Section Six of Chapter Six.

How the German nobility, especially in Franconia, offered Luther protection and security.

A. From the shoe offered by the German nobility Luther.

488 Johann Aurifaber's report on how the nobility accepted Luther.

This writing is found in the Eisleben Collection, vol. I, p. 26; in the Altenburg, vol. I, p. 549 and in the Leipzig, vol. XVII, p. 380.

When in 1520 the pope with his Romanists and bishops, and also with the universities, sat down violently against M. Luther, condemned him as a heretic, and from all quarters sent books and writings against the united man, and also the pope's legates at Cologne at the imperial diet wanted to embitter the new emperor Carol against D. Luther, and demanded that his books, which had gone out of print, be burned by their imperial majesty's edict; but their imperial majesty did not condemn the legates as heretics. Luther, and requested that his books, which had gone out of print, be burned by edict of their imperial majesty; but their imperial majesty did not answer the legates soon, but told them that he would first ask his father, Duke Friederich, Elector of Saxony, what he said about it, and inquire how things stood with D. Mart. Luther's teachings etc., and thus D. Luther was in great fear and distress, that also the courtiers of the Elector of Saxony wanted to be angry with D. Luther, therefore, that he wrote against the note of the official, or bishop of Meissen, publicly; for Duke George of Saxony took up the same letter harshly, was very angry and raged, therefore stood completely on the fact that D. Martin Luther should have been removed from Wittenberg. Martin Luther would have had to leave Wittenberg and go into exile, was also planning to hide in the country of Bohemia:

God gave Doctor Luther comfort and courage again. For Ulrich von Hütten, a German nobleman and poet, wrote violently against the Pope and proclaimed him to be the Antichrist. So Luther now had a companion,

who would stand with him publicly against the pope and storm the antichrist empire.

God also gave Doctor Luther physical protection. For since the Pope and his followers wanted him dead, or even chased out of the German country, Ulrich von Hutten wrote to D. Luthern that Franciscus von Sickingen, also a nobleman living in the Palatinate, offered to house and shelter Doctor Luthern and to protect him against all his enemies.

Therefore Silvester von Schaumberg, a Franconian nobleman, also wrote to Luther, and reported that he and others, theirs being a hundred of the nobility, wanted to protect him against all his opponents; as the same letter follows. This made Doctor Luthern's heart grow fonder, so that he really got into the Pope's wool, and wrote a booklet to the Christian nobility of the German nation, about the Christian state's improvement, in which he treated the Pope as nothing other than the true, right Antichrist.

God thus awakened the nobility to take up Doctor Luther and his teachings, since he otherwise had no comfort or help from princes or bishops; as Franz von Sickingen put him off in a writing, even for the sake of protection.

489 Letter from Silvester von Schaumburg to Luther, in which he admonishes him not to turn to Bohemia, but, since he could no longer live safely in Saxony, to go to him, with the promise that he would raise a hundred of the nobility and, with their help, protect him until the matter was settled. Dated Münnerstadt, June 11, 1520.

This letter is found in the Eisleben Collection, vol. I, p. 26b; in the Altenburger, vol. I, p. 549; in the Leipziger, vol. XVII, p. 380 and in the Erlanger Briefwechsel, vol. II, p. 415.

1632 Erl. Briefw. II, 415 f.4vs. sec. 6. behavior of the nobility against L. No. 489 f. W. XV, 1942-1944. 1633

To the highly respected and spiritual gentleman, Martin Luther, teacher of the Holy Scriptures, Augustinian order, at Wittenberg, my special dear gentleman and friend.

My unknown services and friendship before, esteemed, special, dear Lord and friend! I have received from many persons, who have nevertheless also taught and adhered to the learning, that your doctrine and opinion should be founded on the holy, divine Scriptures; but that you should be opposed to disfavored and envious persons, harassed with avarice, which is conducive to idolatry. And even though you refrain from and refrain from divorcing your good opinion by a common Christian calling, or otherwise by the judgment of unsuspicious, understanding, pious men, you should still expect danger to your body, and be caused to associate with foreign nations, and especially with the Bohemians, who do not esteem spiritual, self-willed constraint highly.

But I beg and admonish you in God the Lord, even though electoral, princely, or other authorities want to express themselves against you, rather and rather want to disobey your own spiritual compulsion, 1) that you will not let such deviation and apostasy grieve you, nor will you go to the Bohemians, with whom some high-minded people in times past have received noticeable reprimands and annoyance, and thus have accumulated and increased disfavor. For I, and otherwise, of my own accord, a hundred of nobility, whom I (God willing) want to muster to keep you honest, and to protect you from danger against your repugnants, as long as your good opinion would be disproved and unrebutted by common Christian calling and assembly, or by unsuspicious, reasonable jurists, 2) and you would be better informed, as you have pacified yourselves, for the previous reason of submission. All this I have not wished to leave undeclared to you, as I am willing with unknown services and friendship, to be comforted for this reason. Date Monday after Corporis Christi [June 11], Anno 1520.

1) "practice" put by us instead of: "live".

2) It seems to us that: "Refuted and refuted" should be read.

3) The spellings occur: Schaumberg, Schaumburg and Schauenburg. He was bailiff in Münnerstadt in Lower Franconia.

490: Letter from Ulrich von Hutten to Martin Luther, exhorting him to steadfastness and caution against secret persecution, and offering his faithful assistance. Dated Mainz, June 4, 1520.

This letter is found in Latin (incomplete) in the Wittenberg edition (1551), tom. II, toi. 485; complete in the Erlanger Briefwechsel, vol. II, p. 409. German in the Wittenberger (1569), vol. IX, p. 1325; in the Altenburger, vol. I, p. 444 and in the Leipziger, vol. XVII, p. 304. We have retranslated according to the Erlanger Briefwechsel.

Newly translated from the Latin.

Wake up, O freedom!

Ulrich von Hütten, knight, greets Martin Luther, the theologian.

If, as I see it, an obstacle gets in the way of what you are now planning to do there with great courage, I am sorry for that, of necessity, and indeed from the bottom of my heart. We have made some progress here. May Christ help us, may Christ help us, since we are defending what he has instituted, to bring his teaching, darkened by the darkness of the papal statutes, back to light; you with great success, I to the best of my ability. Would God that either all would be so minded, or that those people would of their own free will recognize themselves and return to the right path. They say that you have been banished. How great, O Luther, how great you are, if this is true! For all the godly will say of thee [Ps. 94:21, 23: "They arm themselves against the soul of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood; but the Lord our God will recompense them their wrong, and will destroy them for their wickedness." This shall be our hope, this our faith. Eck returns from Rome, richly provided with benefices and money by the pope, as they say. What else? [Ps. 10, 3.:] "The wicked boasts of his will of courage", may God guide us in his truth Ms. 25, 5.]. And therefore we hate the assembly of the wicked, and sit not with the wicked [Ps. 26, 5. 4.]. But look well about thee, and have both eyes and mind fixed on them. Thou seest, if thou wert to fall now, what a harm would come to all Christendom (publico); for, as for thee.

4) This will refer to Luther's writing "An den christlichen Adel deutscher Nation" etc. (Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. X, 266), the production of which Luther dealt with at the time.

I know that you are so minded that you would rather die like this than live under any circumstances. I am also being pursued; I will guard myself as much as I can. 1) When they come with force, there will be forces against them, not only equal but, I hope, even superior. Would to God that they despised me! 2) Eck has described me as one who would stand with you, and in this he has not spoken the untruth. For I have always kept it with you in the things that I have understood. 3) But in the past we had no intercourse with each other. For what the same said, that we used to conspire with each other, he lied to please the Roman bishop. Oh about the impudently bad man! But one must see that he is paid what he deserves. You be firm and strong and do not waver. But what do I exhort where it is not necessary? You have me as your accomplice, whatever may happen. Therefore, from now on, you can boldly entrust all your advice to me. We want to protect the common freedom, we want to liberate the long oppressed fatherland! We have God on our side. [Rom. 8, 31. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Those in Cologne and Louvain have belittled you; these are those devilish, wretched associations (conciliubula) against the truth; but we want to break through, bravely break through with Christ's help. But it would have been more fitting for them, if a matter had arisen, to judge freely. I have reminded them of this in a certain preface 4) which you will read; Capito will send it. 5) Today I leave for Ferdinand. Everything that I can do there for our good, I will do unceasingly. 6) N. 7) asks you to come to him if you are not safe enough there. He will keep you glorious according to your dignity and bravely defend you against enemies of every kind.

1) This and the preceding sentence precedes the account of Eck in the Latin Wittenberg and German editions.

2) The two preceding sentences are only in the Erlanger.

3) In a letter to Hermann von Neuenar of April 3, 1518, Hütten had still spoken approvingly of Luther and his cause (Erl. Briefw.).

4) In the praslatio likri cks uuitats ssslssias soussrvuucka (Erl. Briefw.) addressed to Ferdinand of Austria.

5) The following up to "In Brabant" is missing in all editions except the Erlangen one. - Capito was court preacher in Mainz at that time. - Ferdinand was in Brussels.

6) Smelters did not make a difference.

7) Franz von Sickingen.

theidigen. He has told me three or four times to write this to you. Your letters will reach me in Brabant, and write there. Farewell in Christ. In haste. Mainz, June 4, 1520.

Greetings to Melanchthon and Fach and all the good people there. Once again, farewell.

491 Two letters from Ulrich von Hütten to Melanchthon, dated January 20 and February 28, 1520, in which he asks him to report to Luther that Sickingen is willing to take his side.

From Kapp's "Nachlese," Part II, p. 425.

Translated from the Latin by Joh. Frick.

Ulrich Hütten wishes Philipp Melanchthon salvation.

Perhaps you already know how Franciscus has freed Capnio 8) from the rude boys by force and at my command, which they will leave so gladly that they may also give money for it. But now this brave hero wants me to tell Luther that, if he had to suffer something for his cause and no other means were available, he would only come to him; he wanted to do what he could for him, as he also made every possible effort for Capnio. I do not do this for many urgent reasons; but I write to you with the intention that you remind him that he should honor this patron of his, who freely offers himself so graciously to him, with a letter. Be assured that he will not get through anywhere more safely. What he wrote to the monks I wish you could see. Four days ago I left him in Naustal, where he is staying at present. There, too, I want to take up the cause of Erasmus, who reports to me many distressing circumstances from his enemies; above all, we must steer Ferdinand to our side, for whom Franciscus would like to make himself deserving. Then it will not be difficult to get angry with the godless people. Franciscus is fond of Luther, partly because he seems honest to him and others, and that is precisely why he is so hated by them; partly because one of the Counts of Solms recommended him to him in writing. Just remind him in a hurry that he knows from where he has hope and where he has to save himself. Farewell. From Mainz, 20 Jan. 1520.

8) "Capnio", that is, Reuchlin.

1636 Erl. Briefw. II, op. cit. 6. behavior of the nobility against L. No. 491 ff. W. XV, 1947-1949. 1637

To the highly learned Philipp Melanchthon von Breiten, his much beloved friend.

Hail! It has been a long time since I wrote this letter, but it is only now arriving because those to whom I entrusted it have not handled it carefully. What I wrote from Franciscus, that you should tell Luther, I ask that you tell him soon, so that he will know that I have not interceded in the matter through anyone. It would be too much of a stretch to state the cause. If he makes an effort, it is not necessary for him to look for other help. Here he is doing well. Here, one works so that he can insult all his enemies without fear. I have very important things to discuss with Franciscus. If you were present, I would talk about it. I hope it will not go well with the barbarians who want to throw the Roman yoke on everyone. I am now having conversations printed under the title: Trias romana; likewise: Inspicientes, in which I have very freely attacked the pope and the thieves of common goods in Germany. I have no doubt that you will like them, or at least not entirely dislike them. Above all, remember Luthern. If his cause is still doubtful, let him hasten to Franciscus without delay. On the way he could easily meet me; but I do not know whether I will be here then. For in a few days I must ride away. He will take the way via Fulda, several miles from here, and there he will find out whether I am to be found at the innkeeper of the Ursinä Hostel, zu dem Bären. If he meets me there, I will by all means present him with travel money. Be that as it may, answer me quickly, or send your letter to Fulda, or to the court in Magdeburg to Tillmann Kreych, the prince's court preacher. You will seal the letter and have it delivered to me for my own opening. Be well, February 28, in the Huttian castle of Steckelbergk.

There 1) Balthasar Fach, my old and tested friend, is staying. Greet this man kindly for my sake.

492 Franz von Sickingen's letter to Luther, in which he offers to show him support and favor according to his ability. Cologne, Nov. 3, 1520.

1) That is, in Wittenberg. There, Fach was professor of humanistic sciences. Cf. De Wette, Vol. I, p. 385.

This letter is found in the Eisleben Collection, vol. I, p. 27; in the Altenburger, vol. I, p. 549; in the Leipziger, vol. XVII, p. 381 and in the Erlanger Briefwechsel, vol. II, p. 506.

Venerable, esteemed, favorable, dear doctor, and especially good friend! My willing services, and what I am able to do dear and good, are ready for you with all diligence beforehand. I have received your previous and present last letter here in Cologne, have read the same, together with your posted apology and request 2), have also heard the request of Magister Georgen Spalatini, and have also gladly understood that your mind is directed toward displaying Christian truth and adhering to it, and am well inclined to prove to you my support and favor in such matters. I did not want to give you this answer to your letter. For with what I can show you favor, you shall find me willing. I hereby command God, who may order your affairs according to His will. Date Cologne, on the third day of November, Anno 1520.

Franciscus von Sickingen, my hand.

B. How Luther behaved against this offer.

493 Luther's sending of the above (No. 489) Schaumburg letter to Spalatin, with a request, if possible, to have it mentioned in the princely answer to Cardinal St. Georgii, so that they would see in Rome that they would not achieve anything if they took him away from Wittenberg, since there were people in the middle of Germany who wanted to protect him against the papal ban.

See Appendix, No. 62, §§ 2. 3.

Luther's report of this offer to Spalatin.

See Appendix, No. 63, § 3.

495 Another report of the same to Wenceslaus Link.

See Appendix, No. 64, § 2.

2) This is Document No. 433 in this volume.

496: Luther's Writings: An den christlichen Adel deutscher Nation von des christlichen Standes Besserung.

It is in the 10th part of this collection, Col. 266.

497 Luther's report of the publication of this book to Link, in which he says that this writing against the Pope exposes all the ungodly arts and violence of the papists, and will therefore cause much anger in Rome.

