History 441/541 Sixteenth-Century European Reformations

[Introductory note: The Imperial Diet of Augsburg in 1530 was the greatest Imperial assembly between the Diet of Worms in 1495 and the peace conferences of Westphalia in 1648. Charles V (r. 1520-1556), now a papally crowned emperor, returned to the Empire to settle the schism through negotiation with the Estates. This project failed, though the emperor was to hold to the policy of negotiation for the next fifteen years until 1546, when he decided to obtain by military effort the political conditions for settling the religious question in the Council of Trent. The recess translated here is noteworthy for showing the emperor and the Estates in the untraditional and problematical role of arbiters of religion, including doctrine. Although the Protestant Reformation everywhere promoted a fusion of spiritual and temporal authority--most success fully in England--in the Empire the process had long been prepared by the fusion of spiritual and temporal authority in the hands of the prince-bishops, by the late medieval expansion of princely and magisterial authority over the church, and by pre-Reformation reform movement's emphasis on a reform of both Church and Empire. Here at Augsburg in 1530, absent a General Council, the emperor and the Catholic Estates tried, though without permanent success, to arrest the schism by acting in accordance with this tradition of fused authority. Source: Ruth Kastner, ed., Quellen zur Reformation 1517-1555 (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchhandlungsverlag, 1994), pp. 501-20, no. 158. Translation and introductory note by Thomas A. Brady, Jr.]

1. Accordingly, We, together with Our electors, princes, prelates, counts, Estates, and envoys, have taken in hand the disputed article about Our holy Christian faith [...] and have offered graciously to hear everyone who has something to bring forward concerning the religious dispute. This was done by Ours and the Holy Empire's electors, princes, and cities: Duke John of Saxony, Landgrave in Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen, and the Holy Roman Empire's hereditary Marshal and Elector; Margrave George of Brandenburg, Duke of Pomerania-Stettin and of Cashubians and Wends, Burggrave of Nuremberg and Prince of Ruegen; Dukes Ernest and Francis, brothers, Brunswick-Lueneburg; Landgrave Philip of Hesse; Prince Wolfgang of Anhalt; and the envoys of the cities of Nuremberg, Reutlingen, Kempten, Heilbronn, Windsheim, and Weissenburg im Nordgau.^[1] They composed and submitted in writing their confession and opinion on the faith, which We graciously accepted from them and had read publicly in the presence of all electors, princes, and Estates of the Holy Empire here assembled [on 25 June 1530]. And although, after solid advice from expert theologians and Biblical scholars from many nations, We refuted and rejected their confession on good grounds from the Holy Gospel and the Bible,^[2] this did not persuade them to agree in all articles with Us, the electors, princes, and other Estates. Whereupon, for the health and welfare of the Holy Empire and the German Nation, and that peace and unity may be maintained, We now present out of Imperial good will and special grace the following favorable Recess to the aforementioned electors, princes, and six cities, requesting them to accept the same with good grace. Namely, that between now and 15 April of next year, they shall consider whether they wish to confess and make peace concerning the disputed articles with the Christian Church, His Holiness, Us, and the other electors, princes, Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and other Christian rulers and subjects of the common Christendom until a future Council shall meet. They shall apprise Us of their attitude under their seals before this date.

2. It is Our firm will, opinion, and command, that between now and the next 15th day of April, the Elector of Saxony and his allies shall order that nothing new concerning the faith shall be printed, offered, or sold in their principalities, lands, and territories. Further, that all electors, princes, and Estates of the Holy Empire shall meanwhile keep the peace and unity [of the Empire].

3. Neither the Elector of Saxony, the five princes, the six cities, nor their subjects shall force their sect, as previously has happened, on Our subjects or those of the Holy Empire, or the other electors, princes, and Estates. And if some subjects of the Elector of Saxony, the five princes, and the six cities, of whatever status they may be, adhere to, or wish to adhere to, the old Christian faith, they shall not be disturbed in their churches and chapels or in their ceremonies and Masses, nor shall any further innovation be introduced in them. Nor shall the regular clergy, men or women, be in any way hindered from hearing the Mass, confessing their sins, or administering or receiving the blessed Sacrament.^[3]

4. Furthermore, the aforementioned Elector of Saxony [and his allies] shall come to agreement with Us [...] against those who reject the blessed Sacrament.^[4]

5. Since for many years no General Council has been held in the Christian Church, and yet for a long time many abuses and failings have afflicted Christendom, We, together with the common advice [...] of Ours and the Holy Empire's electors, [etc.], have decided [...] to arrange with His Holiness and with all Christian kings and rulers as follows. Within six months of the rising of this Diet, a General Christian Council shall be called to a suitable meeting place for the purpose of Christian reformation. ...

