 
 doner — are found. The prioress, 
 
 ** That of her smiling was full simple and coy," 
 
 is distinguished more for her social elegance than 
 for her piety. The i:)arson, 
 
 " Rich he was of holy thought and work," 
 
 is presented as an ideal portrait of pastoral fidel- 
 ity and excellence: 
 
 '' For Christ's love, and His apostles twelve, 
 He taught, but first he followed it himself." 
 
 But Chaucer's account of the other representa- 
 tives of the existing ecclesiastical order is far less 
 favorable The monk was a prince of good-livers. 
 His principal dehght was in horses and hunting, and 
 
 " He gave not for that text a moulting hen 
 That saith that hunters be not hol}^ men." 
 
120 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 The good cheer he continually enjoyed left its 
 mark upon his ruddy and worldly face: 
 
 ' ' His head was bald that shone as any glass, 
 And eek his face, as he had been anoint. 
 He was a lord, full, fat, and in good point." 
 
 The friar was a ' ' wanton and merry ' ' man — 
 
 ** Somewhat he lisped, for his wantonness. 
 To make his English sweet upon his tongue ; 
 And in his harping, when that he had sung, 
 His eyen twinkled in his head aright, 
 As do the starres in the frosty night." 
 
 He was a most successful beggar for his order. He 
 cultivated the acquaintance of women and men of 
 means ; he knew the taverns in every town, and 
 the barmaids ; but with poor people he had noth- 
 ing to do ; for ' ' it was not advantageous to deal 
 with such rabble. ' ' ^loney moderated the severity 
 of the penance he imposed: 
 
 " Full sweetley heard he confessioun, 
 And ])leasaunt was his absolucioun ; 
 He was an easy man to give penance, 
 AV^here'er he knew he'd have a good pitaunce ; 
 For unto a poor order for to give 
 Is signe that a man is well i-shrive. 
 For if he gave, he dorste make avaunt. 
 He wiste that a man was repentaunt." 
 
 The summoner was as repulsive in his character 
 as in his features. He was fond of strong Avine — 
 
 " And when that he well drunken had the wine. 
 Then would he speak no word except Latyn." 
 
 His private life was not a model of purity ; and 
 familiarity with ecclesiastical courts had made him 
 somewhat skeptical. He was not unamiable in 
 disposition: 
 
LITERATUKE AND THE PAPACY. 121 
 
 •' And if ho found .somewliere a good fella we, 
 He wolde teacben him to have no awe 
 In such case of the Arche-deacon's curse, 
 Unless a niannes soul were in his purse ; 
 For in his purse he sholde y-punished be. 
 ' Purse is the Arche-deacon's hell,' quoth he." 
 
 But the pardoner is the worst of the lot, and hiy 
 transparent frauds Chaucer lays bare with exquisite 
 satire. He figured as a great ecclesiastic, but his 
 supreme object was money: 
 
 '' AVell could he read a lesson or a story, 
 But best of all he sang an offertory ; 
 For well he knew, when that the song was sung, 
 He moste preach, and well affyle his tongue 
 To Wynne silver, as he right well could ; 
 Therefore he sang full merrily and loud." 
 
 As he rode along with the })ilgrims — 
 
 " His wallet lay before him in his lap, 
 Brimful of pardons come from Kome all hot. 
 ******* 
 
 But of his craft, from Berw^'k unto Ware, 
 Ne was there such another pardoner, 
 For in his bag he had a pilwe-beer, * 
 Which that, he seide, was our lady's veil ; 
 He seide he had a tatter of the sail 
 That Seynte Peter had, when that he w^ent 
 Upon the sea, till Jesu Christ him hente; f 
 He had a cross of metal full of stones, 
 And in a glass he hadde pigges bones ; 
 But with these reliques, when that he fond 
 A poore parson dwelling in the lond, 
 Upon a day he got him more moneye 
 Than that the parson got in monthes tweye. 
 And thus with feyned flattery and japes t 
 He made the parson and the people his apes." 
 
 Throughout the '' Canterbury Tales," the refer- 
 ences to the representatives of the Church are in 
 keeping with the portraits given in the prologue. 
 
 * Pillow-case. t Took. t Tricks. 
 
122 THE EEFOKMATION DAWN. 
 
 In France the corrupt condition of the Church 
 evoked strong condemnation. Both in poetr}' and 
 prose the monks and priests were targets for the 
 shafts of satirists. The troubadours of the South 
 directed many of their songs against the tyranny 
 and wickeclness of the Papacy. They generally 
 took sides with the Albigenses, and thus aroused 
 the enmity of the Popes. In 1229 the University 
 of Toulouse was founded ; and Pope Innocent IV. , 
 denouncing the Proven9al language as identified 
 with heresy, forbade its use by the students. 
 
 Thibaut IV. , who had taken part in the crusade 
 against the Albigenses, repented of his part in the 
 bloody work, and denounced it in burning words : 
 
 " They are preachers who have left their sermons 
 To wage war and to kill people ; 
 Never in God did such men believe. 
 Our head* makes all the limbs to suffer." 
 
 In two of the longest and most popular poems 
 of the Middle Ages, the ' ' Roman de Renard ' ' and 
 the ' ' Roman de la Rose, ' ' the worldliness, fraud, 
 and immorality of the monks and clergy are ex- 
 posed. In the former we read that "really the 
 reverend folks should strive to conduct themselves 
 better." The prevalence of concubinage on both 
 sides of the Alps is dwelt upon. Then the poem 
 proceeds : 
 
 "All powerful truly is money ! 
 Few are the princely lands in which the priests do not 
 
 levy 
 Tolls and rents, availing themselves of mill and of 
 
 village. 
 Such pervert the world, and the people learn what is 
 
 evil ; 
 For one sees, where the priest is such, there all become 
 
 sinful, 
 
 * That is, the Pope. 
 
LITERATURE AND THE PAPACY. 128 
 
 One blind man from the path that is good misleading the 
 
 others. 
 Nay, now, who has seen any pious w^orks of the priesthood, 
 Or ^how they build up holy Church with worthy example. 
 Who lives only thereafter ? They all grow stronger in 
 
 evil. 
 So is it, too, with the people ; then how shall the world 
 
 become better ? " * 
 
 In the ' ' Roman de la Rose, ' ' a part of which 
 was translated by Chaucer, we read, for example, 
 of the unscrupulous methods adopted by the 
 monks and priests to overthrow their enemies : 
 
 " Another custom usen we ; 
 Of them that will against us be, 
 We hate them deadly every one, 
 And we will war on them, as one. 
 Him that one hateth, hate we all 
 And project how to make him fall. 
 And if we see him win honour, 
 Riches or praise through his valour, 
 Allowance, rent, or dignity. 
 Full fast, in sootli, compassen we 
 By what ladder he is clomben so ; 
 And for to maken him doen go, 
 With treason we will him defame, 
 And make him lose his goode name. 
 Thus from his ladder we him take, 
 And thus his friends foes we make." f 
 
 The " Heptameron," written by Marguerite, 
 Queen of Navarre, presents a graphic picture of 
 the manners and morals of her time. It con- 
 tains seventy-two stories, nearly all of which turn 
 upon some intrigue or amour. Many of the stories 
 exhibit the immoralities of the monks and priests. 
 Sometimes it is an abuse of the confessional ; some- 
 times it is an unhallowed relation bet^veen prior 
 and nun ; sometimes it is a curate who abuses they 
 
 * This extract is taken from Goethe's " Reineke Fuchs," Canto VIII. 
 t Chaucer's " Romaunt of the Rose," 1. 6924-38. 
 
124 THE REFOKMATIOX DAWN. 
 
 confidence of his parishioners ; sometimes it is a 
 fraudulent marriage for the purpose of gaining 
 money. The tales are all too gross to be narrated, 
 but they agree in exhibiting a shameful state of 
 morals among the minor representatives of the 
 Papal Church. 
 
 Rabelais, who was one of the most learned men 
 of his time, and had himself taken monastic vows, 
 portrays the idleness, ignorance, and sensualit}" of 
 the monks in strong language. He was pronounced 
 by Coleridge one of ' ' the deepest, as well as bold- 
 est, thinkers of his age." In his "Life of Gar- 
 gantua," he explains why monks were generally 
 despised. "A monk," he says, "does not labor, 
 as a peasant does ; he does not guard the country, 
 as the soldier ; he does not heal the sick, as the 
 physician ; he does not preach and teach, as the 
 good evangelical doctor and school-master ; he 
 does not import conmiodities necessary for the 
 commonwealth, as the merchant. That is why 
 they are hooted and abhorred by all men. ' Yea, 
 but they pray to God for us,' said Grandgousier. 
 ' Nothing less, ' ansAvered Gargantua. ' It is true that 
 with the jingling of their bells they disturb all the 
 neighborhood. ' ' Right, ' said the monk, ' a mass, 
 a matin, a vesper Avell rung is half said. ' ' They 
 mumble a great number of legends and Psalms,' 
 continued Giirgantua, ' which they do not at all un- 
 derstand. They go over many paternosters, inter- 
 larded with long Ave Marias, without thinking of 
 them or understanding them. And that I call 
 mocking God, not praying to Him. But so help 
 them God, if they pray for us, and not for fear of 
 losing their fat loaves and soup.' " * 
 
 The literature of medijeval Germany is still 
 bolder in its denunciation of ecclesiastical al^uses. 
 
 *" Oeuvres de Rabelais," Chap. XL. 
 
LITEKATIKE AND THE PAPACY. 125 
 
 111 France, as we haA^e seen, the attacks were leveled 
 chiefly at the lower orders of ecclesiastics. But in 
 (xermany the Papacy, in its conflicts with the 
 empire, had made its preposterous claims and 
 tyranny more strinigly felt. German satirists are 
 not content to hold the monks and friars up to 
 contempt, but boldly assail the wickedness and 
 ()})pressions of the Papacy itself. In various w^ays 
 poetry broke away from ecclesiastical control, and 
 became an independent moral force. "It was 
 tolerant in its spirit, ' ' says Scherer, ' ' and had de- 
 clared through Wolfram that unbelief could l)e' 
 expiated by a mere change of views. In the 
 Xibelungenlied it had inculcated the unchristian 
 duty of revenge ; in the minnesingers it assigned 
 a position to women which the Church could never 
 Afield to them ; in the chivalrous and po]:>ular 
 epics it set up ideals of life utterly at variance 
 with those represented in the lives of the Christian 
 saints ; in Walther's and Freidank's hands it 
 assumed a directly hostile attitude tow^ard the 
 Church and the Papacy. It was not only in 
 Provence that heresy went hand in hand with the 
 secular poetry. In Germany, too, heretics ac- 
 quired great influence ; they gained the hearts of 
 the people, and composed hymns and songs which 
 were taught to children. ' ' * 
 
 Freidank was a poet whose thought extended 
 beyond the sphere of love. He was a patriotic 
 German, who sided with the empire in its con- 
 flicts with the Papacy. He is somewhat indul- 
 gent to the clergy, but fiercely assails the Pope. 
 St. Peter, he says, received from God the charge 
 of feeding His sheep, not of shearing them ; yet 
 all treasures go to Rome never to return again. 
 He satirizes the system of indulgences, and rec- 
 
 * Scherer's " History of German Literature," II., p. 225. 
 
126 THE REFORMATION DAAVN. 
 
 oinmends with bitter irony that the man who con- 
 templates murder should purchase freedom in 
 advance. 
 
 One of the most celebrated mediaeval story- 
 tellers was Strieker. Though a severe morahst 
 and steadfast adherent of the Church, he presented 
 in the poem, "The Priest Amis," a characteristic 
 j)icture of his age. The hero of the tale is a cleri- 
 cal swindler, who cunningl}^ imposes on the ignor- 
 ance and credulity of his victims. He sells fraud- 
 ulent relics and pretends to work miracles. Visit- 
 ing a cloister under the garb of a peasant, he de- 
 ceives the provost with his pious pretensions. 
 When asked what he desires, he meekly replies : 
 ' ' I am a poor man and have no desire for prop- 
 erty ; for I wish to live Avithout sin, and to lift my 
 heart and hands to God in prayer until the day of 
 my death." Received into the cloister, he creates 
 the impression, by a cunning trick, that he is the 
 subject of miraculous intervention. The cloister 
 }:)ecomes a place of pious pilgrimage, and rich gifts 
 pour into its treasury. The end of the story is 
 best given in the poet's own words : "He had 
 made all the brethren and servants drunk, so that 
 they lay as if they were dead. Then the priest 
 bade his confederates carry out quickly the silver 
 and gold, and all that had been offered to him. 
 Nothing was forgotten. Thus he took away full 
 two hundred marks, hasting with so great speed 
 that he escaped without harm." The whole story 
 gives an interesting insight into the monastic life 
 of the time. 
 
 The greatest of the minnesingers was Walther 
 von der Vogelweide. Born in the Tyrol, of noble 
 blood, he wandered from country to country with 
 harp and song. ' ' Many lands, ' ' he says, ' ' have 
 I seen." He dwelt at the court of princes, and 
 
LITERATURE AND THE PAPACY. 127 
 
 ^vas tutor to the young son of Frederick II. , after- 
 ward Henry VII. He was an ardent patriot ; the 
 German people were the best that he ' ' found in 
 the Avide world. ' ' 
 
 *' The German has a well-bred air, 
 And women there are angel fair," 
 
 His wide experience and observation gave him 
 a clear insight into the religious condition of the 
 Germanic states. He was a broad-minded patriot, 
 and became indignant at the Papal usurpation, 
 which dared to set up and dethrone German 
 emperors. The conflicts between the empire and 
 the Papacy, as well as the moral degeneracy of his 
 age, are reflected in his poems. He attacked the 
 Pope in a number of brief, biting poems, the energy 
 and ]:)rilliancy of which must have given them wide 
 circulation and large influence. Speaking of ' ' The 
 Papal Chair," he says : 
 
 " Thereon men now invoke God's wrath, 
 And ask, how long, O Lord, wilt sleep ? 
 Thy teachers follow error's path, 
 
 Thy shepherd flays and kills the sheep. 
 The layman's robbed of goods and land, 
 And blood makes red thy Vicar's hand." * 
 
 That is nearly the whole poem ; but the lines, 
 as he wrote them, sting and stick like barbed 
 arrows. 
 
 Walther boldly accuses the Pope and prelates of 
 their corrupt and demoralizing example. Here is 
 his poem entitled ' ' Bad Models : ' ' 
 
 " Whose heart turns not to every evil now? 
 The Pope as heretic belies his vow, 
 AVith whom should dwell celestial love and grace. 
 The words and deeds of prelates let us trace : 
 In both they once deserved unstinted praise ; 
 
 * Waltlier von der Vogelweide's " Sammtliche Gedichte." So for the 
 Iranslatious follow! ug. 
 
128 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 In })oth they are consistent now-a-days, 
 For steadily they teach and follow wrong, 
 Wlio sliould the models be of all the throng. 
 Despair ha,s tilled the stupid layman long ; 
 
 E'en hermits bitter lamentations raise." 
 
 Walther touches upon Papal avarice and cun- 
 ning in a little poem called " The Italian Monev- 
 Chest:" 
 
 " Pray see the Pope, how Christ -like are his smiles. 
 As he to cronies tells his deep-laid wiles ! 
 •Twere well he ne'er snch wiles had found : 
 * Two Germans with one diadem I've crowned. 
 That they with ^ya.r may work the Empire woe, 
 While with their gold my coffers overflow. 
 They cut each other's throats by rage possessed. 
 But meanwhile German coinage tills my chest. 
 Therefore, ye prelates, feast with merry breast, 
 And let the stupid Germans hungry go.' " 
 
 The literature of Italy during the fourteenth 
 century was scarcely less severe in its treatment of 
 the vices of the representatives of the Papacy. In 
 this century hved three great writers — Petrarch, 
 Dante, and Boccaccio — who, as forerunners of the 
 modern era, have exerted an immense influence 
 upon the literary development of Europe. It is 
 remarkable that all three repeatedly attack tlie 
 profligacy of the Roman court. 
 
 For many years Petrarch lived at Avignon dur- 
 ing the " Babylonish captivity," and was on terms 
 of intimacy with meml^ers of the Papal court. In 
 his letters and sonnets he has described the luxury 
 and vice prevailing in ecclesiastical circles. His own 
 life was not free from the moral taint of the time ; 
 for though a priest of the Church, he lived with a 
 concubine, and wrote his passionate sonnets to 
 Laura. His two children were afterward legiti- 
 mized by a Papal bull. 
 
 In his letters Petrarch has given vent to his 
 
LITERATURE AND THE PAPACY. 129 
 
 indignation at the luxury of the Papal court. 
 ''The successors of a troop of fishermen," he 
 says, " have forgotten their origin. They are not 
 contented, like the first followers of Christ, who 
 gained their Hvelihood by the Lake of Genes- 
 areth, Avith modest habitations, but they must 
 build themselves splendid palaces, and go covered 
 with gold and purple. They are fishei'S of men, 
 Avho catch a credulous multitude and devour them 
 for their prey. ' ' He calls Avignon ' ' the western 
 Babylon, the worst of all the habitations of men, 
 and but little better than the infernal regions. ' ' 
 
 "From the contents of these letters," says a 
 biographer, ' ' w^e might set down Petrarch as the 
 earliest preacher of the Reformation, if there were 
 not, in the writings of Dante, some passages of 
 the same stamp. If these epistles w^ere really cir- 
 culated at the time they were written, it is matter 
 of astonishment that Petrarch never suffered from 
 any other flames than those of love ; for many 
 honest reformers, wdio have been roasted alive, 
 have uttered less antipapal vituperation than our 
 poet ; nor, although Petrarch w^ould have been 
 startled at a revolution in the hierarchy, can it 
 ])e doubted that his wTitings contributed to the 
 Reformation." * 
 
 In one of his sonnets, Petrarch invokes 
 maledictions upon the proud and voluptuous 
 court : 
 
 " May fire from Heaven fall upon thy head, 
 O Avicked court ! Thy former frugal fare 
 Is noAV exchanged for luxury and pride, 
 The spoils of others whom thou hast oppressed 
 With evil deeds which are thy sole delight. 
 O nest of treachery ! in which is nursed 
 Whatever wickedness o'erspreads the world." 
 
 * Petrarch's "Souuets and Other Poems/' p. 15. 
 
130 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 Dante is universally recognized as the greatest 
 poet of Italy. He concentrated in himself the 
 learning of the Middle Ages, and afterward em- 
 bodied it in the " Divine Comedy." He was a 
 participant in the i)olitical and religious struggles 
 of his day, and spent the closing years of his life 
 in banishment froni his native city, Florence. 
 Near the beginning of the fourteenth century, he 
 wrote a prose treatise, entitled De Monarchia, 
 in which he coml)ats the Pope's claim to univer- 
 sal dominion. The emperor, he maintains, de- 
 rives his authority, no less than the Pope, from 
 God. He points out some of the fallacies by 
 which the Papists were accustomed to defend the 
 temporal pretensions of the Pope. The well- 
 known text about l^inding and loosing he restricts 
 to spiritual matters. The comparison of the Pope 
 to the sun and the emperor to the moon he rejects 
 as false. Though he does not question the fact of 
 Constantine's gift of the empire to the Pope, he 
 denies its legality ; for the one had no right to 
 give nor the other to receive such a gift. The 
 empire cannot be dependent on the Papacy, for it 
 existed and was recognized in the Scriptures before 
 a Pope was heard of. 
 
 But it is in the ''Divine Comed}^ " that the 
 moral condition of the Papacy is pointed out. 
 Dante does not hesitate to place in purgatory and 
 hell some of the occupants of the chair of St. 
 Peter as a penalty for tlieir wickedness. Had he 
 lived through the following century, who can 
 doubt that he would have placed many more 
 there ? Wandering through the regions of the 
 lost, the poet asks : 
 
 '" • O say. my guide, 
 What race is this? Were these, whose heads are shorn, 
 On our left hand, all separate to the Church ? ' 
 He straight replied : * In their first life these all 
 
LITERATURE AND THE PAPACY. 131 
 
 In mind were so distorted, that they made, 
 According to due measure, of their wealth 
 No use. This clearly from their words collect, 
 Which they howl forth, at each extremity 
 Arriving of the circle, where their crime 
 Contrary in kind disparts them. To the Church 
 Where separate those, that with no hairy cow^ls 
 Are crowned, both Popes and cardinals, o'er whom 
 Avarice dominion absolute maintains. ' " - 
 
 Visiting a lower and more horrible abyss, Dante 
 and his companion sought shelter from ' ' the 
 fetid exhalation : " 
 
 " Behind the lid 
 Of a great monument we stood retired. 
 Whereon this scroll I read : ' I have in charge 
 Pope Anastasius, whom Photinus drew 
 From the right path. ' " 
 
 Among the other Popes whom Dante consigns 
 to hell as a fit retribution for their wickedness 
 were Nicholas III. , who confesses his simony ; 
 Boniface VIII., who did "not fear to seize the 
 beautiful Lady " — the Church — "and then to do 
 her outrage ; ' ' and Clement V. , "of uglier deed, ' ' 
 who, like the Maccabean Jason, bought the high- 
 priesthood. 
 
 Boccaccio' s ' ' Decameron ' ' is one of the best- 
 known works of mediaeval literature. It has ex- 
 erted a wide influence on European 'literature, 
 being imitated by the Queen of Navarre in the 
 ' ' Heptameron, ' ' suggesting to Chaucer the im- 
 perishable ' ' Canterbury Tales, ' ' and supplying 
 material to numberless writers. It consists of one 
 hundred l^rief stories, which seven ladies and 
 three gentlemen — all young, handsome, and cul- 
 tivated — relate as a merry pastime at a country 
 villa, -whither they had fled, in 1348, to escape 
 the plague in Florence. Most of the stories are 
 
 * Dante's " Hell," Canto VII., pp. 37-49. 
 
132 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 taken from contemporary life, and present a 
 frightful picture of the depravity, not only of the 
 Italian cloisters, but also of the Papal court. 
 
 A single passage, taken from the second story, 
 must suffice. A Jew, of Paris, on the point of 
 becoming a Christian, determines to visit Rome in 
 order to observe the manners of him whom he is 
 urged to receive as the Vicar of Christ. ' ' He 
 mounted his horse, ' ' Boccaccio continues, ' ' and 
 as quickly as possible betook himself to the court 
 of Rome, where he was honorably entertained by 
 his brethren, and there al)iding, without telling 
 any the reason of his coming, he began diligently 
 to inquire into the manners and fashions of the 
 Pope and cardinals and other prelates and of all 
 the members of his court, and what with that 
 which he himself noted, being a mighty quick- 
 witted man, and that which he gathered from 
 others, he found all, from the highest to the 
 lowest, most shamefully given to the sin of lust, 
 without any restraint of remorse or shamefastness, 
 insomuch that the interest of courtesans was of no 
 small avail there in obtaining any considerable 
 thing. 
 
 ' ' Moreover, . he manifestly perceived them to be 
 universally gluttons, wine-bibbers, drunkards, and 
 slaves to their stomachs, brute fashion, more than 
 to aught else after lust. And, looking further, he 
 saw them all covetous and greedy after money, 
 insomuch that human, nay. Christian blood, no 
 less than things sacred, whatsoever they might be, 
 whether pertaining to the sacrifices of the altar or 
 to the benefices of the Church, they sold and bought 
 indifferently for a price, making a greater traffic 
 and having more brokers thereof than folks at 
 Paris of silks, and stuffs, or what not else." 
 Such is Boccaccio's picture of the Papal court. 
 
LITERATURE AND THE PAPACY. 133 
 
 The foregoing surve}^ brief and partial as it is, 
 clearly reveals the attitude of literature in the 
 principal nations of Europe toward the close of the 
 Middle Ages. Chaucer, Rabelais, Walther von 
 der Vogelweide, Dante, Boccaccio — these are all 
 distinguished names in literary history. Chaucer 
 and Dante rank among the world's great classics. 
 They all presented the religious condition of their 
 age as they saw it ; and against the inconsisten- 
 cies, avarice, fraud, and licentiousness of a large 
 part of the representatives of the Papal Church 
 they hurled their indignant protests and scathing 
 satire. Their works gained a permanent hold 
 upon the minds of the people ; and their in- 
 fluence in undermining the Papal system and in 
 preparing the way for a purer type of Christianity 
 cannot be estimated. 
 
 yVe have now traced the various reforming 
 agencies and influences prior to the Reformation. 
 The mystics, in opposition to the externalism of the 
 Papac}", cultivated a deep spiritual piety ; indi- 
 vidual reformers, like A^^ycliffe and Huss, advo- 
 cated a purer type of behef and practice ; the 
 Reforming Councils of Pisa, Constance, and Basel 
 protested against the autocracy of the Pope, and 
 urged a reformation of the Church in head and 
 members ; the literature of the age rebuked and 
 satirized the tj^anny and wickedness of the 
 Roman hierarchy and its representatives. But 
 all proved in vain. Instead of improvement or 
 reformation, the Papacy persisted in its course of 
 oppression and evil ; it showed an unwillingness 
 to reform either its doctrinal system or its corrupt 
 practice. It clung desperately to its system of 
 error and oppression which placed western Europe 
 helpless at its feet. There seemed no hope of 
 ]:)reaking its deadly tyranny. But no evil institu- 
 
134 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 tion is permanent. And even while the Papacy 
 was rioting in hixury, extortion, and wickedness, 
 and jesting about the profitableness of the Chris- 
 tian fable, God was preparing conditions which 
 made its tyranny impossible for a large part of 
 Europe. The time of retribution was coming, 
 the day of reform was at hand. 
 
PART THIRD. 
 
 THE CIRCUMSTANCES PREPARING THE WAY FOR 
 THE REFORMATION, AND ITS BEGINNING. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NATIONAL GROWTH. 
 
 A REMARKABLE phenomenon in the later Mid- 
 dle Ages was the growth of national life and 
 national feeling. After the destruction of the 
 Roman Empire by the incursions and conquests 
 of the various Teutonic tribes, there was no national 
 Hfe. The western part of the empire was divided 
 up among Saxons, Franks, Goths, and others. In 
 place of Roman unity, law, and order, we find 
 nothing but division, disorder, and anarchy. The 
 great modern nations were not born. The only 
 bond of unity, which was at first an indefinite and 
 inefficient one, was the Papacy. But, as in the 
 beginning of creation and under the same divine 
 law, order came in the course of time to replace 
 chaos. And by the sixteenth century, England, 
 France, and Spain had emerged from the confusion 
 in substantially their modern form, and in Ger- 
 many, though there was a lack of a single strong 
 government, a national feeling had in some meas- 
 ure developed. 
 
