Part 345

Naples had again slipped from the grasp of France, and this time it had passed to Spain. Louis XII. abandoned the tempting kingdom to his rival, and applied himself to the establishing of his sovereignty over Milan and its domain. Some territory formerly belonging to the Milaness had been ceded to Venice by the Sforzas. He himself had ceded another district or two to the republic in payment for services rendered. Ferdinand of Spain had made payments in the same kind of coin, from his Neapolitan realm, for Venetian help to secure it. {1053} The warlike Pope Julius II. saw Rimini and other towns formerly belonging to the States of the Church now counted among the possessions of the proud mistress of the Adriatic. All of these disputants in Italy resented the gains which Venice had gathered at their expense, and envied and feared her somewhat insolent prosperity. They accordingly suspended their quarrels with one another, to form a league for breaking her down and for despoiling her. The Emperor Maximilian, who had grievances of his own against the Venetians, joined the combination, and Florence was bribed to become a party to it by the betrayal of Pisa into her hands. Thus was formed the shameful League of Cambrai (1508). The French did most of the fighting in the war that ensued, though Pope Julius, who took the field in person, easily proved himself a better soldier than priest. The Venetians were driven for a time from the greater part of the dominion they had acquired on the mainland, and were sorely pressed. But they made terms with the Pope, and it then became his interest, not merely to stop the conquests of his allies, but to press them out of Italy, if possible. He began accordingly to intrigue against the French, and presently had a new league in operation, making war upon them. It was called a Holy League, because the head of the Church was its promoter, and it embraced the Emperor, King Ferdinand of Spain, King Henry VIII. of England, and the Republic of Venice. As the result of the ruthless and destructive war which they waged, Louis XII., before he died, in 1515, saw all that he had won in Lombardy stripped from him and restored to the Sforzas—the old family of the Dukes of Milan; Venice recovered most of her possessions, but never regained her former power, since the discovery of the ocean route to India, round the Cape of Good Hope, was now turning the rich trade of the East, the great source of her wealth, into the hands of the Portuguese; the temporal dominion of the Popes was enlarged by the recovery of Bologna and Perugia and by the addition of Parma and Piacenza; and Florence, which had been a republic since the death of Savonarola, was forced to submit anew to the Medici.

The Age of Infamous Popes.

The fighting Pope, Julius II., who made war and led armies, while professing to be the vicar of Him who brought the message of good-will and peace to mankind, was very far from being the worst of the popes of his age. He was only worldly, thinking much of his political place as a temporal sovereign in Italy, and little of his spiritual office as the head of the Church of Christ. As the sovereign of Rome and the Papal States, Julius II. ran a brilliant career, and is one of the splendid figures of the Italian renaissance. Patron of Michael Angelo and Raphael, projector of St. Peter's, there is a certain grandeur in his character to be admired, if we could forget the pretended apostolic robe which he smirched with perfidious politics and stained with blood.

But the immediate predecessors of Julius II., Sixtus IV. and Alexander VI., had had nothing in their characters to lure attention from the hideous examples of bestial wickedness which they set before the world. Alexander, especially, the infamous Borgia,—systematic murderer and robber, liar and libertine,—accomplished practitioner of every crime and every vice that was known to the worst society of a depraved generation, and shamelessly open in the foulest of his doings,—there is scarcely a pagan monster of antiquity that is not whitened by comparison with him. Yet he sat in the supposed seat of St. Peter for eleven years, to be venerated as the Vicar of Christ, the "Holy Father" of the Christian Church; his declarations and decrees in matters of faith to be accepted as infallible inspirations; his absolution to be craved as a passport to Heaven; his anathema to be dreaded as a condemnation to Hell!

This evil and malignant being died in 1503. poisoned by one of his own cups, which he had brewed for another. Julius II. reigned until 1513; and after him came the Medicean Pope, Leo X., son of Lorenzo the Magnificent,—princely and worldly as Julius, but in gentler fashion; loving ease, pleasure, luxury, art, and careless of all that belonged to religion beyond its ceremonies and its comfortable establishment of clerical estates. Is it strange that Christendom was prepared to give ear to Luther?

Luther and the Reformation.