6. Furthermore, though laws of God and of man, also the Gospel, command that no one shall be deprived by force of what is his, [...] We are daily approached with complaints and pleas from expelled abbots and abbesses for help in recovering their properties [...]. It is therefore Our strict command that the Elector of Saxony and his allies immediately and without delay allow these expropriated monks and other clergy to reoccupy the monasteries lands in their territories, from which the occupants have been expelled .

7. The aforementioned Elector of Saxony and his allies have not wished to accept Our gracious Recess and have even rejected it in part [...] ^[5]

10. As Roman emperor and supreme steward of Christendom, it pertains to Our Imperial office to confess Our obligation to guard, protect, and maintain the holy Christian faith as it has until now been preserved and taught in an honor and praiseworthy manner by the entire Holy Christian Church. Also to enforce Our Imperial edict, which We issued at Our first Diet at Worms [in 1521]. Therefore, We, together with Ours and the Holy Empire's obedient electors, princes, and Estates have at last decided, and have agreed and promised for Ourselves and Our subjects, firmly to remain faithful to the old, true, traditional Christian faith and religion, and by the honorable, praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have been always been performed in all the churches. And We will allow no alteration in them to be made prior to the decision by a future General Council.

11. Despite Our edict issued at Worms and the Recesses of the Diets We called to Nuremberg [in 1522,1522-23,and 1524] and Speyer [1526,1529], many abuses and innovations against the Christian faith and religion have been introduced.

12. In particular, some have taught, written, and preached that in the blessed Sacrament of the altar the Body and Blood of Christ are not essentially present under both forms of bread and wine, but only in a figurative and symbolic way--plus many other unchristian details, additions, and interpretations.

13. Some preach and teach that Christ's command obliges every person to receive the blessed Sacrament of the altar under both forms [bread and wine]. And that those who administer or receive the Sacrament under one form, do so invalidly.

14. Some have even suppressed the office of the Holy Mass and preached that the Masses are the worst form of blasphemy.

15. Some have not entirely abolished the Masses but made changes in them to please themselves, which changes are against the long usage and the regulations and laws of all the Christian churches. The same is true of the singing of the Mass, the observance of the hours, other songs in praise of the Mother of God, the dear saints, and the holy Fathers, which are done to the honor of God and the edification of men, and which have been established and held in a common and uniform way in all the Christian churches. These have been abolished as blasphemous and unchristian and replaced by other singing more to their taste.

16. Some have taught that the Baptism of children is worthless, and that each person, when come to the age of reason, ought to be baptized again. They do not regard Baptism as a sacrament, and some have abolished the good Christian ordinances and praise for the rite of Baptism and put others in their places.

17. Some hold no prayers or ceremonies at all, and they do not permit their children to be baptized by a priest but by some lay person, man or woman and they do this in plain [i.e., unblessed] well water.

18. Some do not have their children confirmed nor have the sacrament of Extreme Unction administered to the dying.

19. Some have in inhumanly savage ways destroyed or burned the images of Our Savior, Christ, His venerable mother, Mary, and the dear saints, who for ages have been held in Christian memory by all Christian peoples.

20. Some have taught that there is no free will, but that everything happens as it must happen, and not otherwise, out of inexorable necessity, and that therefore God is the true author of evil.

21. Some have taught that there is no authority among Christians, and that there should be none.

22. Some have taught that mere faith alone, without love and good deeds, saves, and they have [accordingly] condemned all good works.

23. Some have completely destroyed the monasteries, parish churches, and altars.

24. Some have abolished or diminished the venerable Christian ceremonies and practices concerning remembrance of the life, suffering, death, and accomplishment of Christ Our Savior, which have until now been performed in the monasteries, parish churches, and chapels for the admonition and edification of the Christian people. And they have established other, unchristian ordinances according to their own will, ability, and taste [...].

26. Some rulers have forbidden their subjects on pain of severe punishment to listen, either in their villages or elsewhere, to preachers of the old, correct, true faith, to attend sermons or worships, or to confess the old faith. If the people do not obey, they are always punished [...].

28. Some have taken as they please the properties of the monasteries, other foundations, and vacant benefices for their own purposes [...]

