783 L U T 
cordingly, in the year 1517, from the pulpit in the great 
church at Wittemberg, he inveighed bitterly againft the 
irregularities and vices of the monks who diftributed in¬ 
dulgences; tried the doctrines which they taught by the 
tell of Scripture; and pointed out to the people the dan¬ 
ger of relying for falvation on any other means than thofe 
appointed by God in his word. The boldnefs and no¬ 
velty of thefe opinions excited great attention ; and, being 
recommended by the authority of Luther’s perfonal cha¬ 
racter, and delivered with a popular and perfuative elo¬ 
quence, thev made a great impreffion on his hearers. Lu¬ 
ther alfo wrote to Albert, elector of Mentz and archbifhop 
of Magdeburg, remonstrating againft the falfe opinions, 
as well as wicked lives, of the preachers of indulgences ; 
entreating him to exercil'e the authority vefted in him in 
correcting thefe evils ; and apologizing tor the freedom 
which he had taken in his letter, influenced folely by a 
fenfe of duty, and no want of fubmiflion to ecclefiaftieal 
authority. To this letter the archbifliop paid no atten¬ 
tion, being too deeply int*relted in the fuecefs of his 
agents to correct their abufes. He paid equal difregard 
to the thefes, containing Luther’s fentiments concerning 
indulgences, which he tranfmitted on this occafion to 
that prelate. Thefe thefes, which were ninety-five in num¬ 
ber, he propofed as fubjcCts of enquiry and deputation, 
and pubiiciy fixed them up in a church at Wittemberg, 
with a challenge to the learned to oppofe them on a day 
which he appointed, either in perfon or by writing; and 
to the whole he added a folemn proteltation of his pro¬ 
found refpect for the apoliolic fee, and implicit fubmiflion 
to its authority. On the day fixed, no perfon appeared 
to conteft Luther’s thefes, which rapidly fpread all over 
Germany, and excited univerfal admiration of the bold¬ 
nefs which he difeovered in venturing to call in queftion 
the plenitude of papal power, and to attack the Domi¬ 
nicans, armed as they were with all the terrors of inquifi- 
torial authority. With his inveCtives againlt thefe monks 
the friars of his own order were highly pleafed, and hoped 
to fee them expofed to the hatred and fcorn of the people ; 
and he was fecretly encouraged in his proceedings by his 
fovereign, the eleCtor of Saxony, who flattered himfelf 
that they might contribute to give fome check to the ex¬ 
actions of the court of Rome, which the fecular princes 
had been long unfuccefsfully endeavouring to oppofe. 
The publication of Luther’s thefes foon brought into 
the field many zealous champions in defence of the opi¬ 
nions on which the wealth and power of the church were 
founded. In oppofition to them, Tetzel publifhed coun¬ 
ter thefes , at Frankfort on the Oder. He alfo endea¬ 
voured to excite the indignation of the clergy and popu¬ 
lace againft Luther, by the molt bitter inveCtives, de¬ 
nouncing him from the pulpit as a heretic ; and, in his 
character of inquifitor, burnt his thefes publicly at Frank¬ 
fort. This infult the ftudents of Wittemberg retaliated 
upon the thefes of Tetzel, by committing them to the 
flames in the public market-place, but without the know¬ 
ledge of Luther, who exprefTed his difapprobation of 
that procedure. In the year 1518, two famous Domini¬ 
cans, Prierias, matter of the facred palace, and inquifitor- 
oeneral, and James Hogftrat, rofe up alfo againft the ad¬ 
venturous reformer, and attacked him at Cologne, with 
the utmolt vehemence and ardour. Their example was 
foon followed by another formidable champion, the cele¬ 
brated Eckius, profeflorof divinity at Ingolttadt, and one 
of the molt zealous fupporters of the Dominican order. 