When Luther raised his voice, he did but renew a protest which many pure and pious and courageous men before him had uttered, against evils in the Church and falsities and impostures in the Papacy. But some of them, like Arnold of Brescia, like Peter Waldo, and the Albigenses, had been too far in advance of their time, and their revolt was hopeless from the beginning. Wyclif's movement had been timed unfortunately in an age of great commotions, which swallowed it up. That of Huss had roused an ignorant peasantry, too uncivilized to represent a reformed Christianity, and had been ruined by the fierceness of their misguided zeal. The Reformation of Savonarola, at Florence, had been nobly begun, but not wisely led, and it had spent its influence at the end on aims less religious than political.

But there occurred a combination, when Luther arose, of character in himself, of circumstances in his country, and of temper in his generation, which made his protest more lastingly effective. He had high courage, without rashness. He had earnestness and ardor, without fanaticism. He had the plain good sense and sound judgment which win public confidence. His substantial learning put him on terms with the scholars of his day, and he was not so much refined by it as to lose touch with the common people. A certain coarseness in his nature was not offensive to the time in which he lived, but rather belonged among the elements of power in him. His spirituality was not fine, but it was strong. He was sincere, and men believed in him. He was open, straightforward, manly, commanding respect. His qualities showed themselves in his speech, which went straight to its mark, in the simplest words, moulding the forms and phrases of the German language with more lasting effect than the speech of any other man who ever used it. Not many have lived in any age or any country who possessed the gift of so persuasive a tongue, with so powerful a character to command the hearing for it.

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And the generation to which Luther spoke really waited for a bold voice to break into the secret of its thoughts concerning the Church. It had inherited a century of alienation from quarreling popes and greedy, corrupted priests and now there had been added in its feeling the deep abhorrence roused by such villains as the Borgia in the papal chair, and by their creatures and minions in the priesthood of the Church. If it is crediting too much to the common multitude of the time to suppose them greatly sickened by the vices and corruptions of their priests, we may be sure, at least, that they were wearied and angered by the exactions from them, which a vicious hierarchy continually increased. The extravagance of the Papacy kept pace with its degradation, and Christendom groaned under the burden of the taxes that were wrung from it in the name of the lowly Saviour of mankind.

Nowhere in Europe were the extortions of the Church felt more severely than in Germany, where the serfdom of the peasants was still real and hard, and where the depressing weight of the feudal system had scarcely been lifted from society at all. Feudalism had given way in that country less than in any other. Central authority remained as weak, and national solidification as far away, as ever. Of organic unity in the heterogeneous bundle of electoral principalities, duchies, margravates and free cities which made up the nominal realm of the King of the Romans, there was no more at the beginning of the sixteenth century than there had been in the twelfth. But that very brokenness and division in the political state of Germany proved to be one of the circumstances which favored the Protestant Reformation of the Church. Had monarchical authority established itself there as in France, then the Austro-Spanish family which wielded it, with the concentrated bigotry of their narrow-minded race, would have crushed the religious revolt as completely in Saxony as they did in Austria and Bohemia.

The Ninety-five Theses.

The main events of the Reformation in Germany are so commonly known that no more than the slightest sketching of them is needed here. Letters of indulgence, purporting to grant a remission of the temporal and purgatorial penalties of sin, had been sold by the Church for centuries; but none before Pope Leo X. had made merchandize of them in so peddlar-like and shameful a fashion as that which scandalized the intelligent piety of Europe in 1517. Luther, then a professor in the new University of Wittenberg, Saxony, could not hide his indignation, as most men did. He stood forth boldly and challenged the impious fraud, in a series of propositions or theses, which, after the manner of the time, he nailed to the door of Wittenberg Church. Just that bold action was needed to let loose the pent-up feeling of the German people. The ninety-five theses were printed and went broadcast through the land, to be read and to be listened to, and to stir every class with independent ideas. It was the first great appeal made to the public opinion of the world, after the invention of printing had put a trumpet to the mouths of eloquent men, and the effect was too amazing to be believed by the careless Pope and his courtiers.

Political Circumstances.

But more than possibly—probably, indeed—the popular feeling stirred up would never have accomplished the rupture with Rome and the religious independence to which North Germany attained in the end, if political motives had not coincided with religious feelings to bring certain princes and great nobles into sympathy with the Monk of Wittenberg. The Elector of Saxony, Luther's immediate sovereign, had long been in opposition to the Papacy on the subject of its enormous collections of money from his subjects, and he was well pleased to have the hawking of indulgences checked in his dominions. Partly for this reason, partly because of the pride and interest with which he cherished his new University, partly from personal liking and admiration of Luther, and partly, too, no doubt, in recognition of the need of Church reforms, he gave Luther a quiet protection and a concealed support. He was the strongest and most influential of the princes of the Empire, and his obvious favor to the movement advanced it powerfully and rapidly.

