Wisdom In Our Hearts by Anja Zimmer

Author:Anja Zimmer
Language: deu
Format: epub
Publisher: Frauenzimmer Verlag
Published: 2014-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

I have much to report of the diet in Augsburg. At first I did not wish to go there at all, because I could not imagine that we would make progress, but my good Chancellor Feige and dear old Schrautenbach were able to persuade me after all to go there myself – but without haste. The diet was supposed to begin on the eighth of April last year, although the one personage missing was the emperor himself. Not until the fifteenth of June did he arrive in Augsburg. But you can believe me that we made good use of the time. Melanchthon was there and he, together with Luther, who is still excommunicated, had already written up a Confession which we submitted to the emperor. It sets out all the details of our faith. Neither words nor human reason can cast doubt upon it, yet the emperor rejected it and had a refutation written up by his advisors.

My greatest worry is the fact that the Reformation is not united. The dispute was ignited by the doctrine concerning the Eucharist – as was already the case at the Marburg Colloquy, especially between Luther and Zwingli. I had hoped that the Strasbourg scholars Bucer and Capito would also be included in our Confession, as well as more Upper German towns. But these were only willing the sign the Confessio Augustana with reservations regarding the Eucharistic doctrine.

I could not prevail against the others – especially those from Torgau. What galls me particularly is that the Torgauers, of all people, are apparently not interested in unification and insist so tenaciously on their viewpoint. And so another confession was made alongside the Confessio Augustana, the Confessio Tetrapolitana, for which Lindau, Memmingen and Konstanz came together. But I’m sure you can imagine what Emperor Charles did. He rejected both writings, put the Roman Catholic Confession under the protection of public peace and confirmed the Edict of Worms once again. He commissioned the Imperial High Court to take legal action against any infringements.

I left early. But the Emperor’s refusal to give us a serious hearing or to make any compromises united us after all. We formed a League in Schmalkalden at the end of February.

You will hardly believe how many cities signed it. From Lübeck to Strasbourg, eighteen cities and princes signed, and the two camps of the Confessio Augustana and the Confessio Tetrapolitana are also united in its support. We see ourselves as the unified voice of the Reformation and espouse our common cause for one another, for it is important that we Protestants stand as one when we present our opinions, appoint delegations or have to plead our case in court. What I was unable to do, the Emperor himself accomplished – that is, to unite the Reformation. I should send him a sincere letter of thanks.

Your Brother, Philip 49

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