See Weimar Ed., 15:279 ff.
The latter view is that taken by Pietsch, in Welmar Ed., 15:281. For the proceedings of the diet, seeWREDE, Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Karl 5, 6, pp. 471 ff; the Recess, pp. 602 f. Cf., in this edition, Vol. 1, p. 159. The proceedings of the Diet of 1523 inWREDE, op. cit. 3:154 ff. (KLEINER) Sermon von dem Wucher, Weimar Ed., 6:1 ff. (GROSSER) Sermon von dem Wucher, Weimar Ed., 6:33 ff.
In this edition, Vol. 2, pp. 159 ff. Cf. Vol. 2, p. 159, and note, where Zinskauf is translated “traffic in annuities.” Cf. Vol. 2:159. On contemporary complaints of the same kind, see Berlin Ed., 7:515, n. 1. The spice-trade was, in the sixteenth century, one of the richest sources of revenue for the importers. Cf. the figures on that trade presented to the Diet of Nuremberg in 1524. Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Karl V. The greatest of the annual gatherings of traders, which were held in many localities in Germany. In this edition. Vol 3. See Introduction, above, pp. 9 ff., and literature there cited. i.e., Need not take the customary risks. Gorgel stecher odder kehlstecher. From the fifteenth century on the English merchants engaged in foreign trade were organized for just such purposes as Luther here describes. Hynden und forne. Claiming right of sanctuary. i.e., A letter entitling a debtor to a moratorium. i.e., The trading companies. See Part 2 of this work, below, pp. 37 ff. Finanzen. Luther always uses it to mean unfair, tricky dealing. The taxes imposed by knights and barons on goods transported across their lands amounted at times to robbery. Monopolies were forbidden by the Roman civil law. Die krumme in die Beuge komme, i.e. ,things may even up. On the Sermon on the Mount, 1, 19, 59. The law officers of the bishops. Cf. Vol. 2. Rechten und fechten. The abuse of ecclesiastical jurisdiction was a subject of bitter complaint at the Diet of Worms (1521). Cf. Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Karl V, 1. Eyn froliche styrn darzu tragen. “Force may be repelled with force.” Instead of a commandment. Psalm 14:3 Vulgate. Cf. Vol. 2, p. 134. Cf. Vol. 1:29 ff.
Eyn Kirchwey, i.e. either church-dedication of an anniversary of the dedication. These festivals drew great crowds. Auffs zierlichst. See Clemen, 30, n. 1. Cf. Vol St. James of Compostella. See Vol. 1. i.e., to Christ’s commandment. Cf. Vol. 2, p. 131. Cf. Vol. 2, p. 89 f. Des gleychen ein Jahrmarket, cf. Vol. 2, p. 95. i.e., Charging for loans. Der zinskauff.
See Introduction above, p. 10 f. i.e., On the interest of profits. i.e., “The interest of loss.” The risk that the owner might lose his ground was a real risk in the sixteenth century. i.e., The “interest of profit.” i.e., The “interest of loss.” i.e., Selling what one has not. i.e., In which the goods are not seen. The principle of caveat emptor. Ein gottes dienst. The passage from here to the end is an addition to the treatise of 1520.
See above, p. 9 f. i.e., At interest. Haus reuber und hoffe reuber. Getreide, “agricultural products.” Cf. K.HOLL, pp. 245-78. Its first appearance is in a letter to Spalatin, December 18, (ENDERS, Luther’s Briefwechsel, 2:279 ff.) Cf. Treatise on the New Testament (in this edition, Vol. 1, 315 f., 318), Open Letter to the Christian Nobility (Vol. 2, 66 ff.), Babylonian Captivity (Vol. 2, 279 f., 283), Christian Liberty (Vol. 2, 324 f.) In addition to the references in the foregoing note, compare in this edition Vol 1, 35 (62 thesis), 353 ff., 361. In estimating Luther’s view of the power of the congregation, it should be remembered that for him a congregation is the entire community regarded as a religious entity. The term Gemeine means “the community,” as often as it means “the congregation.” — C. M. J. Compare the two theses in the Treatise on Christian Liberty, Vol. 2, 312. Cf. the treatise with this title in Vol. 2, 427 ff.
For a discussion of the spiritual priesthood of believers, comp. Vol. 2, 66 ff., 279 ff.