29. Some have expelled the provosts, confessors, preachers, and other Christian overseers from the women's convents, and have introduced their own, seducing preachers, confessors, and teachers in their places [...].

31. Some have allowed to fall into disuse, completely or partly, the men's and women's convents, foundations, and other benefices, including the Mass stipends for the dead, which were established by many of Our ancestors of holy and just reputation, including Roman emperors, kings, princes, and other eminent Estates. The religious^[6] are allowed to leave their houses if they wish to, without permission from the officers of their orders, and to enter into what is alleged to be marriage or some other temporal estate. The abbots and abbesses are not permitted to prevent this. Some religious, both men and women, have been forced to renounce the monasteries and their properties permanently. They are also forced to confess that their monastic life was unchristian and diabolical.

33. Some orders have been forbidden to receive those who wish to join them or to receive vows of profession or obedience from such recruits.

34. Some have removed their children and friends with force, against the latter's will, from the monasteries.

35. Some have appointed priests to or deprived them from parishes and other benefices, as and when they wished and without presenting them to the bishops, who (by law) are to examine and invest them [...]. Moreover, pastors and preachers are installed and tolerated who interpret the godly Word and the Scripture according to their own lights pleasure and against all the Imperial Recesses.

36. From such actions it follows that they express contempt for the traditional practices of the other churches of Christendom, insult in their sermons all rulers and honorable folk, and provoke the pious simple folk against one another. All sorts of mischief arises from such actions, the seducing, rejected, and condemned teaching everyone gains entry, many wicked errors spread among the common people, all true devotion is annihilated, and Christian honor, discipline, virtue, law, fear of God, uprightness, and good, honest ways of living are entirely decayed.

37. Such things are against not only the Holy Gospel and the Scripture but also the ancient, sound traditions and usages of the Christian churches and their ceremonies [...]. Therefore, [...] We have unanimously decided that the aforementioned and all other innovations, which are against the entire Christian Church's faith, order, religion, ceremonies, and old and venerable prescriptions, long established practices, as these have been laid down and instituted by the whole Christian Church and Councils held some centuries ago, shall be nullified and suppressed. .

38. We therefore command [...] that throughout the whole Roman Empire, it be strictly taught and preached that under the forms of bread and wine, the true Body and Blood of Christ Our Savior is essentially and truly present [...]. It follows also that the Christian Church, based on the promise of the Holy Spirit and sound reason, has most beneficially ordered and commanded that every Christian person, except for the celebrant of the Mass, shall be given the blessed Sacrament under the form of bread only, for it is truly received and taken under one form, not less or more than under both. We command that until a decision by a future Council, no innovation shall be introduced in this matter. .

42. The images of Christ, His dear mother, Mary, and the dear saints reinforce the memory of what can be forgotten and move many to devotion. They were always permitted in all the Christian churches, and the iconoclasts were condemned by all the whole Christian Church assembled in a number of Councils, and especially by our predecessor in the Empire, Emperor Charles I, the Great.^[7] Accordingly, We command that the said images not be removed, but that they shall be set up and maintained devoutly by all Christians. Also, where the altars and tabernacles have been removed, they shall be restored and preserved to the honor of God.

43. Furthermore, some hold that there is no free will. Since this error and its corollaries are not human, but bestial, and a blasphemy, they shall not be held, taught, or preached.

45. It is patent from the Holy Scripture, that mere faith alone, without love or good deeds, cannot make one just, also that God has prescribed good deeds for humans in many passages of the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, the aforementioned article, according to which mere faith alone justifies, and good deeds are rejected, shall be neither preached nor taught. In this matter moderation and distinctions shall be maintained in accordance with the teachings of the whole Christian Church and the holy Fathers.

46. Especially the seven holy Sacraments and their rites shall be maintained as in the Christian churches since ancient times, and as before this dispute, and all innovations shall be suppressed.

47. All greater and lesser religious foundations, monasteries, parishes, and chapels shall maintain their rules, ordinances, regulations, foundations, singing, reading, preaching, Masses, prayers, burials and customary and venerable, traditional Christian ceremonies, such as have always been observed in all churches.

48. The vacant benefices shall be granted in the ordinary way to virtuous, suitable persons. The Masses for the dead shall be said, and the clergy shall not be hindered from conducting the proper visitations or from punishing the pastors, priests, and religious. Further, the regular and secular priests shall henceforth be wholly prevented from marrying.