But the manner in which they conducted the controverfy 
did little fervice to their caufe. Luther combated indul¬ 
gences by arguments founded in reafon, or derived from 
Scripture; while they produced nothing in fupport of 
them but the fentiments of fchoolmen, the conclufions of 
the canon-law, and the decrees of popes. The people, 
however, now began to bediflatisfitd with an appeal to thofe 
guides, when they were found to ftand in oppofition to 
the dictates of reafon, and the determinations of the di¬ 
vine law ; and they were ftrongly impreffed by Luther’s 
HER. 
intrepid declaration, “ that, if the pope and cardinals en¬ 
tertained the fame opinion with his opponents, and fet up 
any authority againft that of Scripture, there could be no 
doubt but that Rome was itfelf the very feat of antichrift, 
and that it would be happy for thofe countries who fhould 
feparate themfelves from her.” At the fame time, how¬ 
ever, Luther addrelfed himfelf by letters, written in the 
mod fubmiflive and refpectful terms, to the Roman pon¬ 
tiff and to feveral of the bifhops, fhowing them the up- 
rightnefs of his intentions, as well as the jultice of his 
caufe ; and declaring his readinefs to change his fenti- 
ments, as foon as he fhould fee them fairly proved to be 
erroneous. 
But, while all Germany was interefted by thefe novel¬ 
ties in Luther’s doCtrines, they excited little attention and 
no alarm at the court of Rome. A ftranger to theological 
controverfies, and apt to defpife them, Leo X. viewed the 
quarrels of German monks with indifference and con¬ 
tempt. He imputed the whole to monaftic enmity and 
emulation, and feemed inclined not to interpofe in the 
conteft, but to allow the Auguftinians and the Domini¬ 
cans to wrangle about the matter with their ufual animo- 
fity. The inceflant reprefentations, however, of Luther’s 
adverfaries, that the herefies which he propagated threat¬ 
ened the mod fatal mifehiefs to the interefts of the church, 
and, in particular, the application of the emperor Maxi¬ 
milian to his holinefs, that he would by his authority ter¬ 
minate difputes which otherwife would produce the molt 
fata! divifions in Germany, at length routed the attention, 
of Leo, who directed a fummons to be iflued, citing Lu¬ 
ther to appear at Rome within fixty days, and give an 
account of the doCtrines which he had maintained. The 
perfons appointed to be his judges were—the bifltop of 
Afcoli, auditor of the facred chamber, and the inquifitor- 
general Prierias, who by writing againft Luther had al¬ 
ready prejudged his caufe. Leo wrote at the fame time 
to the eleCtor of Saxony, befeeching him not to proteCi a 
man whofe tenets were (hocking to all pious ears ; and he 
enjoined the provincial of the Auguftinians to check the 
rafhnefs of an arrogant monk, which difgraced his order, 
and gave offence and difturbance to the whole church. 
The drain of thefe letters, and the appointment of 
Prierias to fit in judgment on him, afforded unequivocal 
indications of what fentence Luther might expeCt at Rome. 
He, therefore, made ufe of every effort to obtain a hear¬ 
ing of his caufe in Germany. With this view-, the pro- 
feffors of the univerfity of Wittemberg wrote to the pope, 
excufing Luther from going to Rome, under various pre¬ 
texts, and praying that fome perfons of learning and au¬ 
thority might be commiflioned to decide on his doCtrines 
in that country. The eleCtor of Saxony alfo defired the 
fame thing of the pope’s legate at the diet of Augfburg ; 
maintaining, that the caufe of Luther belonged to a Ger¬ 
man tribunal, and that it ought to be decided by the ec- 
clefiaftical laws of the empire. At the fame time Luther 
himfelf, who had not then the moft diltant intention of 
queflioning the papal authority, wrote a moft fubmiflive 
letter to Leo, in which he proinifed an unreferved com¬ 
pliance with his will. Influenced by thefe letters and ap¬ 
plications, the pope empowered his legate in Germany, 
cardinal Cajetan, to hear and determine the caufe. In 
this firfi ftep, obferves Dr. Mofheim, the court of Rome 
gave a fpecirnen of that temerity and imprudence, with 
which all its negociations, in this weighty affair, were af¬ 
terwards conducted. For, inftead of reconciling, nothing 
could tend more to inflame matters than the appointment 
of Cajetan, a Dominican, and, confequently, the declared 
enemy of Luther, and friend of Tetzel, as judge and ar¬ 
bitrator in this nice and perilous controverfy. 
Luther, notwithftanding the reafon which he had to 
complain that his judge was feleCted from among his ad¬ 
verfaries, after having obtained the emperor's fade con¬ 
duct, repaired to Augfburg in the month of OCtober 1518. 
Here he was admitted into the cardinal’s preftrnce, who 
conferred with him on the pointsin debate at three dif- 
3 ferent 
