1. about the Turk and his wars and victories.
2. D. Luther's admonition on how to fight the Turk.
3. about the prayer against the Turk.
1. about the Turk and his wars and victories.
(First three paragraphs at Cordatus No. 626-628.)
Daniel [11:45] says of the Turk: "He will pitch the tent of his palace between two seas for the sake of the precious holy
Mountain, that is, he will come to Rome. I would like him to avenge the blood of many martyrs who were killed and buried in Rome, into which the pope broke, so that he would sit in the holy place, namely he [the pope is that abomination. But since
he came to Rome, the last day is near at hand. The Turk did not rule for more than two hundred years, but the Saracens ruled for about eight hundred years.
Christ has redeemed our souls before, so he will also redeem our bodies. We only wait for the man; the others may fear his coming, which we desire.
I often think of the misery of Germany that is in store for it and often break a sweat over it. I am truly worried that the Turk will pull through and through. No one beats the Turk, and the Germans will not let themselves be advised. If the man called Christ does not help, neither the emperor nor the princes will do anything, and the Lord's Prayer must do something.
When they were talking about the Turk, D. M. Luther said: "It is not a matter of gathering much people together, it must be done by the one who is above. Jonathan, King Saul's son, said 1 Sam. 14, 6: "God can help even through little" 2c. That is what God can do, to make an army go astray, so that they tear each other apart. Then said the Doctor: Ei, behüt uns GOtt vor dem Türken. No, said Doctor Martin Luther, he must come once and louse our fur.
If the Turk comes with as many ships as they say, with four hundred, then it is certainly fulfilled what Daniel says: On many waters. If God wanted the Turk to be defeated in Germany, Egypt, Persia, 2c., his own countries, would fall away from him in half a year.
It is said that the Turk had four of his sons circumcised, and held a great feast and pomp, to which he invited the great Eliam, priest John, the Persian king, and the Venetians.
It is also said that he considers Christ a great prophet, but that his Mahomet is greater and higher; for Christ sinned against God with one word, saying: "I am the life, the way and the truth", Joh. 14, 6.
1) This paragraph was inserted in the middle of the immediately following number of the Cordatus.
(The following paragraph Cordatus No. 668.)
The Turk keeps the peace among his own with righteous fear, so that whoever has his escort, which is written in golden letters: V J E T, can pass safely through all his territories. To him was sent an excellent man as an envoy, named Schmalz, a citizen of Hagenau. He asked him how old Luther was. He answered, 49 years. The Turk said: "Oh, that he were younger, he should know a gracious lord in me. When I heard this, I raised my hand, made the sign of the cross and said: God protect me from this merciful Lord.
(The following two paragraphs Cordatus No. 880 and 881.)
The Turk is a cunning fighter who does not win by bravery and boldness as well as by deception and cunning, and he tires people more by outsmarting them than by fighting. He does not fight if he is not sure of victory. He does like the musicians, if one wants him and offers battle, he turns away; if one does not understand him, he makes himself prominent, like the musicians do when they are asked. That is why one writing calls him a fox that comes out of the caves of the Caucasus mountains.
The Germans, however, are bold and daring, and especially the French are full of delight after a victory, can hold on to [the victory]. Our people, especially the Dutch, 2) they stand before the fire.
And a historia said of a mayor of Magdeburg that he had given the bishop this answer about the wall, which they should buy from him another time: We do not want to do that, we want to stretch our necks on it, and mine shall be the first. But the victory is not with us and in our power. To prevail against the Turk and to beat him has its time; to lose and to lie down has also its time. The king of France was proud and brave for a long time, and he was a courtier until he was caught in his majesty. The pope despised God and man until he was miserable.
2) The Low Germans in contrast to the Upper Germans).
fell in a disgraceful and shameful way. So Emperor Maximilianus beat the Venetians with a small bunch.
(Cordatus No. 713.)
Hieronymus von Laschka [Lasky], who was with me in Torgau, called the emperor, with regard to the Turk, the tail of the empire, which was very offensive to me. I love to hear people speak disgracefully of us. It is a sign that the Turk will come to us because of our court.
(This paragraph also in Kummer, 2. Theil p. 209b [Lauterbach p. 203)).