The Cardinal of Ostia is-the cardinal dean, whose duty it is, after the pope has received the required two-thirds vote of the conclave, to ask him whether he will accept the election and by what name he wishes to be known. If the pope happens not to be a bishop, he is consecrated at once by the Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia; if he is already a bishop, there takes place only the solemn benedictio or blessing. — See Catholic Encyclopedia: Art, “Conclave.” Terminarien. Cf. Vol. 2, 135, n. 2. Kinderbischofe, also called Niklasbischofe, i.e., the play-bishops chosen by school children from among their number, in the games and pageants held in Germany on St. Nicholas’ Day (December 6th). In 1510 Matthew Hutlin of Pfortzheim published Liber vagatorum, The Book of Vagabonds, which describes twenty-eight varieties of beggars, exposes their tricks, and gives a vocabulary of their jargon. It is printed, with Luther’s preface (1528), in Weimar Ed., 26:634 ff. — Cf. PRESERVED SMITH, The Age of the Reformation, 558-621. See Vol. 2, 27 f. See Vol. 2, 115 ff., 134 ff. Printed inBARGE’ S Karlstadt (1905), 2:359 f., and reprinted in LIETZMANN’ S Kleine Texte, nr. 74. Cf. K.MULLER, Luther und Karlstadt, 31 ff.
SeeLEITZMANN’ S Kleine Texte, nr. 21. Cf. Weimar Ed., 12:693. Cf. Vol. 2, 159 f. See Weimar Ed., 6, ff., 36 ff.
This Edition, this vol. p. 37 ff. Cf. Vol. 2, 115 f., 134 ff. Cf.NEUBAUER, 2:2. See Vol. 2, 152. Cf. above, Vol. 2, 151. — In 1527 Luther invited Frl. Else 5. Kanitz to open a girls’ school in Wittenberg and offered her board and lodging in his house. (SeeENDERS, Luther’s Briefwechsel, 6., p. 79 f.; comp. M. CURRIE, The Letters of Martin Luther, 1908, p. 160 f.) Quotation inBERGER, 2, pt. 2, p. 577. Heinrich Vos and Johann van den Esschen, the first martyrs of Protestantism, were burnt at Brussels, July 1, 1523. Cf. also The Burning of Brother Henry in Dithmarschen (1525), included in this volume, see p. 184 ff.
Luther wrote “eyn recht gulden iar.” This may be freely translated “a golden opportunity,” but the allusion will be lost. Guldenjahr was the popular term for the year of jubilee, i.e., the year in which a papal indulgence was proclaimed. It was regarded as a year of exceptional opportunity and blessing; it was indeed a year of gold for the Church, and literally a gulden-year for those who spent their money for letters of pardon (see 86. Thesis, above, Vol 1, 37). Cf.KOLDE in Prot. Realencyk. (3. ed.), 9:545-50. i.e., the trivium: grammar, rhetoric, and logic; and the quadrivium: music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. Luther’s standing name for the mediaeval theologians. By mistake Luther or his printer prefixed a superfluous numeral. A worse mistake is the forced application of the two psalm verses. The Schwarmer, especially the Zwickau prophets and Karlstadt. Luther dealt fully with them in his Wider die himmlischen Propheten (1525). He means the Bohemian Brethren, or Picards (as distinguished from the Utraquists, cf Vol. 2, 144), for whom he wrote Vom Anbeten des Sakraments (1523). — Cf.KOSTLIN-KAWERAU, Martin Luther (1903), 1:633-38. Cf. Vol. 2. Cf. Vol. 3. i.e., arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. — Cf. above, p. 111, n. 1. Aelius Donatus, Ars Grammatica and Ars minor; and Alexander de Villa Dei, Doctrinale puerorum, two widely used mediaeval grammars, the latter in verse form. — Cf. O.SCHEEL, Martin Luther, 1, §6. St. Agnes was martyred while still a school girl. Cf.SCHAEFER, L. als Kirchen historiker, 235. On Ss. Agatha and Lucy, ibid. 233, 236. A Latin lexicon, compiled by the Dominican Joh. Januensis (1286). i.e., Ludolph von Luchow in Hildesheim, author of a rhymed Latin syntax (1317). i.e., Eberhard von Bethune, the alleged author of a combined grammar and lexicon. The title of a poem de miseriis rectorum scholarum (1220), probably by Eberhard von Bethune. The aptly chosen title of a collection of sermons made by Joh. von Werden about the middle of the 15th century. Luther discusses at length the value of history in his preface toLINK’ S translation of G.CAPELLA’ S History of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan (1539), reprinted in the Weimar Ed. 63:353 ff. — Cf. R. NEUBAUER, Martin Luther, 2 (4. and 5. ed., 1914), 97-103. Cf. above. The modernists are the Nominalists. The preface is printed in Erlangen Ed. 63, pp. 277 ff. Enders 8:80. i.e., dedicated it to Spengler. Luther saw peculiar snares of Satan in commercial pursuits. See his work On Trade and Usury, above, pp. 12 ff.