 In this wonderful development of national life, 
 Italy lagged furthest behind. Its divisions and- 
 (135 J 
 
136 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 animosities were largely due to that power which 
 ought to have been beneficently active in securing 
 unity and strength. But the Papacy, instead of 
 V)eing the friend, has been the enemy of Italy. 
 Lacking the power to form a stable national gov- 
 ernment, and fearing too strong a secular authority, 
 the Popes found it to their interest to perpetuate 
 existing divisions. When any of their neighbors, 
 as Naples, Venice, Florence, or Milan, became 
 dangerously strong, they did not hesitate to call 
 France or Spain or Germany to their aid in sub- 
 duing these rival states. 
 
 The statements of the Florentine historian, 
 INIachiavelli, on this subject are as clear as bold. 
 "Forasmuch as some are of opinion," he says, 
 ' ' that the felicity and welfare of Italy depend upon 
 the Church of Kome, I shall set down some few 
 reasons to the contrary, which I have framed to 
 myself, two of which are, in my judgment, unan- 
 swerable. One is, that by the corrupt example of 
 that court, that province has lost all its religion, 
 and all its devotion, which has been followed by 
 many inconveniencies and disorders ; for as the 
 religiousness of a people presupposes all well, so 
 Avhere they are wicked it betokens the contrary ; 
 so then, we Italians have this obligation to the 
 Church and its ministers, that by their means we 
 are become heathenish and irreligious ; besides an- 
 other (little less pernicious), and that is, that we 
 are grown divided and factious, which must of 
 necessity be our ruin, because never was any prov- 
 ince happy or united, unless under the obedience 
 of one commonwealth or one prince, as France and 
 Spain at this time : and the reason is, because 
 Italy is not upon the same terms, as having no one 
 republic or commonwealth to govern it but the 
 Church; and though the Pope has assumed a tern- 
 
NATIONAL GROWTH. 137 
 
 poral as well as spiritual jurisdiction, yet he was 
 never so courageous, or powerful, as to possess 
 himself of all, and make himself prince ; nor was 
 he ever so weak, but, upon apprehension of losing 
 his temporal dominion, he could not call in some 
 foreign potentate to defend him against any man 
 who was grown too formidable. The Church, 
 therefore, being neither so strong as to conquer all 
 Italy, nor so weak as to suffer it to be overrun by 
 anybody else, has been the occasion that it never 
 fell into the hands of one person, but has been 
 cantonized into several principalities, by which 
 means it has been so Aveak and disunited that it 
 has ])een not only exposed as a prey to the powers 
 of the barbarians, but to everyone that thought 
 ^ood to invade it, which is an unhappiness we 
 Italians owe only to the Church." * 
 
 Strange to say, Germany was almost as far from 
 national unity as Italy itself. Its divisions were 
 chiefly due to the great rival of the Papacy, 
 namely, the Holy Roman Empire, whose sover- 
 eign was always a German i)rince. While a con- 
 tinuation of the empire founded by Charlemagne, 
 the Holy Roman Empire (which was neither holy 
 nor Roman), dates from Otto the Great in the tenth 
 century. It rests on a widespread belief during 
 the Middle Ages that there should be a universal 
 temporal power corresponding to the universal 
 spiritual power. The function of the former was 
 to guard man's secular interests, as the function of 
 the latter was to guard his spiritual interests. 
 "The Pope, as vicar in matters spiritual," to use 
 the words of Bryce, " is to lead men to eternal life ; 
 the emperor, as vicar in matters temporal, must so 
 control them in their dealings with one another 
 that they may be able to pursue undisturbed the 
 
 * Machiavelli's " Discourses," Book I., Chap. XII. 
 
138 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 spiritual life, and thereby attain the same supreme 
 and common end of everlasting happiness. In 
 view of this object, his chief dut}^ is to maintain 
 peace in the world, while toward the Church his 
 position is that of Advocate, a title borrowed from 
 the practice of Churches and monasteries of choos- 
 ing some powerful baron to protect their lands and 
 lead their tenants to war. The functions of advo- 
 cac}^ are twofold : at home to make the Christian 
 ])eople obedient to the priesthood, and to execute 
 their decrees upon heretics and sinners ; abroad to 
 propagate the faith among the heathen, not spar- 
 ing to use carnal weapons. ' ' * 
 
 At first the two powers were regarded as equal, 
 deriving alike their authority immediately from 
 God. But the result was what might easily have 
 been foreseen. A conflict ar(^se between the 
 Papacy and the empire for supremacy. The con- 
 flict extended through several centuries with vary- 
 ing fortunes. If Henry III. deposed three rival 
 Popes and appointed another in their place, his 
 successor, Henry IV. , though titular sovereign of 
 all nations, was forced to become a humble sup- 
 pliant of the Pope, at Canossa, in 1077. It was 
 at this time that the bold Gregory VII. put forth 
 the preposterous claims, which all succeeding 
 Popes have steadily adhered to in theory, that all 
 mankind are subject to the Pope as Clod's Vicar, 
 and that all earthly authority emanates from him. 
 
 The Holy Roman Empire worked disastrously 
 upon German unity in two ways. In the first 
 place, it gave the emperor large interests outside 
 of Germany. A large part of his energies were 
 absorbed in the effort to maintain his supremacy 
 in Italy, the south of France, parts of Poland, 
 and elsewhere. Unlike the sovereigns of France 
 
 * Bryce's " Holy Roman Empire,'' p. 102. 
 
NATIONAL GROWTH. 139 
 
 and England, he was not free to labor for the 
 unity and solidification of Germany under a 
 strong central authority. In the second place, in 
 the emperor's conflicts with the Papacy, various 
 German princes, in order to weaken the imperial 
 power or to promote some selfish end, sometimes 
 sided with tlie Poj)e. 
 
 Under the Golden Bull of 1356, a new emperor, 
 when a vacancy occurred, was to be chosen by 
 seven princely electors, as folloAvs : the three 
 archbishops of Mayence, Treves, and Cologne, 
 the Court Palatine of the Rhine, the King of 
 Bohemia, the Elector of Saxony, and the Mar- 
 grave of Brandenburg. Though inducted into 
 office with elaborate feudal ceremonies, the em- 
 peror had little power at the close of the Middle 
 Ages. There were no imperial domains ; and his 
 authority consisted of little more than a sort of 
 feudal headship. 
 
 But in spite of the division of Germany into a 
 large number of petty principalities, there existed, 
 in the fifteenth century and earUer, a racial, if 
 not strictly national, feeling. The empire itself, 
 with its German head, brought the people to- 
 gether in a common interest. Their language, 
 which had become the vehicle of heroic poems 
 and beautiful minnesongs, was a strong bond of 
 union. Satirists had strongly appealed to the 
 patriotism of the German race. Above all, per- 
 haps, flourishing cities had sprung up under the 
 commercial activity following the crusades, and 
 ]:)ecome centres of intelligence and wealth. They 
 formed leagues to protect themselves from the un- 
 just tariffs or plundering expeditions of the no- 
 bles. The Hanseatic League, which, at the height 
 of its power, included no fewer than eighty-five 
 cities, was a mighty force in northern German 3^ 
 
140 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 The growth of the French monarchy, which 
 ^vas completed in the fifteenth century, extended 
 through nearly five hundred years. It began with 
 Hugh Capet, who was elected king in 987. At 
 that time France was divided into a number of 
 independent baronies or duchies, the principal of 
 which were Normandy, Brittany, Burgundy, 
 Guienne, Aquitaine, Toulouse, and Provence. 
 Hugh Capet, on ascending the throne, ruled only 
 a small district in northern France, the chief city 
 of w^hich was Paris. 
 
 The dynasty of the Capets, which extended 
 from the tenth to the eighteenth century, suc- 
 ceeded in solving the double and difficult problem 
 that confronted it in the beginning. It united 
 the different fragments of territory in a single 
 royal domain, and it substituted a central monar- 
 chical authority for feudal independence and 
 division. This great result, which was slowly 
 effected from reign to reign, was brought about in 
 three ways : 1. The heredity of the crown ; 2. 
 The principle of primogeniture ; and, 3. The 
 indivisibility of the royal domain. The principle 
 of heredity secured consistency of policy ; the 
 principle of primogeniture, when once estab- 
 lished, prevented family divisions and civil con- 
 flicts ; and the indivisibility of the royal domain 
 guarded and perpetuated every gain. 
 
 The royal domain was extended in various ways. 
 Sometimes a district was violently seized upon at 
 the death of the reigning duke. Sometimes a 
 duchy was added by marriage with the heiress. 
 At other times favorable opportunities were taken 
 to make additions by conquest. With the grow- 
 ing power and extent of the kingdom, this aggres- 
 sive policy encountered fewer difficulties. The 
 
NATIONAL GROWTH. 141 
 
 resistance and combinations of the minor feudal 
 lords proved unavailing. 
 
 The greatest difficulty that finally lay in the 
 path of French national development was the ter- 
 ritory held by the kings of England. At one 
 time the English possessions included the entire 
 western part of France — the duchies of Normandy, 
 Brittany, and Aquitaine. Quarrels and conflicts 
 ])etween French and English sovereigns were 
 almost incessant. Early in the thirteenth century 
 Philip Augustus succeeded in depriving John of a 
 considerable part of the English territory. Finally 
 the hundred years' war came on, and was gloriously 
 terminated by the heroic leadership of Joan of 
 Arc. England lost forever her French possessions. 
 
 Along with the extension of his territory, the 
 French king established a stable central adminis- 
 tration. He assumed the right to levy and collect 
 taxes ; he maintained a standing army ; he estab- 
 lished a system of justice. Thus at the beginning 
 of the sixteenth century, France had become a 
 strong absolute monarchy. Out of the feudal 
 baronies of the jNIiddle Ages there had issued a 
 strong nation, which, in its independence and 
 sharply-marked self-consciousness, was averse to 
 all foreign interference and domination whatever. 
 
 The national development of Spain was more 
 rapid and more splendid than that of any other 
 state in Europe. For centuries Spain had been 
 under the dominion of feudal lords. The Moors 
 had established themselves in southern Spain. 
 Subsequently three minor kingdoms had developed 
 — Aragon, Castile, and Navarre. As elsewhere in 
 Europe, the cities had risen into prominence ; and 
 in the conflicts between the kings and the feudal 
 lords they generally sided with the former. 
 
142 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 But in 1481, when Ferdinand of Aragon married 
 Isabella of Castile, there came a sudden change. 
 By the virtual union of these two kingdoms, the 
 strongest in Spain, the national development re- 
 ceived a new and irresistible impulse. Ferdinand 
 and Isabella were agreed in their policy of bring- 
 ing about national unity. One of the first steps 
 in this direction Avas the conquest of Grenada. 
 After a bloody conflict of ten years, the Moorish 
 capital, with the famous castle of the Alhambra, 
 Avas captured, and the king, Boabdil, driven into 
 Africa. Later the kingdom of Navarre was added 
 to the central monarchy, and thus Spain, in less 
 than a generation, became one of the leading pow- 
 ers of Europe. 
 
 Two facts added greatly to the prestige of Spain. 
 The first Avas the discoA'ery of the Ncaa' World by 
 Columbus in 1492. In addition to an increase of 
 fame, it brought large colonial possessions, and 
 filled her treasury AA'ith the gold and silver of Mex- 
 ico and Peru. The other fact adding to the influ- 
 ence of Spain Avas the far-sighted policy of Ferdi- 
 nand. He sought to form alliances by marriage 
 Avith leading sovereigns in Europe. His daughter 
 Isabella married the king of Portugal — an alliance 
 that under Phihp II. added that country to Spain. 
 His daughter Joanna married Philip of Austria — 
 a marriage that was intended to secure the union 
 of Austria and Burgundy under the Spanish crown. 
 His daughter Catherine married HenrA^ VIII. of 
 England — a union that Avas designed to secure the 
 alliance of England against France, the principal 
 rival of Ferdinand in Europe. Thus a national 
 feeling came to predominate over all others. 
 
 England Avas the first nation of modern Europe 
 to acquire a firm national organization. Even be- 
 fore the Norman conquest in 1066, its various 
 
NATIONAL GROWTH. 143 
 
 hostile divisions Avere l^rought together under 
 Edgar, who first became ' ' King of all England. ' ' 
 For nine hundred years its line of sovereigns has 
 been practically unbroken. At the beginning of 
 the sixteenth century it was wellnigh an absolute 
 monarchy, under the vigorous rule of the Tudors. 
 
 An important change and notable advance in 
 the development of England began with William 
 of Normandy, who made good his claim to the 
 throne at the l)attle of Hastings. He restored 
 national unity l)y abolishing the four great earl- 
 doms, Avhich had i:)reviously been a constant men- 
 ace to the throne. He introduced the feudal sys- 
 tem in a modified form ; while parceling out 
 England among his principal followers, he bound 
 them all to loyalty to himself. Strong independ- 
 ent baronies, as they existed across the channel, 
 were not allowed. As a means of strengthening 
 the crown, he had a census and property-list made 
 for the kingdom, which is still preserved in the 
 Domesday Book. This enabled him to levy taxes 
 and make military requisitions throughout his 
 realm. 
 
 For two or three centuries, England was occu- 
 pied l)y two classes — Norman rulers and Saxon 
 serfs. The French and Saxon languages existed 
 side by side. But in various ways, particularly 
 through military service in France, these two hos- 
 tile classes were 1)rouglit closer together. Their 
 languages amalgamated ; and, in the works of 
 Langland, Wycliffe, Gower, and Chaucer, they 
 laid the foundation of the English used to-day. 
 A strain of French or Norman vivacity was added 
 to the Teutonic phlegm of the Saxon ; and the 
 result was a type of character that has never been 
 surpassed in its force, enterprise, and progress. 
 
 For a century after the conquest, the barons 
 
144 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 endeavored to secure a dominant power in the 
 kingdom. Under the reign of Stephen they were, 
 in a measm^e, successful, and "robber castles" 
 were erected in all parts of England. But under 
 his successor, Henry II., the royal power was 
 again made pre-eminent, and in the Assize of Clar- 
 endon he established a system of justice for all 
 England. The usurpations and tyranny of John 
 provoked hostility among all classes of the people ; 
 and in 1215 he was forced to sign the Magna Charta, 
 which henceforth j^laced a limit on roA^al aggres- 
 sions. 
 
 In 1295 the first complete or model Parliament 
 was summoned. At first the lords and commons 
 sat together ; but about 1343 the commons be- 
 came a sej^arate body, and gradually gained greater 
 influence in the government. They voted supplies 
 of money and proposed new^ laws. In 1376 they 
 gained the right of impeaching such ministers of 
 the crown as had shown themselves unfaithful to 
 the interests of the people. At last, in 1407, they 
 obtained the exclusive right of making all grants 
 of money required by the crown. This gave them 
 immense power. 
 
 The Wars of the Roses in the latter half of the 
 fifteenth century were favorable to Yoyeil supremacy. 
 ]\Iany of the nobility were slain ; and, absorbed in 
 local interests, not a few of the towns failed to 
 elect members of Parliament. During the reign 
 of the Tudors, beginning with Henry VII. in 
 1485, the Parliament had little influence. In order 
 to raise money, Henry resorted to ' ' benevolences ' ' 
 or enforced gifts, and to fines imposed by the 
 Court of Star Chamber. Henry VIII., under 
 whom the Reformation in England had its begin- 
 ning, shared in these despotic tendencies. 
 
 Thus, for several centuries before the era of the 
 
NATIONAL GROWTH. 145 
 
 Reformation, the nations of Europe were assum- 
 ing a strong self-consciousness and resolute inde- 
 l)endence. This spirit of national independence 
 was supported hy the revived study of Roman 
 law, which brought to the defense of royal author- 
 ity a code more venerable for its antiquity than the 
 forged decretals to which the Papacy made appeal. 
 The result was in all the states of Europe a growing- 
 antagonism to Papal aggression and supremacy. 
 Except in spiritual matters, the tendency was to 
 exalt the state al)ove the Papacy. This gave rise 
 to the prolonged conflict between the emperor and 
 the Pope, between Guelf and Ghibelline, between 
 France and Rome, and between England and the 
 Pope. Even Spain resisted the claims of the Pope 
 to absolute supremacy. 
 10 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE RENAISSANCE. 
 
 The term Renaissance is applied to the remark- 
 able intellectual awakening that came as a second 
 birth to Europe in the closing centuries of the 
 Middle Ages. Evidences of this awakening have 
 already come before us in the growth of com- 
 merce, the rise of nations, and the beginnings of 
 national literatures. But the most potent agency 
 in this awakening was the revival of learning. 
 After the dark night of the earher Middle Ages, 
 Europe quickl}^ rose to the heights of ancient 
 classical thought, which was henceforth to be the 
 basis of grander human achievement. 
 
 The ecclesiastical schools of the Middle Ages, 
 as has been shown, were not designed for popular 
 instruction. For a long time the masses grew up 
 in ignorance. Even the nobility were, in most 
 cases, unable to read and write. But two in- 
 fluences sprang up later to increase educational 
 faciUties. The first was chivalry, which provided 
 a knightly culture ; and the second was commerce, 
 which led to the establishment of town or burgher 
 schools for the purpose of practical education. 
 Both classes of schools, which were reactions 
 against the narrow and defective character of the 
 ecclesiastical schools, led to a larger and more 
 practical knowledge. 
 
 As early as the twelfth century, the presence of 
 a scientific spirit is unmistakable. The University 
 (146) 
 
THE KENAISSANCE. 147 
 
 of Bologna was founded fur the study of law, and 
 the University of Salerno for the study of medi- 
 cine. About the same time the cathedral school 
 of Paris was enlarged into a university, in which 
 the study of theology was predominant. This 
 became for a long time the most distinguished 
 seat of learning in Europe, and was at one period 
 attended by more than twent}" thousand students. 
 Its influence before and during the Reformation 
 was very great. Oxford and Cambridge, though 
 the dates of their foundation cannot be fixed, are 
 scarcely less veneraljle. 
 
 This scientific spirit, the energies of which were 
 devoted largely to scholasticism, was due to two 
 principal causes. The first was the crusades, 
 which brought to the people of western Europe 
 the stimulus of a noble purpose, and which, by 
 various expeditions to the Holy Land, acquainted 
 multitudes with new customs and peoples. The 
 second was Mohammedan learning. For a time 
 the Arabians were the intellectual teachers of 
 Europe. Their schools in Spain, and even in 
 Bagdad, were attended by Christian youth from 
 various parts of Europe, who carried Arabian 
 science — mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, 
 chemistry, medicine — back with them to their 
 homes. The intellectual activity of Christian 
 Europe was thus stimulated in a remarkable de- 
 gree. Before the middle of the fifteenth century, 
 no fewer than ten universities, attended by thou- 
 sands of eager students, had been founded in 
 Italy, France, Germany, and England. 
 
 The remarkable inventions and discoveries of 
 the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries exerted a 
 favorable influence upon the intellectual develop- 
 ment of Europe. The invention of gunpowder, 
 as soon as it led to the use of firearms, helped to 
 
148 THE REFORMATION DAAVN, 
 
 l)ring about a salutar}^ change in the organization 
 of society. It destroyed the military prestige of 
 the knightly order, brought the lower classes 
 into greater prominence, and contributed to the 
 abolition of serfdom. 
 
 The mariner's compass greatly furthered navi- 
 gation. Instead of creeping along the shores of 
 the Mediterranean or Atlantic, seamen boldly ven- 
 tured upon unknown waters. Discoveries fol- 
 lowed in rapid succession. After the Canary 
 Islands and the Azores, the coast of Upper 
 Guinea was discovered, and, in 1486, Diaz reached 
 the southern point of Africa, which was named 
 Cape of Good Hope. In 1492 Columbus dis- 
 covered the western continent, and, six years later, 
 Vasco de Gama, rounding the Cape of Good 
 Hope, sailed across the Indian Ocean to Calcutta. 
 Early in the following century, Englishmen ex- 
 plored the coast of North America, Spain con- 
 quered Mexico and Peru, and Portugal took pos- 
 session of the eastern part of South America. It 
 is not easy to conceive the effect Avhich these dis- 
 coveries, as presented in highly wrought descrip- 
 tions, must have had upon the people of Europe. 
 
 A very powerful factor in the intellectual de- 
 velopment of Europe was the printing press. In- 
 vented about the middle of the fifteenth century, 
 it Avas brought, in less than a decade, to such per- 
 fection that the Avhole Bible appeared in type in 
 1456. It l^ecame an invaluable auxiliary in the 
 revival of learning. It at once supplanted the 
 tedious and costly process of copying books by 
 hand, and brought the repositories of learning 
 within reach of the common people. Printing 
 was rapidly introduced in all the nations of 
 Europe ; and, before the close of the century, 
 there were no fewer than two hundred and thirty- 
 
THE RENAISSANCE. 149 
 
 six printing establishments in various towns and 
 cities. 
 
 The revival of learning had its beginning in 
 Italy. The three great Italian writers of the four- 
 teenth century — Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch — 
 may be regarded as its pioneers. Dante was 
 familiar with the Latin classics, and in the ' ' In- 
 ferno " it is Virgil who serves him as guide. 
 Boccaccio was distinguished for his scholarship. 
 He was zealous in collecting books and manu- 
 scripts, and is said to have been the first Italian 
 who imported a copy of the ' ' Iliad ' ' and ' ' Odys- 
 sey ' ' from Greece. His Latin work, ' ' The Gene- 
 alogy of the Gods," was the most comprehensive 
 mythological treatise that had yet appeared. 
 Petrarch was a zealous student of Latin and Greek 
 antiquity. He traveled through Italy, France, 
 Spain, and Germany in search of manuscripts, 
 some of which he copied with his own hand. 
 Though an ecclesiastic, he did not follow mediaeval 
 models of style, but wrote with classical finish 
 and grace. 
 
 In the fourteenth century Florence became the 
 centre of culture for Italy. The city was under 
 the government of the Medici, who made it the 
 home of Uterature and art. Michael Angelo, des- 
 tined to be the greatest sculptor and one of the 
 greatest painters of Italy, lived in the Medicean 
 palace. The first Greek, flannel Chrysolorus, 
 who introduced the literary treasures of his country 
 into Italy, received an appointment as teacher 
 from the city of Florence, in 1396. The Platonic 
 Academy was founded, and all the writings of 
 Plato were translated. 
 
 Though there had previously been, as we have 
 just seen, a turning of thought to Roman and 
 Greek antiquity, the movement received its first 
 
150 THE KEFOKMATION DAWN. 
 
 mighty impulse in 1453, when the capture of 
 Constantinople by the Turks drove many Greek 
 scholars to Italy. The way had been prepared 
 for them in the revived interest in Greek learning. 
 They were accordingly welcomed b}" noble patron- 
 age, and under its fostering care became for a 
 time the teachers of Christian Europe. The in- 
 terest in antiquity deepened into enthusiasm. 
 Libraries were founded and manuscripts were col- 
 lected Avith great ardor. Several of the Popes, 
 without scenting danger, became generous patrons 
 of ancient learning ; Nicholas V. founded the cele- 
 brated Vatican Library, and collected for it a large 
 number of Greek and Latin manuscripts ; and, 
 under Leo X. , Rome became a centre of classical 
 scholarship. 
 
 The work of these Italian humanists has been 
 well portrayed by Seebohm. ' ' They were digging 
 up again," he says, "and publishing, by means 
 of the printing press, the works of the old Greek 
 and Latin writers, and they found in them some- 
 thing to their taste much more true and pure 
 than the literature of the Middle Ages. After 
 reading the pure Latin of the classical writers thej^ 
 were disgusted with the bad Latin of the monks ; 
 after studjdng Plato they were disgusted with 
 scholastic i^hilosophy. Such was the rottenness 
 of Rome that they found in the high aspirations 
 of Plato after sj^iritual truth and immortality a 
 religion which seemed to them purer than the 
 grotesque form of Christianity which Rome held 
 out to them. They could flatter the profligate 
 Pope as all but divine in such words as ' Sing unto 
 Sixtus a new song,' but in their hearts some of 
 them scoffed, and doubted whether Christianity 
 be true and whether there is life after death for 
 mankind." * 
 
 Seebohm's " Protestant Revolution," p. 71. 
 
THE REXAIS8AXCE. 151 
 
 But this new movement was not to l)e confined 
 to Italy. Eager scholars from p]nglan(l, Fi-a.nce, 
 and Germany sat at the feet of Italian masters 
 in order afterward to bear beyond the Alps the 
 precious seed of the new culture. During the 
 reign of Lorenzo de Medici, several Oxford stu- 
 dents, among whom were Linacre and Grocyn, 
 visited Florence to complete their studies. Linacre 
 received instruction along with Lorenzo's own 
 children, one of whom afterward became Leo X. 
 Returning to England, they gave a fresh impetus 
 to the study of the Greek language and literature. 
 German scholars, like Peter lAider and Samuel 
 Karoch, introduced the new learning into the 
 German universities, ^^arious cities — Strasburg, 
 Nuremberg, Augsburg, and others — became centres 
 of culture, where literature and art were pursued 
 with engrossing ardor. 
 
 The revival of learning did not everywhere fol- 
 low the same lines of development and produce 
 similar results. In Italy, classical learning be- 
 came an end in itself ; and hence, while enlarging 
 and refining culture, it tended to paganize its ad- 
 herents. Ardor for anti(juity ])ecame intoxication. 
 Infidelity prevailed in the highest ranks of the 
 Church ; Christianity w^as often despised as a 
 superstition ; and immorality abounded in shame- 
 ful forms. The heathenism of Athens was repro- 
 duced in Christian Rome. There is reason to 
 believe that Leo X. himself was a skeptic ; and 
 unbelief became so prevalent that the Tenth 
 Lateran Council judged it advisable to reaffirm 
 the doctrine of the immortality of the soul by a 
 special decree. 
 
 The absence of moral integrity is singularly 
 reflected in the works of Machiavelli, particularly 
 in ' ' The Prince, ' ' whom he advises to be tinscru- 
 
152 THE REFORMATIOX DAWX. 
 
 puloiis in the maintenance of power. Conscien- 
 tious adherence to trutli he stigmatizes as being 
 ' ' superstitioush" exact. " " The present manner 
 of hving, ' ' he says, "is so different from the way 
 that ought to be taken, that he Avho neglects what 
 is done-, to follow what ought to be done, Avill sooner 
 learn how to ruin than how to preserve himself ; 
 for a tender man, and one that desires to be honest 
 in everything, must needs run a great hazard 
 among so many of a contrary principle. Where- 
 fore it is necessary for a prince that wishes to live, 
 to harden himself, and learn to be good or other- 
 wise, according to the exigence of his affairs." * 
 His writings, as he explains in his ' ' Letter of 
 Vindication," only reflect the political and 
 ecclesiastical life of the time. 
 
