First Diet of Speyer
Encyclopedia
The Diet of Speyer or the Diet of Spires (sometimes referred to as Speyer I) was a diet
of the Holy Roman Empire
in 1526 in the Imperial City
of Speyer
(or Spires, in present-day Germany
). The diet's ambiguous edict resulted in a temporary suspension of the Edict of Worms and aided the expansion of Protestantism
. These results were repudiated in the Diet of Speyer of 1529.
advanced, the execution of the Edict of Worms (1521—an edict by Charles V
outlawing Luther and all his writings with death sentences
and confiscatory penalties for anyone, such as a printer, found with them in their possession) became less and less practicable. This was made manifest at the imperial Diet of Speyer, held in the summer of 1526. Although the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, had originally intended to attend this meeting, commitments in the rest of his territories forced him to cancel his visit. Instead, the Diet was held under Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria
, in the name of his older brother the Emperor. Ferdinand was instructed to bring the two sides together.
The Protestant princes dared here for the first time to profess their faith, and were greatly strengthened by the delegates of the imperial cities in which the Reformation had made great progress. The threatening invasion of the Turks
, and the quarrel of the Emperor with the Pope
, favored the Protestant cause, and inclined the Roman Catholic majority to forbearance.
The build-up to the Diet was also marked by the gradual emergence of various groupings of princes along the lines of religion. Most notable among these were John, Elector of Saxony
, and Philip of Hesse, who formed a League at Gotha, which they then concluded at Torgau
in February 1526, thus forming the League of Torgau
.
Charles's proposals for the diet asked that the Edict of Worms be carried out, that heresy and rebellion be put down, and that any final decisions on religion be postponed until the meeting of a general council
. The princes, however, managed to negotiate some very different conclusions to the diet.
On August 27 the diet came to the unanimous conclusion, with the consent of Ferdinand, that a general or national council should be convened for the settlement of the church question, and that in the mean time, in matters concerning the Edict of Worms, "every State shall so live, rule, and believe as it may hope and trust to answer before God and his imperial Majesty." This action was not designed to annul the Edict of Worms and to be a permanent law of religious liberty giving to each member of the diet the right to act as he pleased. It was merely an armistice, or temporary suspension of the edict until the meeting of a general council, and within the limits of obedience to the Catholic emperor who had no plans to grant religious liberty, or even toleration, to Protestants.
But in its practical effect the resolution of 1526 went far beyond its intention. It was a great help to the cause of Protestantism, especially as the council which the diet contemplated, and which the emperor himself repeatedly urged upon the Pope, was postponed for twenty years. In the mean time the Protestant princes, notably Philip of Hesse at the Synod of Homberg
(October 20, 1526), and Elector John of Saxony
, interpreted the decree according to their own wishes, and made the best use of the temporary privilege of independent action, regardless of its limitations or the views of the emperor. Luther himself understood the Diet of Speyer as having given him a temporary reprieve on the charge of heresy.
In a separate set of decisions, the diet also decided that the Imperial Regiment and the Imperial Chamber Court (Reichskammergericht), next to the emperor the highest ranking wielders of state power in the Holy Roman Empire, were both to be moved to Speyer the following year.
neither signed nor opposed the Edict of Speyer. He had shortly before fallen out with Pope Clement VII
, because this pope had released King Francis I of France
from the hard conditions of peace imposed upon him after his defeat at Pavia
, February 24, 1525, and had, on May 22, 1526, placed himself at the head of a Franco-Italian league, the League of Cognac, against the preponderance of Austria
. The combination of the emperor and the pope had brought about the Edict of Worms; the breach between the two virtually annulled it at the Diet of Speyer. Had the emperor then embraced the Protestant doctrines, he might have become the head of a German imperial state church, but all his instincts were against Protestantism.
The action of the Diet of 1526, and the quarrel between the emperor and the pope, were highly favorable to the progress of the Reformation. But the good effect was in great part neutralized by a stupendous fraud which brought Germany to the brink of a civil war.
