1543. BOOK subject to the King of the Romans, and situated on the conVII. fines between Germany and Italy. The Catholic Princes in the diet, after giving it as their opinion that the council might have been held with greater advantage in Ratisbon, Cologne, or some of the great cities of the Empire, were at length induced to approve of the place which the Pope had named. The Protestants unanimously expressed their dissatisfaction, and protested that they would pay no regard to a council held beyond the precincts of the Empire, called by the Pope's authority, and in which he assumed the right of presiding". May 22. 1542. Summons THE Pope, without taking any notice of their objections, published the bull of intimation, named three cardinals to it to meet. preside as his legates, and appointed them to repair to Trent before the first of November, the day he had fixed for opening the council. But if Paul had desired the meeting of a council as sincerely as he pretended, he would not have pitched on such an improper time for calling it. Instead of that general union and tranquillity, without which the deliberations of a council could neither be conducted with security, nor attended with authority, such a fierce war was just kindled between the Emperor and Francis, as rendered it impossible for the ecclesiastics from many parts of Europe to resort thither in safety. The legates, accordingly, remained several months at Trent; but as no person appeared there, except a few prelates from the ecclesiastical state, the Obliged to Pope, in order to avoid the ridicule and contempt which this prorogue it. drew upon him from the enemies of the church, recalled them and prorogued the council *. The empe the Protest ants. UNHAPPILY for the authority of the papal see, at the very ror courts time that the German Protestants took every occasion of pouring contempt upon it, the Emperor and King of the Romans found it necessary not only to connive at their conduct, but to court their favour by repeated acts of indulgence. In the same diet of Spires, in which they had protested in the most disrespectful terms against assembling a council at VII. 1543. Trent, Ferdinand, who depended on their aid for the de- B O O K fence of Hungary, not only permitted that protestation to be inserted in the records of the diet, but renewed in their favour all the Emperor's concessions at Ratisbon, adding to them whatever they demanded for their farther security. Among other particulars, he granted a suspension of a decree of the Imperial chamber against the city of Goslar (one of those which had entered into the league of Smalkalde,) on account of its having seized the ecclesiastical revenues within its domains, and enjoined Henry Duke of Brunswick to desist from his attempts to carry that decree into execution. But Henry, a furious bigot, and no less obstinate than rash in all his undertakings, continuing to disquiet the peo ple of Goslar by his incursions, the Elector of Saxony and Their viLandgrave of Hesse, that they might not suffer any member gorous proof the Smalkaldic body to be oppressed, assembled their forces, declared war in form against Henry, and in the space of a few weeks, stripping him entirely of his dominions, drove him as a wretched exile to take refuge in the court of Bavaria. By this act of vengeance, no less severe than sudden, they filled all Germany with dread of their power, and the confederates of Smalkalde appeared, by this first effort of their arms, to be as ready as they were able to protect those who had joined their association . ceedings. EMBOLDENED by so many concessions in their favour, as well as by the progress which their opinions daily made, the Princes of the league of Smalkalde took a solemn protest against the Imperial chamber, and declined its jurisdiction for the future, because that court had not been visited or reformed according to the decree of Ratisbon, and continued to discover a most indecent impartiality in all its proceedings. Not long after this, they ventured a step farther; and protesting against the recess of a diet held at Nuremberg, which provided for the defence of Hungary, refused April 23. to furnish their contingent for that purpose, unless the Imperial chamber were reformed, and full security were granted them in every point with regard to religion 2. y Sleid. 296. Commemoratio succincta Causarum Belli, &c. a Smalkal dicis contra Hen. Brunsw. ab iisdem edita: ap. Scardium, tom. ii. 307. z Sleid. 304. 307. Seck. 1. iii. 404. 416. 1543. BOOK 1544. Diet at SUCH were the lengths to which the Protestants had proceeded, and such their confidence in their own power, when the Emperor returned from the Low-Countries, to hold a diet, which he had summoned to meet at Spires. The respect due to the Emperor, as well as the importance of the affairs which were to be laid before it, rendered this assembly extremely full. All the Electors, a great number of Princes, ecclesiastical and secular, with the deputies of most of the cities, were present. Charles soon perceived that this was not a time to offend the jealous spirit of the Protestants, by asserting in any high tone the authority and doctrines of the church, or by abridging, in the smallest article, the liberty which they now enjoyed; but that, on the contrary, if he expected any support from them, or wished to preserve Germany from intestine disorders while he was engaged in a foreign war, he must sooth them by new concessions, and a more ample extension of their religious privileges. He began, accordingly, with courting the Elector of Saxony, and Landgrave of Hesse, the heads of the Protestant party, and by giving up some things in their favour, and granting liberal promises with regard to others, he