 Such was the state of belief and morals prevail- 
 ing in Rome at a time when ancient learning and 
 the fine arts flourished. It Avas pagan antiquity 
 revived in spirit and in life. Well might Raumer 
 exclaim, as he contemplated the facts, "How 
 strangely united in one and the same land, and at 
 one and the same time, wdiat is most splendid and 
 what is most horrible ! What an angelic child 
 Raphael must have been, yet his childhood falls 
 at the iniquitous time of Alexander VI. Yea, 
 how often in one and the same hero of art w' ere 
 united the most beautiful and the most hateful 
 elements, the noblest and the most debased im- 
 pulses, pious devotion, and detestable sensuality ! 
 Into what sins he fell and sank, when his love for 
 nature and antiquity degenerated into unrestrained 
 and godless lust, and his art as his life became 
 pagan." f 
 
 Among the Teutonic nations, particularly in 
 
 * Machiavelli's " The Prince," Chap. XITI. 
 t Eaumer's " Geschichte der Padagogik." 
 
THE RENAISSANCE. 153 
 
 Germany, Holland, and England, the revival of 
 learning produced far more salutary results than 
 in Italy. The deep moral earnestness of the Teu- 
 tonic race preserved it from moral and religious 
 debasement. After a time, the new learning was 
 cultivated with as much zeal north as south of 
 the Alps ; but its results were utilized in the in- 
 terests of a purer Christianity. The Greek and 
 He])rew Scriptures were studied as well as the 
 Latin and Greek classics. Critical editions of the 
 Old and New Testaments were published by 
 able scholars, and thus the means were sup- 
 plied for discovering and correcting ecclesiastical 
 abuses. 
 
 ^.Agiicola has been called the father of German 
 humanism. Born in 1443, near Groningen, he 
 received his degree of Master of Arts at Louvain ; 
 and after spending some time in Paris, he went to 
 Ferrara, Italy, in 1476, where he attended the 
 lectures of Theodore Beza, on the Greek language. 
 His learning and eloquence gave him a wide repu- 
 tation ; and, upon his return to his native country, 
 several cities and courts vied with one another in ' 
 the effort to secure his services. At length, upon 
 the solicitation of his friend Dalberg, Bishop of 
 Worms, he accepted a professorship at Heidel- 
 berg, where for three years he delivered lectures 
 on the literature of Greece and Rome. It was 
 through his labors, in large measure, that the new 
 learning was transplanted from Italy into Ger- 
 many. " At a time, ' ' says Raumer, ' ' when the 
 worst Latin prevailed in German}^, and such a 
 degree of ignorance that good Latin was not in 
 the least appreciated, and bad taste was admired, 
 it was Agricola alone who began to feel those mis- 
 takes, and to have a desire for abetter form of 
 speech." At the age of forty-one he began the 
 
154 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 stud}' of Hebrew, in order to be able to read the 
 Old Testament in the original. 
 
 He was an intelligent educator, and exerted no 
 small influence in improving the schools of his 
 day. He declined to take charge of a school at 
 Antwerp, but he wrote the authorities a letter full 
 of sage advice. He condemned the schools of the 
 time, characterizing them as " a prison, in which 
 there are blows, tears, and groans, without end." 
 '' It is necessary," he continued, " to exercise the 
 greatest care in choosing a director for your school. 
 Take neither a theologian nor a so-called rheto- 
 rician, who thinks he is able to speak of every- 
 thing without understanding anything of elo- 
 quence. Such people make in school the same 
 figure, according to the Greek proverb, that a dog 
 does in a bath. It is necessary to seek a man re- 
 sembling the phoenix of Achilles ; that is, who 
 knows how to teach, to speak, and to act at the 
 same time. If you know such a man, get him 
 at nn}^ price ; for the matter involves the future 
 of your children, whose tender youth receives 
 with the same susceptilnlity the impress of good 
 and of bad examples." 
 
 One of the greatest representatives of the new 
 learning was Reuchlin, who was born at Pforz- 
 heim, Germany, in 1455. At the age of eighteen 
 he went to Paris, where he studied under a native 
 Greek. He made the acquaintance of Wessel, 
 whose evangelical views were not without influence 
 upon his religious opinions. After leaving Paris, 
 he taught Latin and Greek at Basel, and subse- 
 (j[uently he became a professor at Tubingen. He 
 resided for a time at Heidelberg, and became a 
 centre for the propagation of Greek scholarship. 
 He issued several elementary Greek books, which 
 were used in Germany many years. 
 
THE KENAISSANCE. 155 
 
 But his studies were not confined to the Latin 
 and Greek classics. He took a profound interest 
 in the Hebrew language, and is justly regarded as 
 the father of Heljrew studies in Germany. In 
 1498 he was sent on an embassy to Rome, where 
 he employed all his leisure in studying Hebrew, 
 under a learned Jew, and in collecting Greek and 
 Hebrew manuscripts. The motive that urged 
 him to prosecute his studies in Hebrew is ex- 
 plained in a letter to Cardinal Hadrian : "I de- 
 voted myself to the Hel^rew language because I 
 perceived the great value which it would have for 
 religion and true theology. To this end I have 
 always directed my labors, and continue to direct 
 them more than ever. As a true worshiper of our 
 Lord, I have done all for the restoration and glori- 
 fication of the true Christian Church." On the 
 publication of his Hebrew grammar and lexicon, 
 in 1506, the first work of the kind prepared in 
 Germany, he could well exclaim, in the language 
 of Horace, ' ' I have erected a monument more 
 durable than brass." Melanchthon was his 
 nephew and adopted son ; and Luther wrote him, 
 in appreciation of his labors, ' ' The Lord has 
 been at work in you, that the light of Holy Scrip- 
 ture might begin to shine in that Germany where 
 for so many years, alas ! it was not only stifled 
 but extinct. ' ' 
 
 Erasmus, born in Rotterdam, in 1467, was per- ; 
 haps the acutest scholar of his day. In his 
 youth he gave promise of the eminence he was 
 afterward to attain. Agricola, who saw him at 
 the age of twelve, was so impressed by the young 
 scholar's appearance and precocity that he said to 
 him, " You will one day become a great man." 
 And his teacher at De venter once enthusiastically 
 embraced him, with these words: "You will 
 
156 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 one day attain the higliest summits of knowl- 
 edge. ' ' 
 
 In his youth Erasmus was persuaded to become 
 an Augustinian monk, and was afterward ordained 
 as a priest by the Bishop of Utrecht. He soon 
 found conventual life entirely unfitted to his tastes 
 and character. At length he was sent to the Uni- 
 versity of Paris by the Bishop of Cambray. To 
 eke out his meagre allowance, he took pupils in 
 Greek, the elements of which he had acquired by 
 private study. He indicates his ambition at this 
 time in a letter to a friend : ' ' All I ask for ii^ 
 leisure to live wholly to God, to repent of the sins 
 of my foolish youth, to study Holy Scripture, 
 and to read or write something of real value." 
 His ardor for the new learning is evident in the 
 declaration, " I have given up my whole soul to 
 Greek learning, and as soon as I get any money I 
 shall bu}" Greek books, and then I shall buy some 
 clothes. ' ' 
 
 At various times he visited England, France, 
 German}^, and Italy, and everywhere his Avit, 
 learning, and fame secured him a cordial recep- 
 tion. In 1497 he went to England, where he met 
 Thomas More, then a young man of twent}^ 
 heard Colet lecture at Oxford, and admired the 
 learning of Linacre and Groc}^! — all, like himself, 
 enthusiastic humanists. "I have found in Ox- 
 ford," he wrote, "so much polish and learning 
 that now I hardly care about going to Italy at all, 
 save for the sake of having been there. AVhen I 
 listen to my friend Colet, it seems like listening 
 to Plato himself. Who does not wonder at the 
 vdde range of Grocyn's knowledge? What can 
 l)e more searching, deep, and refined than the 
 judgment of Linacre? When did nature mould 
 a temper more gentle, endearing, and ha])py than 
 
THE RENAISSANCE. 157 
 
 the temper of Thomas More?" Later he be- 
 eame a lecturer on Greek at the University of 
 Cambridge. 
 
 As he traveled from country to country, he 
 visited libraries, collected manuscripts, and toiled 
 industriously at his Greek. He read the Greek 
 philosophers and poets, studied the Greek Chris- 
 tian fathers, translated Greek plays, Plutarch, and 
 Lucian. " Beyond all," to use the words of 
 Froude, ' ' mixing as he did in every kind of so- 
 ciety, living as he did among learned professors, 
 learned theologians, Parisian poets and actors, 
 fashionable ladies, })isliops, men and women of 
 all ranks and characters, he was studying the 
 great book of mankind, without acquaintance 
 with which all other knowledge is dry and un- 
 profitable." ^^ In Italy he made the acquaintance 
 of Pope Julius 11. , and numbered some of the 
 cardinals among his intimate friends, among them 
 Cardinal de' Medici, who afterward became Leo X. 
 Henry VIII. , of England, was his friend and 
 patron. 
 
 The life of Erasmus cannot be followed further. 
 He was acquainted with the foremost men of his 
 day, and exerted a great personal influence 
 through his recognized ability and scholarship. 
 Two or three of his works exhibited the spirit of 
 the humanistic learning, and embodied the ele- 
 ments of a new age. One of these works was the 
 Encommm Morise, or Praise of Folly, suggested 
 by Sir Thomas More. It is a satire upon vari- 
 ous classes of society. The ignorance, folly, and 
 vice of the representatives of the Church are by 
 no means spared. Erasmus calls the scholastic 
 theologians "a proud, susceptible race. They 
 will smother me under six hundred dogmas. 
 
 * Froude's " Life and Letters of Erasmus," p. 58. 
 
158 THE REFORxMATION DAWN. 
 
 They will call me heretic, and bring thunderbolts 
 out of their arsenals, where they keep whole mag- 
 azines of them for their enemies. Still they are 
 Folly's servants, though they disown their mis- 
 tress. They hve in the third heaven, adoring 
 their own persons and disdaining the poor crawlers 
 upon earth. They are surrounded by a body- 
 guard of definitions, conclusions, corollaries, prop- 
 ositions explicit and propositions implicit. Vul- 
 can's chains will not bind them. They cut the 
 links with a distinction as with the stroke of an 
 axe." 
 
 On the priests and monks he is, if possible, still 
 more severe : ''They call it a sign of holiness," 
 he says, "to be unable to read. They bray out 
 the Psalms in the churches like so many asses. 
 They do not understand a word of them, but they 
 fancy the sound is soothing to the ears of the 
 saints. The mendicant friars howl for alms along 
 the street. They pretend to resemble the apostles, 
 iind they are filthy, ignorant, impudent vaga- 
 bonds. They have their rules, forsooth. Yes, 
 rules — how many knots, for instance, there may 
 be in a shoe-string, how their coats should be cut 
 or colored, how much cloth should be used in 
 their hoods, and how many hours they may sleep. 
 But for all else, for conduct and character, they 
 quarrel with each other and curse each other. 
 They pretend to poverty, but they steal into 
 honest men's houses and pollute them, and, wasps 
 as they are, no one dares refuse them admittance 
 for fear of their stings. They hold the secrets of 
 every family through the confessional, and when 
 they are drunk, or wish to amuse their compan}^, 
 they let them out to the world." * 
 
 Of still more importance was Erasmus's edition 
 
 * Fronde's " Life and Letters of Erasmus," p. 132. 
 
THE RENAISSANCE. 159 
 
 of the Greek New Testament, accompanied with a 
 Latin translation and notes. " It is my desire, ' ' 
 he said in the preface, ' ' to lead back that cold dis- 
 pute about words called theology to its real foun- 
 tain. Would to God that this work may bear as 
 much fruit to Christianity as it has cost me toil and 
 application." This work, which appeared in 1516, 
 made Europe acquainted with the Gospel as it was 
 preached by Christ and His apostles. It enabled 
 the people to compare the original institution of the 
 Church with the imperial organization of the Pa- 
 pacy, and, especially through the editor's com- 
 ments, to understand how far Christianity, at the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century, had departed 
 from its pristine simplicity and purity. 
 
 Commenting, for example, on ' ' the husband of 
 one wife," in Tim. iii. 2, Erasmus says : "Be- 
 cause in an age when priests were few and widely 
 scattered, St. Paul directed that no one should be 
 made a bishop who had been married a second 
 time ; bishops, priests, and deacons are now for- 
 bidden to marry at all. Other qualifications are 
 laid down by St. Paul as required for a bishop's 
 office, a long list of them. But not one at present 
 is held essential, except this one of abstinence 
 from marriage. Homicide, incest, pirac}^, sodomy, 
 sacrilege — these can be got over, but marriage is 
 fatal. There are priests now in vast numbers, 
 enormous'^ herds of them, seculars and regulars, 
 and it is notorious that very few of them are 
 chaste. The great proportion fall into lust, and in- 
 cest, and open profligacy." 
 
 In the presence of forms and creeds, Erasmus 
 advocated a Christianity of the heart and life. He 
 demanded, not theological subtleties about the pro- 
 cession of the Si)irit, Init the fruits of the Spirit. 
 Without any formal statement that the Scriptures 
 
160 THE EEFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 are the only rule of faith and practice in Chris- 
 tianity, he set them n]) as the standard hy Avhich 
 to test the Church life of the time. The errors 
 and views of ecclesiastics were strc^ngl}^ and hravely 
 pointed out in connection with the Scripture j^as- 
 sages that condemned them. No other method 
 could have been more convincing and effective. 
 
 In the presence of the awakened intellect of 
 Europe, the New Testament was everywhere eagerly 
 received and devoured. A hundred thousand 
 copies were soon sold in France alone. ' ' Tire fire 
 spread," says Froude, " as it spread behind Sam- 
 son's foxes in the Philistines' corn. The. clergy's 
 skins were tender from long impunity. The}^ 
 shrieked from pulpit and platform, and made Eu- 
 rope ring with their clamor. The louder they 
 cried, the more clearly Europe perceived the justice 
 of their chastisement. The words of the Bil)le have 
 been so long familiar to us that we can hardly 
 realize what the effect must have been Avhen the 
 Gospel was ])rought out fresh and visible Ijefore 
 the astonished eyes of mankind." * 
 
 Such was the Renaissance in its beginnings, with 
 some of its principal leaders. It was a movement 
 of so great power that, overcoming all obstacles, 
 it made progress in every country in Europe. The 
 younger generation of scholars, many of the no- 
 bility, and not a few of the clergy, wei-e devoted 
 to the new learning. Suddenly the intellectual 
 horizon was immensely extended. ' ' For the first 
 time, ' ' as Taine puts it, ' ^ men opened their eyes 
 and saw. ' ' They began to examine and think for 
 themselves ; and with this freshly awakened criti- 
 cal spirit the beliefs and practices of the Papacy 
 were subject to scrutiny. Errors of doctrine, vices 
 of practice, frauds in worship, and tyranny in 
 
 *Froude's " Life aud Letters of Erasmus," p. 127. 
 
THE EEXAIPSANCE. 161 
 
 (.H-clesiastical g«^verninent l>eciime more and more 
 apparent. The fullness of time had at last come ; 
 only the prophet was still lacking. 
 11 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 PRELIMINARY CONFLICTS. 
 
 The conditions we have been considering make 
 it evident that a new era of progress was prepar- 
 ing for Europe. Prophetic voices, announcing a 
 new ecclesiastical order of things, were not want- 
 ing. The growing power and intelligence of the 
 jDCople made mediseval conditions less and less 
 tolerable. Over all Europe there were preliminary 
 skirmishes between the various conflicting forces — 
 prophecies of that greater conflict which was soon 
 to lay the foundation of civil and religious freedom 
 for the modern world. 
 
 In the presence of the growing national feeling, 
 the despotic claims of the Papacy to supreme 
 temporal judgment and authority w^ere more and 
 more disregarded. The new critical spirit pro- 
 nounced the "Donation of Constantine,"* which 
 had for centuries served as a bulwark for the tem- 
 poral claims of the Papacy, an unmistakable fabri- 
 cation. The authority of the Isidorian decretals 
 was likewise undermined. The old Roman law 
 was re^dved against the claims of the Papacy, and 
 many of the leading scholars of Europe held to 
 the equality of the secular with the spiritual 
 power. Both alike, it was maintained, Avere or- 
 dained of God. 
 
 The attitude of the nations of Europe toward 
 the Papacy is illustrated by the conflict of Philip 
 
 * Henderson's "Historical Documents of the Middle Ages," p. 319. 
 
 (162) 
 
PKELIMINARV CONFLICTS. 163 
 
 IV. of France and Boniface VIII. When the 
 king had the bishop of Pamiers arrested, the Pope 
 issued against him the bull Ausculta, Jili, in 
 which the Papal independence and supremacy 
 were boldly affirmed "Know then, my son," 
 says the l)ull, ''that it is not true that you 
 have no superior and that you are not sub- 
 ject to the supreme Pontiff." The king, sup- 
 ported by the University of Paris, burned the bull 
 and convoked the states general. The king was 
 present at the meeting in 1302 ; and after a dis- 
 cussion of the bull, the assembly proclaimed the 
 complete independence of the crown. The follow- 
 ing year another assembly charged Boniface with 
 heresy, simony, and ecclesiastical tyranny, and 
 appealed to a general council and a legitimate 
 Pontiff. 
 
 Another exhibition of the same spirit of inde- 
 pendence is found in the action of the Frankfort 
 Diet of 1338. Pope Benedict XIL, continuing 
 the long conflict between Louis the Bavarian and 
 the Papacy, demanded the emperor's resignation 
 of his royal and imperial dignities. It was an ex- 
 ercise of absolute Papal supremacy. In the law 
 Licet juris, the Diet asserted the independence 
 of the empire : ' ' We declare that the imperial 
 dignity and power come directly from God alone ; 
 and that, l^y the old and approved right and cus- 
 tom of the empire, after anyone is chosen as em- 
 peror or king by the electors of the empire con- 
 cordantly, or by the greater part of them, he is, 
 in consequence of the election alone, to be consid- 
 ered and called true king and emperor of the Ro- 
 mans, and he ought to be obeyed by all the sub- 
 jects of the empire. And he shall have full power 
 of administering the laws of the empire and of 
 doing the other things that pertain to a true em- 
 
164 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 peror ; nor does he need the approbation, confirma- 
 tion, authority, or consent of the Apostohc See or 
 anyone else. ' ' * 
 
 The same spirit of resistance early manifested 
 itself in England. The ' ' Constitutions of Claren- 
 don " of 1164 declared the civil courts to be su- 
 preme, and required all final appeals to be made, 
 not to the Pope, but to the king. The aim of 
 these ' ' Constitutions ' ' was to correct the abuses 
 of the ecclesiastical courts. In the conflict be- 
 tween John and Innocent III., the king was at 
 first disposed to laugh at the pretensions of the 
 Pope. The "Statute of Mortmain,"! of 1279, 
 put a check upon the excessive accunnilation of 
 land in the hands of the Church. The " Statute 
 of Provisors ' ' checked Papal interference with the 
 disposal of English benefices. The ' ' Statute of 
 Pr£emunire ' ' prohibited the unauthorized intro- 
 duction of Papal bulls into the kingdom. The 
 Enghsh barons, in a letter to Boniface YIIL, ab- 
 solutely rejected the Papal claim of supremacy 
 over the crown. ' ' This letter, ' ' as Hallam re- 
 marks, ' ' is nearly coincident in point of time with 
 that of the French nobility ; and the two com- 
 bined may be considered as a joint protestation of 
 both kingdoms, and a testimony to the general 
 sentiment among the superior ranks of the laity. ' ' J 
 Thus over all Europe the growing national feeling 
 led to active resistance against the despotic claiins 
 of the Papacy. 
 
 Another preliminary conflict was tlie repeated 
 insurrection of the peasants, particularly in Ger- 
 many. The spreading intelligence opened their 
 eyes to the hardships of their lot, and led them 
 
 * Henderson's " Historical Documents,"' p. 438. 
 t Henderson's " Historical Documents," p. 148. 
 X Hallam's " Middle Ages," p. 908. 
 
PRELIMINAKY CONFLICTS. 165 
 
 to (Icterniinecl tliougli unfortunate efforts to im- 
 prove it. The peasants were subject to a double 
 bondage — one to the priesthood, and the other to 
 feudal lords. Both were galling ; but of the two, 
 the ecclesiastical bondage was, perhaps, the more 
 exacting and cruel. The common people were re- 
 quired to pay tithes of all the products of their 
 labor — "corn, meadow^s, pasture, grass, wood, 
 colts, calves, lambs, pigs, geese, and chickens." 
 And their share of the profits the clergy looked 
 after with scrupulous care. In addition to this, 
 all clerical services had to be paid for. 
 
 This feature of the social condition of German}^ 
 (and the picture is equally true for other parts of 
 Europe) is forcibly presented by Juan de Valdez, 
 brother of the Secretary of Charles V. ' ' I see, ' ' 
 he says, " that we can scarcely get anything from 
 Christ's ministers but for money : at baptism, 
 money ; at marriage, money ; for confession, 
 money — no, not extreme unction without money ! 
 They wdll ring no bells without money ] no burial 
 in the church without money ; so that it seemeth 
 that Paradise is shut up from them that have no 
 money. ^ The rich are buried in the church, the 
 poor in the churchyard. The rich man may marr}' 
 with his nearest kin, ])ut the poor not so, al])eit he 
 be ready to die for love of her. The rich may eat 
 flesh in Lent, but the poor may not, al])eit fish, 
 ]>erhaps, l)e much dearer. The rich may readily 
 get large indulgences, but the poor none, ])ecause 
 he wanteth money to pay for them. " ^ 
 
 In Germany the i)easant was a feudal tenant ; 
 but after the Black Death, in the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, had greatly reduced the number of laborers, 
 the exactions of the feudal lords became more op- 
 pressive. The peasants were reduced i^ractii-dly 
 
 * Seebobtii's "Protestant lievolution," p. 60. 
 
166 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 to a condition of slavery : and inasmuch as there 
 was no strong central government, to which the}^ 
 might appeal, the}^ had no redress or protection. 
 Their rights to the common pastures, to the wild 
 game, and to the fish in the rivers were denied 
 them. At all times the}^ were subject to insolent 
 and tyrannous orders from their lords, for whose 
 wealth they had to toil and to whose luxuries 
 they had to minister. And when a peasant died, 
 the agent of the petty tyrant came to carry off, l^y 
 feudal custom, the best chattel the widoAv pos- 
 sessed — perhaps the horse or cow upon which the 
 family were dependent. 
 
 The first of the peasant uprisings was that of 
 the four Forest Cantons of Switzerland. These 
 cantons acknoAvledged the authority of the em- 
 pire ; but when the Hapsburgs ascended the 
 imperial throne, they attempted to subject them 
 to Austria. The Austrian governors abused their 
 position cruelly to wrong and oppress the free- 
 dom-loving Swiss. At length their tyranny be- 
 came intolerable ; and the bold peasantry, under 
 the leadership of Walter Fiirst, Werner Stauff- 
 acher, and Arnold ^lelchthal, formed a league for 
 the defense of their liberties. The spirit that 
 animated them is well presented 
 " Wilhelm Tell : " 
 
 " Yes, there is a limit to the despot's power ! 
 When the oppressed looks round in vain for justice, 
 When his sore burden may no more be borne. 
 With fearless heart he makes appeal to heaven, 
 And thence brings down his everlasting rights, 
 Which there abide, inalienably his, 
 And indestructible as are the stars. 
 Natirre's primeval state returns again. 
 Where man stands liostile to his fellow-man ; 
 And if all other means shall fail his need. 
 One last resource remains — his own good sw'ord." 
 
PRELIMINARY CONFLICTS. 167 
 
 After Tell, according to the legend, had slain 
 Gessler, the most ruthless of the Austrian gov- 
 ernors, the castles were attacked and destroyed, 
 and the tyrants driven from the country. A little 
 later, in 1315, the Austrian army, sent to subdue 
 the brave Swiss, was signall}^ defeated in the battle 
 of ^lorgarten*. 
 
 The peasant insurrections in Germany are too 
 numerous to be followed in detail. In 1460 the 
 peasantry rebelled against new burdens imposed 
 by their feudal lord, the Abbot of Kempten. In 
 1476 thousands of the peasant class in the 
 bishopric of ^^^iirzburg gathered in revolt around 
 Hans Boheim, who preached that there was to be 
 an end of civil and ecclesiastical tyranny, and that 
 all men w^re to live as brethren. Several wide- 
 spread conspiracies, w^hich successively chose the 
 peasant's clog as their martial standard, are desig- 
 nated as the Buiidschiih. The first originated in 
 Alsace, in 1493, and aimed at emancipating the 
 peasantry from clerical and Roman courts, and 
 from excessive taxation. It was early betrayed, 
 and its leaders executed. A few years later, in 
 1505, another conspiracy w^as formed in the region 
 about Speyer. It sought to elevate the peasantry, 
 to acknowledge only the emperor as sovereign, to 
 do away wdth the domination of Rome, and to 
 make the forests and rivers free to all. ' ' Only 
 what is just before God," was the motto upon 
 their standard. This conspiracy was likewise dis- 
 covered and suppressed. Again, in 1513, a league 
 w^as formed under Joss Fritz, in Wiirtemberg, and 
 the year follow^ing there were uprisings in Carinthia 
 and Styria, all which were suppressed by the 
 nobility wdth the greatest cruelty. 
 
 In the face of this general dissatisfaction among 
 the peasant class of Germany, the nobles found it 
 
168 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 necessary to form the Swabian League. The ex- 
 isting social condition is clearly portrayed in the 
 proclamation issued by the League. ' ' Since the 
 land of Swabia," it saj's, "and all over the em- 
 pire, among the vassals and poor people, disturl)- 
 ances and insurrections are taking place, Avith 
 setting up of the standard of the Bundschuh and 
 other ensigns against the authority of their natu- 
 ral lords and rulers, with a view to the destruction 
 of the nobles and all honorable persons, the 
 noble and knightly orders have, therefore, agreed, 
 whatever shall happen, to support each other 
 against every such attempt on the part of the 
 common man." 
 
 The great peasant revolution of 1525, which has 
 often been erroneously ascribed to the Reforma- 
 tion, was but another manifestation of the pro- 
 found discontent among the lower classes of 
 people. The twelve articles, in which the peas- 
 ants present their demands and set forth their 
 grievances, are substantiall)^ those of the old 
 Bundsckuh. It was deliverance from ecclesiastical 
 and feudal tyranny that they sought. Among 
 these demands were : 1. The right to choose their 
 own pastors ; 2. The payment of tithes of grain, 
 but of nothing else ; 3. Freedom from serf bond- 
 age ; 4. Liberty to hunt and fish ; 5. No ad- 
 ditional service to be required without money re- 
 muneration ; 6. Rent to be proportioned to the 
 value of the land ; 7. Punishment for crimes to 
 be fixed ; 8. The abrogation of death gifts, or the 
 law of heriot, which permitted the feudal lord to 
 take away the best chattel of a deceased tenant ; 
 and, 9. Any of these articles proved to be contrary 
 to Scripture to be null and void. 
 