See Appendix, No. 64, § 3.

498 Luther's letter to Lang about the book "An den christlichen Adel" (To the Christian Nobility), in which he calls the papacy the seat of the Antichrist and the pope the man of sin and the child of perdition, and also adds that the book is not entirely disliked by the court. August 18, 1520.

This letter is found handwritten in the Ooä. Oottiun. 399, toi. 129d; printed in Aurifaber, vol. I, p. 278; in De Wette, vol. I, p. 477 and in Erlanger Briefwechsel, vol. II, p. 461.

Newly translated from the Latin.

To the venerable father Johann Lang, the honest theologian, the temporary 1) vicar of the Augustinians at Erfurt, his superior in the Lord.

Jesus.

Hail! Whether my little book, my dear father, which you call a war trumpet, is so terrible and cruel, you 2) and all others may see. I confess that it is exceedingly full of freedom and impetuosity, yet many like it, and even our court does not entirely dislike it. I cannot say anything definite about myself in these matters. Perhaps I am the forerunner of Philip, whom I will prepare the way for in spirit and in power, following the example of Elijah, by confounding Israel and the followers of Ahab. The one thing hold fast, that the publication of the same was not in my hand. For it was already printed, in 4000 copies, and was sold, and I was allowed to

1) medio. In other letters Luther calls him viearins ÄMns, also vicarirt mockiWtlnus.

2) Erlanger: ut instead of tu.

not cause so much damage to our lottery. Therefore, prayer will be needed when something is missed.

Here we are convinced that the papacy is the chair of the true and actual Antichrist, against whose deceitfulness and unworthiness, we believe, everything is permissible for the sake of the salvation of souls. 3) I, for my part, confess that I owe no other obedience to the pope than that which I owe to the true Antichrist. The rest you consider, and do not judge us hastily; there is good reason that imposes this opinion on us.

Philipp is marrying Catharina Krappe, and people are shouting that this is happening at my instigation. I do the man all possible good and do not care about the cries of all; may God turn it for the best. I heartily hate that man of sin and the child of perdition with all his kingdom, by whom 4) nothing but sin and hypocrisy is cherished and fostered. Fare well in the Lord. From Wittenberg, 1520, on the day of St. Agapiti [August 18].

Yours, Brother Martin Luther.

6. of -the bitterness of the German nobility against the Roman See, and that of Crown-.

berg's correspondence with Luther.

499 Ulrich von Hutten's letter to Jodocus Jonas, dated 17 Apr. 1521, concerning Jodocus' love of the Gospel, the papists' enterprises against the evangelicals, and John Crotus.

From Kapp's "Nachlese," Part II, p. 445.

Translated into German by Joh. Frick.

Ulrich von Hütten, knight, wishes Jodocus Jonas good health.

In the same way, you followed the evangelical preacher, so that you were with him in the rose garden.

3) In the old "deceitfulness and unworthiness of the Antichrist," newer papists translate this passage in order to revile Luther thus: "We hold that for the sake of the salvation of souls, everything is permitted to us for the evasion and destruction of the Pabst. (Cf. Wilh. Walther, "Luther im neuesten römischen Gericht," Heft 2, p. 2 ff. 1886.)

4) Erlanger: yuock instead of: yuo.

finds? O gracious blessedness! If I loved you warmly before, my Jodoce, I love you a hundred times more because of that now. It is said that they have dealt with it, that, because Martinus is safe by an imperial escort, now you, who also have a part in the ban, are being attacked. O clever plot ! how beautifully the people consider the matter. That is why this assembly will be separated. For I have no doubt that most of the people there will talk with you. If only I could be present and make a tangle in the matter, or cause a disturbance. But it is better to be quiet. May the Lord Christ grant that it may be done, and prevent in every way that violence may not be needed, so that we may not avenge in death those whom we would rather defend in life. Write me something of what is going on, likewise what you hope and fear. But my dear Crotus has still been held back by the unfortunate authorities from putting himself in the desired danger. Oh, if you had carried him off with you, as he would undoubtedly have liked to go; but who should do him violence now? I have hardly been able to write that much, since Bucer quickly departed. Be very well. From Ebernburg, 17 Apr. 1521 in the greatest haste.

To Jodocus Jonas, his polite and learned friend.

500: Hermann Busch's curious letter to Ulrich von Hütten, dated May 5, 1521, from Worms, concerning the Papists' mockery of Hutten's threats, as well as their, and especially the Spaniards', rage against Hutten and Luther's writings at the Diet of Worms, and Aleander's favor with Carl etc.

From Kapp's "Nachlese," Part II, p. 448.

Translated into German by Johann Frick.

Ulrich von Hütten, the knight, his lover, Hermann Busch.

I wish very much that after your threats the popes would fare worse than they really do. They were terribly afraid of you at the beginning, but now they are not afraid to laugh at you and to take the opportunity to mock you in company (even our people). They go so far in their madness because you, as they speak, only bite and bark. It is easy, they say, to have as an enemy one who tries to harm only with words and not with blows. But what is the use of these constant threats, which are only

Wind go? How long is it going to go on like this? How long will it continue to pull itself through? Well, he begins to thunder once, if this ineffective cloud is to do its work. Your huts can be frightened, but no one can harm you. So, as they speak, his anger and zeal is an empty zeal, which has no emphasis. He writes to Carolum, to the princes, archbishops and to us. He is always threatening, and nevertheless, if he does not make a more important attempt than he has done so far, we are safe. I believe you Germans will have seen for yourselves whether, in the meantime, we have forgiven Hutten's small threats to our duty, or whether we have not rather pushed such threats higher. And we also let ourselves be the more sharply concerned with such things, the more he concerns us with his futile threats. We will not let ourselves be misled by his or anyone else's overcome terrors until we bring our work to completion and bring it before Leo with rejoicing and congratulations. Luther must be condemned, even if it costs a defeat of the Germans, if someone carelessly undertakes to oppose us. I die when they publicly wash and chatter so boldly in the pulpits. The other day a certain Spaniard tore up in anger the annotated bull of Leo, which he had taken from a bookseller; and this having been done, he threw it on the ground and trampled it underfoot in the midst of the muck. Moreover, on the third of May next, a court preacher of Emperor Carl, with two Spanish servants from the said court, gave about 80 copies of the Captivitatis Babylonicae to a poor, wretched man downstairs in front of the palace.

This would also have happened to the others, if the closest neighbors had not finally jumped to the bookseller's aid and forced the villain to flee with the servants to the castle. I have also seen a certain Spanish horseman with a bare sword pursuing one of our people with such fury that he fell from his horse in front of the door, which the fugitive barely reached, and would not have been able to get up if a German had not come to his aid. And even though there were more Germans around him, no one dared to touch him, not even with a finger. So I learn that we call these people lazy and despondent without reason; they are truly the most despondent of all. Aleander has interfered with Carl in such a way-

The Spaniard is so cautious that he almost never leaves his side, even if princely persons follow him. Every day one sees three or four Spaniards riding through the market on their mules, and everyone has to avoid them, or he is ridden down. Thus we are chased around the whole market; nevertheless we keep quiet about it and give in. That is all our freedom. Do you think you can help them, what are you waiting for? For Carl to leave? Waiting for that seems to many to be too slow, until those get to safety against whom one should primarily take revenge, and who most of all have offended German freedom, and who have also been most obnoxious to Luther and yourselves. I mean the apostolic nuncios, which, if you let them leave Germany unscented, most of the good hope and desire of many will fall away, my dear Hutten. Therefore, take care that they at least do not all get through without harm, so that one cannot say that these threats of yours were completely in vain. If one has to announce war to the Curtisans, as they are commonly called, one must start with them, who, as they are not Germans, are mortal enemies to them and do them all harm. I fear that if ours, who are going to Rome, are persecuted daily, this will cause more bitterness than honor, because they have gone out through no fault of their own. Therefore, I would rather that vengeance should fall on them than on our people. Be that as it may, it is to be lamented that up to now you have not cared for your most trusted friends. I am waiting here for the announcement of the Augsburg Edict against Luther and all his followers, with which the popes threaten us with great clamor, and in which the Protestant books as well as the entire Lutheran body are supposed to have been violently attacked. Farewell. Worms, May 5, from Doct. Theobald: House, in haste. Do not take offense at what I have kindly written. 1521.

Worms.

Luther's report to Spalatin that he had received letters from lodges that were full of zeal against the pope, so that he now threatened to fight papal tyranny with writing and weapons, because the pope had ordered daggers and poison on him, and also wanted to have him captured by the archbishop of Mainz and led bound to Rome.

See Appendix, No. 13, U 3. 4.

502 Luther's to Spalatin von Hutten's vehemence opened thoughts, which Luther does not approve of at all, but praises only the Word of God as the sword of the Spirit.

See Appendix, No. 65, § 2.

503 Hartmuth's Christian exhortation to the four mendicant orders, January 25, 1522.

This manuscript and the following three were printed in quarto at Wittenberg in 1522. After that in the Wittenberg edition (1569), vol. IX, p. 143b; in the Jena edition (1585), vol. II, p. 63b. In these two editions it is written: "This Christian exhortation to the four mendicant orders was written by D. Martinus, of blessed memory, himself (but in such a way that one cannot easily notice it), as his own handwriting shows, for which reason he also let it go out under another name, namely Hartmut of Cronberg, though not without cause. Further in the Altenburger, Vol. II, p. 84 and in the Leipziger, Vol. XVIII, p. 215.

To the mendicant orders.

Dear Brothers! I, Hartmuth von Cronberg, offer you, the mendicant order, my friendly service, with heartfelt wish of God's grace, and bring to your attention that the evangelical truth and Christian brotherly love, which flows from it, compels me; Therefore, I cannot refrain from giving you a fraternal admonition concerning the clear, pure, evangelical doctrine, which, in these times of ours, shines with a clear, heavenly light, through the highest goodness of God, to us unworthy poor people.

(2) We are to rejoice in such evangelical teachings from the bottom of our hearts and to the highest degree, and we are also to give humble thanks to Almighty God and accept this supreme grace of ours with joy. Moreover, we should also be all the more grateful to God Almighty; item, humble ourselves all the more, because we know that we have not deserved such grace, but must confess that by despising the light burden of Christ, and by accepting the heavy, infallible burden of man, and ways that we have devised in our heads, we have acted contrary to and against the pure, truthful evangelical doctrine; because of which we are worthy of infernal and eternal death, and with our sins deserve that God should have let us die cheaply in our horrible darkness.

3 Therefore, dear brothers, let us take to heart the unspeakable grace that the kind, merciful God has given us, without all of our mis-

The Lord has given us the true way, the beautiful heavenly light, and the heavenly living bread. And in this wholesome doctrine the true way, the heavenly truth, and the shining beautiful heavenly light, and the heavenly living bread, Christ Jesus, are shown pure and clear.

Dear brethren, the doctrine preached by D. Luther is not his doctrine. Luther preached is not his teaching, but flowed from the fountain of Christ. Whoever follows this heavenly teaching does not follow Luther, but Christ. We do not believe D. Luther further and further, because as much as we find founded in the holy Gospel. The holy fathers instruct us that we should not believe or accept their teaching any further than it is founded in the holy gospel. We must confess that we have all strayed far from the true evangelical truth, blinded in our own discretion by contempt for the light burden of Christ. Because of this, God Almighty, how justly, on account of all our sins, has decreed that the devil, through his devilish spirit, has possessed us; therefore we have all erred as the blind. Neither should we be envious or angry with you because of your blindness, and because you have led us beside the true, honest evangelical way. For we have earned such leaders of the blind with our grievous sins and much anger.

(5) But you should not be impatient for us to leave the devilish way and follow the true, straight, evangelical way, which the eternal, merciful God, out of special, undeserved grace, shows us so clearly through Christian doctrine. By God's grace and help, according to St. Paul's teaching Gal. 1:8, we will not let any creature, whether it be an angel or a saint from heaven, tear us away from the true evangelical teaching, and we want to be instructed further, as far as the Christian faith is concerned, on the basis of the holy Scriptures. Christ is the true rock, 1 Cor. 10:4, on which we want to build. But how we have been Christians until now, we may take a certain test by the signs of Christian love, how far such a Christian sign has not been in any state of the world, and each one has sought his own profit and avarice. Thus true, Christian, brotherly love has grown cold in all of us. Therefore I want to admonish you in a brotherly way, that you accept the truth with us, and rejoice in this our common heavenly light, which shines so clearly for our common eternal bliss.

6. want to cast out from you, or a bridle

Put on your monastery brothers, who without any reason of the holy evangelical scripture say that Luther's teaching is heretical and against God. They also say that such teaching is seditious among the common people. But since no one among all scholars has, with some just cause, refuted Doctor Luther's teaching; indeed, even all the high schools that have written against him may have no Christian cause against and against him: thus the truth and the power of the indestructible Word of God will be recognized by all of us the more, and thus will take strong root in us, the longer the more. We will take strong hold of the living, wholesome words of Christ; we will not let ourselves be led away from them by the teachings and laws of men. We will keep in mind that every branch that does not bear fruit in Christ will be cut off and thrown into the fire [Matth. 3, 10. 7, 19.].

7 Therefore I exhort you, out of Christian brotherly faithfulness and love, not to despise this most high grace, together with us, lest you and we be reproached, as Capernaum [Matth. 11, 23.] and their like, the high grace of God appeared to them, and they used it evil and wickedly; lest we be numbered among the unholy multitude, which shall be offended in Christ.

(8) I hereby entreat and admonish you not to despise this writing of mine, because such admonition comes from me, as a bad layman. For Christianity is not to be despised by Christians who profess baptism, even if this is said and pronounced by the least creature; lest it be said to us that we have despised the good counsels, because they were given to us by God through lowly persons.

The almighty God has hidden his heavenly wisdom from the wise and witty, and has revealed it to the little ones, Luc. 10, 21. Therefore even the poorest sowherd, who would speak the divine truth 1), should be accepted by us. Why then should we not accept the divine, undoubted truth revealed to us by Doctor Luther, who is full of the holy Scriptures and desires to accept no more of his teaching than that which is founded in the divine true Scriptures and confirmed by the mouth of truth, Christ Jesus? Summa, we do not want to follow the old scribes, glees and scribes.

1) Thus the Jenaer. Wittenbergers: address.

The only thing that we can be sure of is that we will not follow the methods that Christ clearly illustrates in the holy Gospel, which are completely contrary to Him and to the truth.

