Chapter III: Part 3

“Frederic, alarmed for the safety of the empress, and his infant son Maximilian, who were in the citadel, appeared before the gates at the head of a body of Styrian horse. By his eloquence and address, he succeeded in conciliating the most violent of his opponents, and after an altercation which lasted three days, was admitted into the city. Refusing, however, to accede to all the demands of the disaffected, the populace again rose, pillaged the houses of his adherents, compelled him to take refuge in the citadel, and after a formal declaration of war, invested that fortress. At the same time Albert repairing to Vienna, concluded a treaty with the insurgents, and was intrusted with the conduct of the siege. But Frederic, though at the head of only two hundred men, held out with great firmness, and evinced a resolution rather to be buried under the ruins of the fortress, than surrender to his rebellious subjects. He appealed to the states of the empire, and when they were assembled at Nuremberg, a messenger arrived announcing that he was reduced to only three weeks provisions. The states displayed, indeed, a readiness to rescue him from his danger; but the proverbial tardiness of their succours would have rendered their resolutions ineffectual, had not Frederic been relieved by the king of Bohemia, who promptly despatched his son with 5000 men, and followed, in person, with an additional force of 8000. The advance of this timely succour relieved the emperor; both parties submitted their dispute to the arbitration of the Bohemian monarch, and the terms of an accommodation were adjusted. Both were to liberate their prisoners; Albert was to restore the towns, fortresses, and countries which he had occupied, and to enjoy the government of Lower Austria for eight years, on condition of paying the annual sum of 4000 ducats to the emperor.

“On the conclusion of this agreement, Frederic, escorted by a thousand Bohemian horse, met his deliverer at Corn-Neuburgh; he gratefully conferred several privileges on the kingdom of Bohemia, raised the two sons of Podiebrad to the dignity of princes of the empire, and in recompence to the inhabitants of Prague, who had furnished troops on this occasion, he granted them an exemption from the tolls at Vienna, and every part of the imperial territories.

“This accommodation was no less unavailing than former agreements; the hatred and suspicion of the two brothers were too inveterate to be eradicated, and the ambition of Albert too grasping to be satisfied. New disputes arose relative to the fulfilment of the terms: Albert endeavoured to appropriate Lower Austria, received the oath of allegiance from the citizens of Vienna, and made preparations for the renewal of hostilities; while Frederic procured the publication of the ban of the empire, and the sentence of excommunication from the pope against his brother. The pope, the princes of the empire, and the common friends of the two brothers, interposed to terminate this unnatural contest; but Albert rejected all offers of accommodation, and was with difficulty persuaded to conclude even a temporary armistice. In this interval, however, his arbitrary government and continual exactions had alienated the citizens of Vienna, and a strong party, among whom was even Hulzer himself, reconciled themselves with Frederic, and endeavoured to effect his restoration. Their designs being discovered, Albert sated his vengeance by condemning Hulzer to the scaffold, and by confiscating the property of the disaffected. At length Frederic was delivered from an active and turbulent rival, by the sudden death of Albert, who expired on the 4th of December, 1463, at the moment when he was preparing to renew hostilities.”

Frederic was engaged in other wars for personal objects with other antagonists, as selfish in their aims as himself; although they illustrate the family character, they do not especially illustrate our particular subject. The most important act of his life, and most fruitful of consequences, was his bringing about the marriage of his son Maximilian with Mary of Burgundy.

“Before 1477, France and the house of Austria had no subject of rivalry or jealousy, and their political interests were as distinct as their respective dominions. But the marriage of Maximilian with the heiress of Burgundy, entailed on the two powers an hereditary enmity, which deluged Europe with blood for more than three centuries. This enmity arising from jarring interests and contiguity of dominion, was rendered personal by the rupture of the marriage of Maximilian with Anne of Brittany, and the dismission of the archduchess Margaret; and though suspended by treaties and temporary expedients, was continually breaking out on every trifling occasion.

“From the time in which the house of Austria had been deprived of all its territories in Helvetia, the Swiss confederacy had increased in power and influence. Their union had been strengthened in 1481 by the accession of Soleure and Friburgh. Except the Pays de Vaud, which belonged to the house of Savoy, Neufchatel, subject to its own counts and the Italian baillages, which were dependent on Milan, they or their allies possessed almost the whole country which is now called Switzerland. The Helvetic body thus becoming an important link in the chain of European powers, their alliance was courted with much solicitude and intrigue by the greatest potentates, and they were induced to take an active part in the wars of the continent.

“The disputes between the house of Austria and France, for the succession of Burgundy and the possession of Brittany, and the almost constant hostilities to which these disputes gave rise, occasioned earnest and repeated solicitations from the house of Austria and France for an intimate union with the Swiss confederates. Louis XI. gained considerable influence among the Cantons by his private largesses to the leading men, his public subsidies, and the great privileges which he granted to those who served in his armies and settled in France. During the latter part of his reign, indeed, he forfeited the confidence of the Cantons, by withholding his bounties and subsidies; but his son Charles regained their friendship by discharging the arrears and renewing the former connections. Maximilian, from the moment of his accession, was likewise desirous to form an alliance with the Swiss, and to obtain a renewal of the hereditary union; but the superior influence of France, as well as their natural jealousy of the house of Austria, induced them to reject all his offers.

