LUTHER. 
790 
The affembly which met to witnefs the combat was nu¬ 
merous and fplendid, and each of the combatants con¬ 
ducted himfelf with great (kill and dexterity ; but, in the 
opinion of the majority of thofe who were prefent, the 
wiCtory was not obtained by the challenger. In the dif- 
pute concerning the papal i'upremacy and authority, Lu¬ 
ther demonftrated, that the church of Rome, in the ear¬ 
lier ages, had never been coniidered as fuperior to other 
churches ; and combated the pretenfions of that church 
and its bifhop, from the teftimor.y of Scripture, the au¬ 
thority of the fathers, and the belt ecclefiaftical hiftorians, 
and even from the decrees of the council of Nice ; while 
the arguments of Eckius were derived from the fpuriotis 
and inlipid decretals, which were fcarcely of four hundred 
years (landing. This controverfy, however, was left un¬ 
decided, as Hoffman, who was at that time reClor of the 
univerfity of Leiplic, and who had been appointed judge 
of the arguments alleged on both fides, refufed to declare 
to whom the victory belonged ; fo that the decifion of this 
matter was left to the univerfities of Paris and Erfurt. 
One of the immediate effefts of this difpute was an in- 
creafe of the enmity which Eckius had conceived againft 
Luther; and from this time the former breathed nothing 
but fury againft the Saxon reformer. Luther, however, 
had the fatisfaCtion to find that his difpute with Eckius 
had convinced the excellent Philip MelanCthon, at that 
time profeffor of Greek at the univerfity of Wittemberg, 
of the juftice of his caufe; and he had foon afterwards 
the farther fatisfaCtion of feeing a vigorous auxiliary arife 
in Swifferland, in the perfon of Ulric Zuingle, a canon of 
Zurich, whofe extenfive learning and uncommon fagacity 
were accompanied with the molt heroic intrepidity and 
refolution. In this fame year, the opinions of Luther 
concerning indulgences were cenfured by the univerfities 
of Cologne and Louvain ; againft whofe decrees he imme¬ 
diately wrote with his ufual fpirit and intrepidity, which 
acquired additional ftrength from every inltance of oppo¬ 
sition. 
While fuch was the (late of things in Germany, Eckius 
repaired to Rome, intent on accompli filing the ruin of 
Luther. There he entered into a league with the Domi¬ 
nicans, who were in high credit at the papal court, and 
more efpecially with their two zealous patrons, Prierias 
and Cajetan ; fupported by whom, he earneftly folieited 
Leo to condemn Luther, and to exclude him from the 
communion of the church. At length, overcome by the 
importunity of thefe pernicious counfellors, the pontiff 
determined to comply with their requeft; and frequently 
affembled the college of cardinals, in order to prepare the 
fentence with due deliberation, and confulted the ableft 
canonifts how it might be expreffed with unexceptionable 
formality. After thefe preparations, on the 15th of June, 
3520, the bull was iffued; in which forty-one propofitions, 
extrafled from Luther’s works, were condemned as here¬ 
tical, fcandalous, and offenfive to pious ears; all perfons 
were forbidden to read his writings, on pain of excom¬ 
munication ; thofe who poffeffed any of them were com¬ 
manded to commit them to the flames; he himfelf, if he 
did not, within fixty days, publicly recant his errors, and 
burn his books, was pronounced an obftinate heretic, ex¬ 
communicated, and delivered unto Satan for the deftruc- 
tion of his flefti; and all fecular princes were required, 
under pain of incurring the fame cenfure, to feize his 
perfon, that he might be punifiied as his crimes deferved. 
Short-fighted prielts, and rafti bigots, contemplated in 
this fentence the ruin of Luther, and the termination of 
thofe principles which he had efpoufed; but it proved fa¬ 
tal only to the church which uttered it, and to the caufe 
which it was intended to fupport. When an account of 
what had happened was brought to Luther, he was neither 
difconcerted nor intimidated, but calmly confulted the 
moll proper means of prefent defence and future fecurity. 