10. Christ afflicts Jerusalem, saying [Matth. 23, 37.]: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you slay those who prophesy; you stone those who are sent to you. How often would I have gathered thy sons together, as the hen gathereth her little chickens under her wings, but thou wouldest not." How many manifold clear warnings we have in the holy, true Gospel Scriptures of the horrible eternal punishment of all those who do not accept Christ and the true Gospel. Truly, the Promiser, Christ, will be sure of all His promises, rewards and punishments. For even though Christ died for us, he rose again from the dead, reserving to his almighty power the judgment over us of all his pleasure. He will not fail anyone who firmly puts his trust in him. No one who is against his word can abstain from his power.

I have not omitted this reminder out of Christian love, as in brief and in summary, trusting that you will understand and accept it without any other opinion. May the good Christ help you and us, amen.

Date Saturday, Conversionis Pauli [January 25], Anno Domini 1522.

504: Hartmuth von Kronberg's letter to Pope Leo the Tenth. 1521.

This and the two following letters are found in the Altenburg edition, vol. II, p. 247 and in the Leipzig edition, vol. XVIII, p. 217 ff. We have placed this document in the year 1521 because Leo X died on Dec. 1, 1521.

1 Pope Leo, called the Tenth. I, one of the least servants of my Lord Jesus Christ, am moved to write to you out of true Christian love, sincerely wishing you the grace and highest goodness of God. Although I have no doubt that you would consider this a foolish boldness or foolishness on my part, and especially since I have left out your usual title, in view of the fact that all kings and princes of the whole of Christendom are in your hands. kings and princes of all Christendom are subject and obedient to you, in opinion as a governor of Almighty God, and so is your ancestor and your power pervades all Christendom, and you have brought all the people of Christendom under your power and obedience, and you are respected and respected in all Christendom.

held for the head of the whole Christianity. For this reason, it is undoubtedly considered by many to be great foolishness on my part that I, as a poor, foolish man (as I also want to confess myself), dare to write to such an exalted human majesty as you are, and especially because I have left out your exalted title. But, O virtuous Leo! to this letter I am urged by true Christian and brotherly love, and that I hope you will read this my writing before and before you judge, and that you would recognize by the high grace of God that such my writing is truly done out of heartfelt Christian love. And to such I have a comforting hope, for reasons that I have understood from many who walked with you before and before you became a pope, who respected and considered you a virtuous man. Therefore, O Leo, my humble request is that you, for the sake of your innate virtue, hear me, as a servant of God, with patience, for the sake of your salvation. Know that I will be your faithful servant if you will obey our Lord Christ.

2 O Leo, your papacy truly stands on an evil, rotten foundation; the house built upon it may not stand up to the winds and downpours. For this truly stands on the most rotten, most evil foundation, the devil, who is the father of lies. Such things are truly not the word of men, but God tells us these things by His divine mouth, spoken by the prophets, Christ Himself and the apostles; as all these things are made manifest by the supreme goodness of God in these times of ours, so that we poor laymen and children may also see the same things that the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ saw, to whom He said: "Blessed are those who see the things that you see. Luc. 10, 23.

3 O Leo! if such devilish seduction had its cause and origin only from your ancestors and you, as the popes, there would be no hope that you would obtain some grace from God, but it would be entirely to fear that you would be hardened by the wrath of God into the devil's wickedness until the end of your life.

4. but if the truth is that such devilish seduction has sprung from all men's sins, the abominable and blasphemous sin of ingratitude, that we should have the supreme grace of God, our blessedness (which is given to all of us in baptism), and our salvation (which is given to all of us in baptism).

which supreme blessedness cannot be pronounced by any man, but which grace is unitedly expressed and declared in the Word of God, and is to be understood by the grace of God by every desiring man, and is further confirmed and quite undoubtedly assured by the blood and death of Christ, our Lord God and Savior. Because such our grace and true salvation has been held in such low esteem by us, and instead of the light burdens of our Lord Christ, the heavy burdens of man have been laid upon us by the spirit of the devil, which has possessed us by the doom of God Almighty, because of our cruel sin and blasphemous ingratitude. Therefore, God has justly given us such blind shepherds as punishment. Which shepherds have not tasted God's supreme grace, nor have they prevented their sheep from tasting it, so that the sweetest love for God and our neighbor or fellow man has grown cold in us, and in its place nothing else rules in us but devilish avarice and selfishness.

5 Therefore, O Pope Leo! we do not have cause and reason for vengeance and wrath against you, because we have all been guilty of such punishment with our great sins of contempt for the light burden of Christ; but we should be more inclined towards you with mercy, and fraternally forgive you all unkind, unchristian protection, with the highest gratitude towards our most gracious and mild God; Who our gracious God, out of undeserved mercy, united by His unspeakable grace and goodness, opens our eyes in this terrible darkness of ours, and lets us see and feel our great foolishness, sin and darkness, in this time of grace, so superficially.

O Leo! You should rejoice with us from the bottom of your heart in this true heavenly light, which shines in this horrible darkness of ours. You need no doubt; if you accept this supreme grace from God with a humble spirit, you will recognize yourself as the poorest of men, and call upon God with heart and mind for his divine grace, so that you may depart from your father, the devil, whose place and rule you have possessed under your threefold crown. Consider that your life will not be long. Depart from your lord Lucifer; for his reward is eternal hellish fire, which is also his own fire.

is eternal reward, because of his hope. Our Lord Jesus Christ is so gracious that he accepts you. If you have the grace to recognize yourself in this time of grace, you will be blessed, and will despise and tear apart your devilish pomp and power, and by the grace of God become a true follower of our Lord Christ and St. Peter. You will throw the devil's stink, your devilish spiritual title, and also the hope of the outward affliction with the devilish laws of man into the desolate muck to the devil, where such things completely belong. For if thou shalt not do the same in thy life, then thou shalt be sure that thou shalt be bodily with thy majesty and all thy successors of the devil; this need not be doubted.

O Leo! do not rely on your diabolical power, which God Almighty will not impose any longer than as long as His divine will and good pleasure is. I trust in God, your diabolical power and diabolical darkness, which God has justly imposed on us because of all our sins, will and can no longer exist, because the kind, merciful God, through His faithful servant, Doctor Luther, has led so many countless people of baptized Christians to the true way of Christ, through His Christian teachings, through which a great hunger and thirst for the living Word of God has grown, which still accumulates and increases daily. We have such grace not from our own merit, but unitedly from the overflowing, supreme grace of Almighty God. Therefore, the devil has no hope that his worldly kingdom, the papacy, will last long. The truth shines out superficially; we actually recognize the wolves in sheep's clothing. They cannot bark, according to the command of the Holy Gospel; by their singing and howling we recognize that they are the real wolves, of which Christ warned us; their fruits we have well recognized by the grace of God. In their place, by the supreme grace of God, many good shepherd dogs have come and gone; these can bark rightly, which dogs faithfully guard their sheep from the devilish wolves. The truth takes over, like a horrible weapon river, which cannot be prevented.

8. I hope to God that it means the flood of sin, of which our astronomers say that in the near future there will be a gracious, miraculous flood of sin by the supreme grace of God.

The flood of sin of the blessed water of holy baptism will come upon us, so that it may overflow the whole world, so that all Gentiles, Turks, Jews, and unrighteous people, and all of us, may be drowned in the same supreme grace of baptism, and so that one sheepfold and one shepherd may become one. Oh, what a blessed, grace-filled flood of sin that will be! O Leo, you would not be less blessed than St. Peter, if by the grace of God you still have the power to become a child of God, provided that you make proper use of such grace.

O Leo! resign from your worldly rule and devilish power, hand it over to the youthful emperor Carl; submit to the office of a good shepherd, as Christ teaches you and has commanded you. Take to thee the good shepherds and shepherd dogs, and shepherd thy sheep with the help of the chief shepherd, Christ JEsu. Take to your hand the good shepherd dog, the youthful, high noble blood, our emperor Carl. He is of the right kind; admonish him and shout at him against the Turk; let him be the right leader against the Turk. Try and make peace between the Christian kings and princes through good remembrance. Hand over your wealth to the emperor; follow Christ, as St. Peter and others have done. Do not let your kingdom be of this world, John 18:36. Send out some true bishops to the Turks who preach the word of God, and that such bishops be ready to suffer persecution and death for the sake of the true faith. It is not for you to conquer in any other way than with the mouth and the word of God; for this you do not need to have any treasure or dominion, as all this is clearly spoken and commanded by the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(10) Truly, if you attack the matter according to Christ's commandment and commandment, it is entirely to be hoped that the true Christian faith will increase greatly and wonderfully through the power of the true, living Word of God. Truly, the Turks are also human beings, they also have hearts of flesh, the grace of God is not denied to them by God. They may also understand the truth by the grace of God, if the word of God is preached to them correctly, they also find reasonable creatures of God and men, they belong to the sheepfold of Christ. If you accept the office of a right shepherd, and if you ask them rightly through right and pious bishops, whom you must take and find from among the good shepherds, who have the living

Word of God loud and pure by the grace of God will well say and preach.

11 O Leo! if the Turks are thoroughly reported, that you, because of and in the name of our Lord JESUS CHRIST, do not seek their gold and riches and your own benefit, but unitedly their eternal blessedness, with attainment of the eternal heavenly goods, and that CHRIST, our Lord, has earned for us all such to take freely, and if we hear the words of Christ, which are full of grace and comforting promise of God, and unitedly believe the same words, we are assured of the eternal heavenly inheritance, of eternal life. Truly, the living word and promise of the true God will surely work in the Turks by the grace of God, if they are told of the strong foundation of our Christian faith. Have no doubt, the Word of God will have its ancient effect.

(12) O Leo, forsake all stinginess, despise all earthly goods, as St. Peter did; let the grace of God, as Christ commanded, be taken freely by every man who desires it; let heavenly goods be your treasure, and do not shut up the same, for the same heavenly treasure may not fail. For as much more of it is given and taken, so much more abundantly does such heavenly treasure of grace flow forth. Truly, the Lord Christ wants his treasure to be distributed abundantly, superfluously, and out of pure grace. He desires and wants nothing else than a true believing heart in Christ, which is his divinely true, living word, the holy gospel.

(13) O Leo, let this be your only concern, that this supreme grace and heavenly treasure be proclaimed throughout the world, and how such heavenly treasure may be so easily obtained and retained by the grace of God through the light and sweet burden of Christ. Be diligent that such things be proclaimed throughout the world.

14 Abstain from useless worries; hand over your rule and temporal wealth to the youthful Emperor Carl, and let him repel the Turks. Do not doubt that the emperor will be strong enough to resist the Turks; and even if he does not hold more than his excellent, male warriors of the Roman and Hispanic empires, he will still be able to resist the Turks sufficiently with the help of God. For it does not depend on the great multitude of the people, but on the Most High, on the grace of God Almighty. Therefore, O Leo, place your concern on the heavenly, living, loud word

God, that this may be preached and proclaimed in all the world. Admonish all people to the most sweet and supreme love for God and their neighbor, in which two pieces the fulfillment of all commandments and the whole foundation of our faith are found, on which it is your duty to place all your care.

There is no doubt that through the word of God, and no other, true faith in Christ can be attained. And even if the emperor and we Christians had slain the Turks half to death, this will not be profitable for the faith of Christ, if the same is not preached purely and loudly, as Christ commanded. For if such preaching were not done better than the Roman papal see has hitherto provided for preaching the word of God, it is much sooner and more certain that many of the Christians will become Turks than that the Turks may come to the true faith of Christ. For no one can attain or have the true faith in Christ, except through the pure, living Word of God in the holy Gospel; Christ's office was to preach this. He also commanded the apostles and their descendants that they should have no other ministry than to preach his word. And do not doubt that the emperor will also do him justice, by the grace of God. Therefore, we are all to be highly exhorted to call upon God and ask for His divine grace and mercy, so that through His divine grace, through you, also the emperor, kings and princes, and through all of us, He may create and work that His divine will, praise and honor be for the benefit and comfort of all people whom God has chosen for Him; to this end, God help us, amen.

505 Hartmuth of Kronberg's letter to the inhabitants of Kronverg. 1522. 1)

See No. 504.

1) To all and every inhabitant of Cronenberg, 2) old and young, I wish Hartmuth von Cronenberg the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the knowledge of our salvation. And after the merciful, almighty God has saved us in these times of ours, in our darkness, so

1) This time is based on the words of Luther at the beginning of No. 507.

2) Kronberg is located in the Duchy of Nassau, on the slopes of the Taunus.

by his divine grace, by his heavenly light, the pure word of God, which is Christ himself. Such truly heavenly light has darkened the laws of men and the discretion of men, and led us into a dark fog through their human doctrine and laws, by which we have been prevented for many hundred years from coming to the true knowledge of our one Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only true light, the only way, the truth and the life; he is the only word, the true bread of heaven, in which all our salvation is found; everyone who believes the word (that is, in the promise of Christ) is blessed.

2. According to all this, since we find that we, as the erring ones, are stuck deep and far in the dark fog, and thereby prevented from coming to the unified light of Christ, therefore, out of the highest duty of Christian and brotherly love, and also especially because of this, because I have a special duty to care for you, and more than for others, I have taken upon myself to point out a short and certain way, by which we may, through the help and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, come out of the dark fog of our ghastly darknesses.

3. Accordingly, our need requires that we confess our sin with a certain mind and heart, and humbly call upon our Savior Christ, that He may show His heavenly, causeless grace to us unworthy of His creatures, and for the sake of His name and glory, remove us from the cruel darkness, and to guide us by his divine grace into his strong, easy, certain and most loving way, and to keep us there forever, so that we may become, be and remain true children of God and joint heirs of our Father's kingdom in heaven.

(4) Dear brothers and sisters, let us take rightly to mind and heart the most gracious brotherhood which we have obtained in baptism. If we would have the grace to bring such brotherhood worthiness into our minds, we would be blessed.

(5) Truly, all the nobility, power and wealth of the whole world cannot be compared to this heavenly brotherhood. For what is the use of temporal wealth, of the most powerful and blissful dominion over all temporal emperorships and kingdoms, if it is not established in this heavenly Christian brotherhood? On the other hand, what hinders one from poverty, sickness, or all the contempt of the world, if he is fortified in this heavenly brotherhood?