“That part of Rhætia called the country of the Grisons, was originally a dependency of the German empire, and subject to feudal lords, the bishop of Coire, the abbot of Disentis, the counts of Werdenberg, Sax and Masox, the barons of Retzuns, and the count of Tockenburgh. Towards the middle of the fifteenth century the people emancipated themselves from feudal jurisdiction; but their chiefs consenting to this emancipation were suffered to retain considerable prerogatives; and thus the government became a singular mixture of aristocracy and democracy. The country was divided into a number of little communities under different forms of government: a few aristocratical, others popular, and some more democratical than even the rural cantons of Switzerland. These communities composed three leagues, called the Grey League, the League of God’s House, and the League of Ten Jurisdictions; and these by means of a general diet formed one republic. The people, hardened amidst the rugged rocks and perpetual snows of the Rhætian Alps, were a rude, hardy, and warlike race, froward and licentious, impatient of control, and no less distinguished from the rest of mankind by their singular customs and manners, than by their situation and forms of government.

“The bishop of Coire, the principal member of the League of God’s House, had been engaged in perpetual contests with the sovereigns of the Tyrol, relative to the demarcation of the frontiers, the profits of mines and territorial possessions; and those disputes were aggravated by rival pretensions to the advocacy of the abbey of Munster, which had been claimed by the sovereigns of the Tyrol. Another object of dispute was the valley of Prettigau, which forming the intermediate link between the Tyrol and the League of Ten Jurisdictions, was coveted by both parties. Amidst these contrary pretensions and jarring interests, various feudal privileges in the barony of Retzuns, a community of the League of God’s House, and in the whole League of Ten Jurisdictions, purchased by Sigismond, and transmitted to Maximilian, contributed to render him obnoxious to the Grison republics. These contests with Maximilian had overcome the jealousy which the Grisons had hitherto fostered against the Swiss, and soon after his accession, the Rhætian leagues united with the Swiss states in a formal confederacy, a union from which the house of Austria experienced the most fatal effects.”

We close our mention of Frederic with an amusing anecdote, sufficiently characteristic.

“Like his great uncle Rodolph, he was attached to the study of antiquities and heraldry, and like him formed alphabets of mysterious characters, and whimsical devices. A species of anagram, consisting of the five vowels, he adopted as indicative of the future greatness of the house of Austria, imprinted it on all his books, carved it on all his buildings, and engraved it on all his plate. This riddle occupied the grave heads of his learned contemporaries, and gave rise to many ridiculous conjectures; till the _important_ secret was disclosed after his death by an interpretation written in his own hand, in which the vowels form the initials of a sentence in Latin and German, signifying ‘the house of Austria is to govern the whole world.’

(Austria Est Imperare Orbi Universo. )
(Alles Erdreich Ist Oesterreich Unterthan.)
Fugger, p. 1080.”

The age of Maximilian was remarkable as the period in which the boundaries of the nations of Europe were strongly defined. It witnessed the union of Brittany with France; of Castille with Aragon; of Burgundy with Austria. It was also the epoch of the union of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, under Margaret at Calmar; of the rise of Russia, under Ivan Vassilevitch; of the greatest glory of Portugal, under John; of the prosperity of Poland, under Albert; of the union of Bohemia and Hungary, under Ladislas; of a confederacy of the Grisons and Swiss, more especially directed against Austria; of the revival of literature and the arts in Italy, under the fostering care of the Medici and other merchant princes, who brought the Italian republics to their highest point of splendour; finally, it was the acme of the Turkish power in Europe, signalised by their taking Constantinople on the one hand, and the beginning of decline through the sudden death of Mahomet in 1431 on the other. But more important than all political attitudes of nations, were the consequences of the invention of powder, and of printing. For these peaceful events were big with a revolution, which is not even yet, in five hundred years, fully developed, but which will unquestionably bear the ultimate fruits in America, which was also at that epoch just discovered.

But Maximilian did not desert the hereditary character and line of action, to enter into the new ideas of the time. He struggled for means to drive both Spain and France from Italy, not in order to give Italy independence and freedom, but to revive the imperial power there; a project he was at length compelled to abandon. But this portion of his action belongs to the history of Austrian influence in Italy, to which our narrative will return bye and bye, and view it as a whole.

With respect to the Reformation, Coxe observes:

“This controversy had attracted the attention of Maximilian, who was naturally fond of bold and novel opinions, and anxious to reform the abuses and curb the encroachments of the church. Far from opposing the first attacks of Luther against indulgences, he was pleased with his spirit and acuteness, declared that he deserved protection, and treated his adversaries with contempt and ridicule. In the progress of the dispute he was, however, gradually drawn from this favourable opinion, and from conviction, _from pique against Frederic of Saxony for opposing the election of his grandson_, or from a desire of conciliating the Pope, was induced to interfere in the controversy. In a letter to Leo X., dated August 5, 1519, he stigmatised the principles of Luther as heretical, and alluded to his numerous and powerful supporters. He urged the necessity of terminating these rash disputes and captious arguments, by which the Christian church was scandalised, and offered to support and enforce the measures which the Pope should think necessary to adopt.

“In consequence of this letter, Leo was induced to pursue more vigorous measures: he enjoined the cardinal of Gaeta, his legate at the diet of Augsburgh, to summon the heretic Luther in person; if he refused to recant, to detain him in custody; and, if he did not obey the summons, to denounce the sentence of excommunication against him and all his protectors or adherents. At the same time Leo wrote to the elector of Saxony, requesting him to withdraw his protection from Luther, and promising that if not found guilty, he should be liberated and absolved.

