Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/681

 The Revolt of Germany against the Papacy 5 79 were each expected to contribute no less than ten thousand gold guldens to the papal treasury upon having their election confirmed by the church authorities at Rome. The Pope en- joyed the right to fill many important church offices in Germany, and frequently appointed Italians, who drew the revenue with- out performing the duties attached to the office. A single per- son frequently held several church offices. For example, early in the sixteenth century, the archbishop of Mayence was at the same time archbishop of Magdeburg and bishop of Halberstadt. There were instances in which a single person had accumulated over a score of benefices. It is impossible to exaggerate the impression of widespread discontent with the condition of the Church which one meets in the writings of the early sixteenth century. The whole Ger- man people, from the rulers down to the humblest tiller of the fields, felt themselves unjustly used. The clergy were denounced as both immoral and inefficient. While the begging friars — the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians ^ — were scorned by many, they, rather than the ordinary priests, appear to have carried on the real religious work. At first, however, no one thought of withdrawing from the Church or of attempting to destroy the power of the Pope. All that the Germans wanted was that the money which flowed toward Rome should be kept at home, and that the clergy should be upright, earnest men who should conscientiously perform their religious duties. Among the critics of the Church in the early days of Charles V's Erasmus, reign the most famous and influential was Erasmus. He was ^"^ ^ -^ a Dutchman by birth, but spent his life in various other coun- tries — France, England, Italy, and Germany. He was a citizen of the world and in correspondence with literary men every- where, so that his letters give us an excellent idea of the feeling of the times. He was greatly interested in the Greek 1 The Augustinian order, to which Luther belonged, was organized in the thirteenth century, a Httle later than the Dominican and the Franciscan,