At first, there was no intention to break with the Papacy and the Papal Church,—certainly none in Luther's mind. His attitude towards both was conciliatory in every way, except as concerned the falsities and iniquities which he had protested against. It was not until the Pope, in June, 1520, launched against him the famous Bull, "Exurge Domine," which left no alternative between abject submission and open war, that Luther and his followers cast off the authority of the Roman Church and its head, and grounded their faith upon Holy Scripture alone. By formally burning the Bull, Luther accepted the papal challenge, and those who believed with him were ready for the contest.

The Diet of Worms.

In 1521, the reformer was summoned before a Diet of the Empire, at Worms, where a hearing was given him. The influence of the Church, and of the young Austro-Spanish Emperor, Charles V., who adhered to it, was still great enough to procure his condemnation; but they did not dare to deal with him as Huss had been dealt with. He was suffered to depart safely, pursued by an imperial edict which placed the ban of the Empire on all who should give him countenance or support. His friends among the nobles spirited him away and concealed him in a castle, the Wartburg, where he remained for several months, employed in making his translation of the Bible. Meantime, the Emperor had been called away from Germany by his multifarious affairs, in the Netherlands and Spain, and had little attention to give to Luther and the questions of religion for half-a-dozen years. He was represented in Germany by a Council of Regency, with the Elector of Saxony at the head of, it; and the movement of reformation, if not encouraged in his absence, was at least considerably protected. It soon showed threatening signs of wildness and fanaticism in many quarters; but Luther proved himself as powerful in leadership as he had been in agitation, and the religious passion of the time was controlled effectively, on the whole.

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Organization of the Lutheran Church.

Before the close of the year 1521, Pope Leo X. died, and his successor, Adrian, while insisting upon the enforcement of the Edict of Worms against Luther and his supporters, yet acknowledged the corruptions of the Church and promised a reformation of them. His promises came too late; his confessions only gave testimony to the independent reformers which their opponents could not impeach. There was no longer any thought of cleansing the Church of Rome, to abide in it. A separated—a restored Church—was clearly determined on, and Luther framed a system of faith and discipline which was adopted in Saxony, and then accepted very generally by the reformed Churches throughout Germany. In 1525, the Elector Frederick of Saxony died. He had quietly befriended the Lutherans and tolerated the reform, but never identified himself with them. His brother, John, who succeeded him, made public profession of his belief in the Lutheran doctrines, and authoritatively established the church system which Luther had introduced. The Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, the Margrave of Brandenburg, and the Dukes of Mecklenburg, Pomerania and Zell, followed his example; while the imperial cities of Frankfort, Nuremberg, Bremen, Strasburg, Brunswick, Nordhausen, and others, formally ranged themselves on the same side. By the year 1526, when a diet at Spires declared the freedom of each state in the Empire to deal with the religious reform according to its own will, the Reformation in Germany was a solidly organized fact. But those of the reform had not yet received their name, of "Protestants." That came to them three years later, when the Roman party had rallied its forces in a new diet at Spires, to undo the declaration of 1526, and the leaders of the Lutheran party recorded their solemn protest.

The Austro-Burgundian Marriage.

To understand the situation politically, during the period of struggle for and against the Reformation, it will be necessary to turn back a little, for the noting of important occurrences which have not been mentioned.

When Albert II., who was King of Hungary and Bohemia, as well as King of the Romans (Emperor-elect, as the title came to be, soon afterwards), died, in 1439, he was succeeded by his second cousin Frederick III., Duke of Styria, and from that time the Roman or imperial crown was held continuously in the Austrian family, becoming practically hereditary. But Frederick did not succeed to the duchy of Austria, and he failed of election to the throne in Hungary and Bohemia. Hence his position as Emperor was peculiarly weak and greatly impoverished, through want of revenue from any considerable possessions of his own. During his whole long reign, of nearly fifty-four years, Frederick was humiliated and hampered by his poverty; the imperial authority was brought very low, and Germany was in a greatly disordered state. There were frequent wars between its members, and between Austria and Bohemia, with rebellions in Vienna and elsewhere; while the Hungarians were left to contend with the aggressive Turks, almost unhelped.