“But at this critical moment the emperor Maximilian died, before the papal bull could be presented to him, and the government devolved on the elector of Saxony, as vicar of the empire. The proceedings against the great reformer were thus suspended, and he was enabled to improve his knowledge of the Holy Scriptures in silence and safety, to propagate his opinions, and, by study and meditation, to prepare himself for those hostilities against the authority of the Pope, which he had proclaimed by his recent appeal.

“Notwithstanding the exhortatory letter of Maximilian to the Pope, he seemed so little interested in the Lutheran controversy, that he dissolved the diet and quitted Augsburgh two days before the arrival of the Saxon reformer; and so rapid was the progress of that disorder which hurried him to the grave, that he had no opportunity, had he possessed the inclination, to interfere in the subsequent discussion.

“Although Maximilian did not illustrate his name and reign by conquest, or even considerable acquisitions by the sword, he may justly be considered as the second founder of the house of Austria. By his own marriage with the princess Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, he secured the inheritance of the house of Burgundy; by the marriage of Philip with Johanna he brought into his family the succession of the Spanish monarchy, and by the intermarriage of his grandson, the archduke Ferdinand, with Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, he entailed on his posterity the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. These and other vast acquisitions which the house of Austria obtained by marriage and not by arms, gave birth to a sarcastic epigram which has been attributed, though perhaps erroneously, to Matthias Corvinus, the celebrated king of Hungary:—

Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria _nube_;
Nam quæ MARS aliis, dat tibi regna VENUS.

“Since the reign of Charlemagne, no sovereign united such extensive territories and possessed such influence as Charles V., nor seemed more likely to realise the phantom of universal monarchy, which has never failed to fill the imagination of ambitious, or excite the apprehensions of weak and timid princes.

“He inherited the vast domains of the Spanish monarchy, including Naples and Sicily, and the recently discovered territories in the new world, and the seventeen provinces of the Low Countries, with Franche Comté and Artois, at that time the richest, most populous, and most flourishing country in Europe. In conjunction with his brother Ferdinand, he also succeeded to the whole possessions of the house of Austria. To these he united the highest dignity in Europe, and although the crown of the empire had proved a burden to weak sovereigns, in his powerful hands it became a formidable engine for territorial acquisitions, in consequence of numerous claims on all the surrounding districts, its extensive jurisdiction, and the force which the influence of so powerful a prince could still draw from the vast and heterogeneous mass of the Germanic body.

“Sovereign of such extensive territories, endowed with the most eminent talents, civil and military, and possessing almost universal influence by his connections and alliances, Charles seemed born to domineer over Europe; nor could the union of the princes and states of Germany have secured their liberties, had not his power been weakened by the separation of the Austrian and Spanish dominions, by his wars with France and the Turks, and still more circumscribed by the reformation in religion, which was commenced and perfected by the efforts and perseverance of Luther.

“After the death of Maximilian the Austrian territories were possessed in common by Charles and Ferdinand; but in 1521 a partition was made. Charles ceded to his brother Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, with their dependencies, and in the ensuing year, the Tyrol, and the exterior provinces in Suabia and Alsace, reserving to himself only the reversion of Brisgau and the Alsatian territories, which he afterwards relinquished. By this cession the house of Austria was divided into two separate and independent branches; the Spanish branch under Charles, and the German under Ferdinand.

“As Ferdinand, soon after the partition, became king of the Romans, as he finally succeeded to the imperial crown, it becomes necessary, for the elucidation of the subject, not to omit the affairs of Germany under Charles, and particularly to dwell on the rise and progress of the Reformation, which produced such important effects to the house of Austria and to Europe.”

Charles immediately convoked the diet of the empire, and “among the causes enumerated by Charles for the convocation of a diet, one of the most important was, ‘to concert with the princes of the empire effectual measures for _checking the progress of those new and dangerous opinions, which threatened to disturb the peace of Germany, and to overturn the religion of their ancestors_.’

“Charles had already given evident proofs of an hostile disposition towards the Lutheran doctrines, as well from conviction, as from a desire of obliging the pope, and an apprehension of alienating his subjects in Spain and the Low Countries, who were zealously attached to the religion of their ancestors. Before his departure from Spain he had declared his intention to suppress the new opinions, and on his arrival in the Low Countries had permitted the universities of Louvaine and Antwerp to burn the writings of Luther, and even supported the instances of the pope in urging the elector of Saxony to banish him from his territories. With these sentiments he opened the diet of Worms, permitted the papal legates to inveigh against Luther, and proposed that the German states should also condemn his doctrines, and commit his writings to the flames.

“Charles, however, was astonished to find that the proscribed opinions had taken a deep root, and spread over a great part of the empire. The diet itself displayed an evident disposition to favour an attack on the pretensions and exactions of the pope; and the states presented a long list of grievances against the Roman see, of which they required the emperor, in virtue of his capitulation, to obtain redress. In opposition to all the remonstrances of the legates, the members of the diet, at the instigation of the elector of Saxony, refused to proscribe Luther before he had acknowledged himself as the author of the propositions condemned by the papal bull, and had refused to recant, as a measure no less contrary to the principles of justice than to the laws of the empire; and they declared, that if he was convicted of error, and refused to retract, they would then assist the emperor in punishing his contumacy. The legates, who probably expected the same implicit obedience which had so long been paid to the dictates of the church, in vain contended that an affair, already decided by the pope, could never be again brought into deliberation, and that a dispute with Luther would be endless, because he refused to acknowledge the authority of the church. They had the mortification to find that all their remonstrances were ineffectual, and that their assertions of papal infallibility were heard by the majority with indifference or contempt.

