Reformation

His doctrines had been spreading widely; the statistics of the German press are most eloquent here; in 1517 only 37 vernacular books were printed; in 1518 there were 71, and by 1523 the num ber had risen to 498, of which 18o were by Luther himself. For here was a population which, far beyond all others in Europe, had already been gaining a certain familiarity with the Bible in the vernacular. Fourteen editions in High German, and four in Low German, had appeared before 1518; and, though these editions were doubtless limited and therefore expensive, yet they must have done something to permeate popular thought. Most of the great cities were becoming Lutheran; the new doctrines spread, natu rally enough, in Luther's own religious order (the Austin Friars) and in his University of Wittenberg.

Here, in fact, things went too fast. One of the Wittenberg pro fessors, Andrew Bodenstein (Carlstadt), pushed matters to extremes; he lectured and preached and wrote against almost all the traditional ceremonies.

Momentum.

At the same time, and only 6o miles away, the populous weaving centre of Zwickau was in still greater religious commotion ; three of the Zwickau enthusiasts came to Wittenberg, and Carlstadt persuaded the magistrates to publish an epoch making ordinance, which practically transferred the whole direc tion of Church affairs to the laity, who at the same time under took the poor relief and the moral discipline of the city. Carlstadt went even farther, and started an iconoclastic crusade. Luther's friend and colleague Melanchthon (q.v.) disapproved strongly, but could do nothing. The elector also was seriously troubled; other princes were taking the Wittenberg disturbances as a text for armed intervention ; and Luther risked his own personal safety to return and restore order. He preached at Wittenberg on eight successive days : "I will preach reform, I will talk about it, I will write about it, but I will not use force or compulsion with any one. . . . The word will drop into one heart to-day, and to-mor row into another, and so will work that each will forsake the mass." A new pope came to the throne in 1522, Adrian VI., a pious man sincerely anxious for reform. At the diet of the empire held at Nuremberg (1522-3) his nuncio pressed that serious measures should be taken against Luther, since Charles V.'s decree, however decisively worded, was practically a dead letter. The members of the diet answered by presenting a list of I oo grievances against the Church ; the nuncio reported to the pope that "among a thousand men scarcely one could be found untainted by Lutheran teaching." Then Adrian died suddenly, and was succeeded by Clement VII., a Medici by birth and by nature interested less in

reform than in papal prestige. His legate, Campeggio, though a most dexterous diplomatist, could effect very little. The Diet of Speyer (1524) began to plan a Church council for Germany, which would have separated from Rome and anticipated England in the formation of a national Church.

The Peasants'

IATar.—It is from this moment that we must date "the beginning of the separation of Germany into two oppo site camps of Protestant and Roman Catholic, although the real parting of the ways actually occurred after the Peasants' War" (T. M. Lindsay). That war, though precipitated by the Lutheran revolt, was essentially a mere continuation of the struggles de scribed above. Luther's message was democratic; his language displayed the defects of his qualities; its extraordinary force and directness constantly tempted him into exaggeration, and added fuel to the social discontent which had smouldered for generations side by side with anti-clericalism.

Seven years after Luther's attack on the indulgence system, the peasants' revolt broke suddenly out (June 1524). It began on the upper Rhine, encouraged doubtless by the successful assertion of freedom by the Swiss. In a few weeks the conflagration spread as far north as the Harz, and eastward to Tirol and Styria; cities, knights, and even princes made terms with the insurgents or joined their ranks. But the want pf efficient leadership and discipline soon made itself felt ; other princes and knights, with trained sol diers at their back, beat the insurgents in one battle after another, and the main revolt was subdued before the end of 1525, leaving the peasants in a worse plight than before, though the Tirolese held out longer and gained real concessions. Luther at first had sympathized with the insurgents and protested against harsh measures; he even risked his life by going among them and preaching peace and moderation.

But soon their excesses angered and dismayed him; his tract Against the murdering, thieving hordes of peasants breathed fire and slaughter. Its pitiless tone may be explained, though never excused, by the disastrous reaction of this social revolt upon Luther's own revolution ; the more so, since the rebels had in nearly all cases claimed religious sanctions for the movement. It was thenceforth evident that the Reformation was bound to em phasize political and social differences. Hitherto it might have been called a national movement in Germany, but henceforward it was a party-question in every sense of the word.