 These demands of the peasants were just and 
 right ; but in the attempt to maintain them by 
 
im;i:!.imina1xV conflicts. 169 
 
 force of arni!^, the peasant armies, under the lead- 
 ership of religious or communistic fanatics, were 
 often guilty of gross excesses and wrongs. A 
 reign of anarchy threatened Europe. Under 
 these circumstances it will be readily under- 
 st(^od why Luther and Melanchthon, though 
 sympathizing with the oppressed condition of the 
 l)easantry, still urged, even in violent language, the 
 civil rulers to sup[)ress the insurrection with the 
 sword. In the civil war that followed, it is esti- 
 mated that one hundred thousand peasants lost 
 their lives. The chains of tyranny were riveted 
 on the peasant class for three more centuries. 
 
 In France, the social disaffection of the peas- 
 antry manifested itself in the insurrection of the 
 Jacquerie, in 1358. No other peasantry in Europe 
 was sul)ject to greater Avrongs than that of France. 
 They were burdened l)y the taxes (^f their feudal 
 lords ; they were disdained l)y the trading class ; 
 the)^ were pillaged by the soldiers ; they were 
 flayed by the hierarchy. After the battle of 
 Poitiers, the noblemen Avho had l)een captured 
 by the English cruelly exacted additional sums 
 from their serfs in order to pay their ransom. At 
 length the oppressed peasants grew desperate ; 
 and, rising in insurrection, they, for a few weeks, 
 executed a terrible vengeance upon their oppres- 
 sors. They sacked and l)urned the castles of their 
 lords, and in their fury slew even women and 
 children. But soon the nobles attacked them, 
 and visited upon them a temble retribution. The 
 peasants, poorly armed with iron-shod sticks, 
 knives, and clubs, were no match for the mailed 
 knights. The insurrectionists were almost ex- 
 terminated and several provinces were left almost 
 deserts. 
 
 A few years later, in 1381, there was in England 
 
170 THE REFOEMATTON DAWN. 
 
 a widespread peasant revolt, known in histor}^ as 
 Wat Tyler' s rebellion. The i)easantry were restive 
 under restrictive legislation, following the great 
 plague of 1348. John Ball, "a mad priest of 
 Kent," as Froissart called him, preached against 
 the social inequalities of the time, and inflamed 
 the people with a sense of tlieir wrongs. '^AVhy 
 do they hold us in serfage?" he exclaimed. " If 
 we all came of the same father and mother, of 
 Adam and Eve, how can they say or prove that 
 they are better than we, if it be not that they 
 make us gain for them by our toil what they 
 spend in their pride? They are clothed in velvet 
 and warm in their furs and their ermines, while 
 we are covered with rags. They have wine and 
 spices and fair bread ; and we, oat- cake and straw, 
 and water to drink. They have leisure and fine 
 houses ; w^e have pain and labor, the rain and 
 the wind in the fields. And yet it is of us and 
 of our toil that these men hold their state. ' ' The 
 growing spirit of the age was expressed in the 
 popular couplet : 
 
 " When Adam delved and Eve span, 
 Who was then the gentleman ? " 
 
 The immediate occasion of the insurrection was 
 the lev3dng of a head tax, which proved very 
 onerous. A brutal collector in Kent grossly in- 
 sulted the daughter of Wat Tjder, who seized a 
 hammer and struck the ruffian dead. A hundred 
 thousand men gathered about Tyler, and after en- 
 tering Canterbury and pillaging the archl)ishop's 
 palace, they moved upon London. The revolt 
 spread through all the southern counties of Eng- 
 land. The peasants demanded (^f the king free- 
 dom from feudal service, a uniform rate of rent to 
 be fixed l)y Parliament, free trade, and uncon- 
 
PRELIMINARY CONFLICTS. 171 
 
 (litioiial pardon for all wlio had taken part in the 
 rebellion. The king promised them full redress of 
 their grievances ; but, when in a parley Wat 
 Tyler was treacherously slain by the Ma3"or of 
 London, the revolt collapsed, and, as usual, many 
 of the insurgents were afterward ruthlessly put to 
 death. 
 
 The revival of learning, as might be expected, 
 did not go unchallenged. The conservative ele- 
 ment in the Church, j)articularly the Dominican 
 monks, scented danger in the new learning. In 
 their opposition to the humanists, they often 
 showed an ignorance as gross as their hatred was 
 venomous. They protested that all heresies origi- 
 nated in Hebrew and Greek, especially in the lat- 
 ter. "The New Testament," said one of them, 
 ' ' is a book full of serpents ,and thorns. Greek is 
 a new and recently invented language, and we 
 must be on our guard against it. As for Hebrew, 
 my dear brethren, it is certain that all who learn 
 it immediately become Jew^s. ' ' -^ 
 
 Even the universities were generally hostile to 
 the humanistic learning. Though the students 
 were often disposed to greet the humanists as 
 ' ' messengers from heaven, ' ' the faculties of in- 
 struction, with their w^^l-known conservatism, 
 stigmatized them as ' ' preachers of perversion ' ' 
 and ' ' winnowers of the devil' s chaff. ' ' The fac- 
 ulty of theology in the University of Paris did 
 not scruple to declare to Parhament that ' ' re- 
 ligion is ruined, if you permit the study of Greek 
 and Hebrew." The University of Cologne dis- 
 tinguished itself above all others in its uncom- 
 promising hostility to Greek and Hebrew. ' ' At 
 this period," says Sir William Hamilton, "the 
 lectures and disputations, the examinations and 
 
 * D'Aubigne's " Ilistorj' of the Reformation," I., p. 67 
 
172 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 honors, of the -different faculties, required only an 
 acquaintance with the barbarous Latinity of the 
 Middle Ages. The new philology was thus not 
 only a hors cfoeuvre in the academical system, or, 
 as the Leipsic masters expressed it, ' a fifth wheel 
 in the chariot ; ' it was abominated as a novelt}^ 
 that threw the ancient learning into discredit, 
 diverted the studious from the universities, and 
 rendered contemptible the once honored distinction 
 of a degree." * 
 
 Reuchlin was among the first to feel the venom 
 of Dominican persecution. Because of his He- 
 brew studies and his tolerance for Hebrew litera- 
 ture, which the theologians of Cologne desired to 
 have burned, he was accused of a secret leaning 
 to Judaism, and threatened with the dungeon of 
 the Inquisition. The Dominicans organized a 
 tribunal at Mayence, and, after formally condemn- 
 ing the writings of Reuchlin, consigned them to 
 the fiames. The friends of progress in Germany 
 and other parts of Europe rallied to the support 
 of the great humanist ; and when the matter was 
 referred to the Pope, Reuchlin was declared inno- 
 cent, and the fanatical monks were condemned to 
 pa}^ the cost of investigation. 
 
 One of the able champions of Reuchlin and of 
 the humanistic movement was Ulrich von Hutten. 
 Like Erasmus, he had spent his early years in a 
 monastery, from which he fled to become a stu- 
 dent at Erfurt, Cologne, and Frankfort-on-the- 
 Oder. His talent for satire, by which he gained 
 the ear of Germany, soon manifested itself. He 
 contended with a noble enthusiasm for the na- 
 tional unity of Germany and for emancipation from 
 the tyranny of Rome. He was one of the au- 
 thors of the Epistolse Obscurorum Virorum (1514), 
 
 * Edinburgh Review, 53, p. 185. 
 
PRELIMINARY C()>FLICTS. 175 
 
 winch uiiinaskcd in a striking way the ignorance 
 and innnorahty of the monks. These letters were 
 written in the barbarous Latin then in use in the 
 monasteries, and, thoiigli Leo X. forbade them to 
 1)6 read, they were widely circulated. Few satires 
 have ever proved more effective in discrediting 
 their victims. 
 
 But this was not all. Hutten assailed the abuses 
 and corruptions of the Roman hierarchy in vari- 
 ous treatises, both in prose and verse. He w^as one 
 of the most, effective polemic writers at the l:>egin- 
 ning of the sixteenth century, and on account of 
 his philippics against Rome, he "was called the 
 German Demosthenes. His ' ' Roman Trinity ' ' is 
 an attack of tremendous force : ' ' Three things 
 keep Rome in power: the authority of the Pope, 
 the bones of saints, and the traffic in indulgences. 
 Three things are banished from Rome: simplicity, 
 temperancjc, and piety. Three things the Ro- 
 mans trade in: Christ, ecclesiastical benefices, and 
 women. Three things are disliked in Rome: a 
 general council, a reformation of the clergy, and 
 the fact that the Germans are beginning to open 
 their eyes. Three things pilgrims usually bring 
 back from Ronie: a soiled conscience, a sick stom- 
 ach, and an empty purse. Three things have kept 
 Germany from getting wisdom: the stupidity of 
 the princes, the decay of learning, and the super- 
 stition of the people."* Luther himself has 
 nothing more forcible than this ei)igrainmatic in- 
 dictment by Hutten. 
 
 Erasnuis boldly espoused the cause of Reuchlin. 
 In a letter to Cardinal Raphael, he says : ' ' In sup- 
 porting Reuchlin you will earn the gratitude of 
 every man of letters in Germany. It is to him 
 really that Germany owes such knowledge as it has 
 
 * Schaff's " History of the Christian Church," VI., p. 198. 
 
174 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 of Greek and Hebrew. He is a learned, accom- 
 plished man, respected by the emperor, honored 
 among his own people, and blameless in life and 
 character. All Europe is crying shame that so ex- 
 cellent a person should be harassed by a detesta- 
 l)le prosecution, and all for a matter as absurd as 
 the ass's shadow of the proverb. Anyone who 
 will give us Reuchlin back, safe and sound, will 
 deserve all our blessings." 
 
 Erasmus liimself was the subject of clerical at- 
 tacks scarcely less virulent. His New Testa- 
 ment and Encomium Morise were telling blows, 
 and nothing l)ut the patronage of civil and eccle- 
 siastical princes saved him from the dungeon or 
 stake. ' ' The clergy, ' ' says Fronde, ' ' at first were 
 stunned. AMien they collected themselves, they 
 l^egan in the usual way to cry antichrist and 
 heresy, and clamor for sword and fagot. . . Most 
 fools and many women were on the clergy's side, 
 and a party which has the fools at its back has 
 usually a majority of numbers. Bishops fulmina- 
 ted. Universities, Cambridge and Oxford among 
 them, for1)ade students to read Erasmus's writings, 
 or l)ooksellers to sell them. Erasmus himself was 
 safe from prosecution while he was protected by 
 the Pope and the civil governments, and hard as 
 he had struck, he had said nothing for which the 
 church courts could openly punish him." 
 
 There was a loud clamor against Erasmus at the 
 English universities. At Oxford there were two 
 parties styling themselves Greeks and Trojans. 
 The latter, who were in an enormous majority, 
 represented the conservative or estal^lished order 
 of things, and but for royal interference would 
 have carried the day. Henry VIII. was not only 
 a humanist himself, but a personal friend of Eras- 
 mus. Accordingly, when he learned the state of 
 
PKELIMIXARY CONFLICTS. I/-) 
 
 things at Oxford, lie had a letter addressed by Sir 
 Thomas More to the governing body of the uni- 
 versity. Its tenor may l)e gathered from a single 
 paragraph. " I heard lately," says the monarch, 
 ' ' that eitlier in some fool' s f rohc or from your 
 disUke to the study of Greek, a clique had been 
 formed among you calling themselves Trojans ; 
 that one of you, who had more years than wisdom, 
 had st3ded himself Priam, another Hector, another 
 Paris, and so forth ; and that the object was to 
 throw ridicule on the Greek language and litera- 
 ture. Grecians are to be mocked and jeered at by 
 Trojans, whose laughter betrays their ignorance. 
 This action of yours is foolish in itself, and gives 
 an unpleasing impression of your general intelli- 
 gence." ^ It was in this ungentle Avay that the 
 enemies of Erasmus at the English universities 
 were put to silence and shame. 
 
 Thus, in various ways, the new and the old were 
 coming into inevitable conflict in all parts of Eu- 
 rope. The leading nations were rejecting Papal 
 dictation, and insisting on working out their own 
 destiny without foreign interference. The com- 
 mon people were sighing for deliverance from feu- 
 dal and ecclesiastical tyranny. Humanism was 
 invading the strongholds of ignorance and super- 
 stition. In all this we see the unrest and anguish 
 that always attend the birth of a new era in the 
 Avorld' s history. But the decisive battle, in which 
 all the hostile forces were united and opposed to 
 each other, was yet to be fought. 
 
 t Froude'b "Life uud Letters of Erasmus," p. 139. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BEGINNING OF THE REFORMATION IN GERMANY. 
 
 In the midst of the turmoils at the beginning 
 of the sixteenth century, God was preparing, all 
 unknown to the anxious and burdened multitude, 
 a leader for His peo]3le. It was Martin Luther, a 
 lowly miner's son, who was born at Eisleben, 
 November 10th, 1483. In this case, as so often in 
 the long course of sacred history, God chose a 
 humble agent to accomplish His mighty purposes. 
 The great leaders of the Jewish people in Old 
 Testament times — Moses and David — were shep- 
 herds. The most of that noble circle to whom 
 Jesus committed the great task of spreading the 
 Gospel were fishermen. Through the hard disci- 
 pline of poverty and toil, the prophets of God in 
 every age have usually received the strength and 
 courage to fulfill their divine mission. 
 
 The early career of the great reformer admirably 
 fitted him for the work he was to perform. The 
 struggles of his early life imparted strength and 
 solidity to his character. He was brought up in 
 an atmosphere of deeph' earnest but austere piety. 
 His father and mother, though strict and harsh in 
 their family discipline, were godly people. His 
 early school days at jNIansfield were darkened by 
 harsh discipline and crude methods of instruction. 
 On slight provocation the rod was mercilessly used; 
 and Luther himself records that he was beaten 
 (176) 
 
BEGINNING OF REFOKMATION IN GERMANY. 177 
 
 fifteen times in one forenoon for not being able to 
 recite what had not been taught him. 
 
 Destined by his thoughtful father to a learned 
 career, he was sent, at the age of fourteen, to the 
 school at INIagdeburg, conducted by the Brethren 
 of the Common Life. This organization, it will be 
 remembered, devoted itself to the work of preach- 
 ing and teaching. Though suffusing their instruc- 
 tion with a genuine spirit of jnety, the Brethren 
 were at this period friendly to the revival of learn- 
 ing. They promoted the study of Latin and 
 Greek ; and thus, in every way, their schools were 
 among the best of that age. Their influence on 
 the ambitious boy, hitherto accustomed to incon- 
 siderate severity, must have been encouraging. 
 
 A year later Luther passed to Eisenach, where 
 his secondary training was completed. For a time 
 he supplemented the meagre support provided by 
 his father l)y begging, according to the custom of 
 the time, ' ' a little bread for the love of God. ' ' 
 Here he was received into the home of Ursula 
 Cotta, a kind and intelligent Avoman who had been 
 attracted by his singing, and for the first time he 
 had an opportunity to observe and acquire the re- 
 fined manners of a patrician household. The 
 school at Eisenach was presided over by John 
 Trebonius, a learned humanist, whose spirit is ex- 
 hibited in his hal:)it of removing his cap in the 
 presence of his pupils, recognizing in them the fu- 
 ture magistrates, chancellors, and learned doctors 
 of Germany. His methods of instruction were so 
 excellent that Luther, many years afterAvard, com- 
 mended them to ]Melanchthon. It was a fortunate 
 circumstance that, in his early training, the re- 
 former breathed the atmosphere of the new learn- 
 ing. 
 
 In 1501 Luther entered the Universitv of Er- 
 12 
 
178 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 flirt, which, founded a hundred years l:)efore, was 
 at this time one of the most celebrated in Ger- 
 many. Unlike many other universities of the day, 
 it had welcomed the study of the Latin and Greek 
 classics. The first l)ook that was published in 
 Greek type in Germany was printed at Erfurt. 
 John Crotus Rubeanus, who became rector of the 
 university in 1520, was a leading humanist, and 
 collaborated witli Hutten in preparing the Epis- 
 tol% Obscurormn Virorum. Though Luther did 
 not neglect the study of the Latin classics, particu- 
 larly Cicero, Virgil, Plautus, and Livy, he devoted 
 himself chiefly to philosophy. He was thus intro- 
 duced to the subtleties of scholasticism, and de- 
 veloped unusual powers as a debater. In 1502 he 
 took the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and three 
 years later that of Master of Arts. The conferring 
 of the latter degree was attended with a great deal 
 of ceremony. "What a glorious and exciting 
 time we used to have of it, ' ' he once said, ' ' when 
 they conferred the degree of Master and honored 
 the recipients with a torch-light procession ; I hold 
 that no temporal worldly happiness was equal to 
 that. ' ' The talents of Luther Avere the admiration 
 of the university. Once very sick and in fear of 
 death, he was comforted by an aged i^riest. ' ' My 
 dear bachelor, do not despair ; you will not die of 
 this illness ; our God will yet make a great man of 
 you, and you shall comfort many people. ' ' 
 
 Luther was the most German of Germans. In 
 him were embodied the noblest qualities of his 
 race. He possessed a deeply religious nature, 
 which was developed, first, in the atmosphere of 
 austere piety, which pervaded his father's home, 
 and, secondly, in his early education, which inclu- 
 ded instruction in the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's 
 Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. In the 
 
BEGINNING OF KEFOHMATION IN GERMANY. 17^) 
 
 library of the University of Erfurt he first saw a 
 complete copy of the Bible, to which he was sub- 
 sequently to devote so much earnest study. The 
 sudden death of a friend brought him to serious 
 retlection ; and when shortly afterward he was 
 terrified in a violent thunderstorm, he fell to the 
 ground and exclaimed : ' ' Help me, dear Saint 
 Anna, I will become a monk. ' ' This was a turn- 
 ing point in his life — a necessary step in that mar- 
 velous course of training which Avas to make him 
 the prophet of his people. 
 
 In 1505 he entered the Augustinian convent of 
 mendicant friars at Erfurt. He submitted, with- 
 out a murmur, to the most menial duties. With 
 a bag upon his back, the bi'illiant young scholar, 
 who had lately been the pride of the university, 
 went begging from door to door. He was exem- 
 plary and zealous in the religious exercises of the 
 convent. No one surpassed him in prayers, vigils, 
 fasting, and self-mortification. ' ' If ever a monk, ' ' 
 he said afterward, ' ' got to Heaven by monkery, I 
 w^ould have gotten there. ' ' But all his monastic 
 zeal brought him no peace of mind ; he was bur- 
 dened with a sense of sin and a consciousness of 
 his alienation from God. 
 
 In his condition of spiritual depression and 
 agony, John Staupitz, the vicar-general of the Au- 
 gustinian order, whom we have already learned to 
 know as one of the Geirman mystics, became his 
 loving counselor. Caring little for the forms and 
 doctrines of the Papacy, Staupitz made the love of 
 God the centre of his l:)elief and life. He taught 
 Luther to think of God, not as an exacting law- 
 giver and judge, but as a loving Father. He en- 
 couraged him to seek peace, not in tormenting 
 penances, but in a loving trust in Christ, whom 
 God sent into the world to be a propitiation for sin. 
 
180 THE REFOEMATIOX DAWN. 
 
 At the same time he encouraged the young monk 
 in a dihgent study of the Scriptures. Gradually 
 the Ught dawned upon Luther' s anxious spirit, 
 and before he left the monastery at the end of 
 three years, " his internal struggles ended," to use 
 the words of Kostlin, "in a cordial acceptance of 
 Jesus Christ as his only Saviour, and his confi- 
 dence in his good works, as a meritorious ground 
 of salvation, was abandoned." ^ But it was re- 
 served for subsequent years to reveal to him the 
 truth of justification by faith in all its fullness and 
 manifold relations. 
 
 In 1507 Luther was ordained to the priesthood. 
 At the celebration of his first mass, he was so 
 overwhelmed l)y emotion in offering the tremen- 
 dous sacrifice, that he came near fainting at the 
 altar. His religious nature was deep and strong. 
 But the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt Avas not 
 to be the scene of his great reformatory labors. A 
 year after his ordination to the priesthood, and 
 when the light of evangelical truth was dawning 
 upon him, he was called to the newly-founded 
 University of Wittenberg, Avhere Staupitz was dean 
 of the theological faculty. He lived in the Augus- 
 tinian convent there, and his duties soon became 
 manifold and onerous. 
 
 Luther at first lectured in the university on 
 Aristotle ; but, as might ])e inferred from his pro- 
 found religious experience, this duty was not 
 suited to his taste. He greatly preferred theology 
 to philosophy. "Theology," he said, "is the 
 branch which examines the kernel of the nut, the 
 flour of the wheat, and the marrow of the bones." 
 Early in 1509 he l^ecame a Bachelor of Theology, 
 and began lecturing on the Scriptures. He dis- 
 carded the scholastic method, and sought in the 
 
 * Kostliu's " Life of :Martin Luther," j.. 7L 
 
15EGlx\M.\G OF REFORMATION IN GERMANY. 181 
 
 writings of prophets and apostles the truth of God. 
 Tlie Scriptures became to him the living book. 
 ' • This monk, ' ' it was said by a distinguished 
 member of the university, ' ' will confound all our 
 doctors, establish new doctrines, and reform the 
 whole Roman Church ; for he bases himself on 
 the writings of the prophets and apostles, and is 
 lirmly i:)lanted on the words of Jesus Christ. 
 This no one can successfully oppose or eventu- 
 ally subvert, Ije it with philoso])hy, soi)liistry, 
 Alliertistry, Thomistry, or the whole array of 
 authorities. ' ' '^ 
 
 In 1511, at the suggestion of 8tau})itz, Luther 
 was sent to Rome on some mission connected with 
 the Augustinian order. The experiences of this 
 journey proved of great value ; and, years after- 
 ward, when the work of the Reformation had 
 begun, he was accustomed to say : "I would not 
 have missed seeing Rome f(n' a hundred thousand 
 florins ; for I might have felt some apprehension 
 that I had done injustice to the Pope. But as we 
 see, so we speak." At this time nature had but 
 little interest for Luther, and his eyes seem to 
 have been closed to the sublimity of the Alps and 
 the beauty of Italian plains. But when he first 
 caught sight of the eternal city, he prostrated 
 himself in blind devotion, and, raising his hands, 
 exclaimed : ' ' Hail to thee, holy Rome ! Thrice 
 holy for the blood of martyrs shed there. ' ' 
 
 He had not yet been emancipated from the 
 bondage of credulity and superstition. ' ' Whilst 
 at Rome, ' ' to use his own words, ' ' I was such a 
 foolish saint as to run to every church, nook, and 
 corner, believing all their ridiculous stories and 
 detestable falsehoods. I likewise said mass at 
 Rome, being very sorry, at the time, that my 
 
 * Meurer's "Life of Luther," p. 28. 
 
182 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 parents were not dead, as I would have liked, by 
 means of my masses and other precious works 
 and prayers, to have delivered them from purga- 
 tory." As a meritorious work, for which the 
 Pope had promised an indulgence, he ascended 
 Pilate's staircase on his knees ; but before he had 
 reached the top, the words of Paul, ''The just 
 shall hve by faith," thundered in his ears, and 
 he rose to his feet, fullj^ confirmed in this Gospel 
 truth of the great apostle. 
 
 He saw much in the Papal caji )ital, as he records, 
 that shocked and outraged his religious feelings. 
 He discovered, in the celebration of mass there, 
 an unbecoming haste and l>lasphemous irrever- 
 ence. Skepticism and innnorality were wide- 
 spread. ' ' Among other vulgarities, ' ' he says, 
 ' ' I there heard, as we were seated at the table, 
 the courtiers laughing and telling how some would 
 say mass, and speak these words over the bread 
 and wine : ' Bread thou art, and bread thou shalt 
 remain ; wine thou art, and wine thou shalt re- 
 main. ' ' ' He discovered that, among ecclesiastics 
 of the highest rank, wealth and luxury had sup- 
 planted apostolic poverty and self-denial. He 
 saw the worldly splendor of the court of the war- 
 like Julius II., who had just returned from the 
 siege of a city, and whom he afterward denounced 
 as a bloody tyrant. 
 
 In 1512, after his return to Wittenberg, Luther 
 was made a Doctor of Theology. Dreading the 
 responsibility it imposed, he was reluctant to ac- 
 cept the degree. ' ' Upon a doctor, ' ' he said, ' ' it 
 is incumbent, according to his oath of office, to 
 explain the Scriptures to all the world, and to 
 teach everyone. ' ' His studious disposition shrank 
 from publicity. But Staupitz, the vicar-general 
 of the Augustinian [brotherhood, was urgent and 
 
BEGINNING OF REFORMATION IN GERMANY. 183 
 
 imperative, and at length Luther yielded to the 
 call of authority and duty. "Things have the 
 apijearance, " said the judicious vicar, "as if 
 God would soon have much to do in Heaven and 
 on earth ; He will, therefore, need many young 
 and industrious doctors, through whom to transact 
 his business. ' ' Years afterward, in the midst of 
 his conflicts with the Papacy, Luther comforted 
 himself with the pressing and imperative charac- 
 ter of his call. "I received a regular call," he 
 wrote, ' ' and was forced to become a doctor, with- 
 out any thanks for it, it being required as a mat- 
 ter of pure obedience. I was compelled to receive 
 the doctorate and to take oath and vow to my 
 dearest holy Scriptures, to preach them faithfully 
 and without adulteration. Whilst engaged in 
 such teaching, the Papacy crossed my path and 
 attempted to Avithstand me. ' ' 
 
 Luther's apprehension of evangelical truth grad- 
 ually Ijecame clearer and stronger. After lecturing 
 on the Psalms, in which he adhered more or less 
 closely to the mediaeval fourfold sense, he took 
 up the Epistle to tlie Romans, and a little later 
 the Epistle to the Galatians. His lectm^es on 
 Romans have been lost, l)ut those on Galatians, as. 
 elaborated several years afterward, form a com- 
 mentary noted for its lucid and powerful presen- 
 tation of the doctrine of justification by faith. In 
 his lectures he sharply distinguished between the 
 law and the Gospel, and refuted the prevailing^ 
 error that men can become just before God l)y ex- 
 ternal works. His presentation of Scripture trutli 
 was felt to be something new. "After a long and 
 dark night," says Melanchthon, "the light of the 
 new doctrine seemed to dawn. He showed the 
 distinction between the law and the Gospel, and 
 refuted the then prevalent error tliat, by their own 
 
184 THE REFOPvMATION DAWN. 
 
 Avorks, men merit the forgiveness of sins, and, by 
 their observance and discipUne, are righteous l^e- 
 fore God. RecaUing the minds of men to the Son 
 of God, and, hke the Baptist, pointing to the 
 Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the 
 world, he declared that sins are remitted freely, on 
 account of the Son of God, and that this l^cnefit is 
 to be received by faitli. Other portions of the 
 Church's doctrines were made clear. These "be- 
 ginnings of still better things gave him great in- 
 fluence, especially since his life corresponded with 
 his speech, and his words seemed to spring, not 
 from his lips, but from his heart. " ^ 
 
 But Luther's duties were not simply those of a 
 theological professor. Besides acting as sul)-prior 
 of his convent, he had given himself, through the 
 persuasion and authority of Staupitz, to the office 
 of preaching. He at first preached in the little 
 chapel of the monastery ; but his power and unc- 
 tion coming to be recognized, he was invited to fill 
 the pulpit of the city church. His energy and 
 zeal were unbounded. He sometimes preached 
 every day for a week ; and during Lent, in 1517, 
 he preached tmce ever}^ day. His sermons, like 
 his lectures, were pervaded by evangelical truth, 
 and the earnestness of his piety imparted to his 
 discourses an unusual and impressive power. 
 