Jerome of Lasca, who was with Luther in Torgau, called the emperor the tail of the empire in regard to the Turk, which was very spiteful. Luther replied: I hear it very gladly, if one speaks thus disgracefully of us, it is a sign that the Turk will perish because of his Hoffahrt. 1)
(The following two paragraphs Cordatus No. 1599 and 1600.)
The power of the Turk is very great because he receives twice a hundred thousand soldiers at his expense throughout the year, but his rule is nothing but pure wickedness. We, however, are tender martyrs who are unable to do anything because we are oppressed by different rulers. One corrupts the other. We wanted 2) to resist the Turk with the Lord's Prayer, for it is written: Deliver us from evil, if Germany had not shed so much blood and, on top of that, not pursued the recognized truth. Therefore God will look for us at home.
God will punish us as He once punished Sodom and Gomorrah, Seboim, the five cities, because of pride. After that, he will raise up an Abraham, who will punish the four kings again. So if I were to be God's counselor, if He wanted to punish Germany, I would advise that when it was punished by the Turk, He [God] also punished it afterwards by some bad boy and struck it to the ground. But God will do it.
1) The difference of this relation from the original one of Cordatus gives a striking example of the arbitrariness, which the later transmitters of the table speeches allowed themselves.
2) In the original: want.
(The following paragraph Cordatus No. 895.)
God recently chased the Turk from Vienna. Since everything was available in the imperial army, he had to buy the bread, which was sold for four pennies, for one guilder.
(The following two paragraphs Cordatus No. 944 and 943.)
The Turk is not a prince, but a robber who devastates everything that even a bad (simple) nobleman could. He swears and lies, both for his benefit.
Hungary should fight the Spaniards, also Germany, which is prouder than it deserves. Hungary has fallen away from the faith twice; if it deviates for the third time, it will not return.
The Turks are very proud and hopeful of their great fortune and victory; they devoured the Saracens thirty years ago when the Sultan perished. They think that they alone are God's people; they say that Abraham sacrificed Ishmael, not Isaac; they' are Ishmael's seed, 3) to whom the kingdom on earth belongs, as to whom it is promised and promised: they call us idolaters for the sake of the article of the Holy Trinity: They also say that there is only one God, that Jesus Christ sits at the left hand, but Mahomet sits at the right hand: Christ's law and doctrine would be too difficult and impossible, therefore Mahomet has given others, which are easier and more painful, as the evil lusts and desires do not condemn so much. But they keep their worship very strict and stiff with praying, fasting, think much of Christ, honor the mountain Oreb, but they do not want to build Jerusalem again.
Anno 1536, Dec. 21, Margrave George of Brandenburg came to Wittenberg to D. M. Luther. M. Luthern and told of the miserable and horrible battle that the Turk had conquered against our people, how the best and nucleus of the selected warriors had been betrayed and slain, sixty captains had been captured and led away with great triumph and joy.
3) In the editions: Isaac's. Bindseil 1, 403 has instead, probably more correctly: "Ishmael, not Isaac, be the promised seed." With it also that is correct, what Lauterbach, on 10 Nov. 1538, (p. 160) further down in this § reports.
would have been. The poor Christians would have been shamefully tormented and their noses would have been cut out, which scorn and mockery has never been experienced. Then said D. M. Luther said: "It is true for us Germans, God's wrath is at the door: we may repent, because the time of salvation is still here: we struggle for misfortune, which must also befall us.
Dear, look at the great venomous hatred of the papists against the gospel, who relied on the emperor and have often been disgraced; they still do not turn back. In Augsburg, at the Imperial Diet of 1530, they cried out in all certainty: "The Savior is coming. Count Ernst von M[ansfeld] built a bonfire the night he heard that the emperor had come to Germany.
So that priest at Eisenach bet all his cows that Luther should be put to shame before Michaelmas with all his own. For several years we hoped for the emperor's victory, if he would erect his shield in Paris, it should go over the Lutherans. So now, in the Court of Appeal, they have deliberated about those of Augsburg, who have been banished; after that, the eight should follow about the Lutherans.
Now they are again comforted by the fact that the French have come against the emperor with a large group of warriors. Italy has fallen away. The Turk invades Germany. This means: "He scatters those who are confident in their hearts", Luc. 1, 51. Oh dear God, can you do this? Summa, they have been exceedingly presumptuous. H[archduke] G[eorg] 1) is the ignition powder of all misfortune, he shall have a great treasure; although the cities also have money. If the landgrave raises something, it will not remain with the plunder, as before, when the bishop of M[ainz] 2) had to give ten times a hundred thousand guilders in plunder.