But in 1477 a remarkable change in the circumstances and prospects of the family of the Emperor Frederick III. was made by the marriage of his son and heir, Maximilian, to Mary, the daughter and heiress of the wealthy and powerful Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold. The bridegroom was so poor that the bride is said to have loaned him the money which enabled him to make a fit appearance at the wedding. She had lost, as we saw, the duchy of Burgundy, but the valiant arm of Maximilian enabled her to hold the Burgundian county, Franche Comté, and the rich provinces of the Netherlands, which formed at that time, perhaps, the most valuable principality in Europe. The Duchess Mary lived only five years after her marriage; but she left a son, Philip, who inherited the Netherlands and Franche Comté, and Maximilian ruled them as his guardian.

In 1493, the Emperor Frederick died, and Maximilian, who had been elected King of the Romans some years before, succeeded him in the imperial office. He was never crowned at Rome, and he took the title, not used before, of King of Germany and Emperor-elect. He was Archduke of Austria, Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, and Count of Tyrol; and, with his guardianship in the Low Countries, he rose greatly in importance and power above his father. But he accomplished less than might possibly have been done by a ruler of more sureness of judgment and fixity in purpose. His plans were generally beyond his means, and the failures in his undertakings were numerous. He was eager to interfere with the doings of Charles VIII. and Louis XIII. in Italy; but the Germanic diet gave him so little support that he could do nothing effective. He joined the League of Cambrai against Venice, and the Holy League against France, but bore no important part in either. His reign was signalized in Germany by the division of the nation into six administrative "Circles," afterwards increased to ten, and by the creation of a supreme court of appeal, called the Imperial Chamber,—both of which measures did something towards the diminution of private wars and disorders.

The Austro-Spanish Marriage.—Charles V.

But Maximilian figures most conspicuously in history as the immediate ancestor of the two great sovereign dynasties—the Austrian and the Austro-Spanish—which sprang from his marriage with Mary of Burgundy and which dominated Europe for a century after his death. His son Philip, heir to the Burgundian sovereignty of the Netherlands, married (1496) Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Two children, Charles and Ferdinand, were the fruit of this marriage. Charles, the elder, inherited more crowns and coronets than were ever gathered, in reality, by one sovereign, before or since. Ferdinand and Isabella had united by their marriage the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile, and, by the conquest of Granada and the partial conquest of Navarre, the entire peninsula, except Portugal, was subsequently added to their joint dominion. Joanna inherited the whole, on the death of Isabella, in 1504, and the death of Ferdinand, in 1516. She also inherited from her father, Ferdinand, the kingdom of the Two Sicilies—which he had reunited—and the island of Sardinia. Philip, on his side, already in possession of the Netherlands and Franche Comté, was heir to the domain of the House of Austria. Both of these great inheritances descended in due course to Charles, and he had not long to wait for them. His father, Philip, died in 1506, and his mother, Joanna, lost her mind, through grief at that event. The death of his Spanish grandfather, Ferdinand, occurred in 1516, and that of his Austrian grandfather, the Emperor Maximilian, followed three years later. {1056} At the age of twenty years (representing his mother in her incapacity) Charles found himself sovereign of Spain, and America, of Sicily, Naples, Sardinia, the Low Countries, Franche Comté, Austria, and the duchies associated with it. The same year (1519) he was chosen King of Germany and Emperor-elect, after a keen contest over the imperial crown, in which Francis I. of France and Henry VIII. of England were his competitors. On attaining this dignity, he conferred the Austrian possessions on his brother Ferdinand. But he remained the most potent and imposing monarch that Europe had seen since Charlemagne. He came upon the stage just as Luther had marshalled, in Germany, the reforming forces of the new era, against intolerable iniquities in the Papal Church. Unfortunately, he came, with his vast armament of powers, to resist the demands of his age, and to be the champion of old falsities and wrongs, both in Church and State. There was nothing in the nature of the man, nor in his education, nor in the influences which bore upon him, from either the Spanish or the Austrian side of his family, to put him in sympathy with lifting movements or with liberal ideas. He never formed a conception of the world in which it looked larger to his eyes, or signified more to him, than the globe upon his scepter. So, naturally enough, this Cæsar of the Renaissance (Charles V. in Germany and Charles I. in Spain) did his utmost, from the day he climbed the throne, to thrust Europe back into the murk of the fourteenth century, which he found it pretty nearly escaped from. He did not succeed; but he gave years of misery to several countries by his exertions, and he resigned the task to a successor whom the world is never likely to tire of abhorring and despising.

The end of popular freedom in Spain.