In 1526 the city of Nuremberg had founded a new gymnasium. Among its teachers were such distinguished scholars as Joachim Camerarius and Eobanus Hess. Catorrhoma. i.e., Money.
fta1 Names applied in contempt to teachers whose education was defective and who could not hold the higher places in the schools.
fta2 Above.
fta3 Der geistliche Stand, i.e., the clergy, or the ministry.
fta4 The blood and water from the side of Christ.
fta5 One-page tracts, frequently illustrated with wood-cuts.
fta6 Of course Luther is playing upon the meaning of angel, i.e., “messenger.”
fta7 Christenheit.
fta8 See above.
fta9 Gottesdienst “service of God” or “worship.”
fta10 Sein ampt, i.e., the work of his office.
fta11 See above.
fta12 Messpfaffen oder fresspfaffen.
fta13 i.e., The office of preaching.
fta14 The exact equivalent of Luther’s kreutlein.
fta15 The hereditary feudal lordship was the only form of government that Luther knew.
fta16 By “the catechism” Luther means here, as generally, the Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer.
fta17 i.e., By endowments.
fta18 The average number of students at Wittenberg between 1526 and was 250; at Leipzig 145; at Erfurt 44. See Weimar Ed. 30, 2 550, n. 2.
fta19 The City of God, written shortly after 410 A.D., when Rome was captured by the Visigoths, under Alaric.
fta20 Las wasschen wer da wesscht.
fta21 Das er das recht auswendig trefen kan.
fta22 The Elector Frederick, d. 1525.
fta23 Fabian you Feilitsch, d. 1520, one of the councilors of Frederick of Saxony. Luther dedicated to him the Assertio omnium articulorum, of 1521, though he died before the work was published. Cf. Weimar Ed. VII, 91 ff.; Enders, 3:3.
fta25 Das gantze handwerck.
fta26 The “secretaries” were the law officers of the incorporated towns.
fta27 The play on words cannot be rendered into English. Luther writes, Wie das wort Rethe nicht weit vom wort Verrether ist.
fta29 Locat oder bacchant, see above.
fta30 See above, p. 162.
fta31 Justinian (Roman Emperor, 527-565) caused the preparation of the great code of Roman Law which was the basis of the German legal system of Luther’s day. Luther is quoting the Constitutio imperitoriam majestatem, which forms the preface to his Institutions.
fta32 i.e., Scholarship.
fta33 Schuerlinge, the tonsured clergy.
fta34 “His work is honor and majesty” (Eng. R. V.)
fta35 Luther’s fedder means both “pen” and “plume.”
fta36 George von Wertheim (d.1530) introduced the Reformation into his territories in 1522. Cf.ENDERS, 4:3 r. n. 11.
fta37 Johann von Schwarzenberg (1463-1528) a patron of learning, as well as of the Reformation. Biographies byWAGNER (Berlin, 1893) and W. SCHEEL (Berlin, 1905).
fta38 George von Frundsberg (d. 1527), one of the most famous German soldiers of his day. See Allgem. Deutsche Biographie, 8:154 ff.
fta39 “Every creature was subjected to vanity, but not willingly.”
fta40 Died 1519.
fta41 Or “their feathers.”
fta42 “Bread for God’s sake.”
fta43 Possibly “crumb-horse,” a school boy who sang, with others, in the streets for bread (particula panis). On Luther’s singing at Eisenach, see especially,SCHEEL, Martin Luther, 1 (1916).
fta44 i.e., The strictest devotees.
fta45 Luther here quotes the Apocrypha as “Scripture.” He renders the whole passage very freely.
fta46 i.e. Because they are supported by endowments.
fta47 Ich bitte Gott umb ein gnedigs stundlin.
fta48 See below.
fta49 Prot. Realenc., 15, 268-9.
fta50 See below.
fta51 See below
fta52 ENDERS, 4, 89.
fta53 Propst’s letter inENDERS, 5, 90-94.
fta54 See Berlin Ed., 8, 23. Cf.KOSTLIN-KAWERAU, 1, 607-8.
fta55 Weimar Ed., 12, 73-80;SMITH-JACOBS, Luther’s Correspondence, 2:194-6.
fta56 See below.
fta57 Among others, Pastor Propst of Bremen. See Introduction, p. 181.
fta58 John Esch and Henry Voes. See Introduction.
fta59 A wealthy merchant of Vienna, beheaded and burned on September 17, 1524. Cf.ENDERS, 5, 46, 53-4.
fta60 Burned with his books at Pesth. Cf.ENDERS, 5, 54.
fta61 Nothing further is known of this martyr.
fta62 Carlstadt, Munzer, and followers.
fta63 Thus Luther translated in the earlier editions of his New Testament; later he put “for a good man” and “for a righteous man.” Tyndale had the latter from the beginning.
fta64 Here follows a devotional exposition of Psalm 9, which is omitted in the translation.
