Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/112

 74 Readings in European History Luther's Address to the German Nobility. 246. Luther defends the right of the secular rulers to reform the Church. VII. Luther's " Address to the German Nobility " (1520) Not long after the disputation at Leipzig, Luther began, as we have seen, to attract the attention of Hutten and other German knights, especially Franz von Sickingen, who offered to protect him if he was in danger. This led Luther, who heard that the pope was about to excom- municate him for his protests against the current teach- ing and practices of the Church, to appeal to the German rulers, with the hope that they might carry out the reforms which the pope and prelates seemed bent on opposing. No English translation can do justice to the vigor of Luther's German, but some notion of the contents of the address may be had from the following extracts. Dr. Martin Luther, to his Most Serene and Mighty Imperial Majesty, a?id to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation : The grace and might of God be with you, Most Serene Majesty ! And you, most gracious and well-beloved lords ! It is not out of mere arrogance and perversity that I, one poor, insignificant man, have taken it upon me to address your lordships. The distress and misery which oppress all ranks of Christendom, especially in Germany, have moved not me alone, but everybody, to cry aloud for help ; this it is that now compels me to cry out and call upon God to send down his spirit upon some one who shall reach out a hand to this wretched people. Councils have often put for- ward some remedy, which has always been promptly frus- trated by the cunning of certain men, so that the evils have only grown worse ; which malice and wickedness I now intend — God helping me ! — to expose, so that, being known, they may cease to work such hindrance and injury. God has given us a young and noble sovereign 1 for our leader, thereby 1 Charles V had just been elected emperor. Luther was soon to learn how hopeless it was to appeal to him. See below, pp. 83 sqq.