He is a brother and joint heir of the Most High. The Lord of heaven and earth has spurned the riches of this world. He has assured us that everyone who will firmly place his trust and faith in Christ has the power to be a child of God and a joint heir of His eternal judgment. But what man would believe such great, wonderful grace, clearly expressed in the Gospel, if it were not pronounced and promised by the Son of God Himself? Who, because of divine mercy, descended from heaven and became man, for the sake that He might bear and bear our sins, and thereby make us His brothers and fellow heirs of His heavenly kingdom.

I pray to Almighty God to give us grace, so that we may be thoroughly instructed in our highest grace, acquired through Christ, and then, no doubt, the one gracious brotherhood given to us in baptism will be accepted by all of us with all joy and highest dignity, and will be increased and preserved in brotherly love. Therefore, there will be no need to look for other, man-made brotherhoods that have to be bought for money, which are nothing but a seduction.

In order to understand how easily we can come out of our dark mists and devilish darkness through the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is irrefutably true that we have a sure and certain path before us, which is indicated to us by God Himself. We want to let the holy fathers and men's writings with the church rituals be as good as they can be, but we cannot deny that we have put too much trust in such things, also in the dear saints' invocations, pilgrimages, and other such things, and have thereby been led into the dark fog. And because we have no commandment from God concerning such things, nor any promise or promise of Christ concerning these works, we should not and will not take these outward works so harshly to heart, as if they belonged to our salvation. To this end, God instructs us through the prophets, through Christ Himself, and through the apostles, that we should not do anything contrary to the word of God, nor should we do what seems good to us or what seems good to men, but what Christ says and instructs us to do, that we should do. Therefore we may tolerate the ceremonies or church ceremonies, as far as they happen, and let them remain,

so long (until) we are reported better, but we are not to build anything on it.

8. but to hear the strong foundation on which we may build after all our need, that neither men, nor devils, nor all the floods of sin may not overthrow us, that the words of the strong God, his divine commandments, doctrine, promise and addition, spoken and confirmed by Christ the Lord, are true. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words must remain forever", Luc. 21, 33. No one can make us blessed, but the eternal faith in Christ and his word, as this is expressed in many ways in the holy Gospel. No one can know God except through the word of God; only this cancels sin, only the word of God and the teachings of Christ are confirmed by God: "He who believes in the Son", that is the word, "has eternal life", Jn. 3, 16. Only the word of God gives the spirit and quenches the thirst of the soul, Jn. 4, 14. 4, 14. Christ says: "Whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of springing water, or fountain into everlasting life." Christ says, "He that heareth my sayings, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation," or into judgment, "but is already passed from death unto life," or passed, John 5:24. 5, 24. Christ says: "I am the bread of life, he who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst", Joh. 6, 35. The whole gospel is full of divine grace, promise and teaching. The apostolic sermons and teachings are based entirely on the holy gospel and on Christ; in which alone every Christian, when he hears it, can sufficiently understand what he should do and not do. Summa Summarum, all salvation, all grace and eternal life are united in our Savior Christ. He who builds on the one rock, Christ, on his word and promise, stands firmer than heaven and earth. But he who builds on the laws of men and on their own judgment will have built on sand and ice, and may not stand before the winds and the floods. The evangelist John testifies of the most holy John the Baptist that he was nothing more than a witness of light; the holy Baptist points and points us to the one Christ, the little lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, saying: He is the one of whom I said, John 1:29.

(9) St. John and all evangelical teachers may point us no further than to the Word, to Christ. No one can enter except through the one gate, Christ Jesus. Therefore, our great need requires that we do not rely on the laws of men. Christ and the holy apostles instruct us to be obedient to the worldly authorities in those things that are not contrary to the Christian faith. In addition, Christ has given us a clear warning against false shepherds, so that we may easily understand and see that the papal rule, as it has been used for many hundreds of years, is the most unchristian on earth. For it is irrefutably true that such a papal kingdom is all worldly and earthly, quite contrary to the life and words of Christ; therefore the same may truly be said, in virtue of the words of Christ, to be a kingdom and regiment of the devil. The greatest wickedness of the devilish seductions of the papal regime may not be sufficiently expressed by man; their fruits have been revealed everywhere by the grace of God.

But to hear the most harmful wolves, which the Lord Christ has shown us in sheep's clothing: they have seduced us all together in a most spiritual appearance, preaching and confirming the papal Antichrist regiment as Christian in all churches, as in a spiritual appearance. This seduction is so glaring, in a good form of sheep's clothing, preached in all Christendom, that it has not been possible to recognize such, but only from the clear warning of God through the prophets, through Christ Himself and the apostles. He who has eyes and ears, let him see and hear; the warning is so clearly written (of) the abominable seduction of the false wolves and shepherds, that we may grasp such things. But the devil has had us so hard in his power, and as to worry that we are not yet completely rid of him. Therefore we have been blind with our seeing eyes. And to this day, the devil takes it upon himself to snatch from us the heavenly light that God gave us by grace, and to lead us into our old darkness. This is what the devil does and works through his devilish shepherds and wolves in sheep's clothing. The ravening wolves were completely unknown to us because of their assumed clothes and their spiritual appearance, and because of our blindness. Praise and thanks be to God that through His grace He made us know their devilish fruit. God alone, through His divine Word and through His

Divine, gracious and truthful promise will help us, not by our merit, but unitedly and alone, so that his divine mercy, the power and glory of his divine word will be revealed. Unified by the divine Word, the seduction of Antichrist (which the devil has sown among us all) must be eradicated. God grant His grace that this may be done through an evangelical, youthful way, so that we may all confess our sin and error ourselves and renounce it, all through Christian and evangelical teaching and instruction, so that true, divine, brotherly love may grow in us, from which the false shepherds, the false apostles, and the hooded wolves are far and away in their mummeries. If they want to test themselves, they will find that real, true, Christian signs of true love are not at all with and among them. For if they had loved Christ, they would not have led us so far away from Christ to the laws of men, which are quite far from the way of Christ. The Lord testifies to us: "He who is of Christ hears his voice and follows it," John 10:27. But the wolves in sheep's clothing point to the doctrines and ways of men that lead far away from the true gospel way.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, who want to accept the unity of the heavenly brotherhood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, do not be afraid of this gracious disagreement or discord, which has arisen for the sake of our Christian faith. Let us seek out the true epistles sent to us from heaven, assured and confirmed by the mouth of truth, Christ Jesus, sealed by the blood and death of our Lord and God. If, by the grace of God, we take such a letter into our hands, we must have no doubt that we will find everything in it that is useful and necessary for us, so that we will not miss the heavenly, united, eternal brotherhood, but will be assured and certain of it without any doubt.

Our faith and assurance is easily understood and heard from the Gospel by any desiring reader or listener. The sum and fulfillment of our Christian faith, of all the commandments of our Lord, and by this we become completely pious and blessed, that is, that we should love God with all our strength of mind, body and soul, and our neighbor as ourselves, therein stands the whole sum of evangelical doctrine and commandments. Matth.

22, 37. We may not have such Christian and brotherly love in full by our own strength; only through the grace and proclamation of the Word of God may we attain it, through a firm faith and trust in Christ, and does not require any doubt. Anyone who calls upon God with firm trust and faith, and asks in childlike fear, the heavenly Father will give it to him and will not deny it, as it is so clearly promised to us in many ways in the holy Gospel by the true God. Therefore, St. Paul warns us strongly that we should not believe, that we should call upon the saints and angels and ask them to help us to salvation. For this reason, the Almighty God has promised us so many answers and graces, so that we may have certain hope that God will hear us if we ask with firm trust and childlike fear. And even if one has done the greatest, most shameful wickedness and sins of the world, if he has remorse and sorrow for his sin, and asks with firm trust in God, as in his Father, with a true, good heart, he can have no doubt that he will be heard by God and that his request will be granted, with the assurance that God will give him what he asks for, or something better, according to his soul's salvation. Just as a wise, faithful, kind father does not give his child poison if the child asks for it, but gives him what he knows to be useful and necessary to him, and sometimes, if it is necessary, a good rod. Just as a son is understanding, and knows that he has a wise, faithful father, so the same son is at peace in all things of his father, both in the punishment and in the clemency or kindness of the father. For the son believes that his father knows and is faithful to his child; therefore the understanding son patiently endures all the punishment he forfeits. Why then should we not trust our heavenly Father and his unchanging truth, who promises us freely that we should reckon our sin and wickedness, and he will forget them and remember them no more against us? But we must take care that we also forgive our brother, as we ask in the Lord's Prayer. No one may be afraid of the heavenly Father because of his great sins, as far as he may have the grace to ask for forgiveness with firm trust in God. We have a clear reason for this in the Gospel, Luc. 15, 11. ff, about the prodigal son, and in many other places. God has no pleasure in our seeking pilgrimages and visiting the saints.

We are not to call God because of our sins, but rather, like the prodigal son, we are to go to God immediately and confess our sins to Him. We shall not delay or delay in this; we shall first reconcile ourselves to God, and then work good works toward God and our neighbor through love.

Therefore, let us call and pray to God our Father with such confidence without ceasing. And that we may first of all attain faith and trust in Christ, let us be diligent and earnest, so that we may be fed daily with the bread of heaven, the clear word of God, the clear gospel doctrine. In this same bread of heaven we are unitedly promised and assured of salvation by the almighty Promiser Christ. The holy gospel and the evangelical doctrine, expressed by the holy apostles, instruct us so clearly about everything that serves Christian brotherly love, how each one should conduct himself in his state at all times. From this sufficiently and thoroughly to understand, where we would hear and perceive such with diligence, we will thereby attain blessedness on earth and, after our death, in the heavenly kingdom eternally.

14. want to hear and perceive the most certain way to salvation and the kingdom of god; this is the only, highest, and most certain good work that we can do on earth, that we trust in god and believe according to the words of our lord Jesus Christ. And in that one piece or work Christ has promised us all blessedness. And every person who comes to understand this by the grace of God is truly a child and co-heir with God, and is made righteous by the grace of God. But no one can have such confidence or faith, except through the clear and unambiguous words of Christ in the holy Gospel. For no one can believe the words he does not hear.

(15) Therefore, let us call upon the heavenly, gracious Father to give us grace to hear and hear the word of salvation fruitfully. Against such we want to hear and understand the greatest and most horrible sin on earth, and the greatest dishonor we can do to God Almighty, that is, not trusting or believing in God, letting ourselves be led astray from His ways and words. And all those who despise the gospel (in which the promise of God is understood) or do not listen diligently are guilty of such a cruel sin. But because our salvation stands alone and united in the word of God, that is, in Christ Himself, who is the life-giver of all things, we must not be led astray.

The bread that came down from heaven, John 6:51, as he himself testifies. It is necessary and useful for us to be admonished to direct ourselves to the same, and to take the certain, easy and most lovely evangelical way of our Lord and God before us and to remain on it, and to leave the hard and difficult way of men for themselves in its value, and to put no trust in the ways of men. We want to stay on Christ and his words, so that we can safely and surely walk the next and safest road to heaven, to which our Father, who is in heaven, must draw us, and in whom we therefore want to trust. May the good Christ help us, amen.

506 Hartmuth's letter from Kronberg to Jakob Kobel, town clerk at Oppenheim.

March 6, 1522.

See No. 504.

1. To the respectable, honorable and wise Jakob Kobel, town clerk of Oppenheim, my but good friend, I offer my friendly service to Harmuth von Croneberg, and hereby send you a simple written evangelical exhortation, which I have given to the common people of our Lord Jesus Christ at Cronenberg; Considering that I, in particular, as a co-supervisor of the mentioned village, am obliged, to the best of my ability, to point them to the obedient faith and trust of our Lord Christ in this most gracious time. And even though I realize that I, as a poor, incomprehensible person, cannot produce as much fruit from my writings and admonitions as I would like to do out of the compulsion of true brotherly love, I have not refrained from doing so, regardless of how it is counted to me by everyone. I should be content that God knows my heart and opinion. Moreover, I have no doubt that I have thereby gained the disfavor of many people, whom I would gladly serve with all my ability, for their and all our highest need and benefit. Christian brotherly love teaches us to care for every brother. Why should I keep silent about my brother's illness, since we have a heavenly, almighty, certain physician, the Lord Christ Jesus, who is so willing to heal my illness and that of everyone else? Alone and united

All our strength and health is in confessing our great sickness; and therefore we may well say: O good God! how long will we remain blind, foolish and obstinate? Do we still not want to learn to recognize our unfaithful father, the devil? We have good knowledge of his reward, which he gives us. His reward is eternal hellish fire. If God wanted my admonition to help some, I would admonish all people to confess their sickness with me to the Almighty Physician, who is willing and ready to help us out of all bonds and snares of the devil. The almighty, merciful God has unitedly sent us the heavenly evangelical light out of His grace in these times of ours, by which many people's hearts have been enlightened, by which all the devil's wickedness has been exposed, so that every person may grasp and see it. And we, who should have been the instruments of God, have become the instruments of the devil, which I recognize in part. O a wonderful thing it is! Because we had so great a warning before us, of our enemy the devil's cunning, which we know he, the devil, had used against the human race in so many ways so deceitfully, also the clear warnings by the almighty, kind God, spoken by the prophets, by Christ himself, and the apostles. Such warnings are so clear that no one would want to write them more clearly about the things that have happened. Over all these things the thousand-favored one, our enemy, the devil, has so masterfully crept into us, worked in and through us according to his pleasure. Thereby such a glittering, devil-spiritual seduction of Antichrist was sown among us all, in such a spiritual, glittering appearance, that also, according to the words of God, the elect would have been seduced, if God had wanted to impose it, Matth. 24, 24. But because such deception is revealed in this time of grace, and everyone has the power to tear himself from the devil's bonds, by recognizing our grievous sins, with humble appeal to and trust in the one and only Physician Christ Jesus, and in His divine grace and mercy.

