The Story of Mankind [97]
year 1517 that the exclusive territory
for the sale of indulgences in Saxony was given to a
Dominican monk by the name of Johan Tetzel. Brother
Johan was a hustling salesman. To tell the truth he was a
little too eager. His business methods outraged the pious
people of the little duchy. And Luther, who was an honest
fellow, got so angry that he did a rash thing. On the 31st of
October of the year 1517, he went to the court church and upon
the doors thereof he posted a sheet of paper with ninety-five
statements (or theses), attacking the sale of indulgences.
These statements had been written in Latin. Luther had no
intention of starting a riot. He was not a revolutionist. He
objected to the institution of the Indulgences and he wanted his
fellow professors to know what he thought about them. But
this was still a private affair of the clerical and professorial
world and there was no appeal to the prejudices of the community
of laymen.
Unfortunately, at that moment when the whole world had
begun to take an interest in the religious affairs of the day
it was utterly impossible to discuss anything, without at once
creating a serious mental disturbance. In less than two
months, all Europe was discussing the ninety-five theses of
the Saxon monk. Every one must take sides. Every obscure
little theologian must print his own opinion. The papal
authorities began to be alarmed. They ordered the Wittenberg
professor to proceed to Rome and give an account of his action.
Luther wisely remembered what had happened to Huss. He
stayed in Germany and he was punished with excommunication.
Luther burned the papal bull in the presence of an
admiring multitude and from that moment, peace between himself
and the Pope was no longer possible.
Without any desire on his part, Luther had become the
leader of a vast army of discontented Christians. German
patriots like Ulrich von Hutten, rushed to his defence. The
students of Wittenberg and Erfurt and Leipzig offered to
defend him should the authorities try to imprison him. The
Elector of Saxony reassured the eager young men. No harm
would befall Luther as long as he stayed on Saxon ground.
All this happened in the year 1520. Charles V was twenty
years old and as the ruler of half the world, was forced to
remain on pleasant terms with the Pope. He sent out calls
for a Diet or general assembly in the good city of Worms on
the Rhine and commanded Luther to be present and give an
account of his extraordinary behaviour. Luther, who now
was the national hero of the Germans, went. He refused to
take back a single word of what he had ever written or said.
His conscience was controlled only by the word of God. He
would live and die for his conscience
The Diet of Worms, after due deliberation, declared
Luther an outlaw before God and man, and forbade all Germans
to give him shelter or food or drink, or to read a single
word of the books which the dastardly heretic had written.
But the great reformer was in no danger. By the majority
of the Germans of the north the edict was denounced as a most
unjust and outrageous document. For greater safety, Luther
was hidden in the Wartburg, a castle belonging to the Elector
of Saxony, and there he defied all papal authority by translating
the entire Bible into the German language, that all the
people might read and know the word of God for themselves.
By this time, the Reformation was no longer a spiritual
and religious affair. Those who hated the beauty of the modern
church building used this period of unrest to attack and
destroy what they did not like because they did not understand
it. Impoverished knights tried to make up for past losses by
grabbing the territory which belonged to the monasteries.
Discontented princes made use of the absence of the Emperor
to increase their own power. The starving peasants, following
the leadership of half-crazy agitators,
for the sale of indulgences in Saxony was given to a
Dominican monk by the name of Johan Tetzel. Brother
Johan was a hustling salesman. To tell the truth he was a
little too eager. His business methods outraged the pious
people of the little duchy. And Luther, who was an honest
fellow, got so angry that he did a rash thing. On the 31st of
October of the year 1517, he went to the court church and upon
the doors thereof he posted a sheet of paper with ninety-five
statements (or theses), attacking the sale of indulgences.
These statements had been written in Latin. Luther had no
intention of starting a riot. He was not a revolutionist. He
objected to the institution of the Indulgences and he wanted his
fellow professors to know what he thought about them. But
this was still a private affair of the clerical and professorial
world and there was no appeal to the prejudices of the community
of laymen.
Unfortunately, at that moment when the whole world had
begun to take an interest in the religious affairs of the day
it was utterly impossible to discuss anything, without at once
creating a serious mental disturbance. In less than two
months, all Europe was discussing the ninety-five theses of
the Saxon monk. Every one must take sides. Every obscure
little theologian must print his own opinion. The papal
authorities began to be alarmed. They ordered the Wittenberg
professor to proceed to Rome and give an account of his action.
Luther wisely remembered what had happened to Huss. He
stayed in Germany and he was punished with excommunication.
Luther burned the papal bull in the presence of an
admiring multitude and from that moment, peace between himself
and the Pope was no longer possible.
Without any desire on his part, Luther had become the
leader of a vast army of discontented Christians. German
patriots like Ulrich von Hutten, rushed to his defence. The
students of Wittenberg and Erfurt and Leipzig offered to
defend him should the authorities try to imprison him. The
Elector of Saxony reassured the eager young men. No harm
would befall Luther as long as he stayed on Saxon ground.
All this happened in the year 1520. Charles V was twenty
years old and as the ruler of half the world, was forced to
remain on pleasant terms with the Pope. He sent out calls
for a Diet or general assembly in the good city of Worms on
the Rhine and commanded Luther to be present and give an
account of his extraordinary behaviour. Luther, who now
was the national hero of the Germans, went. He refused to
take back a single word of what he had ever written or said.
His conscience was controlled only by the word of God. He
would live and die for his conscience
The Diet of Worms, after due deliberation, declared
Luther an outlaw before God and man, and forbade all Germans
to give him shelter or food or drink, or to read a single
word of the books which the dastardly heretic had written.
But the great reformer was in no danger. By the majority
of the Germans of the north the edict was denounced as a most
unjust and outrageous document. For greater safety, Luther
was hidden in the Wartburg, a castle belonging to the Elector
of Saxony, and there he defied all papal authority by translating
the entire Bible into the German language, that all the
people might read and know the word of God for themselves.
By this time, the Reformation was no longer a spiritual
and religious affair. Those who hated the beauty of the modern
church building used this period of unrest to attack and
destroy what they did not like because they did not understand
it. Impoverished knights tried to make up for past losses by
grabbing the territory which belonged to the monasteries.
Discontented princes made use of the absence of the Emperor
to increase their own power. The starving peasants, following
the leadership of half-crazy agitators,