Page:Balthasar Hübmaier.djvu/100

 From the same cause, there began a strife in 1520 between the chapter of the cathedral and the city council over the patronage, which the city claimed, and its claim was confirmed by the court attorney of Nürnberg. Hübmaier undertook to play the part of mediator, and set forth in behalf of the chapter that before there was any thought of building the great church, offering-boxes had been placed under the pulpit in the cathedral and in the country churches, and liberal gifts for the building had been thus collected. It was evident therefore, that the new chapel had been erected not from the resources of the city, but from alms, and, this being the case, the council had no legal title to the patronage. In spite of the general esteem in which he was held among the citizens, this attempt at mediation was a failure. In consequence, the numerous grudges that were entertained against him among the clergy began to manifest themselves. He and his chapel were the object of their jealousy, and they preached against both with renewed vigour.

It may have been these troubles that decided the question of Hübmaier's longer stay in Regensburg. There is no ground whatever for the assertion of