 It was during this period that Luther made the 
 acquaintance of the German mystics, by wliom his 
 religious life and opinions were deeply impressed. 
 In many respects, as we have seen in a previous 
 chapter, their conception of Christianity ])resented 
 striking contrasts to the prevailing Papal system. 
 It substituted a living piety for formalism ; it ex- 
 hibited an ardent longing for spiritual fellowship 
 with God ; it presented the great truth of the com- 
 
 * Jacobs's " Life of Luther," p. 44. 
 
r.EC; INNING OF REFORMATION IN GERAIANV. IS.") 
 
 men priesthood of believers. In 1516 Luther 
 commended to his friend Spalatin the sermons of 
 Tauler as a verita]:)le treasure of evangelical truth. 
 The same year he published the "German The- 
 olog}"," wliich he ranked next to the Bible and 
 Augustine. But while profoundly influenced by 
 mysticism, Luther was not entirely given over to 
 it. In it feeling predominates over action ; and, 
 in the language of SchaflP, ' ' Luther was a l:>orn 
 fighter, and waxed stronger and stronger in battle. 
 His theology is lii1)lical, with such mystical ele- 
 ments as the Bible itself contains." * 
 
 Luther' s evangelical apprehension of the Gospel 
 made him dissatisfied with the scholastic theology 
 and Aristotelian philosoi)hy. IIq taught a living 
 theology rather than the hair-splitting distinctions 
 of the schools. He emphasized, in the lec- 
 ture-room and in the Church, the great doc- 
 trines of repentance, forgiveness of sin, faith 
 in Christ, and a life of obedience to God. 
 Lie substituted a religion of poAver for a religion of 
 form. He revived the theological teachings of 
 Augustine, of Avhose works he had been a profound 
 student. By his forceful presentation of evangel- 
 ical truth, so long neglected in the scholastic the- 
 ology, he in large measure changed the intellectual 
 and moral life of the university. The halls of 
 scholastic theology were deserted. Luther con- 
 tinually grew in power and influence ; and among 
 his intimate friends were Spalatin, Carlstadt, 
 Lange, Link, and others, all of whom Avere men 
 of splendid ability. In May, 1517, he wrote to 
 Lange : ' ' Our theology and St. Augustine flour- 
 ish, and with God's help rule in our university. 
 Aristotle is gradually descending from his throne, 
 and will soon be overthrown, perhaps forever. 
 
 * Schaff's "History of the Church," VI., p. 143. 
 
186 THE kp:formati<)X daavx. 
 
 The lectures on the Sententiarians are much de- 
 spised, and no one can count on an audience if he 
 does not lecture on this theology, that is, on the 
 Bible or St. Augustine, or some other genuine 
 Father of the Church." 
 
 According to the testimon}- of his private secre- 
 tary, Spalatin, the Elector Frederick of Saxony, on 
 the night of October 30th, 1517, had a remarkable 
 dream, which, in the light of subsequent events, 
 may be regarded as foreshadowing the Eeforma- 
 tion. In his vision tire Elector saw a monk 
 writing in colossal characters upon the door of the 
 castle church at Wittenberg. The old quill with 
 wliich he wrote stretched over the Alps to Rome, 
 where it pierced j:he ear of a lion, and nearly top- 
 pled the Papal crown to the earth. Whether a 
 (coincidence or a prophetic revelation, the vision 
 clearly symbolizes the results of the Ninety-five 
 Theses which Luther, October 31st, 1517, nailed 
 to the door of the castle church. 
 
 In 1516, in order to complete the magnificent 
 cathedral of St. Peter's at Rome and to maintain 
 the luxury of his splendid court, Leo X. resorted 
 to a sale of indulgences in Germany. He ap- 
 pointed three commissioners, chief of whom was 
 Albrecht, Archl)ishop of Magdeburg and Mayence. 
 As an electoral prince and imperial chancellor, he 
 was one of the most important personages in Ger- 
 many. To pay for his episcopal pallium, he had 
 borrowed thirty thousand gulden from the famous 
 banking house of the Fuggers in Augsburg. Like 
 Leo X. himself, the archbislK^p was in sore finan- 
 cial straits, and therefore entered vigorously into 
 the indulgence scheme, of which one-half the pro- 
 ceeds passed into his treasury. 
 
 To drive the business for him, he employed the 
 Dominican John Tetzel, an experienced vender, 
 
BEGINNING OF IJEFORMATION IN GERMANY. 187 
 
 who as Inquisitor General was an ecclesiastic of 
 high station and authority. Perhaps no more ef- 
 ficient and unscrupulous agent could have been 
 found in Europe. He was gifted with a popular 
 eloquence, and thoroughly understood the art of 
 imposing upon the credulous multitude by solemn 
 pomp and display. As he approached a town or 
 city, he was Avelcomcd, amid the ringing of bells, 
 by a procession of priests, monks, magistrates, 
 and the populace in general. Entering the prin- 
 cipal church or cathedral to the full tones of the 
 organ, he set up before the altar a red cross, over 
 which was hung a silken banner bearing the Papal 
 arms. Before the cross was placed a large iron 
 money-chest ; and then, mounting the j^ulpit, 
 Tetzel magnified his office, lauded the power of in- 
 dulgences, and in moving appeals urged the peo- 
 ple to buy. ' ' Your parents and relatives, ' ' he said 
 to the people, ' ' cry out to you : ' We are suffering 
 cruel tortures ; you might redeem us with a little 
 gift, and you will not ; we have begotten, sup- 
 ported you ; we have bequeathed to you our 
 earthly possessions, and you are so cruel and un- 
 feeling as to leave us here in the flames, when you 
 might so easily rescue us ! ' " 
 
 The blasphemy of Tetzel appears to have been 
 shameless. Among tlie infamous things he pro- 
 claimed to the credulous multitude were the fol- 
 lowing statements, which, though seemingly in- 
 credible, are verified by adequate testimony and 
 reflected in Luther's theses : 
 
 "That lie had grace and power from the Pope that, 
 though one had violated the holy virgin, he could for- 
 give it, provided the person placed the requisite amount 
 of money in the box." 
 
 "That the red indulgence-cross erected in the churches, 
 with the Pope's armorial bearing on it, was just as effica- 
 cious as the cross of Christ." 
 
188 THE EEFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 "That if St. Peter were liere now, he would not have 
 ifreater power than he had." 
 
 ' ' That he would not in Heaven exchange with St. 
 Peter, for he had saved more souls with his indulgences 
 than the apostle had by his preaching. " 
 
 " That if anyone cast money into the box for a soul in 
 purgatory, the soul would fly up to Heaven as soon as the 
 coin tingled at the bottom." 
 
 • ' That it was not necessary to feel sorrow and grief on 
 account of sin, or to repent, if one purchased the indul- 
 gences." * 
 
 In the latter part of 1517 Tetzel began his infamous 
 traffic at Jiiterbock, a few miles from Wittenberg, 
 where some of Luther's parishioners bought letters 
 of indulgence. As a faithful pastor he warned his 
 people against the delusion of purchasing salvation 
 for money. The previous year his attention had 
 been directed to the gross abuses of the indulgence 
 trade, and in a sermon he then declared that there 
 is no authority for the doctrine that souls are de- 
 livered from purgatory by the purchase of indul- 
 gences. In subsequent sermons, as the light 
 dawned upon him, he became more confident and 
 more comprehensive in his denunciations. He 
 perceived that indulgences interfered with inner 
 penitence, without which there can be no forgive- 
 ness of sin, and lamented their demoralizing effect 
 in teaching the people to dread the punishment of 
 sin rather than sin itself. ' ' Oh, the dangers of 
 our times ! " he exclaimed. " O, ye slumbering 
 ]3riests ! Oh darkness denser than that of Egypt ! 
 How secure we are in these extreme evils ! ' ' 
 
 Under these circumstances, impelled by deep re- 
 ligious conviction and by fearless loyalty to the 
 truth, Luther prepared his Ninety-five Theses, 
 and nailed them to the door of the castle church. 
 
 * Meurer's "Life of Luther," p. 44; Matthesius's "Leben Luthers," 
 p. 18; D'Aubigne's "History of tlie Reformation," I., p. 241. 
 
BEGI^"^■I^'G of reformation in Germany. 189 
 
 Without naming him, the theses were evidently 
 directed against Tetzel, and the indulgence traffic 
 he represented. Though not completely emanci- 
 pated from Papal error, as Luther subsequently 
 I'ecognized, they contain sufficient evangelical 
 truth to correct the gross abuses of the traffic and 
 to shear it of its popularity and profit. The doc- 
 trine of indulgences, unconsciously to Luther, who 
 was still a loyal son of the Papacy, was under- 
 mined. Note the following propositions : 
 
 "1. AVhen our Lord and Master Jesiis Christ said, Ee- 
 peiit ye, He meant that the whole earthly life of His 
 believers should be a continual repentance." 
 
 "5. The PojDe neither wishes to remit nor can remit 
 any other punishments but those which he, either ac- 
 cording to his own pleasure or in accordance with the 
 canons of the Church, has impqsed." 
 
 "13. The dying pay all penalties by death, and are 
 already dead to the canon laws, and are by right relieved 
 from them." 
 
 ''21. Therefore the preachers of indulgences err when 
 they say that through the indulgences of the Pope a man 
 is freed from all punishment and will be saved." 
 
 "27. Those preach the vain fancies of men who pre- 
 tend that as soon as the coin tingles in the box, so soon 
 the soul is delivered from pursratory." 
 
 " 33. We must especially beware of those who say that 
 these pardons from the Pope are that inestimable gift of 
 God by which man is reconciled to God." 
 
 "36. Every Christian who feels true compunction has 
 of right plenary remission of pain and guilt, even without 
 letters of pard(jn." 
 
 "52. To trust to letters of indulgence for salvation is 
 trusting to vanity and falsehood, even though the Com- 
 missary or the Pope himself should give his soul in i)ledge 
 for it." 
 
 "62. The true treasure of the Church is the holy Gos- 
 pel of the glory and the grace of God." 
 
 " 75. To think that Papal pardons have such power 
 that they could absolve a man even if, by any possibility, 
 he had violated the mother of God, is madneks." 
 
 "76. We affirm, on the contrary, that Papal pardons 
 
190 THE ep:fokmation dawx. 
 
 cannot take away even the least venial sins, as regards 
 thegnilt." 
 
 "79. To say that the cross erected with the Pope's 
 armorial bearing splendidly adorning it can accomplish 
 as much as the cross of Christ is blasphemy against God." 
 
 In all this Luther was earnestly seeking for the 
 truth. He had been denounced as a heretic, but 
 he concludes his theses ^vith an earnest soHcita- 
 tion to be shown, if lie be in error, a better way. 
 ^ ' On my part, ' ' he sa^^s, " as I have often done 
 before, so now, too, I implore all men, by the 
 faith of Christ, either to point out to me a better 
 way, if such a way has been divinely revealed to 
 any, or at least to submit their opinion to the 
 judgment of God and of the Church. For I am 
 neither so rash as to wish that my sole oj)inion 
 should be preferred to that of all other men, nor 
 so senseless as to be willing that the Word of God 
 should be made to give place to fables devised by 
 human reason." 
 
 Little did Luther anticipate the tremendous re- 
 sults that flowed from his theses. Originally pre- 
 pared in Latin, they were intended alone for a nar- 
 row and scholarly circle. But they proved to be 
 the match that lighted a great conflagration. 
 They were speedily translated into German, and 
 in a fortnight were eagerly perused and discussed 
 throughout all Germany. Not a few devout and 
 anxious spirits felt that at last a deliverer had 
 come. Luther had voiced the feelings of many 
 earnest Christians, who longed for deliverance 
 from existing evils, and prayed for a return to a 
 pure and spiritual religion. '^ Ho, ho ! " joyfully 
 exclaimed Dr. Fleck, who had assisted at the ded- 
 ication of the University of Wittenberg, ''this is 
 the man that will accomplish it ; he for w^hom we 
 have long been waiting is coming." Reuchlin 
 
BEGINNING OF REFORMATION IN GERMANY. 191 
 
 was likewise delighted. ' ' The monks have now- 
 found a man," he said, "who will give them 
 such full employment that they will be glad to let 
 me spend my old age in peace." Others, re- 
 calling the failure of previous reformatory move- 
 ments, were less hopeful. Dr. Kranz, of Ham- 
 burg, while lying at the point of death, said, 
 ' ' You tell the truth, good brother, but you will 
 accomplish nothing ; go to your cell, and say, 
 God have mercy upon me. ' ' 
 
 At the same time the theses worked a storm of 
 protests and denunciations from scholastic ad- 
 herents of the Papacy. The Dominicans were es- 
 pecially virulent in their attacks upon Luther. 
 Aided by Conrad Wimpina, a professor of theol- 
 ogy in the University of Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 
 Tetzel soon brought forward a series of opposing 
 theses, which he defended in the presence of a 
 large assembly of monks. With great controver- 
 sial shrewdness, he made the authority and power 
 of the Pope the salient point of his discussion. 
 He boldly maintained the infallibility of the 
 Pope, which had not at that time been formally 
 made an article of Roman Catholic belief. 
 "Christians must be taught," he said, " that the 
 judgment of the Pope in matters pertaining to the 
 faith and what is necessary to the salvation of 
 men is without question infallible, and that all 
 observances referring to matters of faith, which 
 the Papal chair has sanctioned, are part and par- 
 cel of Catholic truth, even if they are not found 
 in the Holy Scriptures." 
 
 Another Dominican assailant, of far greater 
 ability than Tetzel, was Sylvester de Prierio, or, as 
 he is generallv called, Prierias. He also main- 
 tahied the infallibility of the Pope. ' ' The Church 
 universal, ' ' he declared, ' ' is virtually the Church 
 
192 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 of Rome and tlie Pope. The Roman Church is 
 re])resentatively the college of cardinals ; but vir- 
 tually it is the Pope, who is head of the Church. 
 Whoever does not rest upon the doctrine of the 
 Roman Church and the Roman Pope, as an infal- 
 lible rule of faith, from which even the Holy 
 Scriptures derive their authority, is a heretic." 
 Jacob von Hoogstraten, of Cologne, the i^ersistent 
 enemy of Reuchlin, demanded Luther's punish- 
 ment b}^ fire, and John Eck, a professor in the 
 University of Ingolstadt, and a man of recognized 
 aV)ility and learning, charged him with reviving 
 the Hussite heresy. 
 
 Though sometimes alarmed at the dangerous 
 position into which he was being forced, Luther 
 did not lose his courage and loyalty to truth. The 
 replies of his assailants, so far from convincing 
 him of error, only confirmed him in his apprehen- 
 sion of the Gospel. He was astonished at their 
 emptiness of proof, and their reliance upon scho- 
 lastic authority. After a visit to Heidelberg, 
 where his learning, courtesy, and sincerity Avon 
 him friends, who, like Bucer, Brenz, and Schnepf, 
 afterward became prominent in the Reformation, 
 he prepared in 1518 a defense of his theses, called 
 Resolutiones, which in a very humble letter he 
 dedicated to Leo X. " If I have deserved 
 death," he says, " I refuse not to dm ; for the 
 earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." 
 
 In spite of his servile letter, Luther rejects the 
 infallibility of the Pope — an issue that had been 
 forced into the discussion — and practically plants 
 himself on the supreme authority of the Scrip- 
 tures. ' ' I concern myself little about it, ' ' he 
 says, ' ' whether anything does or does not please 
 the Pope ; he is a man like other men. There 
 have been many Popes, who have taken pleasure 
 
BEGIXXIXG OF REFORMATION IN GERMANY. 193 
 
 not only in errors and vices, Jnit likewise in the 
 most unaccountii])le things. I obey tht; Pope as 
 l*ope, that is, if he speaks what the canons dictate, 
 and if he acts in accordance with their prescri})- 
 tions, or in connection wdth a council pronounces 
 a decision ; but not, if he speaks only what seems 
 good to himself merely. For else I would, with 
 some that understand nothing of Christ, like- 
 wise be compelled to say that Julius II., notwith- 
 standing his atrocious murders and shedding of 
 Christian blood, still acted as a good she])herd and 
 faithfully tended the flock of Christ. ' ' He further 
 declared that the Church was in need of a reforma- 
 tion, but that the time of its accomplishment was 
 known only to God. 
 
 The controversy speedih^ assumed a deeper sig- 
 nificance. Pope Leo X. , who was at first disposed 
 to make light of the matter, became thoroughly 
 aroused. " Brother Martin," he had said at the 
 beginning, " is a man of fine genius, and this out- 
 break is a mere scpiabble of envious monks. ' ' But 
 in August, 1518, he deemed it necessary to inter- 
 pose his pontifical authority. Accordingly, he 
 cited Luther to appear at Rome wdthin sixty days 
 to answer the charge of heresy, and ordered the 
 Elector Frederick to deliver up this " child of the 
 devil" to the Papal legate. He threatene(l to 
 place the terrible interdict upon ' ' all princes, com- 
 munities, universities, and powers, or any of 
 them," that might aid or protect Luther and his 
 adherents. But the Elector Avas unwilling to sacri- 
 fice the most prominent teacher of his young uni- 
 versity ; and, knowing that Luther's appearance 
 in Rome (certainly meant his condenniation, and 
 pn^bably his death, he secured, after diplomatic 
 negotiations, the important concession that the 
 reformer should be tried upon German soil. 
 13 
 
194 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 In Octoljei'j I0I8, LutluT went on foot to Augs- 
 burg to appear before tlie cardinal legate Cajetan. 
 An imperial diet had just l)een held there, and 
 Maximilian was still in the neighlx)rhood. After 
 receiving a safe-conduct from the Emperor, Luthei- 
 appeared before the cardinal in three interviews. 
 Nothing was accomplished. Cajetan demanded 
 that Luther should : 1. Retract his errors ; 2. De- 
 sist from them in the future ; and 3. Refrain from 
 everything else that might disturb the Church. 
 Like the previous opp(~)nents of the reformer, he 
 asserted that "the Poi)e had power and authority 
 over all things." In reply, Luther expressed a 
 willingness to be instructed, and desired to have 
 his errors pointed out. He afhrmed the scriptural 
 character of his teaching, and refused to submit to 
 the dictum of the Pope. ' ' The decretals, ' ' he 
 said, ' ' often erred, and were opposed to the H0I3' 
 Scriptures and Christian love. St. Peter, on occa- 
 sion of his not walking uprightly according to the 
 truth of the Gospel, had lieen reproved by St. 
 Paul. It was not, therefore, to be wondered at if 
 his successor should likewise err in any case. In 
 matters of faith, not only a general council, but 
 every believer was above the Pope, in case he had 
 ]:)etter authoritv and reason on his side." At 
 length the legate, who had at first treated Luther 
 courteously, became impatient and angry, and, 
 rising from his seat, exclaimed : " Begone, and do 
 not again come into my presence, except to re- 
 cant." A week later, having reason to fear 
 treachery, he left Augsburg secretly ; but before 
 his departure, he left an appeal from Cajetan to the 
 Pope, and " from the Pope ill-informed to the Pope 
 lietter informed. ' ' And in November, he appealed 
 from the Pope to a general council. 
 
 Before proceeding to extreme measures, the Pope 
 
BEGINNING OF EEFOKMATION IX GERMANY. 195 
 
 Fiiacle another attempt to induce Lutlier to recant. 
 For this purpose he dispatched his chamberlain, 
 Miltitz, to Saxony, where the nuncio, a polished 
 and plausible courtier, had a conference with 
 Luther. For a moment the reformer, awe-struck 
 at the proportions tlie controversy was assuming, 
 wavered in his courageous line of action. A tem- 
 porary compromise was effected. Luther consented 
 to beg pardon of the Pope, and to warn the people 
 against the sin of separating from the Papal 
 Church. It w^as agreed that the matter in contro- 
 versy should be settled by a German bishop, and 
 that meanwdiile both parties were to remain silent. 
 Then, after a convivial supper, the negotiators 
 parted w^ith a kiss. A remark of the nuncio 
 throws an interesting light upon the feeling of the 
 German people. "0, dear Martin," said the ef- 
 fusive ^Nliltitz, ' ' I thought you were already an 
 aged, worn-out theologian, sitting behind the stove, 
 and thus disputing with yourself ; but I perceive 
 that you are yet an active, young, and strong man. 
 And even if I had with me an army of twenty- 
 five thousand men, I would not trust to bring you 
 out of Germany. For on my journey I have made 
 repeated inquiries as to how the people were dis- 
 posed, and what they thought of you, when I 
 found thus much : that where there is one on the 
 Pope's side, there are at least three others on your 
 side against the Pope. ' ' 
 
 The truce agreed upon was not of long dura- 
 tion. The controversy had alread}^ ceased to be a 
 private matter. The Emperor and leading princes 
 of Germany, the Pope and his cardinals, universi- 
 ties, and theologians, to say nothing of the common 
 people, felt a deep interest in the issue that had 
 been made. The conflagration could not be stayed. 
 The Papal theologian, John Eck, was the first to 
 
196 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 break the truce. Upon his initiative a disputa- 
 tion was arranged and lield at Leipzig, in which he 
 championed the Papacy against Carlstadt and 
 Luther. His triumph over Carlstadt was not 
 difficult ; but in Luther he met an antagonist, 
 who, in addition to great intellectual energy, pos- 
 sessed a wide acquaintance with ecclesiastical his- 
 tory and a matchless knowledge of Scripture, 
 illumined by a profound religious experience. 
 The debate lasted three weeks, and at its conclu- 
 sion both sides claimed the victory. 
 
 An invalualjle result for Luther was the increas- 
 ing clearness with which he apprehended evangel- 
 ical truth, his further rejection of Papal assumption, 
 and his growing reliance upon Scripture as the ul- 
 timate rule of religious faith and practice. The 
 principal point in the disputation, as in the pre- 
 vious discussions connected with the theses, was 
 the nature and extent of Papal authority. In 
 opposition to Eck's extravagant claims in behalf 
 of the Roman Church and ' ' the successor of St. 
 Peter as the general A^icar of Christ," Luther af- 
 firmed : ' ' That the Roman Church is superior to 
 all others is proved from the most sill}^ decrees of 
 the Roman Pontiffs who have been born within the 
 last four hundred years ; against which is the 
 approved history of fifteen hundred years, the 
 text of the Holy Scriptures, and the decree of the 
 Council of Nice, the most holy of all councils. ' ' 
 He was led to speak a favorable word for Huss, 
 whose doctrines, he said a few months later, he 
 had been teaching without knowing it. ' ' No 
 faithful Christian," he maintained, " can be com- 
 pelled to anything beyond the Holy Scriptures, 
 which constitute, properly speaking, the divine 
 law." 
 
 Mosellanus, professor of eloquence at Lei^jzig, 
 
BEGINNING OF REFOK.MATION IN GERMANY. 197 
 
 who delivered an iutroductorv address at the dis- 
 putation, gives us an interesting pen-picture of 
 Luther. "Martin," he says, "is of the middle 
 size, of a spare frame, and so worn down by cares 
 and study that, if you behold him near, you can 
 number almost all the bones of his body. He is 
 in the prime of manhood, and has a clear, pene- 
 trating voice. His learning and knowledge of the 
 Scriptures are so admirable that he is at home in 
 almost everything. Of the Greek and Hebrew he 
 has learned so much as to be able to Judge of the 
 explanations. He is at no loss as to matter for 
 discourse, for he has an extraordinary stock of facts 
 and words at his command. In the common 
 intercourse of life he is polite and friendly, having 
 nothing gloomy or haughty aV)Out him, and know- 
 ing how to adapt himself to circumstances. In 
 society he is agreeable, lively, and at all times of a 
 good courage and a serene countenance, no matter 
 what evil designs his enemies may have against 
 liim, all which constrains one to believe that he 
 does not undertake sucli important things without 
 the assistance of God. ' ' -'^ 
 
 The conflict deepened as new foes assailed and 
 new friends defended the fearless reformer. The 
 Franciscans denounced fourteen of Luther's theses 
 as heretical. Emser, professor of canon law at 
 Leipzig, made an insidious attack that aroused 
 Luther's Avrath. He was charged Avith holding 
 Hussite doctrines ; and in explanation of this fact, 
 the slanderous report was circulated that he was 
 -descended of Bohemian parentage. After he had 
 published a sermon favoring the administration of 
 the sacrament under both kinds, Duke George of 
 Saxony wrote to the Elector "that Luther's book 
 was regarded as savoring considerably of Prague, 
 
 * Meurer's " Life of Luther," p. 116. 
 
198 THE llEFORMATIOX DAWX. 
 
 and as, in fact, bearing A^dth it much heresy and 
 scandal." The Bishop of Meissen issued a pro- 
 clamation against Luther's sermon on the sacra- 
 ment, in which he lamented its evil effects and 
 enjoined the clergy to preach the orthodoxy of 
 Roman Catholic usage. The theological faculties 
 of Cologne and Louvain pronounced his writings 
 heretical, and condemned them to the flames. 
 Thus monks, theologians, prelates, princes, and 
 universities, zealously adhering to the Papacy, de- 
 nounced Luther as a heretic and clamored for his 
 destruction. 
 