“Charles, perceiving the sentiments of the diet, and unwilling to offend the elector of Saxony, to whom he owed the imperial crown, affected great candour and moderation, and, on the 6th of March, despatched a respectful summons and safe conduct to Luther; though, to appease the legate, he promised that Luther should not be suffered to defend, but simply to acknowledge or recant his doctrines. The undaunted reformer obeyed the summons with alacrity. His journey to Worms was like a triumphal procession, and his reception, from all orders of men, evinced the highest respect and admiration. Greater crowds assembled to behold him than had been drawn together by the public entry of the emperor; and his apartments were crowded daily and hourly with persons of the highest rank and consequence. On his appearance before the diet he behaved with great propriety, and acted with equal prudence and firmness. He acknowledged without hesitation, the works published under his name, but divided them into three classes. The first, he adroitly observed, relating to faith and good works, contained doctrines which were not disapproved even by his adversaries; the second, relating to the power and decrees of the pope, he could not retract without injuring his conscience, and contributing to the support of papal tyranny; and, in the third, consisting of his writings against his opponents, he acknowledged, with regret, that the provocation of his adversaries had urged him beyond the bounds of moderation. He concluded, as usual, with declining to retract the condemned propositions, until convinced by arguments from reason and Scripture, not by the fallible authority of popes and councils, which experience had proved to be frequently erroneous and contradictory. When again required to recant, he persisted in his resolution, and concluded with exclaiming. ‘Here I stand, I can do no more. God be my help. Amen.’

“The papal legate, and some of the members of the diet, provoked at his contumacy, exhorted the emperor to imitate the example of his predecessor, Sigismond, by withdrawing his protection from an heretic; but Charles rejected their advice with becoming disdain. He was, however, no less exasperated at the refusal of Luther to recant; and, after the second examination, retired in the evening to his cabinet, and drew up, with his own hand, a declaration of his attachment to the church, and of his resolution to proscribe the condemned doctrines. ‘Descended as I am,’ he said, ‘from the Christian emperors of Germany, the Catholic kings of Spain, and from the archdukes of Austria and the dukes of Burgundy, all of whom have preserved, to the last moment of their lives, their fidelity to the church, and have always been the defenders and protectors of the Catholic faith, its decrees, ceremonies, and usages, I have been, am still, and will ever be devoted to those Christian doctrines, and the constitution of the church, which they have left to me as a sacred inheritance. And as it is evident that a single monk has advanced opinions contrary to the sentiments of all Christians, past and present, I am firmly determined to wipe away the reproach which a toleration of such errors would cast on Germany, and to employ all my power and resources, my body, my blood, my life, and even my soul, in checking the progress of this sacrilegious doctrine. I will not, therefore, permit Luther to enter into any further explanation, and will instantly dismiss, and afterwards treat him as an heretic; but I will not violate my safe conduct, and will cause him to be reconducted to Wittemberg in safety.’

“The edict of Worms was passed on the 28th of May, but, to give it the appearance of unanimity, was antedated the 8th. It declared Luther a heretic and schismatic, confirmed the sentence of the pope, and denounced the ban of the empire against all who should defend, maintain, or protect him. To prevent also the dissemination of his opinions, it prohibited the impression of any book on matters of faith, without the approbation of the ordinary, and of some neighbouring university.

“Fortunately for the Reformation, the emperor was prevented from executing the edict of Worms by his absence from Germany, by the civil commotions in Spain, and still more by the war with Francis I., which extended into Spain, the Low Countries, and Italy, and for above eight years involved him in a continued series of contests and negotiations at a distance from Germany.

“Even in the hereditary countries of the house of Austria the Reformation found numerous advocates. Notwithstanding Ferdinand had endeavoured to enforce the edict of Worms, the evangelical principles were not only received by the people, but were adopted by many of the higher orders, and by the professors of the university of Vienna. The same spirit pervaded Bohemia; and that country, so feebly connected with the church and the empire, seemed again likely to become the scene of those religious troubles by which it had been desolated during the Hussite wars.

“The Reformation, thus successful in Germany, spread with equal rapidity in the neighbouring countries. Zuingle, the illustrious head of the reformed church in Switzerland, who had preceded Luther in his attacks against the Roman see, who equalled him in zeal and intrepidity, and surpassed him in learning and candor, had advanced with more daring steps; and free from the restraints which subjection to the will of a sovereign had imposed on the German divine, had overturned the whole fabric of the established worship. So early as 1524, the canton of Zurich renounced the supremacy of the pope; and, in 1528, Bern, Basle, and Schaffhausen, and part of the Grisons, Glarus, and Appenzel, followed the example.

“The reformed doctrines spread likewise over the kingdoms of the north: Christian II., the brother-in-law of Charles, had been driven from the throne of Sweden by Gustavus Vasa, and from that of Denmark by Frederic of Oldenburgh; and in both countries the jurisdiction of the pope was abolished, and the Lutheran declared the established religion. In England, also, the influence and authority of the church experienced a similar decline; the Reformation was received by the people with an eagerness which all the despotism of the sovereign could not repress, and even Henry VIII. himself, who, by writing against Luther, had acquired the title of Defender of the Faith, was preparing to undermine the authority of the pope, and was suing for that divorce from his queen, Catherine of Arragon, which soon afterwards occasioned the separation of England from the see of Rome. In France a similar schism took place, notwithstanding the efforts of Francis I., who, while he encouraged the reformers of Germany, persecuted them in his own dominions: a considerable party which had seceded from the church, had been already formed under the auspices of Farell, and afterwards increased by the labours of Calvin, from whom they received the denomination of Calvinists.