The Turkish emperor sits in great majesty, has three forecourts. In front of the first, twelve lions are tied to chains, in front of the other, panther beasts. He has money and people, armor, provisions, and such a people, who with
1) Thus Bindseil I, 400.
2) Thus Bindseil I, 400.
He is pressed into servitude, must do everything as he wants, like serfs. In a hundred years, he has increased magnificently, gradually and one by one suppressing and conquering the Saracens, who were previously lords in Syria, Asia, Jerusalem, the Promised Land, Africa and Greece.
So God plays with great kings, as Isaiah says: "I, the Lord, am a strong God over kingdoms; whichever sins, I destroy. This he has well proved. For first he devastated Nineveh and Affur, the Chaldean kingdom; then Babylon devoured Nineveh: the same devoured Assyria. When the Persians thought that they were dead, the great Alexander came and conquered it. Alexander was then destroyed by the Romans. The Roman Empire, which had been the most powerful, was eaten up by internal wars of Saracens, Goths, Wends and Huns. Thus our Lord God can pay the great monarchs, emperors, kings and princes. The Venetians have never done anything worthy, they are not warriors, but only pepper sacks.
Let it be equal that the Turk in a short time, namely a hundred years, has had luck and victory and has risen high; but it is nowhere to be compared with the Roman Empire, which in fifty years has increased and grown exceedingly, so that it has been the most powerful. It had endured a great paroxysm and shock from Hannibal, the supreme commander of Carthage, for three and twenty years, but after that it hastily increased and grew again, so that Scipio, the excellent hero, said: "One should not ask in litanies for increase and expansion of the empire; as if he wanted to say: "Seek no more expansion and greater; see how you may maintain this great.
So now I also hope that the world is at the end. For Carolus and Solimannus are the yeasts of the empire; no one will possess the empire completely. The Turk has not yet made it as far as the Roman Empire, which rose very high and increased in fifty years. It will probably remain with these yeasts. Christ will come, for we have no more Scripture, and the signs are there.
While the Turk has great luck and succes-
sion, and all of them still boast that they come from the trunk and flower of the Ottomanni: therefore they are proud, puffed up and triumphant, since the Roman emperors have never had such a line. For Emperor Julius left no male heir, Augustus-Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius succeeded him only by women and held the empire. But the Turk has his male line and lineage from Ottomanno. The Germans are Roman emperors and kings per synecdoche, only with the title; however, the Pope occupies Italy and Anders.
The Ch[urfürst] 1) told Doctor Martin Luthern of a great loss, which our war people in Hungary should have taken from the Turk, among the three highest captains, K., V. and S., 2) who should have been corrumped by the Turk: for it would be written at Vienna at all churches, K., V. and the S. were worthy to be hanged by a rope, for they had led the German army, which was not sufficiently armed, to the Turkish camp; but when a Christian, who had escaped from the Turkish troop and had run away, came and told them to get ready and make the battle order, for the enemy was armed, the captains were sure to despise it: After that, when they saw that the enemy was coming, they secretly turned away and fled, leaving the foot soldiers, who could not flee because the enemy was too close on their necks, standing: The latter were frightened and cried out miserably, partly wounding themselves as much as they could, so that the Turk gave flight, which made ours hearty again, so that they stood still, so that among the foot soldiers eleven hundred and twenty men were in the battle, all of whom had been miserably slain. 3)
The Turkish emperor Selimus murdered his brother so that he could rule alone. It is terribly tiresome that one brother should kill another because he is a brother. It is too tyrannical. I hope that the regi
1) Thus Stangwald.
2) Catianus, Ungrace and Silt. Bindseil I, 403.
3) The report of this battle quite as incomprehensible in the Latin table speeches, Bindseil I, 404. In Rebenstock somewhat better: The Turk posed as if he was fleeing.
The Turks, who rise so mightily with tyranny, shall suddenly fall, only that God punishes our wickedness through such tyrants, as we also honestly strive for.
Turks presumptuously think they have the right worship and religion, ridicule and mock our Christian religion, using this saying John 5:43, where Christ says, "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him will ye receive." On the (alius, other) they rest.
(The following two paragraphs in Lauterbach, 17 Feb. 1538, p. 32.)