For by the wisdom and ways of men we have come into the strong bonds of the devil. But by all men's wisdom and might we cannot help ourselves out. For if such things were subdued by our wisdom and power, it is certain that the devil, by his cunning, by his hopefulness, and by the way in which we are led, will not be able to help us out.

would still further seduce us by avarice. In this way, it would bring us into a more horrible prison and darkness than we have been, so it is highly necessary for us to be careful of the most cunning enemy of all, the devil. Therefore, we should put our trust in our faithful Lord Christ in this matter, and act according to his command in a youthful, humble way, according to the words and teachings of the holy Gospel. And if we will do this with earnestness and diligence, we may easily overcome our most terrible enemy, the devil, and bring him to all shame through our Lord Jesus Christ. And I have a certain hope of this, since the devil's power and might are nothing else against us, but only deceit and lies, by which he has deceived us until now. But since the Almighty God, through His divine, truthful Word, exposes the devil's wickedness more and more clearly every day, we may well protect ourselves from the devil's lies and wickedness with the help of God, so that neither the devil nor the people who longer desire to follow him, the devil, may harm us. The honor, the glory and the unspeakable grace of God, and His almighty strength and power must be revealed. There we will see the great strength and power of the eternal, heavenly truth, how powerfully the lie must be suppressed by the truth through the powerful, truthful word of God, so that we may fruitfully accept the same and use it in all submission and humility; may the merciful God help us, amen. Hereby commanding you to God. Date on the first Thursday in Lent [ March 6]. Anno Domini etc. 1522.

507 A Missive, Comforting to All Those Who Suffer Persecution Because of the Word of God, by D. Mart. Luther to the honorable Hartmuth von

Kronberg written. Mid-March 1522.

This writing was published soon after Luther's return from the Wartburg in Wittenberg in quarto under the title we placed above it. This edition also contains the "Answer of Hartmuth of Cronberg. In the collections: in the Wittenberg (1553), vol. VI, p. 378b; in the Jena (1585), vol. II, p. 78; in the Altenburg, vol. II, p. 116; in the Leipzig, vol. XVIII, p. 226; in the Erlangen, vol. 53, p. 119 and by De Wette, vol. II, p. 161. Obsopoeus included it, translated into Latin, in his Mart. bilitb. Lpp. karruA.; from this it passed into the Latin Wittenberg edition (1558), torn. VII, lol. 485b and in Aurifaber, vol. II, iol. 100.

They will cast you out of the assembly because of my name [John 16:2]. He who perseveres to the end will be blessed.

[Matth. 24, 13.] 1)

Jesus.

1. favor and peace from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, be wished to you, favorable Lord and good friend in Christ. I have read and experienced with great joy two of your writings, one addressed to the Imperial Majesty, 2) the other to the mendicant orders, 3) and I thank my God for the favor and gift given to you in the knowledge of Christian truth, as well as the desire and active love for the same. In addition, one senses that your words spring from the heart and fervor, and prove that the word of Christ does not, as in many, hover only on the tongue and in the ears, but dwells earnestly and thoroughly in the heart, so that its nature attracts you, and thus makes you even more joyful and unashamed 4) to praise and confess it, not only with the mouth, but also with deed and scripture, before and against all the world, before such high and wise spirits. But how great and abundant such a gift is, no one can sufficiently move, except he who has the Spirit, who tells us what is given to us, and teaches us to respect spiritual things for spiritual things, as Paul says 1 Cor. 2:12. For it does not go to the heart of animal men.

(2) Therefore I have not failed to visit you in spirit with this writing, and to make known my joy to you. For this I can boast without all lies, that I am not so much offended nor grieved that the pope condemns and persecutes me with all the world, but I am almost strengthened and rejoiced when I hear that a man sows and praises the tender truth. But how much more does it comfort me that I have experienced, and experience daily, that in you and your like they so warmly er-

1) In the original edition, these sayings are on the title page.

2) "Hartm. von Kronberg zween Briefe, einer an R. K. Maj., der ander an Franz von Sickingen" etc. 1521 in quarto.

3) No. 503 in this volume.

4) "unschuchter" - who does not let himself be shooed, bold. The Jenaer reads: "unschüchter".

1664 Erl. 53,121-123. sec. 6. behavior of the nobility against L. No. 507. W. XV, 1981-1983. 1665

and freely confessed, which God also comforts me with by grace, so that my faith will be the stronger, and I will not have vain sorrow when He lets me see that His word does not go out in vain, as He says in Isaiah 55:11. Again, that all the world opposes it, as He also says in Matthew 24:9: "You must be hateful to all men 1) for My name's sake." So that the way of the divine word is that it has been received most warmly by the few, and most horribly persecuted by the many. Wolves and bears and lions do not pursue it, but men, and "all men," says Christ. What wonder then if the world be full of men, that is, persecutors of Christ? What is the world but full of men! But the Word makes gods out of men, as the 82nd Psalm, v. 6, says: "I have said that ye are gods, and all are the children of the Most High." Which Christ Himself interprets Joh. 10,35. and says: "The Scriptures call the gods, to whom the word of God has happened." And Joh. 1,12: "He gave them power to become children of God, who believe in his name." So it remains: what is man, that pursues God's word and God's children.

(3) But the noble word naturally brings with it a hot hunger and an insatiable thirst, so that we cannot be satisfied, even though many thousands of people believe in it, but would gladly that no man should be in want. Such thirst does not rest and does not rest, and drives us to speak, as David says in Ps. 116:10: "I have believed, therefore I speak. And "we have (says St. Paul 2 Cor. 4, 13.) the same spirit of faith, therefore we also speak," until we press and live everyone in us, and make a cake with us, where it would be possible. But the thirst not only makes a great mistake with his speaking, but is also drenched with gall and vinegar, as Christ was on the cross, Joh. 19, 28. Such thirst had St. Paul Apost. 26, 29, as he desired that everyone would be as he was, except his bonds. Rom. 9, 3. he desires from Christ

1) De Wette: "ugly". The original, the Mitten, berger and the Jenaer have our reading.

to be banished for the sake of his brothers, the Jews.

4 Behold, such thirst for brotherly blessedness have ye now also received, for a sure token of a fundamental good faith. What, then, is inferior, but that you must wait for gall and vinegar, that is, blasphemy, shame and persecution, for the sake of your thirsty speech? There is no other way, where Christ is, there must be Judas, Pilate, Herod, Caiphas, Annas, and also his cross; or is not the right Christ.

(5) Therefore we do not grieve because of our affliction, but because of the affliction of those who persecute us, since we have enough for ourselves, and are sure that they will not harm us, but the more they rage, the more they 2) must destroy themselves and promote us, as St. Paul says Phil. 1, 28. For who can afflict us, if we have such a Lord, who has death and the life of all adversaries in his hand? [Rom. 14, 9.] and speaks so comfortingly into our hearts, Joh. 16, 33.: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." They threaten us with death. If they were as wise as they are foolish, they should threaten us with life. It is a mocking, shameful threat that Christ and his Christians are threatened with death, when they are the masters and victors of death. It is as if I wanted to frighten a man by bridling his horse and making him ride on it.

006 But they believe not that Christ is risen from the dead, and is the Lord of life and death; he is with them still in the grave, even in hell. But we know, defy, and rejoice that he is risen, and that death is no more, but an end of sin, and of himself. For the life in this flesh still clings to and in sins, and cannot be without sin because of the flesh. Therefore, the Spirit that began in us cries out: Come, death and the last day, and put an end to sin and death, amen, as St. Paul writes Rom. 7, 18. 19. and Cap. 8, 22. 23.

7. such joy and gladness in Christo

2) The words: "the more they" are not in the Wittenberg and De Wette, but in the Jena.

do not recognize the wretched enemies, and are angry with us for telling them about it and offering it to them, wanting to kill us for the sake of life. Oh God! Christ's almighty resurrection is too much of a greater defiance than that he should be made timid and cowardly by their instant violence of brazen and paper tyranny. One of them is mainly the pale waster N., 1) defies heaven with her high belly, and has renounced the gospel; also has it in mind that he wants to eat Christ like a wolf eats a mosquito; also makes himself believe that he has not bitten a little scratch into his left spur, and rages along before all the others. I have prayed for him with all my heart, and have almost taken pity on his horrible run-up, but I worry that he has long deserved his sentence.

8) I pray that you will commend him and yours to the Lord, just as we are obligated to be favorable to the adversaries from the heart, even if they do not want to 2) suffer that they are favored, whether he might be saved from the mouth of the dragon at some time or other, and give a Paulum for a Saulum. For we are not helped by the destruction of such wretched people. I would have admonished you to do the same to him, but I would not have let the sanctuary be thrown to the dogs, nor the pearls to the swine, Matt. 7:6, for there is no hearing nor hesitation, for I know nothing but prayer to do for him. He corrupts many souls, and gathers him treasure for the day of wrath, which is great, Rom. 2, 5. But I put this in your spirit. We want to live, whether they kill us or do us all harm.

(9) But something even harsher has recently happened to our faith. Satan, who always mingles with the children of God [Job 1:6], played a fine game for us, especially for me, at Wittenberg, and once atoned for the adversaries' lust for us, and shut us up.

1) Duke George of Saxony. The latter had also referred it to himself. Compare St. Louis edition, vol. XIX, 490. - In the Erlanger Briefwechsel, vol. IV, p. 49, the incorrect proof is: "Walch, IX, 169."

2) "also" is missing in the Wittenberg and De Wette, but is in the Jena.

far open to blaspheme the gospel. All my enemies, together with all the devils, how close they have come to me (many times), they have not yet touched me, as I am now touched by ours, and must confess that the smoke bites me badly in the eyes, and almost kills me in the heart. Here I (thought the devil) want to take Luther's heart and weaken his stiff spirit; he will neither understand nor overcome this grip.

(10) I wonder if this will not be done to punish some of my most noble patrons and me. My patrons because, although they believe that Christ has risen, they are still groping with Magdalene in the garden after him, and he has not yet ascended to the Father (John 20:17). But for me, that I might serve good friends at Worms, lest I should be seen to be too stiff-necked, I subdued my spirit, and did not make my confession harder and stricter before the tyrants; though the unbelieving heathen have since time arrogantly reproached me in answering. They judge as pagans (as they are) should judge, who have never felt either spirit or faith. My same humility and reverence has repaid me many times over.

(11) But be it as it may, whether it be sin or well done, therefore undaunted and undaunted. For as we do not despair of our good deeds, so we do not despair of our sins. But we thank God that our faith is higher than our good deeds and sins. For the Father of all mercies has given us to believe, not in a wooden Christ, but in a living Christ, who is the Lord over sin and innocence, who can also raise us up and keep us, even if we fall into a thousand and a thousand sins every hour; there is no doubt in my mind. And if Satan tempts us still higher and worse, let him not tire us before, but let him attack such a one, that he may tear Christ down from the right hand of God. Because Christ remains seated above, we also want to remain lords and rulers over sin, death, the devil and all things, so that nothing can be done about it.

12. we know that he who raised him from the dead is strong and faithful enough [Apost. 5,

30, 31] and has set at his right hand to be a Lord over all things, without doubt also over sin, death, devil, hell, but keep silent about the papist swine bladders with their three rustling peas. They shall not take away our defiance; but as long as defiance remains with us, let us cheerfully despise them, and see if they will devour this Christ as easily as they think, and put another in his place, of whom the Father knows not. Therefore, I hope that this Christ will not only set us right, but also turn it to our advantage, according to the abundant riches of his wisdom and goodness, especially if you also ask for help and trust.

(13) Our thing is not yet so far fallen as it was in the days of Christ, when Peter himself denied him, and all the disciples fled from him, and Judas betrayed him, and caught him (Marc. 14:44, 52, 68 ff.). Even if it falls so far, it shall not perish, and our Christ shall not decay. But I know, and am sure, that these things, and whatsoever else may come to pass, are for this purpose, that a common trial and test may be established, whereby the strong may be tried, the weak strengthened, the tried praised, and the false believers exposed; but the enemies, and they that are not worthy to know and to hold it for the word of God, shall be vexed and hardened, as they have deserved.

14. For you know that the sin at Worms, where the divine truth was so childishly spurned, so publicly, wantonly, knowingly condemned without being heard, is certainly a sin of the entire common German nation, because leaders did this and no one persuaded them; so that they are guilty beyond measure before God, that he would completely stop the precious word, or would cause such an uproar that no man would believe it to be God's word, and thus, according to their merit, they would also have to blaspheme and persecute, like devil's doctrine, which they have previously denied and condemned out of loud, free will.

15 Yes, alas, my dear Hartmuth, such merit has the German nation loaded upon itself to serve the pope (at the unfortunate Reichstag); and those who now rage and are obdurate

have been guilty of this at that time, when they were driving the little wheel, and had the dice in their hands, and made themselves believe that they were scolding, 1) and that Christ did not see them. O terrible and serious judge, how secret or even horrible are your judgments! How certain and safe is Pharaoh at all times before the Red Sea drowns him, and does not see that his very safety is the right, serious wrath of God against him. O, how grievous is God of the reproach of His precious word, that He has tasted even His dearest child's blood; and men sit and defile 2) and smile when they condemn and persecute it.

(16) So we see that it also happens to the Jews, who, since they condemned God's Son willfully, are given into such a deeply hardened mind that they blaspheme him most surely and boldly and cannot stop, and fulfill the Scripture [Ps. 109:17]: 3) "He did not want benediction, therefore it should come far enough from him. This is what happened to our papists: at Worms they also wanted to hate and blaspheme Christ; now it is given to them that they cannot stop hating and blaspheming, that no plea or admonition helps, but only gets worse. Right is your judgment, heavenly Father. That is, I mean, to have the right St. Vitus dance. God is my witness that I have a fear and worry in my heart, where the last day does not undertake the game, God will cancel his word, and send such blindness to the German nation, and thus harden it, since it is horrible for me to think of.

(17) O Lord, our heavenly Father, let us fall into all sin, if ever we sin; but keep us from hardening, and keep us in him, and in him whom thou hast set a Lord above sin and innocence, that we deny him not, neither let him depart out of our sight; and all sin and death shall be ours,

1) "To scold" here is as much as to joke, to play games.

2) In the Wittenberg "schützen" instead of "schmutzen" in the other editions. The latter will probably be as much as "smirk". In Latin: pro delectarneiito IinÜkNUt Niollitor 86 6urnnt68.

3) In the original edition, which Kronberg organized, instead of this citation is: "Schrift, ire. c. viij." The ,Erlanger Briefwechsel Bd. Ill, p. 309, raises the question: "what does this mean?" It seems to us that the answer to this question is this: Jeremiah Cap. 8.

all hell will do nothing. Ah! what should do us any harm?

(18) But we should thank God with all our heart that he still allows himself to be remembered, as if he did not yet want to cancel the holy word, so that he has given you and others much more of an unruly spirit and love for it. For this is a testimony that they believe not for the sake of men, but for the sake of the word itself. Many are they who believe for my sake; but those alone are the righteous who abide in it, even though they heard that I myself (since God is for) denied and renounced it. These are they who ask nothing of it, how evil, abominable, shameful they hear from me or from ours. For they do not believe in Luther, but in Christ himself. The word has them, and they have the word; they let Luther go, be he a jack or holy. God can speak through Balaam as well as Jesaiam, through Caipham as well as through Petrum, even through a donkey. I also keep it with them. For I do not know Luther myself, nor do I want to know him; I do not preach anything about him, but about Christ. The devil may take him, if he can; but let Christ remain in peace, and we will remain well.