After renewing his appeal to a general council, he came 
to the bold determination of abfolutely renouncing the 
communion of the church of Rome, and of expofing to 
the world, without the lead difguife or ceremony, tlisr 
abominable corruptions and delufions of the papal hier¬ 
archy. He began by publilhing fevere remarks upon tire- 
bull of excommunication ; and, being now perfuaded that 
Leo had been guilty both of impiety and injultice in his 
proceedings againft him, he intrepidly declared the pope 
to be that man of Jin, or antichrift, whofe appearance is 
foretold in the New Teftament; he declaimed againft his 
tyranny and ufurpations with greater violence than ever;, 
Ire exhorted all Chriftian princes to (hake oft' fuch an ig¬ 
nominious yoke; and boafted of his own happinefs in 
being marked out as the object of ecclefiaftical indigna¬ 
tion, becaufe he had ventured to affert the liberty of man¬ 
kind. Nor did he confine his exprefiions of contempt for 
the papal power to words alone. As Leo, in the execu¬ 
tion of the bull, had appointed Luther’s books to be burnt 
at Rome, he, by way of retaliation, affembled all the pro- 
feffors and ftudents in the univerfity of Wittemberg, and 
with great pomp, in the prefence of a prodigious multi¬ 
tude of people of all ranks and orders, committed to the 
flames the pope’s bull, and the decretals and canons re¬ 
lating to his fupreme jurifdibtion; and his example was 
followed in feveral of the cities of Germany. The man¬ 
ner in which this aftion was juftified gave (till more of¬ 
fence than the action itfelf; for Luther, having collected 
from the canon-law fome of the molt extravagant propo¬ 
fitions with regard to the plenitude and omnipotence of 
the pope’s power, as well as the fubordination of all fecu¬ 
lar jurifdRtion to his authority, he publiftied thefe with a 
commentary, pointing out the impiety of luch tenets, and 
their evident tendency to fubvert all civil government. 
On the acceflion of Charles V. to the empire, Luther 
found himfelf in a very dangerous fituation. It is to be 
obferved, that hitherto no fecular prince had openly em¬ 
braced his opinions; no change in the eltablifhed forms 
of vvorlhip had been introduced; no encroachments had 
been made upon the poffeflions or jurifdibtion of the 
clergy ; and the controverfy, though conducted with great 
heat and paflion on both fides, was dill carried on with 
thefes, difputations, and replies. A deep impreflion, how¬ 
ever, was made upon the minds of the people ; their reve¬ 
rence for ancient inftitutions and doCtrines was (haken ; 
and the materials were already (battered, which kindled 
into the combuftion that foon fpread over all Germany. 
Students crowded from every part of the empire to Wit¬ 
temberg; and under Luther, MelanCthon, Carloftadt, and 
other mafters then reckoned eminent, imbibed opinions, 
which, on their return, they propagated among their coun¬ 
trymen, who liftened to them with that fond attention, 
which truth, when accompanied with novelty, naturally 
commands. 
In this ftate of things the emperor Charles V. arrived 
in Germany; and the firft aCf of his adminiftration, after 
he had been crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, was to appoint 
a diet of the empire to be held at Worms, on the 6th of 
January, 1521. In his circular letter to the different 
princes, he informed them, that he called this affembly 
in order to concert with them the moft proper meafures 
for checking the progrefs of thole new and dangerous 
opinions, which threatened to difturb the peace of Ger¬ 
many, and to overturn the religion of their anceftors. 
Previoufly to the meeting of the diet, the pope caul'ed 
a brief to be prefented to the eleftor of, Saxony, by 
which he gave him notice of the decree which he had 
made againft the opinions of Luther; and accompanied it 
with a requeft, that he would caufe all Luther’s books to 
be burnt, and that he would either put him to death, or 
imprifon him, or fend him to Rome ; he alfo fent a brief 
to the univerfity of Wittemberg, exhorting them to put 
his bull into execution againft Luther : but to thele briefs 
and exhortations, neither the debtor nor the univerfity 
paid any regard. The emperor and other princes, how¬ 
ever, (flowed greater readine/s to gratify his holinefs; and, 
at the inftance of his legates, Luther’s books were burnt 
in feveral cities of Germany. Charles would alfo have 
yielded 
