BOOK VIII. A.D. 1520. tian world. He constituted the Archbishop of Mentz his deputy in Germany, for the sale of indulgences, and that prelate intrusted their traffic to one Tetzel, a profligate friar of the order of St. Dominick. It was the insolence and shameless impostures of this man, that first excited the indig nation of Luther, and led to that reformation in the Christian church, which has been so pregnant with benefits to Europe, but it evidently was the avarice of the church of Rome that first paved the way for her downfall. BOOK IX. CONTAINING THE HISTORY OF THE PRINCES OF THE THE THIRD DIVISION OF THAT HOUSE. BOOK IX. A.D. 1520. of their property: FROM the end of the thirteenth century, when the provinces of Brunswick were divided among the sons of Albert I., the princes of that House had never been cordially united, either in by the divided state friendship or interests. The system of pillage and civil war, which was so prevalent in the empire, had been most destructive to their provinces, while each succeeding generation seemed more desirous than another, to effect the ruin of their name and kindred. 1 When we quitted the annals of Brunswick, to trace the causes which had led to a reformation in the church, the territories of that duchy, through the contention of its princes, were in a state of the greatest anarchy and confusion. One sovereign prince, Henry, Duke The civil wars of of Luneburg, had been outlawed, and was then an exile at Paris, and the whole of the other princes of the family were in arms against each other. this family. BOOK IX. A.D. 1520. Henry, on leaving Germany, had vested the government of Luneburg in his three sons, The sons of Henry Otho, Ernest, and Francis; and the second of of Luneburg under take the govern- these princes, having been brought up at the ment: Ernest has the chief direction: court of his grandfather, the Elector of Saxony, was educated at the university of Wittenberg. Luther had been his instructor from his earliest infancy, and he had become firmly persuaded of the truth of the doctrines promulgated by that learned professor; when called upon, therefore, to take a part in the government of his paternal inheritance, he gave the whole weight of his sanction to the proposed reformation in ecclesiastical affairs. Religion, consequently, at that eventful period, lent her aid to the civil discord, which had so long been the bane of the Guelphic dynasty. The reigning princes of the house at this period: At the time that these princes succeeded to the government of Luneburg, 1st, Philip L., still reigned at Grubenhagen, and was the head of the House of Brunswick; 2nd, Erick, the son of William the Younger, was Duke of Brunswick and Calemberg; and 3rd, Henry, the son of Henry the Elder, and nephew of Erick, held the principality of Brunswick and Wolfenbuttel. Otho, Ernest, and Francis agreed to hold the BOOK IX. A.D. 1520. government in common, for their absent father, and being unanimous in supporting the principles of the reformation, they became the decided enemies of those other branches of their house, who still adhered to the catholic supremacy. But though Otho and Francis were nominally joined with their brother in the civil government, the talents and ambition of Ernest, Ernest of Luneburg supports the Reforsoon placed him at the head of affairs, and he mation: obtained the chief direction of all that concerned the internal, as well as the external, policy of the state. He found his people ready to join him, in reforming their church, and from the moment that he succeeded to the government, he caused the doctrines of Luther to be preached in his dominions. In the sequel, we shall find, that he adhered firmly to the principles he had so early adopted, and that he was not only one of the first, but one of the steadiest, of the champions of the Reformation. Though Charles V. had caused the ban of the empire to be rigidly executed against the father, he made no objection to the succession of the sons. Guided by the advice of their grandfather, the Elector of Saxony, these princes BOOK IX. A.D. 1520. buttel, a rigid catho. lic: had shewn themselves friendly to his elevation to the throne, and notwithstanding their open Henry of Wolfen- and avowed heresy, they were permitted to enter upon the government, without any opposition. Henry of Wolfenbuttel was involved in the same sentence, which had banished Henry of Luneburg, but he contrived to avoid its execution, and remained in possession of his states. Both princes attend the diet at Worms: All the princes of Brunswick were present at the diet at Worms, where Luther, as is known, made his appearance, and defended his doctrines with a boldness that astonished the catholics; but when he had effected his escape from that city, the emperor prevailed upon the diet to sanction an edict, by which he confirmed the sentence of the Pope, and declared it high treason, for any subject of the empire to receive or protect so incorrigible a heretic. Charles V., in conformity to the Bull of Leo X., declared by this edict, that Martin Luther was a notorious heretic, and ought to be held as such by all the world, and he commanded the princes and states of the empire, on pain of disobedience, to seize him, his aiders and abettors, after the expiring of twenty-one days, |