fta65 Jacob Propst, or Praepositus, born at Ypres in last decade of 15th century; entered Augustinian order; studied at Wittenberg, 1519; became prior of Antwerp in same year; praised by Erasmus. Back in Wittenberg, 1521, bachelor of theology; returned to Antwerp in same year. Imprisoned at Brussels, where he escaped death by recanting, February 9, 1522. Once more in Wittenberg, 1523; wrote a penitent history of his persecutions; on intimate terms with Luther; married a close friend of Frau Katie, 1523. Pastor for thirty-six years at Our Dear Lady in Bremen, beginning 1524; in correspondence with Luther; sponsor for Luther’s youngest daughter Margaret. Died, 1562. — See Realenc.
fta66 November 9, 1522.
fta67 Christopher of Brunswick, archbishop of Bremen and Verden (1511- 58), a brother of Duke Henry of Brunswick-Wolffenbuttel.
fta68 Surfragan Michele of the Dominican order.
fta69 See Introduction, p. 181.
fta70 See Introduction, p. 181.
fta71 The bull against Luther, announced June 15, 1520, and published January 3, 1521.
fta72 May 8, 1521.
fta73 A member of one of the first families in Dithmarschen; born about 1500; studied at Wittenberg, 1518 ff.; returned to his homeland in 1523, where he was given charge of the parish of Meldorf; died, 1542.
fta74 November 24.
fta75 e. g,, Propst and Timann.
fta76 November 28.
fta77 Dominican friars, called Jacobins because their first convent in Paris was in a hospice bearing the name of St. Jacques.
fta78 December 4.
fta79 December 6.
fta80 December 8.
fta81 William Soltezenhusen of Hamburg.
fta82 Franciscans.
fta83 December 9.
fta84 Propst, in his letter to Luther, tells that they dragged Henry, bound to the tail of a horse, as far as Heide. —ENDERS, 5:92.
fta85 Propst informed Luther that Maes did not hold the office of magistrate at the time, and that he received ten florins for his work. —ENDERS, 5:92.
fta86 Biography byVEDDER, in Heroes of the Reformation Series, New York, 1905.
fta87 In this edition, Vol. 2.
fta88 Both in this edition, Vol. 3.
fta89 Most recently in Bauernkrieg und Reformation (1926), pp. 56 f., 77 ff.
fta90 Weimar Ed., 18:280.
fta91 Handlung und artickel, etc., in Boehmer, Urkunden zur Geschichte des Bauernkriegs, pp. 22 ff.
fta92 Since the Admonition is Luther’s commentary on these Articles, it has seemed best to give their text in full.
fta93 The tax for the support of the parish priest, usually paid in kind, not in money.
fta94 The lay-officer who administered the property of the parish. He was known by many names. Cf.BOEHMER, p. 5, n. 5.
fta95 Also known as the “blood-tithe” and the “cattle-tithe.”
fta96 Requirements of labor given gratis to the lord of the land. The amount of this service was fixed by custom, but the limits were not always observed.
fta97 Dues paid to the lord upon the death of a tenant. The nature of the payment was fixed by custom. Cf. the English heriot.
fta98 The implication is that these things shall be added to the Articles.
fta99 See text of the Articles in Introduction, above, p. 211.
fta100 See Introduction.
fta101 Gang und schwang.
fta102 Luther was a firm believer in portents. Cf. Smith & Jacobs, Luther’s Correspondence 2, pp. 125, 318, 432, 470, 512.
fta103 A reference to the religious revolutionaries, especially Thomas Muenzer.
fta104 Cf. the proclamation of Duke George of Saxony (February 10, 1522), “We shall not hesitate to stake life and property on this cause” (Clemen 2:313, n. 17).
fta105 Mit aller Stille, i.e., without inciting rebellion.
fta106 i.e., The religious revolutionaries.
fta107 A proverb.
fta108 In this edition, Vol. 2.
fta109 An inheritance tax paid by the heirs of serfs to the lord; cf. above p. 216, n. 1.
fta110 i.e., In the 12 Articles. See Introduction.
fta111 Obrigkeit.
fta112 See above.
fta113 i.e., “The divine and natural law,” spoken of above.
fta114 Unser Hertzog.
fta115 See above.
fta116 Cf. Introduction.
fta117 The Articles were printed with marginal references to Scripture.
fta118 The passages were 1 Timothy 3:1 ff.; Titus 1:5 ff.; Acts 14:23; Deuteronomy 17:9.
fta119 The passages were <19B004> Psalm 110:4; Genesis 14:20; Deuteronomy 18:1 ff.; 12:6 ff.; 25:4; 1 Timothy 5:18; Matthew 10:10; 1 Corinthians 9:9.
fta120 The Augsburg reformer. His book bore the title, Von Leiblygenschaft oder Knechtheit.
fta121 See Introduction, p. 208.