Luther spoke to the mayors of Wittenberg about the great disloyalty and treachery of Catianus, who had received gold from the Turk through a Jew, 18,000 ducats, and had promised that he would also betray the king himself, and said with a sigh: Auri sacra fames, quid non mortalia pectora cogis ? (Aen. ÐÉ, 57.) [Cursed hunger for gold, why don't you bring a human heart?] He must burn eternally in hell, that traitor. I would not betray a little dog. I fear another misfortune from Ferdinand, who let such a large army fall into the Turk's jaws. He entrusted such a large nation to that faithless man, who first fell away from the Turk to the Christians, and perhaps has now fallen away from the Christians again. Ah, princes and rulers should be differently skilled against the so great power of the Turk. They should go to the field themselves and not oppose him with such a small army. For the Turk is not a small enemy, as Daniel [7:21] writes: "It is given unto him to fight against the saints." That is why he has such great successes, victory, even appearance of godliness, that he mocks us Christians as idolaters. He makes three thrones: God, on the left Christ, on the right Mahomet, who took the kingdom of Christ, who preceded him. Therefore, the Turk's oaths are with GOD, the Creator of heaven and earth, with Mahomet, his servant, and with the eighty-four prophets sent from heaven. Against the violence of such a great tyrant, we Germans are lazy cattle, crawl in good peace, are drunk,
play idly, are not moved by the defeats. For he has grown so enormously in thirty years that he has become a master of Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Asia and all Greece. Germany has always been the best nation. But it will be like Troy, and they will say: Germania fuit. (Aen. II, 325.) It is over. Let us ask God to keep our consciences in such misfortune.
It was said that the prisoner Catianus had escaped from the prison and saved himself by fleeing. Luther answered: "That is not right. Ah, Ferdinand has no felix [luck, so-called kitchen Latin] in the Donato. He is the ruin of Germany.
(The following paragraph in Lauterbach, April 11, 1538, p. 60.)
On April 11, he said many things about the greatness and power of the Turk, whose kingdom would be proclaimed by Daniel and in the Revelation of John, so that the godly should not be frightened by his greatness. For the prophecy of Daniel is a fine chronicle, valid until the end of the world, because the kingdom of the Antichrist and the Turk is clearly expressed. For it is said in Revelation Cap. 13, [7th], "He shall contend with the saints, and overcome them." This is actually from the Turk, not from the pope. For the saints do not conquer by holiness, but by patience and faith they conquer; in the body they are slain. And it is added: [Dan. 7, 25.] "It shall be given him a time and two lines and half a time." 1) If "time" means a year, then it makes four years, so it applies immediately to Antiochus, who ruled tyrannically over the people of Israel for three and a half years; this knave Antiochus escaped from the Romans, to whom he was given as a hostage; not by force, but by trickery he got into [the government, ruled seven years, but only four years he plagued the Jews and finally died miserably. He had to suffer a stench of his sickness that no one could stay around him, and thus is
1) In this passage, the question is what kind of time is being spoken of here.
he will be disgraced and destroyed without a hand. This is how it will be with the priest, who will also perish without a hand, will pine away and rot in himself, will be abandoned by his own, will rot and die in himself, because he did not gain dominion through force and power, but through lies and superstition. By the reputation of the scripture: "You are Peter" 2c., "feed my sheep" (Matth. 16, 18. Joh. 21, 15.), he has grown on this ground and will descend again. Therefore, the prophecy "without violence" refers mainly to the pope. All other tyrants and rulers go along with power and violence. Howbeit the general prophecy concerns both, the pope as well as the Turk. For both began at the same time and at the same time under the emperor Phocas, which is now about 900 [years], when the pope began to rule spiritually and Mahomet to grow. But the carnal kingdom of the pope lasted hardly 300 years, since he vexed the emperors and kings. But I cannot define this prophecy, one time, two times and half a time. I would like to draw it on the Turk, who began to rule from the capture of Constantinople, 1453, which is now 85 years. If I now calculate "time" according to the age of Christ, 30 years, then this sentence makes 105 years, 2) so the Turk still has 20 years to reign. Well, God knows how he wants to do it. How he wants to free his own is not up to us to guess, but to pray and repent.
(The following paragraph in Lauterbach, Sept. 8, 1538, p. 126.)