Philip of Hesse, an ardent, passionate, impulsive and ambitious prince who was a patron of Protestantism, was deceived by an unprincipled and avaricious politician, Otto von Pack
, provisional chancellor of the Duchy of Saxony, into the belief that Ferdinand of Austria, the Electors of Mainz
, Brandenburg
and Saxony, the Duke of Bavaria and other Roman Catholic rulers had concluded a league at Breslau, May 15, 1527, for the extermination of Protestantism. He procured at Dresden
a sealed copy of the forged document, for which he paid Pack four thousand guilders. He persuaded Elector John of Saxony of its genuineness, and concluded with him, in all haste, a counter-league, March 9, 1528. They secured aid from other princes and made expensive military preparations in anticipation of an attack by the enemy.
Fortunately, the reformers of Wittenberg
were consulted and an open outbreak of hostilities was prevented by their advice. Martin Luther
deemed the papal forces capable of anything, but was on principle opposed to aggressive war; Philip Melanchthon saw through the forgery and felt keenly mortified. When the fictitious document was published, the Roman Catholic princes indignantly denied it. Duke George denounced Pack as a traitor. Archduke Ferdinand declared that he never dreamed of such a league.
The rash conduct of Philip put the Protestant princes in the position of aggressors and disturbers of the public peace, and the whole affair brought shame and disgrace upon their cause.
The Diet of Speyer 1529 virtually condemned the innovations made but did not annul them.
).
Every Protestant sovereign hereafter claimed and exercised the so-called jus reformandi religionem, and decided the church question according to his own faith and that of the majority of his subjects. Saxony
, Hesse
, Prussia, Anhalt
, Lüneburg
, East Friesland, Schleswig-Holstein
, Silesia
, and the cities of Nuremberg
, Augsburg
, Frankfurt
, Ulm
, Strasburg
, Bremen
, Hamburg
, and Lübeck, adopted Protestantism. The princes of the territories and the magistrates of the cities consulted the theologians and preachers. The powerful house of Austria, with the Emperor, and the Dukes of Bavaria, adhered to the old faith, and hotly contested the principle of independent state action on the church question, as being contrary to all the traditions of the Empire and of the Roman Church.
The Protestant princes and theologians prohibited the mass and the Roman religion wherever they had the power. Each party was bent upon victory, and granted toleration only from necessity or prudence when the dissenting minority was strong enough to assert its rights. Toleration was the fruit of a bitter contest, and was at last forced upon both parties as a modus vivendi
. Protestantism had to conquer the right to exist, by terrible sacrifices. The right was conceded by the Peace of Augsburg
, 1555, and finally established by the Peace of Westphalia
, 1648, which first uses the term toleration in connection with religion, and remains valid to this day, in spite of the protest of the Pope. The same policy of toleration was adopted in England after the downfall of the Stuart dynasty in 1688, and included all orthodox Protestants, but excluded the Roman Catholics, who were not emancipated till 1829. In Germany, toleration was first confined to three confessions—the Roman Catholic, the Lutheran, and the German Reformed—but was gradually extended to other religious communions which are independent of state support and state control.
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
in 1526 in the Imperial City
Free Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops...
of Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
(or Spires, in present-day Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
). The diet's ambiguous edict resulted in a temporary suspension of the Edict of Worms and aided the expansion of Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
. These results were repudiated in the Diet of Speyer of 1529.
Cause
As ProtestantismProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
advanced, the execution of the Edict of Worms (1521—an edict by Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
outlawing Luther and all his writings with death sentences
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
and confiscatory penalties for anyone, such as a printer, found with them in their possession) became less and less practicable. This was made manifest at the imperial Diet of Speyer, held in the summer of 1526. Although the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, had originally intended to attend this meeting, commitments in the rest of his territories forced him to cancel his visit. Instead, the Diet was held under Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...