fta122 i.e., Turn your minds away from the Gospel to the Law. Cf. Galatians 3:1.
fta123 Juvenal 10, 112 f.
fta124 Luther says, “Lies at your neck.”
fta125 See Introduction to the Admonition, above.
fta126 De Wette 2:652;SMITH AND JACOBS, Luther’s Correspondence, 2:308.
fta127 The Admonition to Peace, above, pp. 218 ff.
fta128 Thomas Muenzer. Cf.MACKINNON, L. and the Ref. 3 (1929), pp. ff. For literature ibid., p. 181, n. 44.
fta129 The feudal oath of homage.
fta130 Or “government,” or “rulers,” O b r i g k e i t.
fta131 Cf. Introduction to the Admonition, above.
fta132 i.e., Without trial.
fta133 i.e., On those whom the peasants have compelled to join them.
ftb1 See above.
ftb2 Cf.BRENZ, Milderung der Fuersten, in Flugschriften aus d. ersten Jahren d. Rfn. 3:4.
ftb3 ENDERS V, 182;SMITH AND JACOBS, Luther’s Correspondence 2:319.
ftb4 Weimar Ed. 18:377. Cf. Luther’s reply,DE WETTE 2:669 ff.SMITH AND JACOBS 2:320 ff.
ftb5 De Wette 3:1;SMITH AND JACOBS, 2:323.
ftb6 So Weimar Ed. 18:377.
ftb7 Muller was chancellor of the counts of Mansfeld and a frequent correspondent of Luther’s. See Introduction.
ftb8 This letter is lost.
ftb9 Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes, above 248 ff.
ftb10 Luther says, “The light… which has sounded so richly.”
ftb11 i.e., Instead of convincing them.
ftb12 A reference to the Admonition to Peace.
ftb13 Barmhertzig hyn, barmhertzig her.
ftb14 i.e., Throw double light on the subject.
ftb15 See above.
ftb16 i.e., Free of all blame.
ftb17 i.e., The sayings of Christ, quoted above.
ftb18 See above.
ftb19 Casimir, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1481-1527). Allgem. Deutsche Biographie, 4:43 ff.
ftb20 Man will yhe mit dem schalcks auge sehen.
ftb21 in the Admonition, above.
ftb22 i.e., If the first to rebel had been so treated that the rest would have come to their senses. Cf. notes in Clemen, 3:85, and Berlin 7:371.
ftb23 See Introduction to the Admonition, above.
ftb24 This seems to be the sense of Luther’s Es stund alles offen und mussig.
ftb25 Literally, “a fox-tail.”
ftb26 Ein nachbar ist dem andern ein brand schuldig, i.e., if your neighbor’s hourse burns, you suffer.
ftb27 Literally, “have head and tail with the enemy.”
ftb28 Junckerlin.
ftb29 Weimar Ed. 10 3 , 273 ff.
ftb30 Eyn fuchsschwantz, see above.
ftb31 Either a message to a certain Conrad, who was secretary to the Duke of Mansfeld (so Berlin Ed. 7:382, n. 2), or an allusion to a popular song describing the woes of an imaginary Conrad who got in the wrong bed (so Weimar and Clemen.)
ftb32 Either in the first page of this tract, or elsewhere, the printer had given Mueller the title of Cantzeler, instead of Cantzler.
ftb33 Vol. 3.
ftb34 On the difficulties of the translator with Luther’s technical terminology, see Introduction to the Admonition to Peace (1525), in this volume, p. 205.
ftb35 See Introduction in Weimar Ed. 30 1 :184.
ftb36 Ibid.
ftb37 In the Canon Law (Decret 2, 100:17, q u. 4, 100:29) it prohibits attacks on the persons of clergy or monks, on pain of excommunication. Luther writes, in a letter to Albrecht of Mainz, July 6, 1530 (Weimar 30 2 :405), “See to it that you do not attack a priest, and get thunder and lightning from the si suadente.”
ftb38 Alle Gemeinen odder ordenliche versamlung. Luther’s Gemeine means both “congregation” and “community” and he shifts continually from the one meaning to the other, as with Obrigkeit, which means both “institutions of government” and “rulers.”
ftb39 Ongefehr und plumbsweise.
ftb40 Cf. Luther’s explanation of the first Article of the Creed in The Small Catechism.
ftb41 Or “communities.” See above.
ftb42 i.e., As a threat of punishment.
ftb43 Or “punishes them” (strafft sie).
ftb44 Wort Gottes treiben.
ftb45 i.e., In the office of preaching.
ftb46 Hab dir kein gut jar. A colloquialism implying a mild curse.
ftb47 This is an illustration of Luther’s hurried style. The “beams” are the vices, and the “depths” are depths of rank.
ftb48 Rotten.
ftb49 Wer den andern kan uber das feil werffen.
ftb50 Pater patriae and servatores patriae.
ftb51 The hospital of Luther’s time was both hospital and alms-house.
ftb52 i.e., The rulers.
ftb53 St. Elizabeth of Hungary and Thuringia, d. 1231. It was said of her that, when she was Landgravine of Thuringia, she built a hospital of twenty-eight beds near the Wartburg, and attended the inmates daily.