On September 8, horrible news was written about the Turk, who hurried to Hungary in his own person with four armies and wanted to take the city of Buda and the king's throne in his own person and spend the winter there. Luther said: If the thing is true, we have slept through it. I still believe that it is a pretense of Ferdinand, who wants to have taxes; for he has already dealt with it several times and has brought about by these tales that one has given him
2) Three and a half times the age of Christ.
I do not believe when necessity demands it, as it is written in Aesop that the wolf was to be beaten when he was not there, but after that, when he came, no one wanted to come. I am very much afraid that Germany will be ruined when it is exhausted in money and men, and then it will be thrown to the Turks. But I, poor Luther, must have done everything, just as the peasants' revolt and the sects of the Sacramentirans will be laid at my door. That is why I have often thrown the keys to the door of God.
(This paragraph in Lauterbach, Nov. 10, 1538, p. 160.)
On November 10, he said various things about the lies of the Turks, who brazenly boasted as Saracen and God's people, with the most brazen lie against the Holy Scriptures. They say that it is true that Isaac was the son of the promise, but when he should have been slaughtered on Mount Horeb, he escaped from his father's obedience, as if he wanted to get the knife himself. Meanwhile, Ishmael would have offered himself voluntarily for sacrifice, and so he would have become the son of promise. This lie is very impudent, as is that of the Papists of One Form. It is not a sin of ignorance, but of obduracy. Thus, the Turk boasts that he is God's people and the most religious, as if all others were idolaters.
(This paragraph in Cordatus No. 341.)
When the Turk will come to Germany, he will give us a good [slap]. But he will never possess Germany, because the people are too evil.
If the Turk comes, he will not be provoked by Ferdinand, but by himself, so that he will provoke us and give us cause to fight and defend ourselves. But it is said that he who takes the sword will be beaten and will gladly lose. But I take care. For among our people there is great contempt for God's word, and among the papists great blasphemy and abominable sin against the first and other tablets of God's ten commandments; this makes me evil in conscience and grieves my heart. If God does not help us, we are lost.
Again, first of all, I am comforted by the Turk's hope, who relies on his power, and by F[erdinand's] poverty. For the nature and manner of our Lord God is to remove the mighty from the throne. On the other hand, that the Pope and the Frenchman lure the Turk into our land. Therefore, God help us. If he comes in a moment, he may lead Sebnam away, but he will have to leave Ezechiam satisfied.
(The following paragraph in Lauterbach, Nov. 10, 1538, p. 161.)-.
The first and most important of the Turk's languages is the Scythian, which he uses at court and for writing letters; then the Arabic, because of religion, since Mahomet wrote in Arabic. The third and fourth languages are Greek and Latin, which are foreign [barbarae] to them. He is the only ruler of a large part of Asia, except for the Persian kingdom, Egypt, Greece and all the countries that belong to the Oriental empire. I hope he will leave the occidental one satisfied. If he should come to Germany, he will not come as a lord, but as a robber. If Germany had a master, she could easily resist him, but the Papists, our worst enemies, would rather see Germany ruined. The Turk is in the mood for this, he is skilled in warfare, is always in arms; if he is put to flight in one place, he tries it in another and tires his opponents.
Turks have kept many Mosaic things and ceremonies; but the great fortune in wars and victories makes them proud and inflates them, that they have invented new services. For the fame and glory of war is greatly esteemed according to the flesh. Therefore, because the Turk knows nothing of the weakness and lack of stature of the Lord Christ, he is hopeful and proud; as Daniel also says, "It is given unto him to fight against the saints, and to overcome them." Dan. 7, 21. Revelation 13, 7.
In 1539, on February 11, it was said that the Turk had defeated the Wallachians and that he was heading for Germany through Poland 2c. There spoke D. M. Luther: He desires Germany, that is even, especially of the place. To Italy
But he does not fight easily, because he does not have enough space, he is too close to his people. He is a cruel, fierce enemy, and not to be despised: is very powerful, capable of many people: is a well-practiced and tried warrior, very wise: prevails and overcomes with artificial attacks and counsel: spares his people: keeps his people in favor and in good will; does not go out into the field thoughtlessly, does not strike either, 1) for he sees his advantage, breaks off the enemies gradually, plucks and plucks them one by one. He is indeed a great calamity, God's distemper and rod. We are sure and hopeful, and despise him: we rely on our wisdom, as if we were at war against the king of England or France; since he is a lord over many kingdoms, lands and people, and the most powerful and mighty monarch and emperor: and if a Michael or Raphael did not stand for us, be with us and defend him, we would have long perished.
