Diet of Worms
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The Diet of Worms (Reichstag zu Worms) was a general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Emperor that took place in Worms, a small town on the Rhine river located in what is now Germany. It was conducted from January 28 to May 25, 1521, with Emperor Charles V presiding. Although other issues were dealt with at the Diet of Worms, it is most memorable for addressing Martin Luther and the effects of the Protestant Reformation.
The previous year, Pope Leo X had issued the Papal bull Exsurge Domine, demanding that Luther retract forty-one of his 95 theses and other writings related to or written by him that criticised the Church. Luther was summoned by the Emperor. Prince Frederick III, Elector of Saxony obtained an agreement that if Luther appeared he would be promised safe passage to and from the meeting. Such a guarantee was essential after the treatment of Jan Hus, who was tried and executed at the Council of Constance in 1415 despite a safe conduct pass.
[edit] Luther's defense
Emperor Charles V commenced the imperial Diet of Worms (also called the Edict of Worms) on January 28, 1521. Luther was summoned to renounce or reaffirm his views. When he appeared before the assembly on April 16, Johann Eck, an assistant of Archbishop of Trier (Richard Greiffenklau zu Vollraths at that time), acted as spokesman for the Emperor.
Luther prayed for long hours, consulted with friends and mediators, and presented himself before the Diet the next day. When the counselor put the same questions to Luther, he said: "They are all mine, but as for the second question, they are not all of one sort." Luther went on to place the writings into three categories:
- Works which were well received by even his enemies: those he would not reject. These affected the Protestant Reformation.
- Books which attacked the abuses, lies and desolation of the Christian world: those, Luther believed, could not safely be rejected without encouraging abuses to continue.
- Attacks on individuals: those he apologized for the harsh tone of these writings but did not reject the substance of what he taught in them; if he could be shown from the Scriptures that he was in error, Luther continued, he would reject them.
When Counselor Eck asserted that Luther had no right to contradict traditional orthodoxy, Luther replied: "Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason--I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other--my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe."
According to tradition, Luther is said to have spoken these words: "Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir. Amen." ("Here, I stand. I can do nothing else. God help me. Amen.") Some scholars now question whether these famous words were actually spoken, however, since only the last four appear in contemporary accounts. Indeed, the full sentence appears in an account by Philip Melanchthon, one of Luther's most ardent sympathisers, but only the last four words are recorded in a similar first hand account by Johannes Cochlaeus.
Private conferences were held to determine Luther's fate. Before a decision was reached, Luther departed. During his return to Wittenberg, he disappeared.
[edit] External links
- Translation of the Edict of Worms from: Hans. J. Hillerbrand ed., The Reformation in its own Words, London 1964.