“The progress of the reformed doctrines, and the conduct of the reformed princes, was not likely to allay the animosity which subsisted between the two religious parties. The Catholics presented urgent and continual representations to the emperor; and, on the other hand, the Lutherans exerted every effort to maintain and extend their cause, by entering into associations, and making preparations to resist aggression. Above all, Philip, landgrave of Hesse, a prince perhaps sincere in his attachment to the new religion, but violent, ambitious, and interested, collected troops, and after alarming all Germany by dubious threats, commenced aggression by invading the territories of the bishops of Wurtzburg and Bamberg. The Catholic princes, being ill-prepared to retaliate, the civil war which now threatened Germany, and which afterwards burst forth with such fury, was suspended by their moderate language and pacific assurances; and Philip disbanded his troops, after receiving considerable sums of money in disbursement of his expenses. The reformed party were thus encouraged by the timidity and irresolution of their adversaries, and the animosity of the Catholics was augmented by their own humiliation.

“Hence the emperor summoned, in 1529, a second diet at Spire, for the usual purpose of opposing the Turks, who had overrun Hungary, and even threatened the Austrian territories; but principally for terminating the contests relating to religion. It was opened on the 15th of March, and in the absence of the emperor, presided over by Ferdinand, who had recently succeeded to the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. Every other consideration yielded to the affairs of religion; and the Catholics, sensible of the fatal consequences derived from the vote passed at the preceding diet of Spire, united the influence of their whole body to procure its repeal or modification. By a majority of voices a decree was passed, under the pretence of explaining, but virtually repealing the former edict of toleration, which was declared to have been misunderstood, and to have given rise to a variety of new doctrines. It was enacted, that in all places where the edict of Worms had been executed, it should be still observed, till the meeting of a council; that those who had adopted the new opinions should desist from all further innovations; that the mass should be re-established in all places where it had been abolished, and the Catholic subjects of reformed princes be suffered to enjoy unlimited toleration. The ministers of the Gospel were to preach the word of God, according to the interpretation of the church, and to abstain from promulgating new doctrines. No hostilities were to be committed under pretence of religion, and no prince was to protect the subjects of another. The severest penalties were denounced against the Anabaptists; and regulations were established against the reformed sect called Sacramentarians, who, in the doctrine of the real presence in the sacrament, differed both from the Catholics and Lutherans.

“The Lutherans could not avoid perceiving the intent of this decree, and were justly alarmed with its probable consequences. After in vain endeavouring to prevent it from receiving the approbation of the diet, they published their dissent by a regular protest. They declared that what had been decided unanimously in one diet, ought not to be revoked in another by a majority: and as the mass had been proved by their ministers to be contrary to the institution of Christ, they could not conscientiously permit its use among their subjects, or allow the absurd practice of administering the communion according to two different forms in the same place. They reprobated the clause which enacted the preaching of the Gospel according to the interpretations of the church, because it did not determine which was the true church. They argued that the Scripture, as the only certain and infallible rule of life, ought to be explained by itself alone, and not by human traditions, which are doubtful and uncertain; and they, therefore, declared their resolution to suffer nothing to be taught except the Old and New Testament in their pristine purity. They readily acceded to the proscription of the Anabaptists; but with a liberality of sentiment, which they afterwards belied, they refused to join in proscribing the Sacramentarians, on the same principle which they had claimed for themselves, that no doctrines ought to be condemned until they had been heard and refuted. They concluded with professing their earnest desire to maintain tranquillity, and their acquiescence in the prosecution of those who were said to have violated the peace, before equitable judges.

“This protest was signed by John, elector of Saxony, George, margrave of Brandenburgh Anspach, Ernest and Francis, dukes of Brunswick Lunenberg, Philip, landgrave of Hesse Cassel, Wolfgang, prince of Anhalt, and fourteen imperial cities, who thus appealed to the emperor and to a future council. From this _protest_ the Lutherans acquired the name of Protestants, which has been since applied to all who separated from the church of Rome.

“Notwithstanding the remonstrance of the Protestants, the decree of the diet of Spire was but the prelude to still severer measures, which the emperor was determined to enforce by his presence, when relieved from the war in which he was then engaged. He had, therefore, no sooner concluded the treaty of Barcelona with the pope, and that of Cambray with Francis, than he quitted Spain with a resolution to restore the unity of the church. At Placentia, being met by a deputation with the protest of the Lutherans, he arrested the deputies, and arrogantly required its revocation. He continued his route to Bologna, where he was met on the 21st of February, 1520, by Clement VII., and received the crowns of Lombardy and of the empire with more than usual solemnity.

“During his stay at Bologna he was induced, by the advice of his chancellor Gattinara, to assume at least the appearance of more mildness and moderation than he had before displayed, and to fulfil his repeated promises of endeavouring to procure the convocation of a general council. With this view he held frequent and private conferences with Clement; but he was unable to overcome his repugnance, and was persuaded by the pontiff to resume his intention of employing force, if he failed in effecting the re-union of the church by mild and moderate measures. In consequence of this determination, he summoned a diet to meet at Augsburgh in April, in a circular letter, dated January 1, which breathes the spirit of conciliation and Christianity. ‘I have convened,’ he observed, ‘this assembly, to consider the difference of opinions on the subject of religion; and it is my intention to hear both parties with candour and charity, to examine their respective arguments, to correct and reform what requires to be corrected and reformed, that the truth being known, and harmony re-established, there may, in future, be only one pure and simple faith, and, as all are disciples of the same Jesus, all may form one and the same church.’