49. The priests who have allegedly married prior to this Recess shall from this moment be deprived of their spiritual benefices, jurisdictions, and offices, [...] [and] pastoral offices and other spiritual benefices shall be filled by their spiritual ruler or patron with other, suitable, unmarried priests.

52. No ruler shall allow the clergy to live in open sin, especially with dishonorable, lewd women, or have such women around them, or wear non-clerical garb.

53. Wherever the local clergy have been forced unjustly into servitude, protection, or treaties made with the laity, We declare that such [...] are null and void, despite any oath sworn or obligation assumed. Wherever monasteries and other ecclesiastical properties of any kind in the Holy Empire of the German Nation have been illegally sold, transferred, or converted to the use or possession of laymen, partly or wholly, such actions are not binding and are null and void, and from this moment on they are restored and released to their old status, and for the purchased properties a fair compensation shall be paid.

55. We have agreed with the electors, princes, and Estates on the following. We order, establish, and desire that henceforth no preacher anywhere shall be permitted to preach or installed [in a preaching post] until he has been examined by the archbishop or bishop of his diocese, and until his life, doctrine, and suitability have been tested and found acceptable, and until he has been formally appointed to the preaching office. Such certified preachers, whether regulars or other sorts of priests, shall, without exception and despite any immunity, conform to this Recess in their preaching. Further, in their sermons they shall avoid anything which might give rise to a movement of the common man against the rulers or lead Christians into error or provoke them against one another. In particular, they shall refrain . . .from saying that it is intended to wipe out the Gospel and the Holy Word of God, which never was intended or desired by Us or by the Estates. Rather, We have been concerned, and are still of this Christian attitude, that the Holy Word of God be planted for the increase of Christian love, the fear of God, devotion, and good deeds, and that it be preserved in a Christian way of life. But not, as is the practice of the new teachers, to preach arbitrarily, selfishly, arrogantly, and with a desire to mislead the simple, common laity. It is rather Our will [...] that the preachers of the Gospel shall preach and teach according to the interpretation of the Holy Scripture and the teachers approved and accepted by the whole Christian Church, and that they shall refrain from preaching and teaching about what is under dispute and from offering insults and ridicule, and await the decision of a Christian Council.

56. These same preachers shall also refrain from dissuading the common Christian people from [attending] the office of the Holy Mass, prayers, and other good deeds, which has regrettably happened in many places.

57. Everyone, no matter of what status, shall keep and obey Our ordinances, the laws, and the good traditional Christian usages, ceremonies, and everything else that the Christian churches have in the past laid down, commanded, and practiced with respect to Our holy Christian faith and worship. And they shall undertake no innovations on pain of punishment to the body, life, and property, such as each ruler shall inflict on offenders according to the gravity of the offense [...]. We command that from now until a decision by a future General Council, these rules be obeyed in the their entirety [...].

58. Since much evil has been caused by irregular printing, We order [...] that each elector, prince, and Estates of the Empire, spiritual and temporal, shall ensure that until the future Council, printers and booksellers shall produce or sell nothing new, and especially no polemical work, whether openly or secretly composed, unless it has been previously examined by persons appointed for this task by the spiritual or the temporal authority. Every book shall contain the printer's surname and given name, and the city in which it was printed shall also be named. If anything is missing, the book shall not be printed or offered for sale. Polemics and similar works already printed shall not be offered for sale or sold. If the author, the printer, or the bookseller shall disobey this ordinance and command, the ruler of that place shall, where possible, punish physically or take his property. Any ruler, whoever he may be, who is found to be lax in this matter, shall be cited and proceeded against by Our Imperial Fiscal ^[8] and shall be punished, the punishment to be determined by Our Imperial Chamber Court according to his status and the severity of his failure to enforce the law.

59. Since We issued Our Imperial edict [of Worms], many bishoprics, higher and lesser ecclesiastical foundations, and monasteries have been illegally deprived of their autonomy and administration and laid waste. Bishops, prelates, pastors, monks and nuns have been expelled without due legal proceedings; and their dioceses, monasteries, foundations, castles, properties, rents, dues, furniture, and treasures have been confiscated and partly sold, appropriated, and taken from them. Divine, ecclesiastical, Imperial law forbid anyone to deprive someone of what is his arbitrarily, improperly, or illegally, but especially to seize and rob the properties given to the churches and to God, much less abolish or liquidate the pious foundations donated for the glory of God. Therefore, We order that the bishoprics, foundations, and monasteries and their properties, which have unjustly been confiscated, whether by clerical or by lay persons, or were taken during the peasants' rebellion, shall be returned to their rightful owners [...]. All this by pain of the ban of outlawry established by Our Imperial public peace, about which more details are contained in Our mandate on the criminal law.^[9]