D. Luther complained about Emperor Carl's negligence, as he did not take the matter seriously, always letting the Turks take one after the other, since an emperor should not have peace. As can be seen in histories, the Romans have always considered themselves a hereditary and certain warrior people, who always lay in the field, just as today the Turk also has the Jenitsher, 2) tried and best warriors. We, however, gather a bunch of loose, daring, wicked boys, who also damage and kill those who should protect and shield them. God protect us from war and war cries.
But I am extremely afraid of the Papists' alliance with the Turk, that they want to go to ruins with us. God grant that my prophecy may fail. I see the antecedents that precede; God will graciously prevent the consequences and what may follow. If the papists think of such a thing, they may do it. For it is unbelievable how evil the devil is: he does not rest and does not celebrate. They are now disgraced.
1) So Stangwald instead of "still beats".
2) d. i. Janissaries.
and have despaired, will make another, and remember how they have betrayed and surrendered us to the Turk, who holds almost the whole oriental empire, and all that lies to the east, except Syria, Babylon, Mesopotamia, which are under the Persian king: as the Persian Sultan and the Turk have One Religion, and yet one plagues the other for regiment's sake, that each would gladly have all, and be a lord alone, like ours.
In 1539, the last of June, there were new reports about the Persian king, how he was harassing the Turks and harassing them with wars, so that he would have had to call off his warriors from Wallachia. Then D. M. Luther was very surprised at the great power and might of Persia, which could humiliate the Turk and break him off in such a way that there would have to be two great powers. For although the Turk is capable of a great nation and is industrious, persevering forever and ever, and does not slacken nor celebrate, yet the Persian is said to have said that the Turk comes with many wives, wanting to bring him men 2c. It seems that the Turk is very afraid of the Persian.
Oh, if we Germans were also loyal to one another, we could easily resist the Turk if we always had fifty thousand on foot and ten thousand on horseback in the field. And since a battle would be lost, it could be replaced and reinstated with fresh troops from the start; it should be resisted and increased.
Duke Albrecht of Saxony is said to have said: If he had fifty thousand well-armed and skilled warriors with him, he would crisscross the world. Thus the Romans always had a warrior people with them, with whom they always held their ground and conquered their enemies. For they annually paid two and forty legions or regiments; and one legion had six thousand men. With the addition they made the people weary; so also the warrior people become more skillful and more ready through constant practice. Therefore, righteous warriors have special privileges and freedoms above others.
The Gospel is to Oven, in Hungary, and in Greece in many places. It is
But, said D. M. Luther, this is a very cunning and dangerous plot by the Turk against the Roman Empire, so that he can lure people to him and smear their mouths. But we want to pray to God that he will put his practices and treachery to shame, so that when he thinks he wants to bring us into his net, God will convert him through righteous, pious, godly preachers, as happened to Babel through dear Daniel.
Anno six hundred and thirty Mahomet arose, therefore this year (since 1530 1) is written nine hundred years.
Now certain newspapers say that the Turk is coming. Now the papists will say that he is coming for the sake of my teachings, so that God will punish Germany for not destroying Luther and his teachings. After that, Master Faber, Schmid, Rotzlöffel and others will make processions and prayers. What shall our God do to him? I would like to beat the Turk, but I don't know how to pray, our people are so bad about it. May the Almighty God have mercy on us and help us. I am afraid that M. will lose the land. Well, they don't want it any other way. I fear that I have been a prophet, for I have said that the Emperor was required and appointed in Germany for the sake of exterminating the Lutherans by force, but if he did not do so, he and all of us would be thrown into the Turks' jaws. That Germany should bathe in blood would be Pabst's opinion, pleasure and desire. But I have confidence in God that he will defeat and subdue the Turk.
(The following in Cordatus No. 686. 1612. 1613.)
One talks a lot about the Turk and the German princes, who believe they will also succeed because they have the intention. But God says: Both is mine [namely, the will and the accomplishment]. The world will learn this from Ferdinand and Duke George. Thus the Turk advances against us very presumptuously and very surely, with contempt for all conditions of peace, trusting only in the quantity of his army. It wants to king
1) In the 1553 editions.
that [it] means won. 2) God is pleased to fight with such companions, which he proved before Vienna, from where the Turk departed with shame and lost many thousands of people in the Danube and through the plague. He will destroy him with hellish fire. When the Turk has overrun us, he will fly out.