“A subsequent letter, in which he prorogued the meeting till the 15th of May, was couched in expressions equally temperate and equitable. Yet, notwithstanding these specious declarations of impartiality and moderation, the Protestant princes had just reason to doubt his sincerity. They recollected his earnest endeavours to enforce the edict of Worms, and the exertion of all his influence and authority in the empire to obtain the edict of the second diet of Spire. The preamble of the treaty of Madrid, in which he had unequivocally announced his hostility to their doctrines, and the arrest of the deputies who carried their protest, were the most public proofs of his intentions. They were also alarmed at his long residence at Bologna, and his frequent conferences and good understanding with the pope; and they had already learned to dread and suspect his dissimulation. In fact, the Protestant princes were so convinced that the emperor covered, under fair words, the most intolerant and despotic designs, that they deliberated whether they should not instantly assemble their forces, conclude an alliance with Zurich and Berne, and attack him before he was in a situation to subjugate them. But this resolution, of which subsequent events proved the expediency, was counteracted by the divines of Wittemberg, and by none more than Luther, who, though fierce in debate, and overbearing in controversy, was averse to war, and exhorted the elector to leave to God the defence of his own cause.”

Coxe goes on to tell all the action of Charles against the Protestants, first under the mask of moderation and then in open violence, until he was compelled to the religious truce of 1532 by an eruption of the Turks into Hungary, threatening Austria also with invasion, an event requiring the union of the Protestant and Catholic States against a common enemy.

Meanwhile the Catholics had obtained from Charles the appointment of a king of the Romans, who being attached “to the Church, might by his presence give force to the government, and support to the Catholic cause. With a natural partiality he proposed his brother Ferdinand, who, in addition to the hereditary countries of the house of Austria, had recently obtained the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. He positively refused to accept any other coadjutor; and his powerful influence concurring with the wishes of the Catholic electors, Ferdinand was regularly chosen by the whole college, except the elector of Saxony, on the 5th of January, 1531.

“The religious feuds being thus suspended, the German states were enabled to turn their whole force against the enemy of Christendom. The Protestants, eager to prove that their recent opposition had been merely derived from motives of conscience, exerted themselves with unusual alacrity, doubled and even trebled their contingents; and by their assistance Charles was principally enabled to lead an army in person against the infidels, and expel them from the Austrian dominions. He displayed, however, but little gratitude for this assistance; for he was no sooner relieved from his apprehensions of the Turks, than he encouraged the imperial chamber to recommence its proceedings against the Protestants, under the plea that the agreement of Nuremberg regarded the toleration of religious opinions, and not the possession of ecclesiastical property. The Protestants, roused by these proceedings, again renewed the confederacy of Smalkalde, and their engagements with foreign states; while their active and enterprising chief, the landgrave of Hesse, entered, with a considerable army, into the territories of Wirtemberg, defeated the Austrian troops at Lauffen, and restored the duchy to duke Ulric, who had embraced the Protestant doctrines.

“At this juncture the more timid or moderate of the Catholics interfered, and, through their interposition, and the mediation of the elector of Mentz and George duke of Saxony, with the chiefs of the Protestant party, a convention was concluded, on the 29th of July, 1534, at Cadan, in Bohemia. The convention of Nuremberg was renewed and confirmed, and the Protestants acknowledged Ferdinand as king of the Romans. To save the honour of the emperor, the duke of Wirtemberg and the landgrave of Hesse were to demand pardon on their knees; but the duke was allowed to retain possession of his territories on the condition that the duchy should become a mesne fief of the house of Austria, and that he should tolerate all religious opinions. John Frederic, the new elector of Saxony, who had recently succeeded his father, John the Constant, and was, like him, attached to the Protestant doctrines, was to receive the investiture of his dominions; and all processes in the imperial chamber, against the Protestants, were to be again suspended. Both parties agreed to exclude from the benefit of this treaty the Sacramentarians, and all other sects who maintained tenets contrary to the confession of Augsburgh and the Roman Catholic church.

“Charles was anxious to support the Catholics from attachment to the religion of his ancestors, from his interests as king of Spain and sovereign of the Netherlands, and from his desire to recover his authority as emperor; and for these reasons he was determined to exert his whole force in effecting the restoration of the Catholic cause. But duly appreciating the delicacy and difficulty of his situation, he prepared for the contest with his usual foresight, art, and sagacity. Sensible that violent measures would only unite the Protestants and alienate the most moderate of the Catholics, he endeavoured to adopt such a line of conduct, that to the Protestants he should appear only to prosecute a civil contest, and to the Catholics, to vindicate the honour of the church and of the empire, and compel refractory schismatics to submit their objections to the impartial decisions of a general council. He pursued this plan with unabated perseverance, notwithstanding all the clamours of the zealous Catholics, and all the remonstrances, reproaches, and intrigues of the new pontiff, Paul III., who reprobated the slightest degree of toleration, and was averse to the interference of a lay prince in ecclesiastical affairs.