19 Let us therefore take heed that we be grateful to God, the Father of all mercy and comfort; and let us henceforth establish ourselves, that our faith be not in words, but in power. For St. Paul says in 1 Cor. 4:20: "The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." It is not enough for us to be able to speak and write finely about it, but life and deed must bear witness to the truth, that we extend our love and charity to friend and foe.

(20) Let us pray, then, first of all, that God may give us and ours more and more strength, and make His dear child Jesus great in our hearts from day to day, so that we may praise, extol, and confess Him with all thirst and joy before the hardened and blinded shepherds of this unrighteous and stiff-necked sect of the papists; and then help to bear such guilt of the common German nation, and pray that God will not look upon the wickedness of the wicked multitude, nor

Let the poor souls be repaid for their wickedness, and do not again withdraw the salvific word, so long suppressed, and do not let the final Christian be imprisoned again, but that at least, as the king Ezekiel asked, peace and truth be in the distant future. Truly, such a request and concern is necessary.

(21) For I fear that the German nation is doing too much, that it will happen to us in the end, just as it is written in the last part of 2 Kings that they killed the prophets until they handed them over to God, and there was no more help. So, unfortunately, I fear that he will also give the German nation its reward in the end. At Costnitz, it first condemned the Gospel, and innocent blood was shed on John Hus and Jerome; then at Worms and Heidelberg on Dramsdorf 1) and many more; item, at Mainz and Cologne; the entire Rhine River is bloody, and does not yet want to be cleansed of the bloodshed, but celebrates the murderers of Christ, the heretics, without ceasing, until God bursts in, and there is no more help. They tempt God too often. Now it is once again condemned to Worms against me; and even if they have not shed my blood, they have not lacked their full will, and still murder me without ceasing in their hearts. You wretched nation! Must you, above all others of the final Christ, be the master of the rod and the executioner of God's saints and prophets?

Behold, how I have run out and overflowed with words. This is what the faith of Christ does, which has been made more difficult 2) in rejoicing over your faith and joyful confession. John must therefore leap in the mortal coil when Christ comes to him, as you see that he has come to me through your Scriptures. Would to God that he would also come to you through this writing of mine, and make not only your John, but also Elizabeth, and the whole house joyful and full of the Spirit, and stay not only three months, but forever. God, the Father of all mercies, grant this, amen.

23 I have nothing special to say about myself

1) Thus the German editions. In the original: "Dranßdorff"; in Latin: OransäorKo.

2) "erschwenken" -to pour out abundantly. This word is missing in Dietz.

1672 Erl. Epistol. Ill, 335 f. Section 6: Conduct of the nobility against the L. No. 507 f. W. XV. I991-IS93. 1673

new newspaper, because that I have now made my way to Wittenberg, 1) whether I could let the devil see something again by the grace of Christ. How long I will stay there, I do not know. I have also resolved to translate the Biblia. This was necessary for me; otherwise I would have died in the error of thinking that I was learned. Such work should be done by those who let themselves think that they are learned. I have attributed to Franzen von Sickingen the booklet on confession, which I hope you will receive, since I was unable to send it. Now there is a piece from the Postill about the Evangelia and Epistles; when it is finished, I hope a Christian will find in it what he needs to know. Greet all our friends in the faith, Mr. Franzen and Mr. Ulrichen von Hütten, and whoever else you are. May God's favor be with you, Amen.

Martinus Luther, D.

508 Hartmuth of Kronberg's Response to Luther's Missive. April 14, 1522.

This writing is found in the Wittenberg edition (1553), vol. VI, p. 381 b; in the Leipzig, vol. XVIII, p. 230; and in the Erlangen Briefwechsel, vol. Ill, p. 335.

I wish you, my brother in Christ the Lord, the peace and strength of God, our Savior, from the bottom of my heart. Dearest brother, although I should write to you as I see fit, Father, for the sake of your fatherly proof to all the world, and especially to us poor Germans, whom you have fed with the clear, pure Word of God, and led and guided to the knowledge of our salvation. Therefore, if we had the power to call a father on earth), we would consider you to be a father. But since the Lord Christ declares that we should not call ourselves a father or a master on earth, but rely on our one and only Father who is in heaven, we must also confess him as our one and only Father. The same kind our heavenly Father, certainly by superfluous grace through you, as through his favoured Father, has given us the same Father.

1) This passage gives clues to the timing of this letter: about mid-March 1522.

2) So the Wittenbergers. Erlanger: to be called.

3) "some" is missing in the Erlanger.

The Father, the Almighty Father, be praised and glorified. To Him, the Almighty Father, be praise and glory.

Accordingly, I consider and respect you as my most beloved brother, for you have highly demonstrated the true brotherly love, in which all commandments are fulfilled, with the works towards all, and especially towards the German nation, and have thereby without a doubt accomplished the will of the heavenly Father, of which you are justly pleased. Therefore you should know that I, by the grace of God, enjoy your and your like brotherhood, which is spurned by the world, more than all bodily brotherhood or all temporal goods. In the help of God, I would rather be spurned and ostracized by the world, with you and others, for the sake of the Almighty Lord and His truth, and suffer what pleases the Almighty Lord, than be excluded from the true Christian brotherhood and from Christ.

3. I am certain that my nobility and wealth, even if I am born of the noblest imperial birth in the world, even if I am lord of all the kingdoms and riches of the whole world, all this is to be counted as a shadow and a nullity compared to the true nobility and wealth of the very least Christian who believes in the Lord Christ and trusts in God with all his heart.

The Almighty God, who made man of the earth, who also gave emperors, kings, princes and lords worldly honor and glory before other men, the same Almighty Lord has done a much greater thing for us by almighty power, by virtue of divine pure gentleness, in that he has given all men who hear and accept his word power to become children of God. To retain such supreme grace, we do not need temporal nobility or wealth, but only that we believe.

5 For it is irrefutably true that all men who hear such a gracious promise and firmly believe Christ are truly noble and rich, because they are assured of the eternal heavenly kingdom. For by united faith in Christ we become truly noble and rich, in an indestructible, heavenly, eternal way, for which reason we are to despise the temporal, earthly, perishable honor and riches that lead us so far away from the true heavenly. In this Christ is a perfect example for us, who spurned all the riches and dominion of the world and wanted none of them.

(6) May the kind, merciful God give His grace to our superiors and to all of us, so that we may confess God rightly and also learn to know ourselves, so that we may cast out our pride and avarice from us by the grace of God, since we find that we are so completely unable to do anything good if we do not have the grace of God. For if such things are not confessed and attained with true humility, there is no hope but that all who persist in cruel hope will fall horribly, like the devil Lucifer and his company. May God grant us His grace for the sake of His mercy, that we may awaken from the sleep and prison of sins, and come by the help of God in this time of grace, to suffer and work what God wills.

Dearest brother, after I had written this opinion to you and wanted to decide further 1), I first received your writing, which was sent to me by Hansen von Berlipschen, my good friend and brother. And although I know myself to be still far from true perfect piety, I have nevertheless received such writing with a grateful mind towards God and you, as an admonition from the good God, in whom I will place my thorough trust. For although I am full of infirmities and sins, I am not alarmed or afraid because of them; I am content that I am heartily sorry for such infirmities of mine. But I will pray to the good God daily, and trust in Him that He, through His divine mercy, will take away such of my infirmities and the lack of my faith from me, according to His divine will, whichever time pleases Him; 2) which time I will await with patience and good hope. God help me soon, so that I may grow in perfect love towards God and my neighbor, in which I am still greatly lacking. I will confess this to you, as to my brother, with free confession. Hereupon I ask and desire from you, my brother, of whom I believe to be a special servant of God, an absolution for all my committed sins, be they mortal or daily, as God knows them to be guilty of me; for I am sorry for my sins from the bottom of my heart.

1) In the Wittenberg: "bevliessen" - continue.

2) The words: "which time pleases him" are missing in the Erlanger.

Christian doctor and brother, I hear your great pain and cross, because of the fierce love you have for God and your neighbor. For I thoroughly note your great painful contemplation of the misery, 3) wretchedness, and horrible fall of the whole German nation. And you also have such 4) great and high cause, as you have partly reported in your writing. In addition, every common man may well sense your great diligence and earnestness in your (thus manifold) Christian teachings and exhortations, thus bringing divine truth to light with so much great effort and work, and bringing the truth into so many people's hearts through God's help and grace.

(9) Truly, the translation of the Bible will not be and will not be without a great, miraculous effect of God's grace. Truly, it is a great, frightening thing and a heartache to all devout Christians, because of the carelessness of the clear, inexpressible treasure of grace, the clear, heavenly word of God, so abundantly given and assured, which is the highest and most honest thing we may have in heaven and on earth. It is no wonder that a true Christian's body trembles when he considers the misery of how Germany must fall if the merciful God does not enlighten us with grace so that we may confess Him. For if this does not happen by the grace of God, I consider it a terrible and certain punishment in the future, and a miserable fall of the German nation; for we may not lack the clear warnings of God.

God has revealed His divine word and the irrefutable truth to us Germans before other nations. The art of printing, from which the whole world may derive comfort and bliss, was first invented in the German land. We cannot deny that we have the heavenly Scriptures and truth in good, clear German, from which the poorest of the poor can hear and understand his salvation as well as the richest of the rich. We have a certain heavenly teacher that we may not lack, that is the Holy Spirit, who is promised to all of us in common. Whoever calls upon God with confidence for this teacher with a good right heart will certainly have the heavenly teacher. This teacher

3) Erlanger: "miserable".

4) Erlanger: "such". Since the readings of the Erlanger seem to be almost everywhere worse than those of the Wittenberger, we refrain from further notation of the variants.

is able, where he wants, to teach more principles of the Christian faith in one hour than if one had spent ten years at the school in Paris. Anyone who, by the grace of God, desires this teacher from the heart, will certainly have him. Heaven and earth must break before some rightly asking person can be denied this heavenly schoolmaster. It is the promise of the almighty, true, mild God; the mercy and grace of the Lord is great.

11. I would like to speak and speak to the German country: O Germany, rejoice in your heavenly Lord's visitation; accept with humble thanksgiving the heavenly light, the divine truth and the highest welfare; make use of the supreme clemency of God, who by mercy will forgive you your great sin, regardless of your great contempt; do not burden yourself further, but throw off from you the heavy yoke of the devil, and take upon you the sweet yoke of Christ; as he himself has said: "For my yoke is sweet, and my burden is altogether light." And make thee no ado in such things. But where thou shalt further despise thy visitation, the devil shall possess us all the more, and shall harden us in our wickednesses. Truly, all who willfully despise such a gracious visitation will have a severe judgment from God. Sidon and Tyre will find more favor with God than these; their punishment on the Day of Judgment will be more severe than that of Sodom and Gomorrah; they will have much less excuse before God than Lucifer and his company.

Therefore, let us call out heartily: O merciful, mild God, we confess that we are greatly in debt and have sinned, and that we cannot help ourselves by our strength, art and reason, for in You alone, O Lord God, stands our only hope; But help us by thy grace to confess thee the only helper, and that we put no trust in ourselves or our works, but first make us righteous in a strong faith and trust in thee and thy divine promises alone, that thy divine, supreme name, grace and mercy may be magnified, praised and glorified in all the earth. Help us to confess that all your grace and gifts are pure mercy. Thou bearest our sin, undeserved by us, which thou shouldest justly punish with eternal hellish chastisement, and givest us eternal life in addition. So it has pleased your almighty

We are pleased that you have shown us, your poor, unworthy human creatures, and have demonstrated the virtue of the nature of your divine majesty, the high grace and mercy that you have shown to us, the most unworthy sinners, so that the highest good of your divine majesty may be revealed to us poor sinners, so that we may use this highest grace according to your divine praise and the salvation of our souls forever. This, dearest brother, we ask God to help us with strong trust; likewise, we also want to call heartily to God.

(13) O heavenly Father, because you are eternal and almighty God, the power of all your creatures is not so mighty that they can force or move you to do something by themselves. Therefore, all human request and effect would be in vain, if you yourself had not moved in your infinite goodness and mercy, and had thereby provided, and so much gracious promise had done. Forasmuch then as thine eternal, only begotten, beloved Son, JESUS CHRIST, whom thou hast heard us call, hath commanded that we should ask, and promised, if we ask, that we shall receive; and whatsoever we ask of thee, his heavenly Father, in his name, that thou wilt give us: so we draw from such thy given grace a boldness to ask thee, and a strong confidence of thy granting; and on such ground we beseech thee, O heavenly Father, in the name of JEsu Christ, in which name all knees are bent, heavenly and earthly, as Paul teaches, that thou wouldst keep thy instrument, our brother Martinum Luther, in thy divine spirit, that the end of his work may work and exalt thy divine glory. And thou, O God, lead him also not into temptation of lifting up, or rising up in the spirit, but deliver him from evil, Amen.

14 And this you, heavenly Father, will not deny us. For if we ask for such a promise and promise, and ask for nothing else, but finally for the increase of your praise, as you know, explorer of the heart, then you will, in praise of yourself, also from your merciful promise, be done for our comfort, and then from your truth, which you yourself are, which does not let you lie, you may not withdraw your grant from us. O heavenly Father, your will be done now and forever, Amen. Date on Monday after the holy Palm Day [April 14], Anno Domini 1522.

509 Hartmuth von Kronberg's appointment.

This writing is found in the Wittenberg edition (1583), vol. VI, p. 383 d.

Hartmuth von Cronberg.

1. a distinction of several main articles, drawn from the order of the Almighty King, comforting and acceptable to all emperors, kings, princes and lords of the whole world, and to all warriors on horseback and on foot, and frightening to all hardened enemies of the divine Word of God.

2 Item, especially so 1 the heavenly king promises his war people the service not for a time of months or years, but freely forever.

3. item, the remuneration of the heavenly king is eternal life, and that everyone who surrenders to the service of God shall be accepted as a son in the heavenly, eternal kingdom, so that he may freely use the highest, heavenly treasure, which cannot be dissipated, as his inheritance.