When the emperor broke out with a very large army against the Turk to Austria, he [Luther] said that he believes that Daniel speaks of him in the 11th chapter [v. 45], where he speaks of the king at midnight and at noon [Austri], who will pitch his tent between two seas in the precious land. God help us that good new newspapers come. I would not have believed that I should have lived so long until the two emperors should come together. 3)
Pray to God, because our leader [princeps] is too presumptuous and trusts in his armies. This will not end well. He also added this, that the horses of the Germans of the Turks easily knock over clover.
2. admonition of D. M. Luther, how to fight against the Turk.
(From a sentence of Luther's letter to the Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg, May 17, 1542, Walch, old edition, Vol. XXI, 470, the first paragraph of this § is formed, which we have omitted, namely: "For Turks and devils, our sin and God's wrath are four mighty, great enemies, so on our necks lie, to which we are with bodily power much, much too weak.")
When the young lord, Duke John Frederick, took the homage at Wittenberg, in 1532, new newspapers came, saying that some captured Turks had indicated that the Turk was leading two hundred thousand warriors, wanted to wait for the emperor and do battle with him. Our emperor, however, would meet him with one and a half hundred thousand men, namely, six and forty thousand Spaniards and Italians. And Antoni de Leva,
2) In the manuscript: "Es wil kunnen, das gewannen heist." Here is obviously again the same sense as above: the Turk will not lack will, but perhaps ability. - The withdrawal of the Turks from Vienna happened in 1529.
3) There is talk of the campaign in the fall of 1532 that Emperor Carl V undertook with his own troops and the imperial army against the Turks. (Wrampelmeyer.)
the famous warrior and most distinguished one among the emperor's captains, would have arrived with a very large and select band of warriors, in fifty thousand men by sea.
Then M. Luther said: "All this is according to my wish. For we see that the world is now governed by God's counsel, and if he gives happiness, not by human wisdom. Who could have hoped that such a great people and army would come together? This happens unawares. Thus, this time of the world is now governed by unspeakable, miraculous ways and measures. We have, praise God, such an emperor, who now brings together the two most powerful and strongest nations, Spaniards and Germans, and has them with each other. May God the Lord give him victory, and every Christian is obliged to pray diligently that he may prosper and have happiness. For he is given to us by God, and he has ruled well until now. Therefore, pray that God will help him, assist him, and send an angel to his army, so that the Turk will be frightened enough. If he defeats the Turk, he shall advise the other adversaries well. For the Pope, the King of France, England, and the Venetians are enemies of our Emperor, seek his crown, and would like to subdue him; therefore he is in great need of the prayers of the faithful. God will help him, because he is righteous and sincere, not bloodthirsty.
(Cordatus No. 666.)
Whoever twitches the knife first, must also take it first. Thus the Turk has so far, since he was provoked by Ferdinand, [won, when he will come uugereizt,] 2) he will be defeated and will be defeated, and when the papists will start war against us, they will be defeated. In short, he who twitches to the last, tucks in to the last.
(One paragraph, in Lauterbach, Jan. 5, 1538, p. 3, is transferred to Cap. 62, §1, where it belongs; instead, we let follow here the relation of Cordatus No. 882).
The King of France has been so long proud, relying on auxiliaries from the Turk, that at last in his glorious
1) In the editions: Spain.
2) Inserted from the German Table Talks.
He was captured and put in prison, so that he would learn that defeat and victory are in God's hands. This was not known to Signor Bartholomew, the captain of the Venetians, who had chased 4,000 of Maximilian's soldiers into a valley and said: "Those Germans I will slaughter before the eyes of all the gods, and he has fallen with his great army. He said, be it dear or sorry to God. But behold the war of God. For when the Venetians fled into the valley, their powder chariot broke and the powder scattered here and there was finally set on fire by them and began to kill the pursuing Venetians, but then the Venetians turned around and killed them all, with a very large number of the most respected women, who were invited in their adornment by the captain from Padua and arid cities to watch him slaughter the German beasts.
The Turk boasts of his great fortune and victory, as if he alone with his Mahometists were God's people, and completely believes that he alone is emperor and lord of the world, just as only One is God and creator. But the boast is untimely, because the Roman Empire, which was the most powerful, never had the whole world under its control. For it could not force the Persians, Parthians, India, Germany and bring them under its power. The teacher Baldus disputes whether the emperor is a lord of the whole world? But there is no need for proof, because the work also proves it.