“From the edict of Worms to the private act of toleration at the diet at Ratisbon, Charles had either granted or withheld liberty of conscience, as he was in friendship or at enmity with the pope and the Turks; yet he never abandoned his design of compelling the Lutherans to return to the church, and considered his occasional concessions only as temporary expedients which he was justified in resuming. With these views he concluded the peace of Crespy with Francis, on the 18th of September, 1544; and introduced into the treaty a secret article, binding the French monarch to assist in crushing the Lutheran heresy, and in enforcing the decree of the council which was about to be summoned; and he was, in 1506, relieved from all other foreign embarrassments, by the conclusion of a truce for five years, between his brother, as king of Hungary, and Solyman the Magnificent, sultan of the Turks.”

It is not necessary to state here the events of this well known war, every turn of which shows that the worst qualities of the house of Hapsburgh were concentrated in Charles and made effective by his military and diplomatic talents. In 1555 the war was concluded by “the religious peace of Passau,” presided over by Ferdinand, who was interested to conciliate the Protestant powers, that he might obtain assistance against the Turks. From all this portion of history we may see that if the house of Austria did not suppress the Reformation, it was through no scruples of respect for the rights of conscience.

Before speaking of the destruction of Italy, for it was nothing less, by Charles VI., and his destruction of the constitution of Spain, we will turn to consider that of Ferdinand in the East of Europe.

After having obtained from Charles the cession of Austria, and suppressed a rebellion there by the execution of its leaders, his marriage with Anne, princess of Bohemia and Hungary, paved the way for his final triumphs over those countries. The marriage of Louis of Hungary with his sister also gave colour to claims on that country which in the course of time he made good. For he claimed the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia on the death of Louis, who fell in a war with Solyman the Magnificent, when, having in vain appealed to the pope, the emperor and the German states for aid, that unfortunate monarch undertook to meet at Mohatz an army of 200,000 with 30,000 men. Ferdinand presumed on “a double title: the one derived from family compacts, which secured the reversion to the house of Austria, in failure of male issue to the reigning family; and the other in right of his wife Anna, the only sister of the deceased monarch. But the natives of Hungary and Bohemia were too much attached to their rights of election to respect these compacts, or even to acknowledge his claims as husband of the princess; and Ferdinand, prudently waiving his pretensions, offered himself as a candidate according to the usual mode of election. Being only opposed in Bohemia by Albert, duke of Bavaria, he was, on the 26th of October, 1526, elected by a committee of twenty persons, who were appointed by the states to choose a king.

“The new sovereign, in his letters of thanks to the states, promised to ratify all their rights and privileges, to observe the religious compacts, to raise no foreigners to any office of state, to coin good money, to govern the kingdom according to ancient customs and laws, and to reside at Prague. He also acknowledged, by public act, his election to the monarchy, as the free choice of the barons, nobles, and states of Bohemia, and disowned all other rights and pretensions. He soon afterwards repaired to Iglau, where he took the usual oaths; and, continuing his journey to the capital, was crowned with his wife Anne in the cathedral, on the 4th of February, 1527.

“After taking possession of Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia, at that time dependencies on Bohemia, he proceeded to Hungary, where the succession to the crown was contested by a more powerful rival than the duke of Bavaria.

“John of Zapoli, count of Zips, and waivode of Transylvania, being at the head of 40,000 men, whom he had led into the field to join his sovereign before the battle of Mohatz, offered himself as a candidate for the crown; and having convened the states at Tokay, was chosen by a large party of the nobles, who were averse to the rule of a foreigner. In November, 1526, he was crowned at Alba Regia with the sacred diadem of St. Stephen, by the Archbishop of Gran, and took up his residence at Buda, the capital of the kingdom, which had been recently evacuated by the Turks.

“On the other hand, Mary, the widow of the deceased monarch, and sister of Ferdinand, summoned, in conjunction with the palatine, a diet at Presburgh; and a party of the nobles, after declaring the election of John illegal, because the assembly at Tokay was not regularly convoked by the palatine, raised Ferdinand to the throne. The new sovereign supported his election by marching to Presburgh with a powerful army of Germans and Bohemians, was joyfully received by his party, took an oath to confirm the rights and privileges of the nation, and proceeded, without delay, towards Buda. Raab, Commorn, Gran, and Alba Regia surrendered without opposition; John retired from the capital, and Ferdinand made his triumphant entry. A numerous meeting of the states, assembled in a new diet, confirmed the proceedings at Presburgh, declared Ferdinand king, and proclaimed John and his adherents enemies of their country if they did not, within twenty-six days, desist from their contumacy. Ferdinand gained many of the nobles by favours and promises; his troops defeated those of his rival in various encounters; and John himself was compelled to take refuge in Poland, under the protection of Sigismond I., who had married his sister.

“Ferdinand was accordingly crowned by the archbishop of Gran, whom he had detached from the party of John; and after obtaining the ban of the diet against his rival, and appointing a council of regency during his absence, quitted Hungary in full possession of the whole kingdom.”

But before going on with Ferdinand’s transactions in Hungary, which we defer to the end of the book, we shall hear Coxe relate his destruction of the constitutional rights of Bohemia, in the XXXIVth chapter of his history.

“We have already seen that Bohemia was an elective monarchy.

“On his accession to the throne, the king was always constrained to acknowledge the right of election, and all the privileges of his subjects, and promise to govern according to the ancient constitution and statutes, particularly those of the Emperor Charles IV. The power of the crown was extremely limited, as well by the privileges of the different orders, as by the authority of the diet, without which he could not impose taxes, raise troops, make war or peace, coin money, or institute and abrogate laws.