See Cath. Encycl. 5:389 f.
ftb54 ARISTOTLE, Nicomachean Ethics 5:3 (cf. Weimar Ed. l. c., p. 201, n. 4.)
ftb55 A proverb, going back to Walther von der Vogelweide. See Weimar Ed. 1. c., p. 202, n. 3.
ftb56 The highly prized sweet wine of Spain, Shakespeare’s Malmsey.
ftb57 Cuntz Hildebrand, a corruption of conzelebrant, which was at once a technical name for one who assisted in the celebration of the Mass, and the popular name for the legendary fish which carried the world.
ftb58 i.e., The office of a ruler.
ftb59 Hilarion of Gaza, d. 371 A. D.
ftb60 St. Jerome, d. 420 A. D.
ftb61 Suetonius, October 25. Luther probably got the saying from Erasmus’ Adages.
ftb62 Durchs urteil.
ftb63 Mit frevel. Luther’s distinction between frevel and gewalt is hard to keep in translation, Gewalt, when used in an evil sense, as here, is equivalent to frevel, which means “wickedness in violent operation,” therefore, ‘“crime.”
ftb64 Above.
ftb65 Retter odder Ritter.
ftb66 Hegen.
ftb67 Heer man.
ftb68 The Bohemian reformer, executed 1415.
ftb69 A Lutheran preacher, executed August 16, 1527.
ftb70 These ideas were spread chiefly by the Anabaptist teachers, especially by the followers of Thomas Muenzer. They played a part in the Peasant Revolt of 1525. See present volume, pp. 211 ff.
ftb71 Christenheit.
ftb72 Luther repeats this statement in his treatiste — The Councils and the Church (1539). His sources seem to have been Cassidorus’ and Rufinus’ translation of Eusebius. Cf.SCHAEFER Luther als Kirchenhistoriker, p. 295.
ftb73 Christenheit.
ftb74 Luther’s source for this disputation wasVIGILIUS OF THAPSUS’ Contra Arianos dialogus (Migne 62:155 ff.) Cf.SCHAEFER Luther als Kirchenhistoriker, p. 281.
ftb75 Winkelpredigten und helmlichen Ceremonien. The reference is to the secret, or semi-secret, propaganda of the sectaries, many of whom were revolutionaries, and all of whom were suspected of teaching revolutionary doctrine.
ftb76 i.e., Of allegiance.
ftb77 The Peasants’ Revolt.
ftb78 Kirchspiel.
ftb79 i.e. The jailer or executioner.
ftb80 Luther took his degree of Doctor of Theology at the express command of the Vicar of the Augustinian Order, John Staupitz. SeeSCHEEL, Luther, 2 (1917), 309 ff., and his own letter to the Faculty at Erfurt (Enders, 1:22 ff.)
ftb81 Implied in the charter granted by the pope and the emperor to the university.
ftb82 See above.
ftb83 Above.
ftb84 Ein naturlicher Gott.
ftb85 In der Christenheit.
ftb86 Naturlicher.
ftb87 FORSTEMANN, Urkundenbuch zu der Geschichte des Reichstags zu Augsburg (1833), 1:3 f.
ftb88 ENDERS, 7:313
ftb89 ibid. 332.
ftb90 ibid. 379.
ftb91 ibid. 376.
ftb92 Weimar Ed. 30: 2 238.
ftb93 ibid.
ftb94 Translated inJACOBS, Book of Concord, 2:75 ff.
ftb95 Cf.SMITH &JACOBS, Luther’s Correspondence, 2:322 ff.
ftb96 Given byFORSTEMANN, op. cit, pp. 68 ff. Cf. Weimar Ed., 30 2 :246 ff; translated in part byJACOBS, op. cit, pp. 95 ff.
ftb97 i.e. The clergy.
ftb98 Cf. Vol. 2.
ftb99 Since the Diet of Worms in 1521.
ftb100 One of the announced purposes of the diet was to make provision for the removal of “the grievous burden and invason of the Turks.” FORSTERMANN 1:3; Kidd, Documents, p. 258.
ftb101 In the Peasants’ Revolt of 1525. See above, pp. 205 ff.
ftb102 The Diet of Nuremberg, in 1524, not only determined that a Council of the Church should be held, but called for a meeting at Spires, in the fall of the same year, to arrange for such a council. This meeting was not held.
