Act IV. A public place in Münster. The city is in possession of the

Anabaptists. _John_, once a plain innkeeper of Leyden, has been swept along on the high tide of success and decides to have himself proclaimed Emperor. Meanwhile _Fides_ has been reduced to beggary. The Anabaptists, in order to make her believe that _John_ is dead--so as to reduce to a minimum the chance of her suspecting that the new _Prophet_ and her son are one and the same--left in the inn a bundle of _John's_ clothes stained with blood, together with a script stating that he had been murdered by the _Prophet_ and his followers.

The poor woman has come to Münster to beg. There she meets _Bertha_, who, when _Fides_ tells her that _John_ has been murdered, vows vengeance upon the _Prophet_.

_Fides_ follows the crowd into the cathedral, to which the scene changes. When, during the coronation scene, _John_ speaks, and announces that he is the elect of God, the poor beggar woman starts at the sound of his voice. She cries out, "My son!" _John's_ cause is thus threatened and his life at stake. He has claimed divine origin. If the woman is his mother, the people, whom he rules with an iron hand, will denounce and kill him. With quick wit he meets the emergency, and even makes use of it to enhance his authority by improvising an affirmation scene. He bids his followers draw their swords and thrust them into his breast, if the beggar woman again affirms that he is her son. Seeing the swords held ready to pierce him, _Fides_, in order to save him, now declares that he is not her son--that her eyes, dimmed by age, have deceived her.