When we last left our erstwhile reformer, he had been “kidnapped” to keep him out of the Emperor’s grasp. What had been a call for reform in the Church soon spiraled into a revolution. Within a decade of the 95 Theses, Europe would be divided.
For ten months Luther hid in Saxony writing letters and translating the New Testament into vernacular German. Eventually, Luther left his exile and began publicly promoting his reforms. In 1525 he even married Katherina von Bora with whom he would have six children. As Luther raised his family, he also started diverging from Catholic liturgical practices. By 1530 his celebrations were in German, had lots of hymn singing, and offered communion in both species. Lutheranism, as a distinct religion, had emerged.
Around 1524 the German Peasants War broke out. Combining Protestant rhetoric and long standing grievances against the nobility, the peasants of northern Germany revolted. If the nobility could reinterpret what they owed the Emperor, why could not the average man? These peasants issued a document called the Twelve Articles and demanded relief from taxes and hereditary land rights. Their princes, who were mostly Protestants, slaughtered around 100,000 of them to quell the revolt. Luther had condemned the peasants as rebels who deserved death for defying their lords.
In 1530 Emperor Charles called another Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. Catholics and Protestants attended, and some common ground was found. Nevertheless, the Diet ended without a true reconciliation, and Charles gave a period of six months for Protestants to return to the Church. They did not, and instead their princes formed the Schmalkaldic League in 1531.
Charles did not immediately fight the League, which was busy confiscating Church property and convincing other princes to join them, because he was caught in several wars with France and the Ottoman Empire. War between the Empire and the League broke out in 1547 and lasted for a year with Emperor Charles conquering a few cities. Both the League and Charles saw this fighting as within the Holy Roman Empire’s overall system of justice.
Even though Charles won the war, he lost the peace. Outmaneuvered by the Protestants and weakened politically, Charles agreed to the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. An incredibly complicated agreement, Charles saw it as temporary reprieve whereas the Protestants saw it as guaranteeing their religious liberties.
From the above we can see that at least in Germany the Evangelical Revolution had two distinct centers of change. We have Luther and other reformers changing doctrine and religious practices such that they created new religions. At the same time the elite of society - the princes of the Holy Roman Empire - took these changes as an opportunity to grab more influence and property.
What Luther intended to achieve cannot be known with certainty - he changed his mind as the world changed around him. Next week we examine the other most important reformer, John Calvin. Whereas Luther seemed to want a reformed Catholicism, Calvin clearly wanted an entirely new Faith. May we always remain faithful to Christ and His Church.
In His Sacred Heart,
Fr. John Schneider
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