“The diet, which shared with the king the executive and legislative authorities, consisted of the three estates of the realm; the barons, the knights or equestrian order, and deputies from certain privileged cities. By the laws the king alone possessed the right of convocation, but in turbulent times the states frequently assembled at the instigation of the principal barons, or by a common impulse in which the capital bore a considerable share. The number of members, instead of being uniform, depended on the exigency of the moment, or the importance of affairs, sometimes consisting only of a few, and at others forming a turbulent and heterogeneous assemblage of several hundred.

“Besides all these restrictions which had more or less controlled the preceding sovereigns, there were others arising from religious affairs, which particularly shocked the prejudices and thwarted the views of Ferdinand.

“From the accession of George Podiebrad, the equipoise established between the Catholics and Calixtins produced continual struggles and confusion, until his successor Ladislaus, in a diet holden at Kuttenberg, in 1485, procured the conclusion of a religious peace for thirty-three years, by which the Catholics and Calixtins agreed to abstain from mutual persecution; the priests were allowed to preach freely the word of God; and the compacts approved by the council of Basle, which had been revoked by the popes, were to be restored and maintained. These wise regulations suppressed the public dissensions; but the new opinions of Luther spreading from the contiguous parts of Saxony, found a ready reception among a people habituated to religious discussions, and divided into almost as many different sects as there were priests and preachers. The introduction of the reformed opinions exciting a new ferment induced the government, which administered the affairs of Bohemia during the reign of Louis, to prevent their diffusion by persecution and banishment. Many of the most remarkable Lutherans were driven from the kingdom; but the majority taking refuge under the name of Calixtins, carried their own principles into that body, while their numbers increased its weight and influence. So great, indeed, was the preponderance of Lutheranism in that sect, that in a committee selected for the purpose of establishing among themselves uniformity of opinion, they chose, as their chief or administrator, Howel Czahera, pastor of one of the churches of Prague, who had been educated at Wittemberg, and had distinguished himself in the propagation of the Lutheran doctrines.

“By this similarity of religious sentiments, a more powerful bond than the frail connections of policy or interest was formed between the Bohemians and Saxons. The reformers of Germany courted the sectaries of Bohemia as a body who, by weight and numbers, gave an essential support to their cause; while the sectaries of Bohemia favoured every new opinion and approved every innovation, which tended to depress the hierarchy and diminish the influence of the Roman see.

“Such was the civil and religious state of Bohemia when Ferdinand ascended the throne. He did not attempt to infringe the privileges secured by the constitution to the Calixtins; but, as in his other dominions, he laboured to check the progress of the Reformation, and exercised the utmost rigour against those who disseminated religious opinions not tolerated by law; in particular, he obtained from the diet of Budeweiss a decree of proscription against all sects, not tolerated by the compacts, and a sentence of banishment against the Calixtine administrator Czahera, who had distinguished himself for his zeal and turbulence. As the means of diminishing the influence of the capital, he removed several magistrates, and again separated the magistracy of the old and new towns, which had been united since the time of Ladislaus, and forbade all attempts for effecting their re-union under the penalty of high treason.

“Notwithstanding these innovations, he obtained considerable support from the Bohemians during the Turkish war; and a long absence for ten years, during which no remarkable event occurred, seems to have weakened the impression occasioned by such acts of authority. During this time he made a fruitless attempt to disarm the nobles by requiring their artillery, under the pretext of employing it against the Turks; but having concluded the peace with Solyman, he ventured on more decisive innovations. He re-established the archiepiscopal see of Prague, and empowered the archbishop to consecrate the Calixtine as well as Catholic priests; and he excited the jealousy of the whole kingdom by formally revoking the reversal, by which he had acknowledged the right of election in the states, and declaring himself hereditary sovereign, in virtue of his marriage with Anne, and of the exploded compacts between the Bohemian and Austrian princes.

“This unpopular and glaring breach of faith could not fail to excite the highest indignation among a people so jealous of their privileges; and the religious war in Germany brought on a crisis, which was equally dangerous to the sovereign and the subject, and occasioned the loss of that darling liberty for which the Bohemians had so long sacrificed the blessings of peace and tranquillity.

“When Charles had determined to reduce by force the league of Smalkalde, and to subdue the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse Cassel, Ferdinand raised a considerable number of troops in the Austrian dominions, and prepared to collect an army in Bohemia, to co-operate with his brother. But as he was well aware of the tendency of his Bohemian subjects to the Lutheran opinions, and knew that a compact of hereditary friendship and amity with the elector of Saxony, concluded at Egra in 1459, was still in force, he endeavoured to elude the privileges of the states, by entangling them with opposite engagements, and involving them in the war before they could suspect or thwart his designs. He accordingly summoned a diet at Prague, on the 27th of July, 1546, and obtained their consent to raise a certain number of troops for the purpose of defending the country, or, if necessary, of marching against the Turks, or _other enemies of the kingdom_, according to the direction of the king, his governor, or the burgrave of Prague. As Maurice of Saxony was then at Prague, he also persuaded the states to renew with him the ancient compact between Bohemia and the house of Saxony, in order to counteract their engagements with the electoral branch.

“During these transactions, he published, in the Bohemian tongue, the ban which the emperor had issued against the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse; declared that, in consequence of this ban, all alliances with those princes were dissolved; and forbade, under pain of death, all his Bohemian subjects from supplying them with succours or provisions.