 But friends were not lacking. Not only at AMt- 
 tenberg, but through all Germany, the evangelical 
 cause was constantly gaining strength. In Me- 
 lanchthon the great reformer found an invaluable 
 coadjutor and friend. Melanchthon' s scholarship 
 in Latin and Greek and his clear, intellectual pen- 
 etration were of material aid to Luther. The 
 gentleness of Melanchthon' s character was a whole- 
 some check ui)on Luther's impetuosity and vio- 
 lence. Throughout the critical and dangerous 
 period under consideration, they were united in 
 the bonds of a beautiful friendship. Luther ac- 
 corded Melanchthon' s attainments and talents a 
 generous recognition ; and when Eck attempted to 
 ridicule the latter by calling him a grammarian, 
 the reformer replied : ' ' I, a doctor of philosophy 
 and of theology, am not ashamed to yield when 
 this grammarian's mind differs from me ; I have 
 done so often, and do it daily, on account of the 
 gifts with which God has so l)eautifully filled this 
 fragile vessel ; I honor the work of God in him." 
 
 But Melanchthon did more. In this early 
 period he used his pen in defense of Luther. 
 "Judge yourselves," he said to the princes and 
 people of Germany, ' ' whether those really seek 
 
BEGINIsING OF REFORMATION IN GERMANY. 199 
 
 the Av elf are and good name of your native country 
 Avho luring accusations against the man that has 
 delivered the country from Roman impositions, 
 Avho, singly and alone, has ventured to root up 
 errors that had maintained their ground for several 
 centuries, who has again brought to light the doc- 
 trines of Christianity, which were almost entirely 
 hidden amidst the ungodly statutes of the Popes 
 and the silly sophisms of the schools. For this 
 praise not only myself Init the learned award 
 him." 
 
 The Elector Frederick likewise proved a most 
 valuable friend. Upon the death of the Emperor 
 Maximilian in January, 1519, he became regent 
 of the empire — a position that gave him for a time 
 a commanding influence. In reply to the urgent 
 appeals of Papal representatives, he maintained a 
 calm, judicial attitude, insisting that the errors of 
 Luther should be pointed out and refuted as a 
 necessary preliminary to his condemnation and 
 punishment. His attitude toward Luther and his 
 judgment of the popular feeling he gives in a let- 
 ter to Dr. Teutleben. "Luther's doctrines," he 
 says, ' ' have already struck too deep root in the 
 hearts of many in Germany for it to pass off so 
 lightly (as is supposed), if, instead of refuting 
 them with just and sound arguments and reasons, 
 and manifest and clear testimony from the Scrip- 
 tures, the terrors of ecclesiastical power alone be 
 resorted to and put into requisition against him, 
 to crush him ; it would rather occasion great and 
 excessive scandal in German}^, and excite fearful, 
 dreadful, injurious, and ruinous insurrections, 
 which might not prove of any advantage or bene- 
 fit, either to the most holy father, the Pope, or to 
 anyone else." 
 
 Francis von Sickingen offered Luther a retreat 
 
200 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 in his castle at Naustall, if he should find it neces- 
 sary to leave Wittenberg. Ulrich von Hutten 
 wrote a letter of encouragement, warning him to 
 be on his guard. " For without you," he says to 
 the reformer, ' ' what misfortune, distress, and in- 
 jury Avould it not Ining upon all Christendom if 
 you should now fall away. Yet as far as you are 
 concerned, I am certain that you are resolved 
 much rather to die than to pass over to them and 
 be united with them. ' ' Schauenburg wrote in a 
 similar strain : "I pray and exhort you in God 
 the Lord, that, although the elector, princes, and 
 other superiors should forsake you, and unjustly 
 permit arbitrary, ecclesiastical power to be put in 
 force against you, you Avould not let such swerving 
 and falling off disturl) you, much less betake your- 
 self to the Bohemians, with whom several highly 
 learned men have aforetime sustained marked in- 
 sults and injury, thus only making things worse. 
 For I, and I think I may say a hundred others of 
 the nobility, whom (if God permit) I will assem- 
 ble, will faithfully support you and protect you 
 against all the danger from your adversaries, till 
 your doctrines have, in a general Christian coun- 
 cil, regularly summoned, or by unbiased and in- 
 telligent judges, been vindicated and estabhshed, 
 or you have been better informed." 
 
 All this sympathy and encouragement was, no 
 doubt, grateful to Luther, and helped to sus- 
 tain him in the midst of his trials and dangers. 
 But his reliance was not in carnal weapons. ' ' I 
 would not, ' ' he wrote, ' ' have the Gospel main- 
 tained by violence and bloodshed. By the Word 
 the world has been overcome ; by the Word the 
 Church has been preserved ; by the Word it will 
 also be restored ; and as antichrist has gained his 
 
BEGINNING OF REFORIMATION IN GERMANY. 201 
 
 power without violence, so he will fall without 
 violence." 
 
 ^^llile powerful friends and defenders through- 
 out German}^ were gathering around him, Luther 
 himself exhibited a prodigious activity and cour- 
 age. Along with his work as a professor in the 
 University of \Mttenberg and preacher in the cit}' 
 church, lie wrote in 1520 no fewer than fifteen 
 treatises, most of which were replies to his assail- 
 ants and attacks upon Papal errors. Through 
 great conflicts within and without, his vision of 
 evangelical truth had been rendered clear and pro- 
 found ; and among the various works of this 
 laborious year there were three of such importance 
 that they liave been designated as his " Primary 
 ^Vorks." They bring before us, in definite form, 
 the errors of the Roman Church which the re- 
 formers combated and the points of reformation 
 which the}' ardently sought. 
 
 The first of these three great w^orks was the ad- 
 dress to the " Christian Nobility of the German Na- 
 tion.'' Luther understood its tremendous signifi- 
 cance. The thought of the treatise came to him 
 as he was driving along with a friend. ' ' I have 
 charged a rifle," he said to his companion, 
 ' ' which, if I succeed in discharging it well, will 
 certainly force its way through." His achieve- 
 ment answered to his desire ; and perhaps no 
 more comprehensive and irresistible attack was 
 €ver directed against the Papal system. 
 
 The address consists of three parts. The first 
 part is devoted to an overthrow of "the three 
 walls of the Romanists." " The Romanists have 
 with great adroitness," he says, "drawn three 
 walls round themselves, with which they have 
 hitherto protected themselves, so that no one 
 
202 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 could reform them, whereby all Christeridom has 
 fallen terribly. First, if pressed by the temporal 
 power, they have affirmed and maintained that 
 the temj^oral power has no jurisdiction over them, 
 but, on the contrary, that the sjjiritual power is 
 above the temporal. Secondly, if it were pro- 
 posed to admonish them Avith the Scrijjtures, they 
 objected that no one may interpret the Scriptures 
 but the Pope. Thirdly, if they are threatened 
 with a council, the}" pretend that no one may call 
 a council but the Pope. ' ' 
 
 In attacking and destroying the first wall, 
 Luther maintains that the distinction between the 
 spiritual estate and the temporal estate is a hypo- 
 critical device. ' ' Between laymen and priests, ' ' 
 he says, " princes and bishops, or, as they call it, 
 between temporal and spiritual persons, the onl}" 
 real difference is one of office and function, and 
 not of estate ; for they are all of the same spirit- 
 ual estate, true priests, bishops, and popes, 
 though their functions are not the same. ' ' 
 
 In regard to the second w^all, Luther holds that 
 the Poi)e's claim to l)e the sole interpreter of 
 Scripture is an impudent usurpation, unsupported 
 by reason, fact, or revelation. "It is a wickedly 
 devised fable," he declares, "and they cannot 
 quote a single letter to confirm it, that it is for the 
 Pope alone to interi)ret the Scriptures or to con- 
 firm the interpretation of them ; they have as- 
 sumed the authority of their own selves. And 
 though they say that this authority was given to 
 St. Peter when the keys were given to him, it is 
 plain enough that the keys were not given to St. 
 Peter alone, l:>ut to the whole community. Be- 
 sides, the keys Avere not ordained for floctrine or 
 authority, but for sin, to bind or loose ; and what 
 they claim besides this is mere invention." 
 
BEGIXNIXt; OF REFOKMATION IN GERMANY. 20o 
 
 As to the third wall, it falls of itself with the 
 destruction of the other two. " If the Pope act 
 contrary to the Scriptures, ' ' Luther affirms, ' ' we 
 are bound to stand by the Scriptures, to punish 
 and constrain him." If the Pope resist the call- 
 ing of a council or the reformation of the Churcli, 
 his authority is to be disregarded and his excom- 
 munications despised ''as tlie ravings of a mad- 
 man." 
 
 Luther concludes the first part of his address 
 with these words : ' ' And now I hope we have laid 
 the false, lying spectre Avith which the Romanists 
 liave long terrified and stupefied our consciences. 
 And we have shown that, like all the rest of us, 
 they are subject to the temporal sword ; that they 
 have no authority to interpret the Scriptures l>y 
 force without skill ; and that they have no poAver 
 to pi"event a council or to pledge it in accordance 
 with their pleasure, or to ])ind it beforehand, and 
 deprive it of its freedom ; and that if they do this, 
 they are verily of the fellowship of antichrist and 
 the devil, and have nothing of Christ but the 
 name." * 
 
 The second part of the address treats of "the 
 matters to be considered in the council." It is a 
 bold and terrific arraignment of the Papacy for its 
 ])ride, tyranny, and wickedness. " It is a dis- 
 tressing and terrible thing," Luther exclaims, 
 ' ' to see that the head of Christendom, who boasts 
 of being the Vicar of Christ and the successor of 
 St. Peter, lives in a worldly pomp that no king or 
 emperor can equal ; so that in him, who calls him- 
 self most holy and most spiritual, there is more 
 worldliness than in the world itself. He wears a 
 
 * The foregoing, as well as the following quotations from Luther's 
 three great treatises, are taken from Wace and Buchheim's " Luther's 
 Primary Works." But they have been verified by reference to the 
 German in the Leipzig edition of Luther's works. 
 
204 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 triple crown, whereas the mightiest kings wear 
 only one. If this resembles the poverty of Christ 
 and St. Peter, it is a new sort of resemblance. ' ' 
 
 The reformer points ont, in strong language, the 
 usurpations and shameless subterfuges by which 
 the Papacy increased its power and filled its cof- 
 fers. Germany was impoverished to support an 
 imposing and venal court. "There is such a 
 swarm of vermin at Rome, ' ' he says, ' ' all called 
 Papal, that Babylon itself never saw the like. 
 There are more than three thousand Papal secreta- 
 ries alone ; but who shall count the other office- 
 bearers, since there are so many offices that we 
 can scarcely count them, and all waiting for Ger- 
 man l:)enefices, as wolves wait for a flock of sheep ? 
 I think Germany now pays to the Pope more than 
 it formerly paid the emperors ; nay, some think 
 more than three hundred thousand guilders are 
 sent from Germany to Rome every year, for noth- 
 ing whatever ; and in return we are scoffed at and 
 put to shame. Do Ave still wonder why princes, 
 noblemen, cities, foundations, convents, and peo- 
 ple are poor ? We should rather wonder that we 
 have anything left to eat." 
 
 Of the outrageous traffic in privileges and bene- 
 fices carried on at Rome, Luther says : ' ' Any sort 
 of usury is made legitimate for money ; property 
 got b}^ theft or robbery is here made legal. Here 
 vows are annulled ; here a monk obtains leave to 
 quit his order ; here priests can enter married life 
 for money ; here bastards can become legitimate, 
 and dishonor and shame may arrive at high 
 honors ; all evil repute and disgrace is knighted 
 and ennobled ; here a marriage is suffered that is 
 in a forbidden degree or has some other defect. 
 Oh, what a trafficking and plundering is there ! 
 One would think that the canon laws were onlv so 
 
BEGINNING OF EEFORMATION IN GEEMANY. 205 
 
 many ropes of gold, from which lie must free him- 
 self who would become a Christian man. Nay, 
 here the devil becomes a saint and a god besides." 
 
 The third part of the address is devoted to 
 ' ' twenty-seven articles respecting the reformation 
 of the Christian estate." Luther's Avork was not 
 simply critical and destructive ; in the latter part 
 of this great polemic document he shows himself 
 equally strong as a constructive reformer. His 
 keen discernment recognizes not only the existing 
 evils, but also the suitable remedies. To amelior- 
 ate the spiritual condition of German}^ he proposes, 
 among other things, that every form of Papal exac- 
 tion, such as the annats, sale of benefices, and of 
 confirmations by the Pope, l)e j)rohibited ; that 
 temporal matters be settled by the princes without 
 the interference of Rome ; that the number of 
 Papal officers should be diminished ; that the ter- 
 rible oaths binding the bishoi)s to the Pope should 
 be abolished ; that the emperor should be inde- 
 pendent of the Pope ; that the Pope should sur- 
 render his claim to the temporal sovereignty of 
 Naples and Sicily ; that the mendicant orders 
 should ])e abolished, or, at least, restricted ; that 
 priests should be allowed to marry ; that festivals, 
 processions, and masses for the dead should be 
 done away with, or at least dimished in number; 
 and that the universities, ' ' where the blind heathen 
 teacher, Aristotle, rules even further than Christ," 
 should undergo a thorough reformation. 
 
 In concluding this powerful treatise, Luther says 
 with fearless and heroic spirit : "I dare say I have 
 sung a lofty strain, that I have proposed many 
 things that wall be thought impossible, and at- 
 tacked many points too sharply. But what was I 
 to do ? This I was bound to say ; if I had the 
 power, this is what I Avould do. I had rather 
 
20G THE REFORxMATION DAWN. 
 
 incur the world's anger than God's; they cannot 
 take from me more than my hfe. I have hitherto 
 made many offers of peace to my adversaries. 
 But, as I see, God has forced me, through them, 
 to open my mouth wider and wider." 
 
 This uncompromising polemical pamphlet, 
 though it frightened some of Luther's friends, was 
 welcomed by a large part of the German peoj^le. 
 It gave voice to their feelings and definiteness to 
 their aspirations. In a short time four thousand 
 copies were distributed, and a new edition called 
 for. It was fittingly characterized by Lange as "a 
 war-trumpet. " " The reformer, ' ' to use the words 
 of Kostlin, ' ' who at first desired only to open and 
 teach the true way of salvation to souls, and to 
 battle for this with the sword of His Word, has in- 
 deed taken, in a decided and imj^etuous manner, 
 that other step, by which he demands the abolish- 
 ment of the illegal and antichristian outward 
 forms of the Romish Church, and even calls the 
 temporal powers with their weapons, if need be, to 
 assistance." ^^ 
 
 The second of Luther's great " primary works " 
 was entitled ' ' Concerning Christian Liberty. ' ' It 
 begins with the paradox that ' ' a Christian man is 
 the most free lord of all, and subject to none ; a 
 Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, 
 and subject to everyone." He is free through 
 faith, and a servant through love. Though far 
 less polemical in tone than the ' ' Address to the 
 Nobility, " it is not less fundamental and far-reach- 
 ing in its statement of evangehcal principles. It 
 asserts the supreme authority of the Scriptures, 
 teaches justification by faith alone, and argues the 
 necessity of good works, not as a ground of par- 
 don, but as a fruit of the new life. It is dedicated 
 
 * Kostliu's " Life of Luther," p. 186. 
 
BEGINNING OF REFOR.AIATIO.N JN GERMANY. '207 
 
 to Pope Leo X., to whom, while })i'ofessiiig a pro- 
 found respect, Luther nevertheless reufHrms, in 
 the strongest language, his charges of Papal cle- 
 pravit3\ ' ' For many years now, ' ' he courageously 
 says to the Pontiff, ' ' nothing else has overflowed 
 from Rome into the world — as j^ou are not ignor- 
 ant — than the laying waste of goods, of bodies, 
 and of souls, and the worst examples of all the 
 worst things. These things are clearer than the 
 light to all men ; and the Church of Rome, for- 
 merly the most holy of all churches, has become 
 the most lawless den of thieves, the most shame- 
 less of all brothels, the very kingdom of sin, death, 
 and hell ; so that not even antichrist, if he were 
 to come, could devise any addition to its wicked- 
 ness. ' ' 
 
 The Christian is justified, Luther maintains, not 
 by outward things of whatever character they may 
 be, but by "the most holy Word of God, the Gos- 
 pel of Christ." The intervention of Poj^es and 
 priests is not necessary. ' ' Let us, therefore, hold 
 it for certain and firmly established," he says, 
 ' ' that the soul can do without everything, except 
 the Word of God, without which none at all of its 
 wants are provided for. But having the Word, it 
 is rich and wants for nothing, since that is the 
 word of life, of truth, of light, of peace, of justi- 
 fication, of salvation, of joy, of liberty, of wisdom, 
 of virtue, of grace, of glory, and of every good 
 thing." 
 
 Faith, by which alone the soul is justified, brings 
 us into harmony with the divine wdll, leads us to 
 the deepest veneration for Him in whom we be- 
 lieve, and, abolishing all false and artificial distinc- 
 tions, makes all believers kings and priests unto 
 God. It does away with the terrible ecclesiastical 
 tyranny, under which ' ' the knowledge of Christian 
 
208 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 grace, of faith, and of liberty, and altogether of 
 Christ, has utterly perished, and has been suc- 
 ceeded by an intolerable Ijondage to human w(^rks 
 and laws ; and, according to the Lamentations of 
 Jeremiah, we have l^ecome the slaves of the vilest 
 men on earth, who abuse our misery to all the dis- 
 graceful and ignominious purposes of their own 
 will." 
 
 Faith leads to a willing service of our fellow-man, 
 even as Christ gave Himself for us. It introduces 
 a reign of love and helpfulness. "Thus from 
 faith," Luther says, in summing up his argument, 
 '' flow forth love and joy in the Lord, and from love 
 a cheerful, willing, free spirit, disposed to serve our 
 neighbor voluntarily, without taking any account 
 of gratitude or ingratitude, praise or blame, gain 
 or loss. Its object is not to lay men under obliga- 
 tions, nor does it distinguish between friends and 
 enemies, or look to gratitude or ingratitude, but 
 most freely and willingly spends itself and its 
 goods, whether it loses them through ingratitude 
 or gains good-will. For this did its Father, distrib- 
 uting all things to all men abundantly and freely ; 
 making His sun to rise upon the just and the 
 unjust." 
 
 The treatise is written with deep conviction and 
 spiritual insight. It shows Luther's calm, firm 
 hold on evangelical truth, and the lofty ethical 
 plane to which he would elevate human life. It 
 is infiniteh^ al)ove the externalities inculcated by 
 the Roman Church. It is one of the reformer's 
 noblest writings, and embodies in brief compass 
 the evangelical system of faith and works, to which 
 Luther would gladly have given his life, had he not 
 been called to battle by the selfish enemies of the 
 truth. In concluding his dedicatory letter to Leo 
 X. , he says : ' ' By this you may perceive in what 
 
BEGINNING OF REFORMATION IN GERMANY. 209 
 
 pursuits I should prefer and be able to occupy my- 
 self to more profit, if I were allowed, or had hith- 
 erto been allowed, by your impious tiatterers. It 
 is a small matter, if you look to its exterior ; but, 
 unless I mistake, it is a summary of the Christian 
 life put together in small compass, if you appre- 
 hend its meaning." 
 
 The third of Luther's "primary works" is the 
 ' ' Babylonish Captivity of the Church. " It is a 
 polemical treatise, in which Luther recognizes the 
 advances he has made. In place of all his i)re- 
 Vious writings on indulgences, which he has main- 
 tained were not to be wholly rejected, he wishes to 
 substitute this unqualified declaration : ' ' Indul- 
 gences are wicked devices of the flatterers of 
 Rome." He had hitherto recognized the human, 
 though not the divine, right of the Papacy ; but, 
 thanks to Eck, Emser, and others, he now utterly 
 rejects its claims. " I now know and am sure," 
 he declares, ' ' that the Papacy is the kingdom of 
 Babylon and the power of Ximrod, the mighty 
 hunter. ' ' 
 
 The ' ' Babylonish Captivity " is a thorough- 
 going attack upon the sacramental system of the 
 Roman Church. It is aimed at a vital point. 
 With the number of the sacraments diminished, 
 and with their administration rightly explained, 
 the mediatorial office of the priesthood disappears. 
 Here, as elsewhere, Luther substitutes faith for 
 externality. Every sacrament, he explains, in- 
 volves a word of divine promise, which the recip- 
 ient must believe. ' ' I must deny, ' ' he says, ' ' that 
 there are seven sacraments, and must lay it down, 
 for the time being, that there are only three — bap- 
 tism, penance, and the bread — and that by the 
 Court of Rome all these have been brought into 
 miserable bondage, and the Church despoiled of all 
 14 
 
210 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 her liberty. ' ' Accordingly, he rejects confirmation, 
 matrimony, orders, extreme unction, and, later, 
 also penance, as sacraments. 
 
 The sacrament of the Lord's Supj^er, as Luther 
 shows, had been perverted or brought into bondage 
 in three ways : 1. It was administered to the laity 
 in a mutilated form by withholding the cuj:^ ; 2. 
 Its nature was misrepresented by the newly de- 
 vised doctrine of tran substantiation ; and 3. Its 
 true use was perverted by the sacrifice of the mass. 
 He characterizes the withholding of the cup as 
 " an act of impiety and tyranny;" the doctrine of 
 transubstantiation he pronounces ' ' a figment of 
 human opinion ; ' ' and the sacrifice of the mass, he 
 declares, has "made this divine sacrament a mere 
 subject of traffic, huckstering, and monej^-getting 
 contracts." In the words of institution, the re- 
 former says, ' ' and absolutely in nothing else, lies 
 the whole force, nature, and substance of the mass. 
 All the rest are human notions, accessory to the 
 words of Christ ; and the mass can perfectly well 
 subsist and be kept up without them." The 
 only thing required for the worthy reception of the 
 Lord's Supper is a faith that rests with confidence 
 upon the divine promise contained in the words, 
 ' ' given and shed for you. ' ' 
 
 In like manner faith is necessary in baptism. 
 " It is not baptism," Luther says, "which justifies 
 any man, or is of any advantage ; but faith in that 
 word of promise to which baptism is added ; for 
 this justifies and fulfills the meaning of baptism." 
 This truth he emphasizes in a subsequent para- 
 graph : ' ' Let us then open our eyes, and learn to 
 look more to the word than to the sign, more to 
 faith than to the work or use of the sign ; and let 
 us understand that wherever there is a divine pro- 
 mise, there faith is required ; and that both of 
 
BEGINNING OF EEFOKMATION IN GERMANY. 211 
 
 these are so neeessary that neither can be of any 
 effect without the other. We can neither beheve 
 unless we have a promise, nor is the promise effec- 
 tual unless it is believed ; while if these two act 
 reciprocally, they produce a real and sure efficacy 
 in the sacraments. Hence to seek efficacy in the 
 sacrament independently of the promise and of 
 faith is to strive in vain and to fall into condem- 
 nation." This doctrine, it Avill be i)erceived, is 
 directly opposed to the Papal teaching of the efff- 
 cacy of the sacraments ex opcre operato. 
 
 Meanwhile, a Papal bull, bearing date June 
 15th, 1520, had been prepared against Luther. 
 His heroic spirit, which no longer sought reconcil- 
 iation with the antichrist of Rome, remained un- 
 daunted. In the concluding paragraph of the 
 "Babylonish Captivity," he defiantly says : "I 
 hear a report that fresh Inills and Papal curses are 
 being prepared against me, ])y which I am to be 
 urged to recant, or else to be declared a heretic. 
 If this is true, I wish this little book to be a part 
 of my future recantation, that they may not com- 
 plain that their tyranny has puffed itself up in 
 vain. ' ' 
 
 The Papal bull was brought to Germany in 
 August^ 1520, by Eck. It is an elaborate docu- 
 ment. After invoking God and all the saints to 
 defend the Church against the new heresy, it cites 
 fortj^-one errors selected from the works of the re- 
 former, among which are the following : ' ' XVI. 
 It would be well for the Church, in a general 
 council, to resolve that the laity should commune 
 under both forms. XVII. The treasures of the 
 Church, from which the Pope gives indulgences, 
 are not" the merits of Christ and the saints. XIX. 
 Indulgences do not avail, where truly received, to 
 remit the punishment which divine justice de- 
 
212 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 mands for actual sins. XX. They are deceived 
 who believe that indulgences bring salvation and 
 a spiritual benefit. XXXIII. To burn heretics is 
 against the will of the Spirit. XXXVII. Pur- 
 gatory cannot be proved from the canonical Scrip- 
 tures." * 
 
 After condemning the citations as contrary to 
 the Roman doctrine, the Pope forbids them to be 
 taught, and orders the works of Luther to be dil- 
 igently collected and burned. The reformer and 
 his adherents are given sixty days to recant, and 
 after that time they are to be condemned as here- 
 tics, and handed over to the secular arm for pun- 
 ishment. The adherents of the Papacy are warned 
 against association Avith the Lutheran heretics, and 
 are charged to arrest and deliver them to Rome, 
 ' ' to receive in return for so good a work due re- 
 muneration and reward." Any city, land, or 
 other place giving Luther and his followers shelter 
 or protection is to be placed under an interdict, 
 and everyone is warned against opposing the bull 
 under penalty of the divine anger. 
 
 The bull was not favorably received in Ger- 
 many. While it was posted in a few cities and 
 Luther''s works were pul^licly committed to the 
 flames, it elsewhere excited opposition and con- 
 tempt. At Leipzig Eck was mobbed by a crowd 
 of students, and fled from the city under cover of 
 night. At Erfurt the bull was torn to pieces by 
 the students, and thrown into the river with the 
 words : " It is a bulla (bubble), let it float." At 
 Wittenberg the rector of the Lhiiversity refused to 
 ])ublish it under the pretext that it had not been 
 delivered to him in due form. 
 
 Luther's fearless courage did not desert him. 
 
 * Schaft''s " History of the Christian Church," VI., p. 235, in Latin, 
 and Jacobs' s " Martin Luther," p. 413, in English. 
 
BEGINNING OF REFORMATION IN GERMANY. 213 
 
 In November he published a tract, entitled 
 ' 'Against the Bull of Antichrist. ' ' He justly com- 
 plains that his doctrines are condemned without 
 refutation. He examines the first twelve articles 
 condemned in the bull, and, finding them conso- 
 nant with evangelical truth, he concludes as fol- 
 lows : ' ' Therefore I will herewith have everyone 
 put on his guard and admonished, that he may 
 beware of such devils, and will give a sign, namely, 
 this : If the Pope does not revoke and condemn 
 this bull, and rebuke Dr. Eck and his clique, as 
 the executors of such bull, then no one is to doubt 
 but that the Pope is the enemy of God, the perse- 
 cutor of Christ, the destroyer of His Church, and 
 the true antichrist. For thus far it has never yet 
 been heard of that anyone has condemned the 
 plain, manifest Christian truth, as this hellish, ac- 
 cursed bull does." 
 