80. In Our Imperial mind is no doubt that there are still many stalwart Christians, who adhere to the old, true Christian faith and oppose the rebellious, seducing, and already condemned teachings. So that such people may maintain their honorable, firm attitude, as is proper, and are not deterred therefrom by any coercion, We [...] wish that those who reside in territories, cities, villages, and hamlets which have not accepted Our Recess, shall, so long as they maintain their Christian attitude and are obedient to this Recess, enjoy the Holy Empire's special protection and defense of themselves, their properties, wives, and children--just as Our and the Holy Empire's special wards do.^[10] Further, We decreed by virtue of Our Imperial authority that the same burghers, male and female, and residents who confess and hold to the old Christian faith shall, if need be, be allowed free emigration for themselves and their goods from such territories, cities, villages and hamlets, and they shall not be burdened by any exit fine or payment.

61. Although in the holy Christian churches no General Council has been held for many years, it is highly necessary that one be held now, so that the aforementioned errors, abuses, and failings that afflict Our holy Faith shall be reformed and brought to a better condition and order. Another reason is that the enemy of the Christian faith, the Turk, has taken over many Christian kingdoms and will take over even more, if no prompt action is taken and the situation is not handled effectively as a one of great emergency. Such a Council has been humbly requested and prayed for, without distinction, by Us and Ours and the Holy Empire's electors, princes, and Estates and envoys gathered here at Augsburg, both by those who hold with Us and Our ancient, true Christian faith as it has always been maintained by the holy Christian churches, and by those who have undertaken the aforementioned innovations. We [...] have decided to undertake a Christian reformation and reinforcement of the Christian faith and to ask His Holiness to call, within six months of the end of this Diet, a General Christian Council to a suitable meeting place.

62. In many Imperial Recesses issued in the past, it is clearly expressed and provided, that interests, rents, dues, and tithes must be paid to those to whom there are due, whether clergy or laity, without resistance or obstruction, and that they should not be hindered from collecting the tithes owed them. We have learned, however, that in some places these prescriptions have not been enforced. It pertains to Us, as behooves a Roman emperor, to see that no one is deprived of what is his illegally or by force. We therefore order and will that every ruler, whether spiritual or temporal, and his subjects, both clerical and lay, shall retain their rents, dues, interests, tithes, rights, and prerogatives, and no one shall deprive another of them or disturb or hinder their possession, but that each shall be paid and allowed to take possession of his inheritance, his perpetual and other interests, dues, tithes, rights, and other prerogatives.

64. We...command that this, Our Recess, shall be fully obeyed and enforced in all of its stipulations, provisions, and conceptions regardless of earlier Recesses enacted by our previous Imperial Diets, insofar as these Recesses and ordinances may be detrimental to the faith. And We command it despite any objections, opposition, and appeals which have been or may be directed to a General Council, to Us, or to anyone else.

1. These are the signatories to the Confession of Augsburg, the Lutheran state of doctrine submitted to Charles at Augsburg.

2. Refers to a document knows as the "Confutation" of the Confession of Augsburg, which was composed by leading German Catholic theologians: a less negative document, the "Response," was read in the emperor's name on 3 August.

3. This expression, either "blessed Sacrament" or "blessed Sacrament of the altar," always refers to the sacramental rite called by Catholics "the Eucharist" and by Protestants "the Lord's Supper."

4. This mention of "sacramentarians" refers to the followers of Huldrych Zwingli of Zurich, who had since 1526 engaged in a dispute with Martin Luther concerning the chief sacrament.

5. Refers to the first Recess of 22 September 1530, which the Protestant Estates refused to sign.

6. The "religious" is medieval Catholic usage for persons who live as members of religious orders in constituted communities.

7. Refers to the Council of Nicaea in 787, which had permitted veneration of images, and to Charlemagne, who had ordered this decision overtuned by the Synod of Frankfurt in 794.

8. The Fiscal was the executive branch of the Imperial Chamber Court, charged with the execution of the court's judgments.

9. Refers to the Imperial Criminal Code (Constitutio Criminalis Carolina) issued during this same Diet.

10. Refers to the groups who stood under special royal protection, such as the Jews and the Imperial monasteries.