In 1526, the Diet of Spires issued the Edict of Spires. This edict granted each state or province within the Holy Roman Empire religious freedom, thus allowing those who had embraced Lutheranism liberty to worship without restriction. The Edict of Spires also nullified the previously issued Edict of Worms which had outlawed Luther and his followers.
The Papacy regarded the Edict of Spires as a threat to their sovereignty. Once signed into law the Edict threatened to break the monopoly of the church within the Holy Roman Empire, which for centuries had been the source of steady and abundant revenue in the form of indulgences and Papal taxes.
In 1529 Charles V, who was by then busy ruling half the old world and most of the colonies in the New World, convened another Diet at Spires. The purpose of the second diet was to repeal the Edict of Spires, thereby stripping the empire of its newly gained religious freedom. The stakes were incredibly high and all the Lutheran princes of the empire understood just how pivotal this second Diet at Spires was.
Since the emperor was unable to attend he sent his brother, Ferdinand of Spain as his proxy. Ferdinand's job was simple; pass through the single agenda item with simple efficiency and get the diet to repeal the Edict of Spires. When the Diet opened the Papal delegates pushed hard to get the Edict repealed but the Lutheran princes argued that since the Edict was now part of the constitution of the empire it could not be nullified.
Seeing that they were at an impasse the Papal delegates scurried to table a third option. They proposed that the Edict of Spires be neither repealed nor enforced until a separate General Council could debate the matter further. In the meantime whatever laws regarding religious observance were already in place in each state were to remain binding. This move would ensure that Lutheranism could not make further inroads into Papal territories.
They then demanded that Papal hierarchy be reestablished in states that had become completely Lutheran and that none be allowed to accept Lutheranism until the proposed General Council convened. The Papal delegates, backed by Prince Ferdinand, managed to rush this option to the floor and push it through by a slim majority.
This meant that all the progress that had been gained in spreading the Reformation throughout Germany would not only be halted but would also, in many cases be reversed. The Lutheran princes could not accept this. Led by Prince John, the Elector of Saxony, the Lutheran princess drafted a formal protest which they presented to the diet on the 25th of April 1529. The statement declared "In matters of conscience the majority has no power"
