Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/434

This page needs to be proofread.

314 General History of Europe Church and State alike. Everyone was forbidden to read or publish Luther's works or to give the heretic food, drink, or shel- ter. Moreover, he was to be seized and delivered to the emperor. So general was the disapproval of the edict that few were willing to pay any attention to it. Charles V immediately left Germany and for nearly ten years was occupied with the govern- ment of Spain and a succession of wars. III. THE REVOLT AGAINST THE PAPACY BEGINS IN GERMANY 531. Luther begins a New Translation of the Bible. As Luther neared Eisenach upon his way home from Worms he was kidnaped by his friends and conducted to the Wartburg, a castle belonging to the elector of Saxony. Here he was concealed until any danger from the action of the emperor or diet should pass by. His chief occupation during several months of hiding was to begin a new translation of the Bible into German. 532. The Revolt Begins. Hitherto there had been a great deal of talk of reform, but as yet nothing had actually been done. There was no sharp line drawn between the different classes of reformers. All agreed that something should be done to better the Church; few realized how divergent were the real ends in view. The rulers listened to Luther because they were glad of an excuse to get control of the Church property and its revenues. The peasants listened because he put the Bible into their hands and they found nothing there that proved that they ought to go on paying the old dues to their lords. While Luther was quietly living in the Wartburg, translating the Bible, people began to put his teachings into practice. Some of the monks and nuns left their monasteries in his own town of Witten- berg. Some of them married, which seemed in view of the pledges they had voluntarily taken a very wicked thing to all those who held to the old beliefs. The students and citizens tore down the images of the saints in the churches and even went so far as to oppose the celebration of the Mass, the chief Catholic sacrament.