secured himself from any danger of opposition on their The empe- part. Having gained this capital point, he then ventured to for solicits address the diet with greater freedom. He began by re its aid against France. presenting his own zeal, and unwearied efforts with regard to two things most essential to Christendom, the procuring of a general council in order to compose the religious dissentions which had unhappily arisen in Germany, and the providing some proper means for checking the formidable progress of the Turkish arms. But he observed, with deep regret, that his pious endeavours had been entirely defeated by the unjustifiable ambition of the French King, who having wantonly kindled the flame of war in Europe, which had been so lately extinguished by the truce of Nice, rendered it impossible for the fathers of the church to assemble in council, or to deliberate with security; and obliged him to employ those forces in his own defence, which, with greater satisfaction to himself, as well as more honour to Christendom, he would have turned against the Infidels: That Francis, not thinking it enough to have called him off from opposing the Mahometans, had, with unexampled impiety, invited VII. 1544. them into the heart of Christendom, and joining his arms to BOOK theirs, had openly attacked the Duke of Savoy, a member of the Empire: That Barbarossa's fleet was now in one of the ports of France, waiting only the return of spring to carry terror and desolation to the coast of some Christian state: That in such a situation it was folly to think of distant expeditions against the Turks, or of marching to oppose his armies in Hungary, while such a powerful ally received him into the centre of Europe, and gave him footing there. It was a dictate of prudence, he added, to oppose the nearest and most imminent danger, first of all, and by humbling the power of France, to deprive Solyman of the advantages, which he derived from the unnatural confederacy formed between him and a Monarch who still arrogated the name of Most Christian: That, in truth, a war against the French King and the Sultan ought to be considered as the same thing; and that every advantage gained over the former, was a severe and sensible blow to the latter: On all these accounts, he concluded with demanding their aid against Francis, not merely as an enemy of the Germanic body, or of him who was its head, but as an avowed ally of the Infidels, and a public enemy to the Christian name. In order to give greater weight to this violent invective of the Emperor, the King of the Romans stood up, and related the rapid conquests of the Sultan in Hungary, occasioned, as he said, by the fatal necessity imposed on his brother, of employing his arms against France. When he had finished, the ambassador of Savoy gave a detail of Barbarossa's operations at Nice, and of the ravages which he had committed on that coast. All these, added to the general indignation which Francis's unprecedented union with the Turks excited in Europe, made such an impression on the diet as the Emperor wished, and disposed most of the members to grant him such effectual aid as he had demanded. The ambassadors whom Francis had sent to explain the motives of his conduct, were not permitted to enter the bounds of the Empire; and the apology which they published for their master, vindicating his alliance with Solyman, by examples drawn from Scripture, and the practice of BOOK Christian princes, was little regarded by men who were irVII. ritated already, or prejudiced against him to such a degree, as to be incapable of allowing their proper weight to any arguments in his behalf. 1544. His vast conces sions in or SUCH being the favourable disposition of the Germans, Charles perceived that nothing could now obstruct his gainder to gain ing all that he aimed at, but the fears and jealousies of the the Protest- Protestants, which he determined to quiet by granting every ants. Aid grant ed by the diet. Charles's negocia thing that the utmost solicitude of these passions could desire for the security of their religion. With this view, he consented to a recess, whereby all the rigorous edicts hi therto issued against the Protestants were suspended; a council either general or national to be assembled in Germany was declared necessary, in order to re-establish peace in the church; until one of these should be held (which the Emperor undertook to bring about as soon as possible), the free and public exercise of the Protestant religion was authorized; the Imperial chamber was enjoined to give no molestation to the Protestants; and when the term, for which the present judges in that court were elected, should expire, persons duly qualified were then to be admitted as members, without any distinction on account of religion. In return for these extraordinary acts of indulgence, the Protestants concurred with the other members of the diet, in declaring war against Francis in the name of the empire; in voting the Emperor a body of twenty-four thousand foot and four thou sand horse, to be maintained at the public expense for six months, to be employed against France; and at the same time the diet proposed a poll-tax to be levied throughout all Germany on every person without exception, for the support of the war against the Turks. CHARLES, while he gave the greatest attention to the mitions with nute and intricate detail of particulars necessary towards Denmark conducting the deliberations of a numerous and divided asand EngJand. sembly to such a successful period, negociated a separate peace with the King of Denmark; who, though he had hitherto performed nothing considerable in consequence of his alliance with Francis, had it in his power, however, to make a |