There was talk about the Turks that Emperor Carl had sent 18,000 Spaniards to Austria to protect it. Then M. Luther sighed and said: "Oh, these are the last times and days, when these cruel nations, namely Turks and Spaniards, want to rule: I would rather have the Turk as an enemy than the Spaniards as patrons, who tyrannize to the utmost. The majority are Marans, 3) baptized Jews, who believe nothing at all, since other heretics stubbornly defend their opinions: but the Marans are good fellows, who still believe nothing certain.
3) Changed by us according to Cap. 27, Z12, from "Moraner.
(The following paragraph in Lauterbach, Feb. 21, 1538, p. 35.)
Then it was said of noble prisoners in Turkey. Ah, Lord God, said Luther, what a disgrace it is to our nation to go forward so disorderly and womanishly under the arms of the enemy, 1) where no Turkish soldier has been. Those are very miserable prisoners. No one has pity on them, or prays for them, but surely we drink and gamble, and hate each other fiercely, preparing the way for the Turk. Let us cry out to God, pray and mend our ways according to God's word, if we are to be asleep, so that if we are killed, whether by Turks or by Spaniards, we may be found confessing the faith that we will not become Turkish or Spanish.
It was written about Torgau, how the Turk had led three and twenty Christians to Constantinople, who had first taught in particular, and then had publicly confessed their faith in Christ in the temple and churches of the bishops, whom the Turkish emperor had cut to pieces. Then said D. M. Luther said: "If this is true, then the blood will cry out over the Turk, as the blood of John coughs over the papacy. That is certain, tyranny and outward, physical persecution will not destroy Christ and his word, because his kingdom stands and grows in blood: if one kills a Christian, there will be many against him.
When the Turk was remembered, D. M. Luther said: "I do not rely on my bow and my sword cannot help me. M. Luther said: "I do not rely on my bow, and my sword cannot help me", Ps. 44, 7. If God does not help us, it is over. Do you think that when the Turk comes, he will be afraid of a hundred thousand men? For God does not ask how strong a man is; He overthrows a hundred thousand men with a straw.
Two years ago, our Lord God fought with the Turk before Vienna, and he lost two and eighty thousand men, with a pestilence that could not have been beaten off in half a year. This has told me, said D. M. Luther, my most gracious lord, the Elector of Saxony, told me.
D. M. Luther once spoke of the Turk, saying: Pray, for there is no hope
1) This refers to those who are caught by the corps.
There is no longer anything that war armor will do; God must do it. If anyone should do it to the Turk, it will be the little children who still pray the Lord's Prayer. Our ramparts and our fortresses and all our strongholds will leave him undisturbed and unarmed. I also tell it to the builders here in Wittenberg, and say: Dear lords, what are you building for a long time, if the Our Father does not build a wall, which is called Angeli Domini circumvallant timentes se, then your wall is a dirt, Vallum Angelorum is a fine wall. And so also the special wall of the Christians shall be called: Non calx et lapis, sed Oratio et Fides. But it does not help, the courtiers say: the theologians do not understand.
3. from the prayer against the Turk.
Doctor M. Luther said at another time: "I do not hope for our guns or ramparts, but for the Lord's Prayer, which must strike the Turk: the Ten Commandments do not do it. I hope when the time comes that our Lord God will hear our prayer, that the Turk will have to fall through intestinas dissensiones, when the four brothers, sons of the Turk, would quarrel about the empire. For in this way all the empires of the world have fallen: the Persian, Chaldaic, Alexandrian and Roman empires have perished. None of them has ever fallen by force; disunity and division have done them harm, and it will do the same to the German land that the princes and lords are not one.
He who climbs high likes to fall. Good climbers like to fall to their death, good swimmers like to drown; so will the Turk. It is well said that he who does not climb too high does not fall hard. When the time comes for the Turk to fall, just as he has risen high enough, our Lord God will only be too concerned for a moment, and his empire will lie in ashes.
The Turk is Populus irae Dei. It is a terrible plague that he tears the conjugia so. The Romans did not do that. The Turk does not keep a marriage in his country. So he is also a blasphemer and a whoremonger. He is a blasphemer, for he says, "God desecrates the one who believes that Christ is God.