At the same time Leo urged the new emperor Charles V., in his character of advocate and defender of the church, to make an exem plary punishment of Luther as an obdurate heretic. But Frederick, the elector of Saxony, employed his influence with Charles to have Luther's cause tried by a diet of the empire, which assembled at Worms, in April 1521.
Having obtained the emperor's safe conduct, he repaired to ;Worms, and was met by multitudes outside of the town. On entering he began singing the hymn "Our God is a strong citadel," which became known as Luther's hymn, and the inspiring song of the Reformation. On the 17th of April he appeared before the emperor, the electors, bishops, dukes, margraves, and other princes and lords assembled, and being asked whether he was the author of the books now produced, in which the propositions condemned by the pope were contained, he 4 — answered in the affirmative. Being next asked whether he would retract or maintain them, he begged for time to consider of his answer, and was allowed one day. The following day be appeared again before the assembly, and said that his writings were of various character, that in some he had treated only of Christian faith and piety, and those could contain nothing objectionable ; that in some he had exposed the ioventlons of men and the uenrpations of the popes, and these he could not retract; that in others, which were directed against the defenders of the pope, he might have expressed himself is an unbecoming manner, but that he could not retract the substance however censurable the manner of it; that, being a man, he was liable to error, and that he was ready, if convicted by the testimony of the Scriptures, to commit a portion or tho whole of his publications to the flames. And he repeated what he had already said on another occasion, that both pope and council were liable to error, and had in fact often erred. He had formerly quoted the council of Constance as an instance of his assertion.
On the following day Charles V. told the diet that, attached as he was to the Roman Catholic Church, be ehonld ever defend its doctrines and constitution ; that he could hear Luther no more ; and that he should dismiss him, and afterwards treat him as a heretic. This decision was also that of the majority. Some were for trying persuasion and entreaty with a man who, like Luther, could not he frightened, into submission; but entreaty was likewiss of no avail, for Luther refused to retract a single proposition unless proved to be erroneous by the authority of the Scripture. He was then ordered to leave
Worms, with a written promise of security for twenty-one days. He left on the 26th of April, but on entering a forest his carriage was stopped by a party of armed horsemen in masks, who placed him on horseback, and rode off with him to the solitary castle of Wartburg, situated on a mountain. This was another contrivance of his kind protector the Elector of Saxouy. The greatest secrecy was observed concerning the place of his retreat, and it was purposely reported about that his enemies had carried him off. A. month after his departure an imperial edict appeared, placing Luther under the ban of the empire, ordering him to be seized and retained in prison at the emperor's pleasure, and imprisonment and confiscation were denounced against any one who aided and abetted him. But the edict could not be enforced. The Elector of Saxony was Luther's friend; few, if any, of the other electors or princes were hie enemies, and the popular voice was for him ; for the Germans in general, although few of them under stood the subject-matter of Luther's polemics, were weary of the abuses and encroachments of the ecclesiastical power.
In his asylum at Wartburg Luther wrote several treatises against auricular confession, against monastic vows, clerical celibacy, and prayers for the dead; against the Sorbonne of Paris, which had con demned his works, and which he exposed to public ridicule. His writings spread and produced a wonderful effect in Saxony. Hundreds of monks quitted their convents and married. The Angustin friars of Wittenberg abolished the mass. Carlostadt, a disciple of Luther, but more intemperate than his master, accompanied by a band of reformers, demolished the images in the church of All Saints at Wittenberg, and next proposed to banish all books from the university except the Bible. He also affected to obey to the letter the sentence pronounced on Adam by going to work in the fields for some hours daily. Even the polished Melancthon followed the example, and went to work in a baker's shop.