ftb103 The Edict of Worms (1521) placed Luther under the ban of the Empire and forbade the dissemination of his doctrines. Text inWREDE, Deutsche Reichstagsakten, 1:640 ff.;KIDD, Documents of the Continental Reformation, No. 45.
ftb104 The Diet of Nuremberg demanded a General Council of the Church, and declared the enforcement of the Edict of Worms impossible. WREDE, op. Cit. 3:385 ff., andSMITH AND JACOBS, Luther’s Correspondence 2:169 ff.
ftb105 The Gravamina of the German Nation, seeWREDE, Deutsche Reichstagsakten, 1:661 ff.
ftb106 In bus correptam. For this translation see Weimar Ed. 30, 2 p. 714.
ftb107 Cf. Vol. 1.
ftb108 The Jubilee-year, in which special indulgences were granted.
ftb109 Cf. Vol. 1, Vol. 2.
ftb110 Cf. Vol. 1; Vol. 2.
ftb111 In 1527, George Winkler, a pastor in Halle, was tried by an ecclesiastical court at Aschaffenburg, charged with administering the Sacrament in both kinds. It was known at the trial that he was not only guilty of this offense, but had also taken a wife. He was released by the archbishop of Mainz, but on the way home was set upon and murdered.
Circumstances pointed to the archbishop as the instigator of the deed.
Luther wrote a letter of sympathy To the Christians of Halle (Weimar Ed. 23:402 ff.)
ftb112 Die gantze Procession des hellischen creutz gangs, a reference to the processions that were customary in Easter week. Cf. Weimar Ed., 30: 2 261, n. 43.
ftb113 A reference to the penitential canons.
ftb114 i.e. The satisfaction for sins against men and for sins against God.
ftb115 Winkelmessen, i.e. masses said for the benefit of individuals, usually for the souls of individuals who have died.
ftb116 Saints who offered protection against special dangers. See Vol.
ftb117 The “crown of Mary” and the “Psalter of Mary” were forms of the rosary. The common, or lesser, rosary consisted of five times ten Ave Marias, with one Pater Noster after each group of ten Ave Marias. The “crown of Mary” was sixty-three Ave Marias in six groups, each followed by a Pater Noster. The number sixty-three was presumed to be the number of the years of the Virgin’s life. Another tradition gave her age as seventy-three, and a “crown” of seventy-three Ave Marias, with seven Pater Nosters, was also in use. The “Psalter of Mary,” or greater rosary, consisted of fifteen times ten Ave Marias, with a Pater Noster after each group of ten. See Weimar Ed. 30: 2 296, notes 1 and 2; Berlin Ed., 3:363, notes; Realencyk, 17:146 f.; Cath. Encycl. 4:540; 13:184 ff.
ftb118 The large beads of the rosary. These beads were sometimes hung on the church-doors, and worshippers who said the prayers as they entered the church received special indulgences.
ftb119 The fifteen prayers to St. Bridget were especially popular in the Reformation-time.
ftb120 On the shrines at Grimmenthal and Regensburg, see Vol. 2. Eicha and Bienbaum were in the neighborhood of Leipzig. Cf. Weimar Ed. 30: 2 296, n. 5.
ftb121 Because every church would have been a place of pilgrimage.
ftb122 The Holy Coat of Trier, alleged to be the seamless garment of Christ, exposed for adoration in 1512. See Vol. 2.
ftb123 Societies for the doing of good works. The good works of all the members were placed to the credit of each. See Vol. 2.
ftb124 Masses for the dead at which a bier was placed in the church and a procession made around it.
ftb125 The “golden mass” was the mass of Golden Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost; sometimes the Saturday mass of the week following the festival of St. Michael and All Angels. They were special masses for the dead.
ftb126 The five masses said on Christmas Day.
ftb127 St. Francis’ drawers were in the great collection of the Elector Frederick at Wittenberg. See Weimar Ed. 30: 265, n. 91.
ftb128 Cf. Vol. 1.
ftb129 Duns Scotus (d. 1308). On this document seeSEEBURG, Theologie d. D. S., p. 119.
ftb130 i.e. Luther’s teaching.
ftb131 A proverb.
ftb132 Equivalent to “drink your health.”
ftb133 Accipe potestatem sacrificandi pro vivis et mortuis.
ftb134 The mass of the Advent Sundays, when the antiphon was sung — Rorate coeli (“Drop down ye heavens”). This antiphon is retained in American Lutheran Churches as part of the Introit for the Fourth Sunday in Advent.
ftb135 For earlier utterances of Luther on the ban, see Vol. 1, ff.
ftb136 This charge is made in the Gravamina of 1521.
ftb137 Those who are debarred from spiritual offices because of violations of law.
ftb138 i.e “Deposed.”
ftb139 “A Church position exists for the sake of the duty; not to be an occasion for wrong-doing.”