 But shortly afterward Luther took a still bolder 
 step. On December 20th, 1520, the university 
 bulletin board contained the following announce- 
 ment : "All friends of evangelical truth are in- 
 vited to assemble about nine o'clock at the Church 
 of the Holy Cross beyond the city wall. There, 
 according to ancient, apostolic usage, the godless 
 books of the Papal constitutions and the scholastic 
 theology will be burned, inasmuch as the i)re- 
 sumption of the enemies of the Gospel has ad- 
 vanced to such a degree that they have cast the 
 godly, evangelical books of Luther into the fire. 
 Let all earnest students, therefore, appear at the 
 spectacle ; for it is now the time when antichrist 
 must be exposed. ' ' 
 
 Accordingly, a large throng of professors and 
 students assembled at the designated place. A 
 fire was lighted, and, as the flames brightly 
 burned, Luther cast into them the hated canonical 
 
214 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 law, and then the Papal bull, with the words, 
 ' ' Because thou dost trouble the Holy One of the 
 Lord, may eternal fire consume thee. ' ' While the 
 books were still burning, he returned to the city. 
 In a letter to Staupitz he confesses ' ' that he went 
 forth that morning with trembling and prayer, but 
 returned with greater joy than over any previous 
 act of his life. ' ' 
 
 The burning of the canonical law, by which the 
 Papal power was chiefly upheld, and the Papal 
 bull, by which evangelical truth was condemned, 
 was with Luther a solemn and religious act. It 
 proclaimed his uncompromising and final rejection 
 of the whole Pajoal system. The next day, after 
 finishing his lecture on the Psalms, he solemnly 
 warned his hearers against the errors and abomi- 
 nations of the Papacy. ^' If you do not," he said 
 with great earnestness, "oppose Avith all your 
 heart the wicked government of the Papacy, you 
 cannot be saved, for the kingdom of the Pope is 
 so utterly opposed to the kingdom of Christ and to 
 Christian life, that it would be better and safer to 
 live in a wilderness, Avithout any human being 
 near, than in and under the kingdom of anti- 
 christ." 
 
 He fully recognized the danger of the step lie 
 was taking. While urging his auditors to bear 
 testimony against Papal errors of doctrine and prac- 
 tice, he warns them that in so doing they jeopar- 
 dize body and life. ' ' For my own part, ' ' he con- 
 tinues Avith deep loyalty to the truth, "I shall 
 rather incur all manner of perils in this world 
 than charge my conscience Avith keeping silence, 
 for which I Avould haA^e to render an account to 
 God. As I therefore have, for some time past, 
 Avith my Avhole heart, resisted the raving monster 
 at Rome, I consider the Babylonian plague and 
 
BEGINNING OF REFORMATION IN GERMANY. 2lb 
 
 pestilence an abomination, and .shall, as long as I 
 live, point this out to my brethren and warn them. 
 If withal I cannot prevent the appalling ruin and 
 destruction of innumerable souls, yet some among 
 us can be rescued, so that they be not cast into the 
 abyss of hell along with the rest." 
 
 The reformation had dawned in Germany. Its 
 further progress and its ultimate triumph there can- 
 not be traced in detail. In 1521 Luther av as sum- 
 moned before the Diet of AVorms, where, in the 
 presence of the Emperor Charles V., he exhibited 
 a heroic spirit. Rejecting the authority of Popes 
 and councils, he refused to recant unless convinced 
 by clear reasoning or by sacred Scripture. At the 
 Wartburg, where he was confined for a time by the 
 friendly intervention of the Elector Frederick, he 
 began the translation of the Bible, which he sub- 
 sequently completed with the help of ^lelanchthon 
 and other scholars. The Diet of Spires passed an 
 edict in 1529 forbidding the spread of the Refor- 
 mation in states that had not already accepted it. 
 A formal protest on the part of the evangelical 
 princes fixed upon the reformatory movement the 
 name of Protestant. At the Diet of Augsburg, in 
 1530, at which the emperor was present in per- 
 son, the Lutheran confession of faith, preparer! by 
 Melanchthon and approved ]>y Luther, Avas pre- 
 sented. It has since been known as the Augsburg 
 Confession. Leagues and counter-leagues were 
 formed among the German princes, followed by 
 the Schmalkald War in 1546. Though the em- 
 peror was hostile to the Protestant or reformatory 
 movement, and willing to suppress it by fon^e, his 
 hands were tied by the Turks, who were threaten- 
 ing Germany, and by the French, who wished to 
 estabhsh themselves in Italy. He never felt 
 strong enough to dare to alienate the Protestant 
 
216 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 princes. Evangelical state churches, beginning 
 Avith that of Electoral Saxony, were formed 
 throughout northern Germany. At last, after 
 many vicissitudes and dangers, the Religious 
 Peace of 1555 was concluded, which left every 
 prince free to choose between the Papacy and the 
 Augsburg Confession. The battle for evangelical 
 truth and rehgious freedom had been fought and 
 won. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 BEGINNING OF THE REFORMATION IN OTHER PARTS 
 OF EUROPE. 
 
 As we have seen, the conditions favorable to a 
 reformation of the Church were substantially the 
 same throughout western Europe. Every country 
 alike felt the weight of Papal oppression, which, 
 with the growing national consciousness and the in- 
 creasing popular intelligence, became more onerous 
 and intolerable. Thus it happened that, almost 
 contemporaneously with the Reformation in Ger- 
 many, a similar, and, in a measure, an independ- 
 ent movement was going forward in various other 
 countries. It was said by the jubilant friends of 
 the Gospel that, ' ' as in spring the breath of life is 
 felt from the shores of the sea to the mountain- 
 top, so the Spirit of God was now melting through- 
 out Christendom the ice of a lengthened winter, 
 and covering it Avith fresh flowers and verdure, 
 from its lowest plains to its most Ijarren and steep- 
 est rocks." * 
 
 1. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, 
 Switzerland comprised thirteen small repul^lics or 
 cantons, which may be roughly divided into the 
 cantons of the mountains and the cantons of the 
 plains. No hardier or braver people were to be 
 found in Europe. By their own unaided might 
 they had freed themselves from Austrian oppres- 
 sion, and within the vast citadel of their mountain 
 
 * D'Aubigne's " History of the Reformation," II., p. 280. 
 
 (217) 
 
218 THE REFORMATION DAWX. 
 
 home they were impregnable against every assault. 
 The government remained in the hands of the peo- 
 ple — a fact that gave the Reformation in Switzer- 
 land its peculiar features. But elements of discord 
 were not lacking. The cantons of the plains, in 
 which lay the cities of Geneva, Basely and Zurich, 
 were less conservative than the cantons of the 
 mountains. The former were more intelligent and 
 more accessible to new ideas. Furthermore, the 
 Swiss were frequently lured abroad as mercenary 
 soldiers in the service of the Pope, the Emperor, 
 or the King of France. In this wa}- the native 
 l)urity of their manners was corrupted, and dis- 
 cordant elements were introduced into the country. 
 
 Zwingli was the pioneer reformer of Switzerland 
 as Tuther was of Germany. Both alike Avere aided 
 l)y a large circle of friends and coadjutors. But 
 the two men were different in character and train- 
 ing. Luther possessed a deeper religious nature, 
 which was developed by his severe monastic ti-ain- 
 ing. He came to a knowledge of evangelical truth 
 through profound spiritual conflicts. He painfully 
 ascended step by step to that eminence from wdiich 
 he clearly discerned the errors and tyrannies of 
 Rome. Zwingli came to a knowledge of the truth 
 through the path of humanism. He w^as a follower 
 of Erasmus. His study of the Scriptures, particu- 
 larly of the New^ Testament in the Greek, led him, 
 without deep spiritual conflicts, to a recognition of 
 the unevangelical character of the claims and prac- 
 tice of the Papacy. AMth him reason counted for 
 more than the heart. 
 
 Ulrich Zwingli was born of honorable family on 
 New Year's day, 1484, seven weeks after the birth 
 of Luther. His boyhood gave promise of future 
 eminence. He was educated at Basel and Vienna, 
 where he mastered not onlv the Latin and Greek 
 
KEFORMATION IN OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE. 219 
 
 cdiissics, but also scholastic theology. At Basel he 
 studied under the celebrated scholar, Wyttenbach, 
 who first revealed to him the treasures of evangel- 
 ical truth. ' ' This pious man taught oj^enly and 
 boldly, ' ' in the words of Grob, ' ' that purgatory, 
 the mass, priestly rule, and the invocation of saints 
 were in direct conflict with the Word of God ; that 
 the time was not far distant when scholastic theol- 
 ogy would be abolished, and the ancient doctrine 
 of the Church be restored on the foundation of tl.e 
 Bible ; that absolution was a priestly fraud, and 
 the death of Christ the only satisfaction for sins. ' ' * 
 Here he met Leo Jucla, a fellow-student, with 
 whom a few years later he produced the famous 
 Zurich version of the Scriptures. 
 
 In 1506 Zwingli was ordained to the priesthood by 
 the Bishop of Constance, and entered upon his pas- 
 toral work in the parish of Glarus. He studied the 
 Scriptures with extraordinary zeal. He transcribed 
 the Epistles of Paul in the original, and learned 
 them by heart. He conformed his preaching to the 
 doctrines of the New Testament, and thus, with- 
 out knowing it, became a reformer. ' ' Let us be- 
 lieve and obey, ' ' he said, ^ ' what is revealed to us 
 in the Word of God. Whatsoever is not found 
 in it must be regarded as superfluous ; and what- 
 soever is against it, as erroneous and untrue." 
 
 Zwingli' s eyes were not at once opened to the 
 selfish and ambitious character of the Papacy, and 
 he was persuaded to accept for a time a pension of 
 fifty florins. This pension was bestowed in order 
 to secure his influence among the people of Glarus, 
 where the Pope was anxious to raise a large num- 
 ber of mercenary soldiers. Zwingli accompanied 
 his people on two expeditions to Italy, and was 
 present at the disastrous ]>attle of Marignano. His 
 
 * Jean Grob's ''Life of Zwingli," p. 32, 
 
220 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 experience revealed to him, not only the sordid 
 ])olicy of the Pope, but also the demoralizing effects 
 of the foreign service of the Swiss troops. He was 
 a patriot as well as a theologian ; and henceforth 
 his voice was raised against the mercenary system 
 that was bringing demoralization and ruin upon 
 his native country. 
 
 After ten years of faithful and acceptable service 
 at Glarus, Zwingli was transferred, in 1516, to 
 Einsiedeln. This monastery possessed a famous 
 image of the Virgin Mary, which annually drew 
 thousands of pilgrims from other parts of Switzer- 
 land, from Alsace, and southern Germany. The 
 credulous throngs prayed to the image, which was 
 credited with miraculous powers, and bestowed 
 upon it valuable gifts. As a result the monastery 
 grew richer and more famous. It was the duty of 
 Zwingli to preach to the pilgrims. Though it was 
 to the interest of himself and of the monastery to 
 confirm the throngs in their superstition, he was 
 loyal to the Gospel, and fearlessly exposed the 
 errors of the Church. In 1517, when the abbey 
 Avas filled to overflowing, he boldly declared that 
 " remission of sins and everlasting life were not to 
 be sought of the holy Virgin, but of Christ ; that 
 absolution, pilgrimages, and vows, and the presents 
 made to saints have no value ; that God's grace 
 and help are everywhere within reach ; and that 
 he hears prayer at other places as well as at Ein- 
 siedeln ; that the excessive veneration of the holy 
 Virgin was prejudicial to God's glory; that, as there 
 is no purgatory, the masses for the soul are useless ; 
 that the merit which some thought to gain by 
 assuming monastic vows was pure imagination ; 
 and that not Mary, but Christ, is our only salva- 
 tion." 
 
 Zwingli was not frightened by the danger to 
 
REFORMATION IN OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE. 221 
 
 which his fearless preacliing exposed him. Like 
 Luther, he possessed the genuine martyr spirit. 
 His sermons diminished the number of pilgrims, 
 many of whom carried home with them the pres- 
 ents intended for the Virgin. When the prior 
 of the monastery expressed his anxiety, Zwingli 
 strengthened and comforted him with these words : 
 ' ' Once for all, we must determine to cling insepa- 
 rably to right, truth, and God, though with the loss 
 of property and life. Once for all, we must ven- 
 ture and expose ourselves to the danger of death 
 for the truth, and to confirm the mind against all 
 the attacks of the flesh, the world, and the devil." 
 
 While Zwingli was at Einsiedeln, a Franciscan 
 friar, Samson, crossed the Alps to vend indulgences 
 in Switzerland. He was scarcely less shameless 
 than Tetzel in this infamous traffic. " I can par- 
 don all sins, ' ' exclaimed the Italian monk ; ' ' Hea- 
 ven and hell are subject to my power ; and I sell 
 the merits of Christ to any who will purchase them 
 by buying an indulgence for ready money." He 
 claimed the power to forgive, not only sins of the 
 past, but also sins of the future. In the light of 
 the Gospel, Zwingli denounced the indulgence 
 error and imposture. " No man," he exclaimed, 
 ' ' can remit sins ; Christ, who is very God and 
 very man, alone has this power. Go and buy in- 
 dulgences, but be assured that you are not absolved. 
 Those who sell remission of sins for money are the 
 companions of Simon the magician, the friends of 
 Balaam, and the ambassadors of Satan." Evan- 
 gelical truth soon gained the ascendency, and Sam- 
 son was finally driven from the country. 
 
 The fame of Zwingli as a courageous evangelical 
 preacher spread throughout Switzerland. He had 
 the sympathy and support of many pious, schol- 
 arly men, Avho longed for deliverance from Papal 
 
222 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 error and oppression. At the close of 1518 he was 
 called to the Cathedral Church of Zurich. ' ' You 
 will make every exertion, ' ' the canons, who feared 
 innovation, gravely said to him, ' ' to collect the 
 revenues of the Chapter, without overlooking the 
 least. You will exhort the faithful, both from the 
 pulpit and in the confessional, to pay all tithes and 
 dues, and to show by their offerings their affection 
 to the Church. You will be diligent in increasing 
 the income arising from the sick, from masses, and 
 in general from every ecclesiastical ordinance." * 
 
 But Zwingli's conception of the Christian min- 
 istry was beyond mere money-getting. ' ' The life 
 of Christ," he replied, '' has been too long hidden 
 from the people. I shall preach upon the whole 
 Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter after chapter, ac- 
 cording to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, with- 
 out human commentaries, drawing solely from the 
 fountain of Scripture, sounding its depths, com- 
 paring one passage with another, and seeking for 
 understanding by constant and earnest prayer. It 
 is to God's glory, to the praise of His only Son, to 
 the real salvation of souls, and to their edification 
 in the true faith, that I shall consecrate mv min- 
 istry." 
 
 He was frequently led to speak of the evils ex- 
 isting in the Church. In a sermon ])reached in 
 1524, he discussed the condition of the cloisters. 
 He defined worship, according to the teaching of 
 the apostle, as visiting widows and orphans in 
 their affliction, and keeping one's self unsj^otted 
 from the world. " The world in this place," he 
 said, ' ' does not mean hill and valley, field and 
 forest, water, lakes, towns, and villages, but the 
 lusts of the ivorld, as avarice, pride, uncleanness, 
 intemperance. These vices, however, are more 
 
 * D'Aubigne's " History of the Reformation," II., p. 324. 
 
REFORMATION IN OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE. 223 
 
 commonly to be met with within the walls of a 
 cloister than in the world abroad. I speak not of 
 envy and hatred, which have their habitation 
 among this crew, and yet these are all greater sins 
 than those they would fain escape by fleeing to a 
 cloister. Consider, ye monks, your revels, and 
 see how temperate you are ; rich food along with 
 idleness avails not the body, but ministers only 
 incentives to carnal lusts. " "i^ 
 
 He pointed out tlie scandal arising from the 
 antiscriptural law of celibacy. '' I know not a 
 greater scandal in the world, ' ' he declared, ' ' than 
 this, that priests are not allowed to marry, but 
 are allowed, against a payment made, to keep con- 
 cubines." In his "Christian Introduction," a 
 brief theological manual, he thus speaks of the 
 erroneous view of the mass as a sacrifice : " First, 
 this false opinion has begotten and nourished every 
 vice. For robbers, usurers, traitors, murderers, 
 adulterers, have thought that, if mass was once 
 read for their sins, it was all right with them. 
 And resting on this, they have sinned shamelessly 
 and enormously. This is well seen in the bene- 
 fices, foundations, and mass-sales. The second in- 
 iquit}^ consists in this, that through the mass so 
 much of this earth's goods has been amassed and 
 taken for the pretended sacrifice. And even had 
 the mass been a sacrifice, yet it was horrible to 
 take money, wages, this world's chattels, for it. 
 But this was not enough ; the wealth thus amassed 
 was used at will, was stolen from the poor in cases 
 where it belonged to them, for under this pretext 
 of saying mass the greatest part of alms has been 
 rapaciously seized. Oppressions of all kinds have 
 been practiced through it." f 
 
 * Christoffel's " Zwingli ; or, the Reformation in Switzerland," p. 118. 
 t Christoffel's " Zwiugli ; or, the Reformation in Switzerland," p. 139. 
 
224 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 The result of all this is not difficult to divine. 
 The faithful presentation of Scriptural truth 
 tended to overthrow the Papal system of human 
 doctrines and ordinances. While the friends of 
 the Gospel increased, the adherents of the Papacy 
 became alarmed. The bold and eloquent reformer 
 was attacked, and at last, in 1522, the Bishop of 
 Constance lodged a complaint against him before 
 the Council of Zurich. This led, the following 
 year, to a public disputation, which marks a turn- 
 ing point in the Reformation of Switzerland. On 
 this occasion Zwingli submitted sixty-seven theses, 
 which contained a summary of his doctrinal views. 
 It is a remarkable fact that in substance they are 
 identical with the teachings of the German re- 
 formers. They substitute the authority of the 
 Scriptures for that of the Church ; they declare 
 the Church to be the communion of saints, whose 
 head is Christ ; they affirm that salvation is to be 
 obtained only through faith in Him as priest and 
 mediator ; and they reject the invocation of saints, 
 justification by works, fasts, pilgrimages, monastic 
 orders, indulgences, purgatory, and other inven- 
 tions of the Papacy. 
 
 The issue was fully joined. Zwingli fairly tri- 
 umphed in the disputation and silenced his Papal 
 opponents. The city council, before whom the 
 disputation was held, formally ' ' resolved that Dr. 
 Ulrich Zwingli shall continue to preach, according 
 to the Spirit of God and the best of his ability, the 
 holy Gosj^el and the divine AVord. We also com- 
 mand all other common priests, pastors, and 
 preachers in our city and province to teach and 
 preach publicly nothing but what they find to 
 agree with the holy Gospel and what can be 
 proved by it. " 
 
 From this time the work of reform made rapid 
 
REFORMATION IN OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE. 225 
 
 progress. It was based on the threefold principle 
 of the supreme authority of the Scriptures, justi- 
 fication by faith, and the priesthood of believers. 
 Through a study of the Gospel, Luther and 
 Zwingli came, independently of each other, to a 
 recognition and proclamation of those truths. 
 When Zwingli was accused of being a Lutheran, 
 he replied : ^ ' I preach as Paul wrote ; wh}- do 
 you not rather receive me as an adherent of Paul ? 
 Yea, I preach the Word of Christ ; wherefore do 
 you not receive me as a Christian ? " In Zurich 
 there was a return to the simplicity and purity of 
 the early Church. The Latin language was dis- 
 continued in worship ; the incomes of the chap- 
 ters and monasteries was applied to education ; 
 the celibacy of the clergy was abolished ; monks 
 and nuns were freed from their vows, and image- 
 worship was declared to be idolatrous. Similar 
 changes followed the preaching of the Gospel in 
 other parts of Switzerland ; and tlius for another 
 country the light of the Gospel had dawned. 
 
 2. There is a clearly marked difference between 
 the Reformation in Germany and Switzerland 
 and the Reformation in England. This difference 
 grew out of the dissimilar political conditions pre- 
 vailing in these countries. Germany was divided 
 into a large number of small, independent govern- 
 ments, usually presided over by a petty prince. 
 In Switzerland the separate cantons were inde- 
 pendent republics, in which the power rested with 
 the people. In Germany the progress of the Ref- 
 ormation was determined largely by the attitude of 
 individual princes ; in Switzerland, by the attitude 
 of the people ; but in England, which was almost 
 an absolute monarchy, the Reformation was in- 
 augurated and determined by the king. 
 
 A distinctive feature of the Reformation in Eng- 
 15 
 
226 THE REFORMATIOX DAWX. 
 
 land during its initiatory stages was its insignifi- 
 cant departure from the doctrine and polity of the 
 Roman Church. In its beginning it was a polit- 
 ical rather than a religious movement. Papal su- 
 premacy was overthrown, but Papal beliefs and 
 forms were retained. In the reformatory move- 
 ments of Germany and Switzerland, the figures of 
 Luther and Zwingli, great theologians and preach- 
 ers, stand pre-eminent as popular leaders. In 
 England there is no such reformer. It is the king 
 who starts and leads the movement against Rome, 
 not from motives of deep religious conviction, but 
 from considerations of self-seeking ambition and of 
 national security. It was only after the lapse of 
 a considerable period that the strong undercurrent 
 of Protestant feeling and belief gained the as- 
 cendency. 
 
 The leader of the English Reformation was 
 Henry VIII. , a sovereign of strong will and des- 
 potic tendencies. For a time he was a zealous ad- 
 herent of the Papacy. He magnified the authority 
 of the Pope ; and in reply to Luther' s ' ' Baby- 
 lonish Captivity of the Church," he wrote a de- 
 fense of the sacramental system of Rome, for 
 which he received from Leo X. the title of ' ' De- 
 fender of the Faith." And when he severed the 
 relations between England and the See of Rome, 
 he was not impelled, like the continental re- 
 formers, by evangelical truth, but by selfish pol- 
 icy. His work shows in a remarkable way how 
 self-seeking and wicked men are sometimes used 
 of God to further the interests of His kingdom. 
 
 The secret of Henry VIIL's revolt against 
 Rome was not, as Papal writers sometimes super- 
 ficially afiirm, "beastly lust," but political am- 
 l;)ition. He was anxious to leave an heir of 
 unquestionable legitimacy to the English throne. 
 
REFORMATION IN OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE. 22/ 
 
 When quite young he had married Catharine of 
 Aragon, the widow of his brother Arthur. It was 
 a marriage of pohcy, designed to strengthen the 
 alhance of England with Spain. As marriage 
 with a brother's wife is expressly forbidden l)oth 
 by the canon law and by Scripture, * it had been 
 necessary to secure a dispensation from the Pope 
 setting both aside and authorizing the union. 
 This was a questionable proceeding. The only 
 surviving child of this marriage was the Princess 
 Mary, whose legitimacy, owing to the irregularity 
 of the marriage, was in danger of being disputed — 
 a fact that at last gave the king deep concern. 
 
 In the earlier years of his reign, Henry VIII. 
 had l)een in alliance with Spain and the Papacy. 
 It was during this period that he was a zealous 
 defender of the divine authority of the Pope. 
 The legitimacy of his marriage depended upon it. 
 But after the battle of Pavia, in 1524, there came 
 a change that wrecked the hopes of the English 
 king. The restoration of Francis I. frustrated 
 his designs upon the throne of France. Instead 
 of marrying the Princess ^lary, as had been ar- 
 ranged, Charles V. espoused the Infanta of Portu- 
 gal, to whom he had long been secretly engaged. 
 The Pope formed an alliance with Francis. Henry 
 VIII. was thus isolated in Europe ; and since 
 such powerful adversaries might at any time 
 question the legitimacy of his daughter, the suc- 
 cession of the Princess ^lary was seriously en- 
 dangered. A new and unimpeachable heir was 
 felt to be a necessity. 
 
 In this great emergency, as he believed it to be, 
 Henry acted with characteristic Tudor energy. He 
 resolved to divorce Catharine and disinherit ^lar}^, 
 and then marry Anne Boleyn, a charming maid 
 
 * Leviticus xx. 21. 
 
228 THE EEFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 of honor, who had ah-eady won his favor. Car- 
 dinal Wolse}" undertook to negotiate the affair at 
 Rome. The Pope was placed in a most embar- 
 rassing position. To accede to the wishes and 
 plans of the English monarch was to offend the 
 powerful Charles V., the nephew of Catharine of 
 Aragon. Under the circumstances, the Pope 
 adopted the only policy open to him — a policy of 
 subterfuges and dela3's. The imperious Tudor 
 became wrathful. He deposed his pompous but 
 unsuccessful minister Wolsey, and henceforth 
 took, in large measure, the matter of divorce into 
 his own hands. 
 
 Through the influence of money and of royal 
 power, the universities of England and France, 
 to whom the legality of the dispensation given by 
 Julius II. for the marriage with Catharine had 
 been submitted, gave opinions favorable to the 
 plans of Henry VIII. Thomas Cromwell had 
 become Secretary of State. It was his settled 
 policy to render the dominion of his sovereign 
 absolute. To this end he advised the king to dis- 
 avow the Papal jurisdiction, declare himself head 
 of the Church in his realm, and obtain a divorce 
 from his own ecclesiastical courts. The temper 
 of the English people at this time favored these 
 radical changes. Dissatisfaction with the Papacy 
 was general. The evangelical principles of the 
 German reformation were widely disseminated. 
 The writings of Luther were studied at Oxford 
 and Cambridge. The avarice, extortion, and in- 
 consistency of Papal representatives were apparent 
 on every hand. The subserviency of the Pope to 
 the will of Charles V., who was unfriendly to 
 England, threw the weight of English patriotism 
 on the side of Henry. The moment Avas thus 
 
REFORMATION IX OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE. 229 
 
 favorable for independent and high-handed 
 measures. 
 
 At the opening of 1533 Henry VIII., without 
 waiting for a divorce, was secretly married to 
 Anne Boleyn. A few months later. Archbishop 
 Cranmer, who had been appointed to the See of 
 Canterbury, annulled the king's marriage with 
 Catharine, and pronounced the marriage with 
 Anne a lawful union. A week later he placed 
 upon Anne's head the English crown. The Pope 
 endeavored to arrest the course of events in Eng- 
 land ; but he was answered, first, by a prohibition of 
 the payment of first fruits or annats into the Papal 
 treasury, and then by the great Act of Supremacy, 
 by which the English Church was severed forever 
 from the dominion of the See of Rome. In 1534 Par- 
 liament enacted a statute declaring that the king 
 "shall be taken, accepted, and reputed the only 
 supreme head on earth of the Church of England, 
 and shall have and enjoy annexed and united to 
 the imperial crown of his realm as well the title 
 and state thereof as all the honors, jurisdictions, 
 authorities, immunities, profits, and commodities 
 to the said dignity belonging, with full power to 
 visit, repress, redress, reform, and amend all such 
 errors, heresies, abuses, contempts, and enormi- 
 ties, w^hich by any manner of spiritual authority 
 or jurisdiction might or may lawfully be re- 
 formed." 
 