4. item, the wives and children of the soldiers shall all have perfect wages, so that every one, 2) young or old, healthy or sick, rich or poor, who enters into the service of the Lord, shall have his wages so great and certain, at the same time according to the higher faith of each, and trusting in the Lord of his true, undoubted promises.

(5) There shall be no distinction of wages between men of war, whether they be of horse or foot, among emperors, princes, lords, and among the most despised of the poor; for whosoever believeth or trusteth hath; and whosoever believeth not shall have nothing of the heavenly wages, whether he be lord or servant.

(6) For everyone who enters into the service of the Lord with firm faith and trust, his wages will come immediately, and he will be assured of eternal riches, both temporal and eternal.

Item 7: The heavenly captain also wants to stand for every one's harm for time and eternity, to all those who believe and trust in him; and whoever is deficient in faith and trust, he may ask God for it with earnestness and diligence, and faith and trust will be given him according to all his need.

1) Wittenberger: "speaks".

2) Wittenberger: "any".

(8) This heavenly King, by his almighty power, will a hundredfold restore to every man all that he loses for his own sake, who believes and trusts in him and perseveres in faith.

Item 9: All Turks, Gentiles, Jews, heretics, and all apostate Christians are required into the service and order of this Lord. Whoever, by the grace of God, will believe and trust in this almighty, true Lord, may enter the service of the Lord and be assured of the eternal kingdom. Whoever will do this, may not regret it. For all the power and wealth of the Turkish emperor, and even if he would bring the whole world under his power and obedience, that God would prevent according to his will, all this is to be counted as small and void, and everything as a shadow, compared to the least, poorest man's salary, who believes and trusts in God.

10. item, the Almighty God promises grace and strength to all and any of His believers against all their enemies, and they will succumb and prevail against the world and the devil, and overcome cruel death by the power of God, without any worry.

11. All men, be they emperors, kings, princes or lords, poor or rich, who will despise the most high and almighty Lord and his words and truth, and will despise such grace, which he alone and unitedly has given us out of his pure clemency and mercy for nothing, and will persevere in their own way out of their own will, they shall know that the Almighty Lord will execute his cruel wrath and justice on them, on their bodies and goods, and will condemn and sentence their souls to eternal hellish punishment; From this all human power and wealth of the whole wide world will protect none.

List of a letter of articles that must be firmly kept by the common Christian warrior house. And whoever would not keep such a letter of articles, he may freely provide that he is to be discarded by the supreme heavenly Lord and Captain.

Item 12: Whoever has surrendered himself to the service of the heavenly, almighty Lord, be he emperor, king, prince, lord or servant, let him forgive all his brothers and comrades-in-arms, as we ask in the Lord's Prayer, so that we may the more strongly resist all God's enemies with a united mind and heart.

(13) Let every man direct all his works to the love of God and of his neighbor, that these works may be done in every way with the intention of helping and serving his neighbor. For through love of one's neighbor all God's commandments are fulfilled, as St. Paul teaches.

(14) Let every man hear the commandment of God, which is wholly founded on the two articles next mentioned, and beware of all mutinies that may be preached contrary to and contrary to the two articles aforesaid. For when the hooded wolves come to us in sheep's clothing, which the Lord Christ himself has pictured for us, they do not enter through the door, but go into the sheepfold as thieves and murderers, only to slaughter and destroy the sheep. Which thieving wolves proclaim and preach to us the laws and doctrines of men instead of the word of God. They have taken our daily bread, the Word of God, the heavenly food, from us, and have ordained in its place other things that carry money for them, of which we have no commandment or promise from God, thereby miserably murdering many thousands of souls. These are the devilish fruits, in which one may recognize them. St. Paul [1 Tim. 4:1 ff.] has also clearly portrayed these same deceivers in their special clothing and their own sects, and said that they will teach us the difference of food and of days; they will also have an assumed false chastity, and other such things contrary to God's commandment and contrary to the love of one's neighbor. Therefore, let every man beware of these same glittering deceivers, as of the worst enemies of Christ and of all His Christian people, lest he be cut off from the heavenly people by the chief captain.

Resolution of this appointment.

(15) That every man may be absolutely sure and certain of all things which are contained in these articles of the order, which have been foretold: Know ye that these things are confirmed and ratified by the word of God, and by the death of Christ, sealed with his blood. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the words of the Lord must remain forever. Let every man be hereby exhorted, that he be not put off reading or hearing the true, whole order of Christ the Lord, even the holy gospel, through and through. In the same, let each one read these excerpted articles, and much more.

He will be able to bring himself more clearly into his full understanding by the grace of God. Also, how he should conduct himself in all ways against friends and enemies, actually find report, and thereby truly achieve eternal victory; all through the help of the supreme heavenly captain, who wants to help and overcome the same on every servant's call, in all action and distress, against all enemies; no one should have any doubt about this.

510 Hartmuth von Kronberg's warning to the inhabitants of the city of Frankfurt against the false prophets and wolves, which he had publicly posted on the most prominent gate there. March 16, 1522.

From Ritter's "Evang. Denkmal der Stadt Frankfurt am Main," p. 47.

To all and any 1) and prudent and wise, dignified and highly learned as well as strict, hereditary and hereditary mayor, council and court and all eynhabitants of the laudable city of Franckfurt, I offer Hartmudt von Cronberg my willing, friendly service, and what I am well able and willing to do for you, my true brothers in Christ the Lord, to know that out of earnest and brotherly love I am compelled to make an effort to shelter you and provide for you from the ravening wolves, of which the Lord Christ warned us at the second day, and the Lord Christ tells us plainly how to recognize the same wolves, and John at the tenth day, how to guard ourselves against the dens who do not enter through the door through Christ, but go up as thieves and murderers, and their styme is not at all the styme of the Lord Christ, but from the devil, then their voice and lere coming with the styme of the holy gospel. They do not seek to woo the sheep with the pure Word of God, but they seek their own profit according to the devil's will, they esteem the poor people against God and His holy gospel, they sell the poor people against God and His holy gospel, they sell the poor people against God and His holy gospel. They sell the holy divine sacraments according to their will. They sell the burial of the dead at the very highest. I have heard from some of your pious citizens how your priest, because of his exuberant, devilish zeal, will not allow you to bury your dead otherwise.

1) In the original: "iycklichen"; towards the end of this writing we encounter the form: "igcklicher".

The same is true for many devilish practices, which are bought with butter, and when a child's body dies, the dead body must be blessed, and other devilish, unchristian things must be taken into account. Christ speaks to John on the tenth: I am the door, if anyone enters through me, he will be preserved or saved, and will enter and go out and find salvation. A thief does not come, but only to steal and slaughter or kill, I have come so that they may have eternal life and have it in abundance. O Christian brothers! O heavenly citizens! It is high time that we recognize such thieves and murderers, whom the Lord Christ has made known to us in the sheep-pleasers and in their fruits, but these are their devilish fruits, in which they are known to mislead us, not at all according to the Gospel, namely, when they teach us that the poor should give allmussen to the righteous priests and monks, when they teach us to build churches, to make beautiful images, great bells, beautiful paintings, make delicious tabernacles, offer masses, vigils and brotherhoods in their monasteries, and all such unglamorous services that they provide, which are of no use to the poorest, and which are of no use to God, you should know that, Whichever pastor and preacher persists in such opinions and emptiness is truly a ravening wolf, thief and murderer, for which Christ has warned us, the pre-meditated valsch lere is the fruit, whereby one recognizes them certainly and eygentlich. Your pastor of St. Bartholomew 1) has let it be known that it is not known that I, concerning the Christian faith, am screaming; and has therefore a useless concern; Then I know myself free of the grace of God, that my writings have their foundation in the holy Gospel, therefore I do not shrink from them as from the truth, but I am certain that his teachings and actions are contrary to God and his divine cause and Gospel, I will freely confess this to him, and as long as he persists in his error and the same misconduct, a decent Christian may hold him responsible, and protect himself from his and his little sin as from thieving and murderous crimes. I do not wish to behave in this way, so that I may prove my true brotherly love for you with these works. Given under my seal on the Sunday of Reminiscere [March 16] XXII.

1) D. Peter Meyer, as can be seen from the following writings.

511 Hartmuth von Kronberg's letter to Peter Meyer, pastor of St. Bartholomew's in Frankfurt, in which he sharply rebukes him for oppressing Luther's teaching and elevating the papal regiment so high, and also demands that he state his reasons for doing so in the reply to his letter. 9 June 1522.

The following four writings were published together under the title: "Schriften von Junker Hartmuth von Cronenberg wider D. Peter Meyer, Pfarrherr zu Frankfurt, sein verblendet, verstockt und unchristlich Lehr betreffend, samt zweyer Gegen-Antworten desselben Pfarrherr 1522. See von der Hardt uut. Üutüsr., Theil II, p. 100. They are found in Ritter's "Evang. Denkmal der Stadt Frankfurt am Main", p.8Iff.

1. to you, the parish priest of St. Bartholomew in Franckfurt, I send my greetings to Hartmut von Cronbergck, and I invite you to hear how I have reported and explored, to what extent we have suppressed the true Christian sinner Dr. Martin Luther's sins on all the grounds of the Holy Scriptures. The truthful Christian Luther's sins are unreservedly suppressed. Against the princely authority and regiment, we must raise so high that we consider all those heretics who follow the Christian Doctor Martino or his evangelical teachings, and do not want to consider them Christians, but those who are obedient to the prince and his commandment and live, to which our word and public sermon give irrefutable testimony.

Now that I am heartily desirous that the Almighty God is my witness, that I would gladly be a true Christian, and that I may suffer brotherly and Christian reassurance from anyone, of whatever standing he may be, and that I may gladly and expeditiously receive it from the least of these. Because you are a pastor of your great, noble city of Franckfurt, and in my opinion, you have proven the great dishonor of the Gospel and the clear Word by your false, devilish and humanly conceived teachings, which you unashamedly preach in public and thereby lead the entire people of the public city of Franckfurt onto the wrong path.

3. we also do not want to allow a proper evangelical preacher to preach with your permission, and especially on the day of Pentecost we do not want to allow a Christian preacher, whom I sent to Franckfurt, to preach; but because you as a pastor of the city of Franckfurt have the cause and reason for your opinion and public preaching to say, as St. Peter preached, I request and demand of you out of Christian guilt and guilt that you do not allow a Christian preacher to preach on the day of Pentecost.

It is my duty to point out to me, with evangelical reason and holy divine scripture, on what grounds we should believe or obey the papal rule, since it is clear and evident how the papal rule is not entirely consistent with the gospel, but entirely contrary to it, otherwise I cannot reckon it out, whereas Doctor Luther's teachings and sermon on Christ are entirely consistent, so clear that even children may see and grasp them. But nevertheless I may ask that you teach me better, so that I may find the right door, which Christ John teaches in the tenth chapter. But if you do not know these things, I warn you more carefully that you come to God from your error with us, and confess as your great need requires, because you do not know how long you have time, for truly I warn you, if you fail, you will not be at your best with all those whom you fear.

4. But if you know better, I will gladly listen to your words and teachings in a virtuous way, if you know nothing against it other than human papal authority and the Holy Scriptures, then you will have a bad foundation, the Almighty Creator, who made us from nothing in the first place, in the same almighty God's power we still stand between all times, we want to take the manifold warnings of God through the prophets, through Christ himself and the apostles, because if you shepherds do not soon confess yourselves against God, then your fall with all those whom you fear would be more terrible than the fall of the devil. Read the chapter of Ezekiel in the third and fourth and thirtieth and fifth and twentieth chapters, Matthew in the third and twentieth and many other places. I hereby wish you, out of brotherly duty, the grace of God, that you may use this writing of mine to the best of your ability, together with your written reply, to guide me in this and to know how to keep me to my evangelical duty. Given under my seal on the Holy Monday of Pentecost [June 9] Anno in the fifteenth hundred and two and twentieth.

512 Doctor Meyer's answer to the above letter from von Kronberg, the content of which is that he has never been a hindrance to the word of God, but rather a help to it, and that he does not hope that anyone can say that he would have been able to keep the Gospel alive in the thirteen years that he has been in Frankfurt.

If anyone had preached too much or too little of the gospel, he should be brought before his judge, and he would give an answer. June 11, 1522.

See No. 511.

My willing service beforehand, mercy, dear Juncker. Your letter to me on the third day of Pentecost, I have read and well understood, answering to the article that I have mocked a Protestant preacher sent by you on the day of Pentecost, that he is not allowed to preach, I say that I am being wronged, No one has been to me, nor has anyone asked me for it, and I have asked a whole chapter on this day, whether there is anything asked of you, and they have replied to you in your faith and in your oath, no, there is nothing obtained from you, and so on, If you want to accuse me of the one who has brought such matters to my attention, I will speak to you so that you may learn that I am being wronged, and I have never been the one who has hindered God's word, but have always promoted it with words and examples, but that you write to me about my sermons, I have preached publicly before the whole world, and now in my thirteenth year in Frankfurt, and I hope to preach the truth and the holy gospel, which two or three thousand people have heard from me, and I freely confess my preaching before the whole world; But if anyone should think that I have done too much or too little, I have a proper judge, and I may be appealed to, and I will answer.With this good will I am pleased to prove to you. Date on Wednesdays after Pentecost [June 11] Anno XXII.

Petrus Meyer, the H. Schrifft D. and pastor at Franckfurdt.

513: Herr Hartmuth von Kronberg's other and even sharper letter to Doctor Meyer. June 14, 1522.

See No. 511.

1. recognizing the mercy and grace of God, I, Hartmudt von Cronbergk, wish you, the parish priest of Sant Bartholomeus zw Franck-

1) The previous letter is dated "Whitsun Monday", therefore there is a mistake here.

ford. My evangelical and fraternal duty compels me to write to you further on our scripture. The date is Pentecost Wednesday.

First of all, I have the preacher, whom I [sent] to Franckfurdt, one sufficient, then it stands with it, as it is well, then nothing is in it. But that you have neglected to answer me, for what reason you have so highly exalted the papal regiment and the commandment and rule of man, and thus to suppress and flatter the irrefutable truth of God. Which may be publicly produced on you, by many people from Frankfurt and elsewhere, who have heard our sermon, therefore I have no sufficiency.

3) Also that you write how you have preached the holy gospel three and a half years between Franckfurt, whereupon I say that you have not preached the holy gospel, inasmuch as Christ commanded it, especially only in your own faith and faithfulness, where it is folkloric. 1) Blessedness and salvation.

