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 against Luther, the copy of which the Signory will have al- ready received.

This declaration the Pope caused to be read in full con- sistory, and it gave universal satisfaction, the Emperor hav- ing shown himself Catholic and the good son of the Apostolic See.

On the morning before last (he, Contarini, being present) in the Emperor's chamber, the contents of these letters were notified to his Majesty by the Nuncio * in the company of Dom. Jerome Aleander. In the opinion of intelligent persons, the reported capture of Martin Luther by Hector, the Bohemian,* was a fiction, and Luther is safe and sound in Saxony, and as popular as ever.

488. HENRY VIII TO LEO X.

Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, iii, no. 1297.

Greenwich^ May 21, 1521.

As nothing is more the duty of a Qiristian prince than to preserve the Christian religion against its enemies, ever since he knew of Luther's heresy in Germany, has made it his study how to extirpate it. The poison has now spread so far that it will not readily yield to one attack. Thought it best to call the learned of his kingdom to consider these errors and de- nounce them, and exhort others to do the same. Has urged the Emperor and Electors, since this pestilent fellow will not return to God, to extirpate him and his heretical books. Has thought it right still further to testify his zeal for the faith by his writings, that all might see he was ready to defend the Church, not only with his arms, but with the resources of his mind. Dedicates, therefore, to the Pope, the first oflFsprings of his intellect and his little erudition.'

489. LUTHER TO MELANCHTHON. Enders, iiL 162. (Wartburc), May 26, 1521.

Greeting. What I may have written in the letter I have already sealed,* I have forgotten ; but I wish to give a fresh an-


 * Caracdolo.


 * C/. tupra, no. 481.

'The Asstrtio Septtm Sacramtntorum, London, 1521. The Ust edition with introdnction and trantUtion, bj h. O'Donovan, New York, 1908.


 * Evidently an enclosure, which we are not able to identify.

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