ftb140 Cf. Vol. 1., Vol. 2.
ftb142 i.e. Antichrist.
ftb143 i.e. The Vulgate.
ftb144 “He shall practice lust with men.”
ftb145 “He shall not care for desire toward women.”
ftb146 Eheloser, ich haette schier gesagt ehrloser, Stand.
ftb147 “In former times the canons set themselves hard against the pope in this matter, especially the canons of Mainz, so that the canons of Erfurt would almost have slain their archbishop.” Chron. Germaniae. (This is Luther’s own marginal note to this passage. The reference is to Lambert of Hersfeld’s Chronicle. The occurrence was in 1075, when Gregory VII was attempting to enforce celibacy on the Church. See Monumenta Germ. Script. 5:218. Erfurt was in the archdiocese of Mainz.)
ftb148 Du sollst nicht ehebrechen. The accepted English rendering, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” deprives Luther’s argument of its point.
ftb149 i.e. Of money.
ftb150 Cf. Above, p. 140.
ftb151 Ehrlos— a pun on ehelos, “unmarried.”
ftb152 Cf. Luther’s work Wider den . . . . Rathschlag der Mainzischen Pfafferei (1526). Weimar Ed. 19:260 ff.
ftb153 St. Nicholas went from house to house in the garb of a bishop, giving presents to good children. He is the ancestor of the modern Santa Claus.
ftb154 Pope Clement VII (1523-24), a member of the Florentine house of Medici. Venice and Florence were proverbial for unchastity.
ftb155 Than that made above.
ftb156 i.e. The four things specified above.
ftb157 “Dens of unpunished vice and robbery.”
ftb158 The bath-house keeper was also the barber and blood-letter of the time.
ftb159 Probably a reference to Luther’s own formula of marriage, the Trau buchlein. See a later Vol.
ftb160 Masses said for four weeks after the death of the supposed beneficiary.
ftb161 Endowment of free baths as a good work.
ftb162 Trivial dispensations, such as permission to eat butter in Lent.
ftb163 Cf. Vol. 2.
ftb164 Acolytes and lectors belong to the lower orders of clergy. All of the lower orders are included in one ordination, known as “the first tonsure.” It admitted to the liberties of the clergy, but did not impose definite duties.
ftb165 The fifteen prayers to St. Bridget.
ftb166 Used in baptism.
ftb167 The purple, or violet, altar-cloths used in the fast-seasons, — Advent and Lent.
ftb168 Customary especially in the month of May.
ftb169 The plenary confession, demanded once a year, usually before the Easter-communion.
ftb170 The dummy on which a figure, representing Christ, was mounted, or dramatic presentations of the Entry into Jerusalem.
ftb171 The throwing of green twigs, representing palms, after the palm-ass.
ftb172 Swallowing bits of the consecrated palms distributed on Palm Sunday; regarded as a preventive of throat-affections.
ftb173 The bits of consecrated palm, fastened together in the form of a cross, were used by the German peasants for blessing the fields.
ftb174 The customs referred to in Nos. 80-86 belonged to the observance of Holy Week, and especially of Good Friday.
ftb175 Nos. 87-89 were customs of the Saturday before Easter.
ftb176 The great procession of the year (April 25th).
ftb177 The cross-week is the week after Rogate Sunday, observed with processions and prayers for the crops.
ftb178 The hour of nones (3 P.M.) was said to be the time of the Ascension, and the chief service of Ascension Day was held at that hour.
ftb179 The dramatic representation of the Pentecost miracle.
ftb180 In the week after Trinity Sunday.
ftb181 Celebrated August l5th.
ftb182 The week following the Sunday after St. Michael’s Day. The masses of that week were usually for the dead.
ftb183 October 14th.
ftb184 It was customary for the clergy to receive presents of geese on St. Martin’s Day (November 11th).
ftb186 March 25th.
ftb187 Apparuit (“He appeared”) occurred repeatedly in the Easter liturgies.
ftb188 Wine consecrated on St. John’s Day (December 27th).
ftb189 Candlemas (February 2d), the day for the consecration of the candles for use throughout the year. In consequence there was a lively market for candles on that day.
ftb190 On St. Agatha’s Day it was customary to burn candles on which prayers to the saint had been inscribed.
ftb191 Candles inscribed with prayers to St. Blasius were believed to ward off affections of the throat.
ftb192 Itinerant venders of relics: see Vol. 2, p. 135, n. 2.
ftb193 i.e. For the seasons of the Church Year.
ftb194 i.e. On Christmas Eve and St. Nicholas’ Eve (December 5th).
ftb195 At the Diet of Nuremberg, 1523. The statements referred to are found inSMITH AND JACOBS, Luther’s Correspondence, 2, pp. 141 ff.
