The Diet of Worms
1521 AD
The Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire convened in the walled city of Worms in January of 1521. It was the first Diet where the newly crowned Emperor Charles V presided and he was anxious to deal with the issue of Martin Luther. Charles' initial reaction was to grant Luther an audience at the Diet and as early as November 1520 he had issued Luther an invitation but the Papal Legate Aleander advised against it and Charles withdrew the summons.
When the Diet convened for business Charles suggested to the 70 princes present that Luther be denounced as a heretic by Imperial Edict. The German princes refused to do this which Charles compelled to issue Luther with yet another invitation to the Diet. The summons was not for a hearing but rather to give Luther an opportunity to recant his position before the nobility of the German nation.
According to the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, no German could be tried or outlawed for heresy or any other charge outside of Germany. Luther had already been excommunicated and condemned as a heretic by the Pope and the summons to the Diet of Worms was Charles V's attempt to make this legitimate.
Since Luther had been branded a heretic by Rome he had a significant bounty on his head and the emperor extended him a Safe-Conduct to ensure that he would arrive in Worms in one piece. An Imperial Safe-Conduct was essentially an armed escort with the Imperial insignia which declared to everyone watching that the person being escorted was under the protection of the Emperor.
Luther set out for Worms in April of 1521 in a little wagon, provided by the Wittenberg town council. He was accompanied by three of his closest friends. As they passed through towns and villages on their way to Worms, people flocked to catch a glimpse of the courageous Dr. Luther who had dared to defy the authority of Rome.
When Luther passed through his former stomping grounds in Erfurt, peopled lined the streets and climbed onto rooftops to catch a glimpse of him. Ironically he was invited to stay at the Augustinian cloister which was his former home and which had soundly denounced him as a heretic. He was even invited to preach after morning mass.
But Luther was also aware, that for all the cheering masses who encouraged him, his fate could very well resemble that of Jan Hus, who more than a hundred years ago had been promised a Safe-Conduct by Emperor Sigismund only to have it revoked. Hus was burned as a heretic by Sigismund, who ignored the Safe-Conduct and arrested him as soon as he entered Konstanz.
When they reached the town of Weimar, people began to cry out that Luther had already been condemned at Worms, along with his books. When he heard this, the imperial guard who was escorting Luther, Caspar Strum, turned to him and asked "Doctor, Sir are you sure you want to go?" To which Luther responded in the affirmative.
Just before he entered Worms, his friend Spalatin wrote to him on behalf of Prince Frederick, warning Luther to stay away because the situation in Worms was dangerous to which Luther replied "if there were as many devils in Worms as chimneys on the roofs, I would nevertheless come there"
When Luther finally arrived in Worms on the 16th of April 1521 over 2,000 people had lined the streets to catch a glimpse of him. There was even a fanfare of trumpets from the towers of the Cathedral. On the 17th of April Luther was summoned to a session of the Diet at 3 pm which was convening at the bishop's palace. At this session, Luther was granted his first audience with Emperor Charles.
Luther was interrogated before the Emperor and other members of the Diet at this session by the spokesman for the Archbishop and Elector of Trier, Johann von der Ecken. It was von der Ecken who had most recently organised for Luther's books to be burned in Germany. Pointing to a stack of 22 books piled neatly on a window ledge, the spokesman asked Luther if they were all written by him.
An objection from one of the members of the Diet, stating that the titles should be read aloud first, prevented Luther from responding immediately and von der Ecken was forced to read all 22 titles out loud. Twelve were in German and ten in Latin. Once von der Ecken was done Luther quietly replied that the books were all his.
Then came the inevitable and obvious question, the reason that Luther had been summoned to Worms in the first place; Von der Ecken asked him if he was willing to recant of everything he had written in the books. Taking a moment to consider the situation Luther addressed the Emperor directly saying "Most Merciful Emperor and Merciful Princes and Lords, this is a serious and grave matter, I am not prepared to make a statement about the books at this time. I beg you will give me some time to reflect"
The emperor granted Luther a 24 hour recess. The reprieve gave Luther the time he needed to think, pray and consult with his friends, including Spalatin. It was a wise move on his part, one that gave him time to construct a careful argument that he could present to the diet the following day.
The next day when Luther appeared before the diet once more Aleander, the Papal Legate was also present. The room he entered on the 18th of April was larger than the one he had entered the previous day and this time he was more prepared. When von der Ecken once again asked him if the books were his and if he would recant them Luther carefully presented his answer.
He stated that he couldn't issue a blanket recantation of them all because each dealt with different topics which broadly fell into three categories. The first group fell under the category of books that gave instruction regarding the Scriptures and he said that he could find nothing bad in any of them.
The second category was books that covered Christian teaching and he couldn't recant these either because the views expressed in them were widely held and were not erroneous. The third category were contentious books where it seemed that he was quarrelling with the Pope. "I would be gland to change them" he said "if I could be shown my error"
Von der Ecken dismissed his reply and told him to "candidly and without horns" recant of everything, which Luther refused to do. "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, I do not accept the authority of the Pope and councils for they have contradicted each other. My conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me."
The Diet was dumbfounded by Luther's response. Aleander was fuming and there are some reports that members of Emperor Charles' Spanish entourage shouted "to the fire! to the fire!" The emperor dismissed Luther and the rest of the Diet, asking for time to deliberate his answer.
The next day he summoned a small group of German princes and read to them from a statement that he had prepared. He began the statement reiterating his spiritual pedigree, being the son and descendant of numerous Catholic emperors, dukes and kings. He told those assembled before him that he intended to follow in the footsteps of his fathers. "A single friar who goes counter to all Christianity for a thousand years must be wrong" he insisted and he went on to pledge everything he had to make sure that Germany would be cleansed of the heresy brought about by Martin Luther.
However, regardless of his antipathy towards Luther, Charles promised to honor the Safe Conduct and allow Luther to be escorted safely back to Wittenburg. But once he had arrived in Wittenberg, Charles promised to use all the means at his disposal to ensure that Luther was pursued to the fullest extent of the law.