 • The work of establishing the royal authority 
 and of reforming ecclesiastical abuses went hand 
 in hand. The former led to tyranny and blood- 
 shed. Among other victims. Sir Thomas More 
 was beheaded for refusing to acknowledge the king 
 as supreme head of the Church in England. An 
 uprising in the north was put down with ruthless 
 
230 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 severity. Ireland was thoroughly subdued. But 
 alongside of violence, we recognize not a few benef- 
 icent changes. The Ten Articles of 1536, though 
 adhering in the main to the Roman system of 
 theology, still rejected the supremacy of the Pope, 
 recognized the authority of the Scriptures, and 
 taught justification by faith. The excessive num- 
 ber of holy da3^s was reduced ; the worship of 
 images and relics was discouraged, and pilgrim- 
 ages were suppressed. In 1538 a translation of 
 the Bible was put forth by Miles Coverdale under 
 the avowed patronage of the king. With this 
 fundamental l3eginning in doctrine, the future of 
 the Reformation in England was assured. 
 
 The most thoroughgoing measure of reforma- 
 tion at this time related to the monasteries, which, 
 as already shown, had generally become more or 
 less dissolute. Two royal commissioners were 
 sent on a general visitation of the religious houses ; 
 and in 1536 their report, in the form of a " Black 
 Book," was laid before Parliament. About one- 
 third of the monasteries, it Avas declared, were 
 decently conducted ; but the remaining two-thirds, 
 in keeping with their general reputation, were 
 charged with drunkenness, simony, and the most 
 revolting crimes. As the report was read, a cry 
 of ' ' Down with them ! " broke from the Commons. 
 As a result of this investigation, about four hun- 
 dred of the thousand monasteries existing in 
 England were dissolved, and their revenues granted 
 to the crown. 
 
 Such was the dawn of the Reformation in Eng- 
 land. It is beyond the limits of this book to 
 trace further the checkered and guilt-stained career 
 of Henry YIII. He died in 1547, the year after 
 the death of Luther, and was succeeded by his 
 son, Edward YI. During the reign of Edward, 
 
REFORMATION IN OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE. 231 
 
 the evangelical movement, under the direction of 
 Archbishop Cranmer, made rapid progress. It 
 was followed by a Papal reaction under Mary, 
 who endeavored to quench the Protestant spirit in 
 blood. But finally, under Elizabeth, who came 
 to the throne in 1558, Protestantism became the 
 established faith of England. The Book of Com- 
 mon Prayer, first prepared under Edward VI., 
 was revised in 1560, and two years later the 
 Thirty-nine Articles were adopted. From this 
 period dates the great power and prosperity of the 
 English people. 
 
 3. The Lutheran Reformation, by a natural aud 
 easy process, extended itself over northern Europe. 
 As has been seen, there was Avidespread dissatis- 
 faction with the Papacy and its representatives. 
 The writings of the German reformers were eagerly 
 read and circulated, and Scandinavian students, 
 returning from the University of Wittenberg, 
 became enthusiastic missionaries of the evangeli- 
 cal faith. As a result, Sweden, Denmark, and 
 Norway were not slow in joining the reformatory 
 movement. 
 
 The first of the Scandinavian countries to 
 become Protestant was Sweden. In 1521 a politi- 
 cal revolution placed Gustavus Vasa on the throne. 
 The hostility of the Roman clergy confirmed him 
 in his adherence to the Lutheran faith. He ap- 
 pointed Olaus Petersen preacher at Stockholm, 
 and his brother, Lawrence Petersen, professor of 
 theology. Both had been students at the Uni- 
 versity of Wittenberg. At a pul)lic disputation, 
 held in L^psala in 1524, Olaus Petersen triumph- 
 antly defended the faith of the reformers. The 
 Scriptures, which elsewhere had proved so mighty 
 an influence in the work of reform, were trans- 
 lated into the vernacular. Though the movement 
 
232 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 of reform encountered opposition, the king pre- 
 vailed, and in 1527 Protestantism became the 
 rehgion of the country. The episcopal form of 
 government was transferred, as in the Church of 
 England, to the new Lutheran system. 
 
 At the beginning of Luther's reformatory work, 
 Christian 11. was king of Denmark. He regarded 
 the reformer's Avork with favor. In 1520 he sent 
 for a Saxon preacher to serve as his chaplain, and 
 later invited Luther himself to his kingdom ; but 
 subsequently, under the stress of political interests, 
 he renounced the Protestant cause. 
 
 He was succeeded in 1523 by Frederick I., 
 Duke of Schleswig and Holstein. Though bound 
 at first, by the terms of his election, to uphold 
 the Papal system, Frederick several years later 
 avowed his adherence to the Reformation. John 
 Taussen, who has been characterized as the Danish 
 Luther, was called as preacher to Copenhagen. 
 The foundation of a general reformation was laid 
 in 1527 at the Diet of Odense, where it was or- 
 dained that Lutheranism should be tolerated, that 
 episcopal ordination should proceed from the 
 king, and that priests should be allowed to marry. 
 From this time the Reformation spread rapidly 
 among the people. 
 
 His son. Christian III., whose accession to the 
 throne had l^een vigorously opposed by the clergy, 
 comj)letely established the Reformation. He had 
 been present at the Diet of Worms, where Luther's 
 heroic courage won his admiration. He resolved 
 to put an end to the machinations of the Papal 
 clergy ; and, accordingly, at the Diet of Copen- 
 hagen, he had the bishops formally deposed. 
 Their property was turned into the royal treasury ; 
 the monasteries were dissolved ; and, in their 
 2^1ace, hospitals and schools were founded. Bugen- 
 
REFORMATION IN OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE. 233 
 
 hagen, the friend of Luther, was called to reor- 
 ganize the Church. The Augsburg Confession 
 became the standard of doctrine ; and bishops or 
 superintendents, consecrated by Bugenhagen him- 
 self, were placed over the several dioceses. The 
 University of Copenhagen was organized, and 
 other schools of learning were established through- 
 out the kingdom. A simultaneous reformation 
 went forward in Norway, which, in 1536, had 
 taken the oath of allegiance to the Danish king. 
 
 4. It is beyond the scope of the present volume 
 to trace the Reformation in other countries. All 
 Europe felt the shock of contending faiths and in- 
 terests. With the exception of Scotland, it was 
 the Teutonic nations that adopted the evangelical 
 faith and threw off Papal tyranny. In France, 
 the Reformation gained many adherents ; but after 
 several cruel religious wars and the infamous mas- 
 sacre of St. Bartholomew's eve. Protestantism 
 w^as finally overthrown by the revocation of the 
 Edict of Nantes, in 1685. ''The Genius of Fact 
 and Veracity," says Carlyle in a remarkable 
 chapter, ' ' accordingly withdrew : was staved off, 
 got kept away for two hundred years. But the 
 writ of summons had been served ; Heaven's 
 messenger could not stay away forever. No ; he 
 returned duly ; with accounts run up, on com- 
 pound interest, to the actual hour, in 1792 ; and 
 then, at last, there had to be a ' Protestantism ; ' 
 and we know of what kind that was ! " * 
 
 In reference to Italy we cannot do better than 
 quote the great Scotchman further. ' ' Italy, 
 too," he says, "had its Protestants; but Italy 
 killed them ; managed to extinguish Protest- 
 antism. Italy put up silently with Practical Lies 
 of all kinds ; and, shrugging its shoulders, pre- 
 
 * Carlyle's " Life of Frederick the Great," Book III., Chap. VIII. 
 
234 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 ferred going into Dilettantism and the Fine Arts. 
 The Itahans, instead of the sacred service of Fact 
 and Performance, did Music, Painting, and the 
 Hke ; till even that has become impossible for 
 them ; and no noble Nation, sunk from virtue to 
 virtu, ever offered such a spectacle before. He 
 that will prefer Dilettantism in this world for his 
 outfit shall have it ; but all the gods will depart 
 from him ; and manful veracity, earnestness of 
 purpose, devout depth of soul, shall no more be 
 his. He can, if he like, make himself a soprano, 
 and sing for hire ; and probably that is the real 
 goal for him." 
 
 In Spain the evangelical movement was crushed 
 out b}^ the horrors of the Inquisition. The intel- 
 lectual and spiritual life of the people was cruelly 
 repressed, and the way for national decadence 
 effectually prepared. The effort to establish, by 
 cruel, inquisitorial methods. Papal and monarchi- 
 cal supremacy closed the doors to all progress. 
 Ignorance, servility, and moral decay followed ; 
 and before many decades had passed the people 
 that had dominated Europe and founded a 
 mighty empire beyond the seas sunk to a 
 subordinate place in the family of nations. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 We have traced the beginnmgs of the Reforma- 
 tion and the conditions that originated it. The 
 Reformation in its origin was based on Scriptural 
 truth ; and in its earher stages it exhibited a 
 triumphant energy and power. In the course of 
 a few decades it wrested the northern part of 
 Europe from thralldom to the Papacy. For a 
 time the reformatory movement seemed destined 
 to overthrow entirely the hierarchical despotism 
 of Rome. How was it that its progress was 
 stayed and that some of its conquests were lost? 
 Why is it that no nation has embraced the Prot- 
 estant faith in the last three hundred and fifty 
 years ? Why is it that Protestantism can do little 
 more than hold its own to-day against aggressive 
 Romanism? The answers to these inquiries are 
 both interesting and instructive. 
 
 As we look at the condition and spirit of the 
 contending forces in the second half of the six- 
 teenth century, we discover an astonishing trans- 
 formation. Protestantism and Romanism in a 
 measure change character. The Reformation loses 
 its primitive vigor, and the Papacy exhibits a re- 
 newed vitality. While the energies of the re- 
 formatory movement suffer a decline or dissipate 
 themselves in fratricidal conflicts, the energies of 
 the Papacy are united and hurled with i)ersistent 
 force upon the weakened lines of their opponents. 
 The tide of Protestantism is rolled back from the 
 Alps and Pyrenees toward the Baltic ; and the 
 (235) 
 
236 THE EEFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 ground then lost to the Reformation has not since 
 been regained. It is important to trace this 
 transformation and its results in some detail. 
 
 1. An unmistakable source of weakness in 
 Protestantism was its diversities of creed. At first 
 the fundamental principles of the Reformation 
 were few and simple. On the basis of the Scrip- 
 tures, all the reformers held alike to the supreme 
 authority of the ^^^ord of God, to justification by 
 faith, and to the universal priesthood of believers. 
 They were united in their opposition to the errors 
 and tyranny of the Papacy. But in the course 
 of a few decades the leading reformers, advancing 
 ])eyond the simplicity of these fundamental prin- 
 ciples, developed more or less elaborate systems 
 of doctrine. Though professing to be based on 
 Scripture or to stand in accord with it, these va- 
 rious systems exhibited consideraljle diversity. 
 Though agreeing in the three fundamental prin- 
 ciples of the Reformation, Luther, Zwingli, and 
 Calvin did not, in some points, interpret the 
 Scriptures alike ; and thus arose the dogmatic 
 systems associated with their names. 
 
 But this was not all. Within these larger sys- 
 tems there were many minor differences or ten- 
 dencies, each of which was championed by zealous 
 theologians. This was particularly true in Ger- 
 many, where the Lutheran Church fell into violent 
 controversies. The points of faith thus brought 
 under discussion — the relation of the law to the 
 Gospel, the nature of justification and sanctifica- 
 tion, the place of the will in conversion, the 
 doctrine of the Lord's Supper, and others — were 
 no doubt of importance. But it seems unfortu- 
 nate, while engaged in a mortal struggle with the 
 Papacy, to have divided the forces of the Protest- 
 ant Church over these points. These differences of 
 
CONCLUSION. 237 
 
 belief, in connection with the immoderate contro- 
 versies often attending them, dissipated the ener- 
 gies of the reformers, confused in a measure pubHc 
 opinion, and placed in the hands of the Papacy 
 a powerful weapon. Regarding external unity 
 as an essential mark of the true Church, the 
 Romanist has always delighted in pointing to 
 Protestant divisions and differences as an un- 
 answerable condemnation of the Reformation. 
 The force of this argument can be broken only by 
 a closer union of the different branches of 
 Protestantism. 
 
 2. A second source of weakness to the Protest- 
 ant cause was its spirit of intolerance. At bottom 
 the Reformation rested on the principle of liberty 
 of conscience. Luther mightily voiced this prin- 
 ciple at the Diet of Worms, when, confronted by 
 the combined authority of the Papacy and the 
 empire, he declared : ' ' Unless I can be convinced 
 by Holy Scripture, or by clear and indisputable 
 reasons from other sources (for I cannot defer 
 simply to the Pope or to Councils, since it is clear 
 that they have often erred), I neither can nor Avill 
 retract anything. As it has been found impos- 
 sible to refute the proofs I have quoted, my con- 
 science is a prisoner to God's Word ; and no one 
 can be compelled to act against his conscience." 
 Without recognizing the liberty of conscience, 
 which the Papal Church uniformly and per- 
 sistently denies, it is impossible to vindicate the 
 Reformation. 
 
 In the sixteenth century there was, perhaps, no 
 part of the Protestant Church that did not practi- 
 cally ignore this fundamental principle. The 
 Papal principle of intolerance and jDersecution 
 was everywhere adopted and practiced. The va- 
 rious divisions of Protestantism laid claims to 
 
238 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 Scriptural purity of doctrine ; and ignoring the 
 right of freedom of conscience, they persecuted 
 those of a different faith. "In the Palatinate, ' ' 
 to use the words of ^lacaulay, ' ' a Calvinistic 
 prince persecuted the Lutherans. In Saxony, a 
 Lutheran prince persecuted the Calvinists. Every- 
 body who objected to any of the articles of the 
 Confession of Augsburg was banished from 
 Sweden. In Scotland, Melville was disputing 
 with other Protestants on questions of ecclesiasti- 
 cal government. In England the jails were filled 
 with men who, though zealous for the Reforma- 
 tion, did not exactl}' agree with the court on all 
 points of discipline and doctrine. ' ' ^-^ 
 
 3. A third source of weakness to the Protestant 
 movement was the fanaticism into which some of 
 its ultra adherents fell. In a period of intel- 
 lectual upheaval and change, it was but natural 
 that unl)alanced spirits should run to extremes. 
 AVhen the bonds of Papal despotism were once 
 broken, it was natural for radical minds to abuse 
 their newly found liberty. Though firmly re- 
 f^isted by the great body of reformers, these ex- 
 treme and lawless tendencies were charged by 
 Romanists to the principles of the Reformation ; 
 and through the conflicts that attended them, these 
 outbreaks wasted the energies of the Protestant 
 movement, and among many thoughtful people 
 excited grave apprehensions as to the results of 
 the Reformation. 
 
 These fanatical tendencies took in general tw<^ 
 directions. The first was an extreme type of 
 mysticism, the principal representative of which 
 was Caspar Schwenkfeld. The inner light of the 
 Spirit — a princii)le that leads to every species of 
 
 * Macaulay's " Essay on Von Rauke," which is a remarkable discus- 
 sion of the subject in hand. 
 
CONCLUSION. 239 
 
 error and fanaticism — was exalted above the ob- 
 jective light of Scrii)ture. Luther's adherence to 
 the authority of the written Word was stigmatized 
 as bondage to the letter. A sul^jective spiritual 
 life was so exalted that all ecclesiastical rites and 
 forms of worship were rejected. Infant baptism 
 was discarded, and the doctrine of sinless perfec- 
 tion was inculcated. These principles were sub- 
 versive both of Protestantism and Romanism ; 
 and though in general these misguided mystics 
 and fanatics led morally irreproachable lives, they 
 were everywhere subject to persecution. 
 
 The other extreme, which is known as Ana- 
 baptism, was much more fanatical and violent. 
 Early in the Reformation, the Zwickau prophets, 
 who made pretense to special revelations, appeared 
 at Wittenberg, and for a time thrcAV the reformers 
 into consternation. From Allstiidt, in Saxony, 
 Thomas Miinzer denounced the Reformation as 
 vehemently as he denounced the Papacy. "Not 
 the letter of the Holy Scriptures, ' ' he said, ' ' but 
 the Spirit should be made the principle of the 
 Reformation ; not only all ecclesiastical, but all 
 civil institutions should be abolished and spirit- 
 ualized. The doctrine of the evangelical liberty 
 of Christians was grossly abused, the sacraments 
 despised, infant baptism reviled, and all import- 
 ance attached to the so-called baptism of the 
 Spirit. Princes should be driven away, the foes 
 of the Gospel be extirpated with the sw^ord, and 
 all possessions be held in common. " * At Miins- 
 ter a fanatical theocracy was established for a 
 time ; and the king, setting up a splendid court, 
 claimed authority to inaugurate the millennium. 
 These fanatical outl^reaks everywhere followed tlie 
 Reformation, and tended to bring it into discredit. 
 
 * Kurtz's " Church History," II., p. 44. 
 
240 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 4. Still another source of weakness to Protest- 
 antism was the general decline of zeal. In the 
 beginning the Reformation was hailed with en- 
 thusiasm. In his attack upon Papal error and 
 tyranny. Luther found ardent supporters through- 
 out the Germanic nations. The newly restored 
 Gospel was not without adherents in the Latin 
 countries of Europe. But in the second half of 
 the sixteenth century, this enthusiasm, to a great 
 extent, died away. There was an absence of great 
 leaders. No systematic or energetic effort was 
 made to extend the work of the Reformation. In 
 some measure this decline of interest and activity 
 was, perhaps, the natural reaction that attends 
 every extraordinary outburst of feeling and energy. 
 But it seems to have been due still more to the 
 lack of union and co-operation. Dissensions 
 aAvakened doubts ; fanatical excesses aroused ap- 
 prehension ; and l^itter controversies over minor 
 dogmas offended the practical sense of the laity. 
 No united front, at once the source of confidence 
 and power, was presented to the Papacy. 
 
 This lack of zeal was particularly noticeable 
 among Protestant rulers. Among them, as Ma- 
 caulay says, ' ' there was little or no hearty Prot- 
 estant feeling. Elizabeth herself was a Protestant 
 rather from policy than from firm conviction. 
 James the First, in order to effect his favorite 
 object of marrying his son into one of the great 
 continental houses, was ready to make immense 
 concessions to Rome, and even to admit a modi- 
 fied primacy in the Pope. Henry the Fourth 
 twice abjured the reformed doctrines from inter- 
 ested motives. The Elector of Saxony, the natu- 
 ral head of the Protestant party in Germany, 
 submitted to become, at the most important crisis 
 of the struggle^ a tool in the hands of the Papists." 
 
CONCLUSION. 241 
 
 5. While lilvisions, conflicts, anfi fanaticism 
 Avere weakening the forces of Protestantism, the 
 Papacy was roused to new Hfe. ReaUzing that its 
 existence was at stake, it adopted comprehensive 
 and vigorous measures of self-preservation. The 
 first of these measures was a partial counter- 
 reformation. As it has always done in the pres- 
 ence of a vital Protestantism, the Papac}^, to some 
 extent, corrected the abuses to which its system 
 inevitabl}' tends. The scandalous apathy and 
 worldliness of the hierarchy Avere thrown off. 
 Successive Popes reinforced their great admin- 
 istrative ability with lives of consistent piety. 
 The various monastic orders exhibited something 
 of their original self-denial and fervor. An aston- 
 ishing missionary activity in the Orient and the 
 ncAv world fully made up for the losses sustained 
 by the Church in Europe. The Council of Trent, 
 while authoritatively anathematizing the funda- 
 mental teachings of the reformers, gave clear and 
 definite statement to the dogmas of Rome. The 
 results of this counter-reformation, partial and 
 temporary as it was, may l)e easily imagined. In 
 some measure it removed the grounds of dissatis- 
 faction and hostility, conciliated the favor of the 
 irresolute, and inspired new confidence in the 
 adherents of the Roman Church. 
 
 G. The external unity of the Roman Church 
 proved a source of great strength. The organiza- 
 tion of the Papacy had l)een brought to a high 
 degree of perfection by thirty generations of ag- 
 gressive ecclesiastical princes. AA" hile Protestant- 
 ism was divided not only into national churches, 
 but also into minor and hostile sects, the tre- 
 mendous agencies of Rome were all united under 
 a masterful central power. Tliis unity secured a 
 comprehensive method of operations and a wise 
 16 
 
242 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 disposition of forces. Under the circumstances 
 we are compelled to wonder, not that the progress 
 of Protestantism was stayecl, but that it was not 
 swept from the face of the earth. Had the Ref- 
 ormation not rested on truth, divine and inde- 
 structible, it must have perished in the unequal 
 conflict. 
 
 7. The Order of Jesuits, founded by the S23anisli 
 enthusiast, Ignatius Loyola, proved a mighty 
 agency in combating the Reformation and in re- 
 storing the power of the Papacy. The members 
 of the Order, who were generally men of ability, 
 were pledged to absolute obedience to their supe- 
 riors. The society was ruled by a general in 
 Rome, whose will Avas law. All that is ordinarily 
 held dear by the human heart was sacrificed to 
 the interests of the Order and the Church. The 
 organization rapidly spread in Europe, and its 
 missionaries, with heroic courage and self-sacrifice, 
 extended the sway of the Papacy in India, China, 
 and the continents of America. "The Order," 
 to adopt the words of Kurtz, ' ' made all conceiv- 
 able means — science, learning, art, cultivation, 
 politics, even commerce and trade — subservient to 
 its purposes. It seized the management of the 
 education of the youth of the higher classes of 
 society, and thus trained devoted and powerful 
 friends ; by preaching and private counsel, it 
 operated upon the people, and in the confessional 
 secured control over princes, and penetrated into 
 all the relationships of life, and obtained posses- 
 sion of all secrets. And all these thousands of 
 means, these eminent powers and talents, were 
 united under one will, served one purpose ; posi- 
 tively, the furtherance of [Roman] Catholicism ; 
 negatively, the suppression of Protestantism." * 
 
 * Kurtz's " Church History," II., p. 165. 
 
CONCLUSION. 243 
 
 In their fierce determination to overthrow Prot- 
 estantism, the Jesuits devised an abominable sys- 
 tem of ethics. Among other principles they 
 maintained : 1. That the end sanctifies the means ; 
 2. That an act is justifiable or excusable when 
 there is A probability of its goodness ; 3. That 
 mental reservations are allowable in making ]H'om- 
 ises or taking oaths, and that the person so ol:)]i- 
 gating himself is bound onl}- by his intentions ; 
 and, 4. That only such violations of a divine 
 command are sin as are perpetrated with full con- 
 sciousness of the wrong, and with a set purpose 
 to break God's law. It is evident that with such 
 principles there Avas no crime which the Jesuits 
 might not commit in the name of religion. Among 
 all the agencies employed by the Papacy, there 
 was none, perhaps, that accom])lished more in 
 arresting the progress of the Reformation than the 
 Order of Jesuits. 
 
 8. The zeal manifested throughout the different 
 parts of the Roman Church added immensely to 
 its strength. The Papacy has always had the 
 power of inspiring a martyr-like devotion in its 
 cliildren. The sense of danger rallied all classes 
 to its support. It skillfully utilized the agency of 
 enthusiasts. The great end to be accomplished, 
 which was nothing less than the ' subjugation of 
 the world under the Vicar of Christ, strongly a})- 
 j)ealed to the imagination. Priests, missionaries, 
 princes, all labored with zealous activity for the 
 Avelfare of the Roman Church. Italy and Spain, 
 fanatical in their opposition to the Reformation, 
 ruthlessly employed the Inquisition for its exter- 
 mination. 
 
 Papal zeal stood in striking contrast with Prot- 
 estant apath3\ "Among the [Roman] Catholic 
 sovereigns, ' ' to quote again fr(jm Macaulay, ' ' we 
 
244 THE REFORMATION DAWN. 
 
 find a religious zeal often amounting to fanaticism. 
 Philip the Second was a Papist in a very different 
 sense from that in which Elizabeth was a Prot- 
 estant. Maximilian of Bavaria, brought u]) under 
 the teaching of the Jesuits, was a fervent mission- 
 ary^, wielding the powers of a prince. The Em- 
 peror Ferdinand the Second deliberately put his 
 throne to hazard over and over again, rather than 
 make the smallest concession to the spirit of re- 
 ligious innovation. Sigismund of Sweden lost a 
 crown which he might have preserved if he would 
 have renounced the [Roman] Catholic faith. In 
 short, everywhere on the Protestant side we see 
 languor ; everywhere on the [Roman] Catholic 
 side we see ardor and devotion." 
 
 The foregoing facts make clear to us the unfor- 
 tunate check of the Reformation. In no small 
 degree the same conditions exist to-day, bringing 
 weakness to Protestantism and strength to Ro- 
 manism. On the one side there are divisions, 
 discord, and apathy ; on the other, unity, co- 
 operation, and zeal. What of the future ? There 
 are thoughtful people who entertain grave fears 
 of the Papal power, particularly in our own 
 country. Its claim to universal sovereignty is 
 asserted to-day, as it was in the Middle Ages, and 
 its intolerance of all other beliefs has been de- 
 clared in recent decrees. It is seeking, as it always 
 has sought, to make the Church dominant in the 
 state. It has set itself against the civil and re- 
 ligious freedom that distinguishes modern Prot- 
 estant civilization. It has shown itself hostile to 
 modern science and literature ; and, claiming edu- 
 cation as an ecclesiastical function, it is seeking to 
 destroy or to get control of our public schools. 
 It has entered politics for the advancement of 
 ecclesiastical interests, and in various cities of our 
 
CONCLUSION. 245 
 
 country, and even in Congress, has gained im- 
 portant concessions and large gifts of money. It 
 is active, organized, and aggressive as never before 
 in tlie history of our country. 
 
 But in spite of the strength derived from its 
 united and zealous effort, Rome is destined to de- 
 feat. The divine logic of events is against it. It 
 is slowh" losing ground among the nations ; and 
 the wails that reach us at intervals from ''the 
 j)risoner of the Vatican ' ' reveal a consciousness 
 of waning jDOAver. The demands which the Pap- 
 acy makes upon the credulity and manhood of its 
 adherents are too great for the growing intelli- 
 gence of the world. Its attitude toward civil gov- 
 ernment is felt more and more to be impudent 
 and intolerable. It stands for medinevalism in 
 faith and ecclesiastical tyranny : and whenever 
 mediae valism and Protestant progress are brought 
 into conflict, it is the former that suffers defeat. 
 There is a divine power, resistless and invincible, 
 in the light and truth that underlie the advance- 
 ment of our race ; and the Papacy, which is 
 stubbornly attempting to check the tide of human 
 progress, is destined, sooner or later, to be swept 
 away. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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