4. for this reason, our faith, and that we call you a doctor of the holy creatures, is in accordance with the Holy Gospel and the Holy Scriptures, and is unjustly weak.

5. we may not say with any reason in the Scriptures that the Almighty God has given you or anyone else authority to mix the human laws, even the human dreams and good deeds, with the clear Gospel, or to preach them alongside, and to present or compare them with the Gospel.

6. Considering yourselves, if you give a servant an order to execute an advertisement according to the content of a clear instruction, and the same servant would say the word of the order or instruction, but for his own benefit he makes an addition to his master's order and commandment completely contrary, and makes as a whole a reworthy pretence at his master's command against his duty, which he would owe, on all doubt you will not be so grossly reasonable that you will put up with such an evil action from your servant, the servant will not be able to tell you with truth that he has punished his command.

7. in the same way, how can you excuse your evil deeds, which you have publicly committed against God's commandment and his holy gospel until now?

8. we have not all sheared the sheep against God's commandment and wickedly.

1) This is supposed to mean well: for the blessedness of the people etc.

But also, which is much greater and heavier, the holy will of Christ has been trampled underfoot.

9 O what great soul-murder have you done in the three and a half years. Consider how severely justice judges a real murderer, therefore considering how much more horrible and unholy are the murders of you and yours, which do not go through the right door, but stand hyneyn as thief and murderer, allyn that you slaughter and kill. I praise God, the All-Mighty, who wants to deliver us from our own and your murderous violence through the knowledge of the good and blessed will of Christ, which we poor and wretched people have no need to practice according to our will by the grace of God, as much as we wish, from which we have learned to recognize our thieving and murderous ways (which Sant Paul also calls the devilish way), which is completely contrary to the way of Christ and sounds like a wolf compared to the way of an honest, right-going herdsman.

10. in your scriptures I have heard how you are to preach the sermon in your old way, and if this is displeasing to anyone, he may take you before your preferred judge for this etc. etc. Therefore, I say, we have a clear command from God, if you will confess your error and accept the grace of God, which appears to all of us, and praise you with us to the infinite mercy of God, to which I fraternally invite you, I will gladly accept you for a brother and prove fraternal loyalty.

11. But if you do not do this, I warn you and give you to understand that your opinion and will can not or may not take place, but that your action would be so glorified in the day that all people between Franckfurt may know and hold for true reason, that you are such a valiant advocate, as mentioned above, and that it is in all good conscience to act against you by deed, as much as it is possible to act against a ruthless wolf, a mysterious thief and murderer by words and deeds.

(12) And if you and the others shall plead that such things have been taken or acted against you unjustly, then the said judges shall not only be afraid to give speech and answer before your ordinary judge, but they shall also plead their case before an honorable council and the whole city of Frankfort.

The reason for this will be the indestructible Word of God, which is so strong that it will overthrow all eternal foundations, which you may build on the sand.

13 Therefore, I request and ask you once again, as stated in my last letter, to answer me in writing, for I am concerned that if you do not take the right path before the start of the punishment, you will neither be advised nor helped.

14 The Almighty God, who by His grace will take us all out of the devil's spell and rope. Date under my seal on Saturday after Pentecost [June 44] Anno Domini etc. etc. in the two and twentieth.

514 D. Meyer's complaint and appeal against the Lord of Kronberg to E. E. Rath zu Frankfurt. June 17, 1522.

See No. 511.

1. Dear Sirs, My devout prayer to God and willing unthreatening service of all fortune beforehand, I do not doubt that your will may have heard, as Harpmann von Cronbergk recently told me, I may not know how, on the basis of the information I have received, Harpmann of Cronbergk has recently sent me a clumsy letter, his status and nature completely unmeasured, to which I have answered him again with a kind, gentle and brief reply. W. knew [from] the copies enclosed here, and thereupon also promised me in my reply that he should, as an understanding, noble, though ungelled, when nobility joins me in my chastisement, have sufficed with a proper reply, and have left me more uncouraged.

2. in addition to the above, he has again sent another even more extensive and serious prayerful letter, the contents of which E. W. I am in no doubt that I have preached here in Franckfurth, and that I will not let anyone else hear the Christian and Protestant emptiness with other worthy learners here, and so that I will be able to read and understand these things, that I would have been presented with this letter by Juncker Harpmann, or, if he did not want to do so, that he would have sued me in the places where this had happened, but he could not have given me a fair trial.

I must therefore expect my damage, and if I will give myself my given emptiness and sermon right before all mercy, I will bear no complaint at all.

Therefore I ask E. Weysheidt as my favorable lord, that they will protect and shield me as their priest and clergyman from violence by law and the law of the land and order favorable and give the unseemly, mighty, faithful, 1) take, so Juncker Harpmann von Cronbergk last seyns Schreibens anhencket, no city, so I rightly Billichkeidt before God and all the world may suffer, that gepürdt me all my poor assets around E. Weißheidt eternally and benevolently, please give me your undelivered comforting answer. Datum uff Dienstg nach Trinitatis [17. June] anno XXII.

Petrus Meyer, parish priest.

515 Ulrich von Hütten's complaint about D. Meyer, in a special letter to the council of the city of Frankfurt. April 1, 1522.

From Ritter's "Evang. Denkmal der Stadt Frankfurt am Main", p. 51.

My sincere greetings and all that I am able to do beforehand, dear, prudent and wise, favorable dear friends. From my childhood days on, and especially since then, I have, through the practice of fortune and misfortune, come to know worldly things, I have, as is generally known, also appeared out of my books and histories, which are publicly read, and have, as much as possible, stopped the confusion that has existed for many years between some of the Holy See's cities and some of the common nobility, and that the two orders, in which the greater power of the German nation lies, would come to an understanding and friendship among each other, therefore I respect this time, when I am forced out of necessary causes, I therefore consider that at this time, since I am forced to do so for necessary reasons, I do not need you for my particularly good reasons, and for which I have taken all good precautions to complain of my concerns, especially for the transcription and preface, in which I excuse myself to you, since I have such a good opinion of myself. I hope you know my mind and heart towards you, etc. And this is the matter, Doctor Peter Meyer, pastor of St. Bartholomew with you.

1) "trewen" probably as much as: threatening.

and preacher, has been around for a long time.ongeferlich zehen Jar her (ich schweye was er in dem gegen meyne guten Günder und Fründe, zuvor an den hemen und hochgelärten Doctor Johannsen Reuchlin an 1) alle Ursach und Verschuldung, uß unchristlichen Haß, tyrannischer Weyß geredt und gehandelt) auch gegen meyner Person, who he would have gone idle, carried a greedy, natterisch and over-grimmist mind and opinion, then often in his speeches behind me, with honest viller people, clear of Im heard, also sth. by In itself with our eyes is discovered. Although it is painful for any human being, and even for an innocent creature (as we can see in the minutest of them), to have his injuries, and it was within my power to reckon with him, I was nevertheless, but not in 1) pain, that the same thing had happened to me, and that I had further encouragement, which I had in all rights to In, Doctor Petern, when I also offered him to his sent to me at Franckfurth, on the day of the council, until this day, and what he thus offered against me would probably have been shaped by me into a perpetual bequest, half of my person, if only a few days ago he had again torn open and renewed the wounds that had healed themselves in my heart and were already covered with a rumor. By making the pious Christian and religious priest, Mr. Othen Brünfeltz, my servant, as the same at Steynheym, preach the holy gospel and irrevocable word of God out of duty and by virtue of his office, by means of a dense false lie-afflicted accusation, hateful and unpleasant to the princes of the priests and the priests of the church, to such an extent that the pious, innocent man has been threatened with his life and limb by such accusations, as I myself know better than I can write to you, that if he had not been warned by good reasons, he would have been bound and smothered in cruel imprisonment, or even death. When I now see that with him, Doctor Peter, there is forbearance of his wicked deeds and crimes against me and mine, he has also poured into us his imprisoned goods, which he has poured into us on two of the enemies of the human race, from day to day, and all his new actions surpass the older ones in wickedness, but I recognize that I have changed to such an extent that I should have remained unharmed and unenvied by him, so after a long and (I estimate) over-

1) an -without.

I have been forced by my lack of patience to put myself in opposition to him, and for this reason, as my especially good friend and friend, my earnest and imploring request is made to you, I beg you to take care of the said Doctor Peters, against me and against others who have been mistreated for a reason, and also that he, by his unchristian, unchristian, and gifted preaching, awakens much strife and discord in our city, which then, where it does not occur through wise people, leads to great trouble and much discontent, He was never to be counted on to reach any end from place to place where he walked, where he could remain peacefully and without arousing civil and internal turmoil and unrest. In as a wolf left in among the sheep, as a heymic giff and penultimate pestilence out of our city, which may not be longer in his beywesen on harm, do and separate, then you can think that would happen to me leydt from a iden the vorter [forer] mere with this of the devil apostles Teyl or had in common, although I would then like to hold you to all love and friendship, something too good in this, it is nevertheless to be considered that even if I stand quietly, it is possible that Doctor Peter, if he thus remained with you, would inflict eternal harm or disaster (which God forbid). I did not want to hold this against you in my good opinion. I am heartily willing to prove my love, friendship and service to you. Date Wartenburg, Tuesday after Lätare [April 1], in the year after Crists Gepurt, etc. XXII.

516 A letter of requisition from Churmainz to the council of Frankfurt to deliver Hartmann Jbach, their preacher and strong supporter of Luther and his teachings. March 11, 1522.

From Ritter's "Evang. Denkmal der Stadt Frankfurt am Main," p. 41.

Lorentz Truchßes von Bommersfelden DhomDechant, governor, and Dietherich Zobel Dhom-Schul-Meister and Vicarius in Spiritualibus zu Mayntz.

Our greetings and kind service before, dear and careful, dear and especially good friends, it has come to our attention how one, called Hartman Mach, is to be the priest, shortly last day, out of favor and order of some of the ewren, who had abstained from the pious, between Sanck Katherinen zw Franckforth did some sermon with you, in which he against ours

Lord Jesus Christ Lere, who has chosen to keep peace and love above all other things, also Imperial Majesty. Majesty. Our most gracious Lord's outgoing penal mandates, which you are undoubtedly aware of and have good knowledge of, have made themselves subject to Doctor Luther's damned emptiness, and have decided to do something more evil and to arouse more Christian love, disquiet and revolt, that we, in consideration of the royal outgoing mandates, do not allow, and much less favor, you in Franckfort as a royal city. We have therefore, in the absence of the King, decided to allow us to do so. Therefore, in the absence of our most gracious Lord, our kind and friendly prayer to you is that you, in consideration of our Christian faith, which is not based on any man's synn or reason, but is built on a hard foundation from the word of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and is indestructible. We also accept the outgoing penal, reported Hartman Mach, because he is to be a spiritual person, from His Majesty the Emperor, to send us down to Meintz instead of and on account of our most gracious Lord, as your right ordinary archbishop, whom we also hereby demand from you, to be warned. We hereby demand that you send him down to Meintz to be warned, to continue his proceedings against him for the sake of his knowledge, and to keep to it, as we have then understood in the same case against those who have attempted to awaken the evil against you, and have done on your behalf, and are obliged and obliged to do in the future, that we want to provide ourselves amicably between you, and to freely complain and settle. But if this does not happen, and the said Hartmann, of his preaching and courageous will, would be allowed by you, either jointly or separately, we hereby protest that we will bring this to your attention and report it adequately, also bring it to the place where it belongs to him, and in all ways know the culprit to you. Given in Meintz on Tuesday after Invocavit [March 11] &c. XXII.

517: Some neighboring noblemen, as Marx Lösch von Möhlheim, Georg von Stockheim and Emmerich von Reifenstein, all of them good friends of the Lord of Kronberg, letter of March 13, 1522, under the seal of Kronberg, in which they complain to the council of Frankfurt about the actions against Hartmann Jbach and demand that he be allowed to preach without hindrance. March 13, 1522.

From Ritter's "Evang. Denkmal der Stadt Frankfurt am Main," p. 45.

Our willing and kind service beforehand, honorable, wise, dear lord and friends, we are concerned how the servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, the alleged clergymen in our city of Franckfurth, are resisting to print the pure word of God holy! They are preventing the first evangelical preacher, Mr. Hartmann Mach, from preaching, and are handing out some commandment letters through or from clergymen to mentors, which is the highest wickedness and dishonor against God the Almighty, which they would like to do, who is merciful and gracious, who became man for the sake of the salvation of the poor people, of all the human race, who suffered death for us, and who left his divine word for us in the end, so that all who hear such words are assured of eternal life, if they wish; Such a true divine word does not resist the ravening wolves, the devilish clergy of Franckenfort, to snatch from eternal pious people in Franckenfort, therefore the Lord Christ has well told us that we shall recognize such ravening wolves in the created clauses of or by their fruits. After all this, our true and sincere love for the gospel carries us, therefore we are of the will and mind, with the help of God, to act against the true and wicked enemies of the word of God, as we know ourselves in the faith of the gospel, and as long as they do not turn away from their wicked advocacies; and we want to ask you, as the authorities of the city of Franckfurt, for your help. We ask you, as the authorities of the city of Franckfurth, that you instruct your supposed clergymen and enable them to renounce their un-Christian, devilish interventions and leave room and place for the Christian, evangelical preachers of Mr. Hartmann Jbachen to preach and tell the Lutheran-Gospel truth to our pious people, whom God has redeemed with His own blood, and where the devilish and obdurate clergymen want to persist in their interventions: So we recognize ourselves guilty out of evangelical duty and school, that we must act against them, as against the very worst enemies of the living Lutheran Word of God; and to such we are moved most of all by our love for you and your pious people, therefore we desire and ask of you to know that we and our helper will act out of a guilty evangelical duty against the aforementioned devilish clergyman, in fact against your life and goods, as against the worst enemies of Christ and His Divine Word, for which we therefore commit ourselves to you, the eternals and relatives of Christ.

shall see. Then our opinion stands against you and the eternal pious people no other than to act comfortingly and evangelically, so that [they] may be fed with the living proof, which is God Himself, with us, to the praise of our God and to the comfort of all pious Christians. Then we do not hope that God will let us become so foolish,

that we should have his word, which he himself is, underprinted, therefore ask you, as of srommen Christians, a good Beßhriebene answer by gegenwertigen, to judge us according to it. Date Dornstagk nach Inuocauit [March 13] under the seal of the Honorable Vestryman Hartman von Cronberg, Lack halber des unfern, XXII.