, in the name of his older brother the Emperor. Ferdinand was instructed to bring the two sides together.
The Protestant princes dared here for the first time to profess their faith, and were greatly strengthened by the delegates of the imperial cities in which the Reformation had made great progress. The threatening invasion of the Turks
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, and the quarrel of the Emperor with the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
, favored the Protestant cause, and inclined the Roman Catholic majority to forbearance.
The build-up to the Diet was also marked by the gradual emergence of various groupings of princes along the lines of religion. Most notable among these were John, Elector of Saxony
John, Elector of Saxony
John of Saxony , known as John the Steadfast or John the Constant, was Elector of Saxony from 1525 until 1532...
, and Philip of Hesse, who formed a League at Gotha, which they then concluded at Torgau
Torgau
Torgau is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen.Outside Germany, the town is most well known as the place where during the Second World War, United States Army forces coming from the west met with forces of the Soviet Union...
in February 1526, thus forming the League of Torgau
League of Torgau
The League of Torgau was an alliance of Protestant princes, including Philip of Hesse and John of Saxony, which was formed in 1526 by Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire, to oppose the terms set forth in the Edict of Worms. Because it had no substantial military, it was unable to...
.
Decision
As always for diet host towns, accommodations and provisions for several thousand guests (the elector of Saxony alone traveling with 700 guests and 400 horses) were a challenge for the council, inhabitants and landlords. On the other hand, such events provided a town with considerable earnings. After the grand opening on the June 25, 1526 with processions of princes and envoys to the cathedral and the ceremonious high mass, the diet continued for two months.Charles's proposals for the diet asked that the Edict of Worms be carried out, that heresy and rebellion be put down, and that any final decisions on religion be postponed until the meeting of a general council
General council
General council may refer to:In education:* General Council , an advisory body to each of the ancient universities of Scotland...
. The princes, however, managed to negotiate some very different conclusions to the diet.
On August 27 the diet came to the unanimous conclusion, with the consent of Ferdinand, that a general or national council should be convened for the settlement of the church question, and that in the mean time, in matters concerning the Edict of Worms, "every State shall so live, rule, and believe as it may hope and trust to answer before God and his imperial Majesty." This action was not designed to annul the Edict of Worms and to be a permanent law of religious liberty giving to each member of the diet the right to act as he pleased. It was merely an armistice, or temporary suspension of the edict until the meeting of a general council, and within the limits of obedience to the Catholic emperor who had no plans to grant religious liberty, or even toleration, to Protestants.
But in its practical effect the resolution of 1526 went far beyond its intention. It was a great help to the cause of Protestantism, especially as the council which the diet contemplated, and which the emperor himself repeatedly urged upon the Pope, was postponed for twenty years. In the mean time the Protestant princes, notably Philip of Hesse at the Synod of Homberg
Synod of Homberg
Synod of Homberg consisted of the clergy, the nobility, and the representatives of cities, and was held October 20–22, 1526. The synod is remarkable for a premature scheme of democratic church government and discipline, which failed for the time, but contained fruitful germs for the future and for...
(October 20, 1526), and Elector John of Saxony
John, Elector of Saxony
John of Saxony , known as John the Steadfast or John the Constant, was Elector of Saxony from 1525 until 1532...
, interpreted the decree according to their own wishes, and made the best use of the temporary privilege of independent action, regardless of its limitations or the views of the emperor. Luther himself understood the Diet of Speyer as having given him a temporary reprieve on the charge of heresy.
In a separate set of decisions, the diet also decided that the Imperial Regiment and the Imperial Chamber Court (Reichskammergericht), next to the emperor the highest ranking wielders of state power in the Holy Roman Empire, were both to be moved to Speyer the following year.
Aftermath
Emperor Charles VCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
neither signed nor opposed the Edict of Speyer. He had shortly before fallen out with Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII
Clement VII , born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was a cardinal from 1513 to 1523 and was Pope from 1523 to 1534.-Early life:...
, because this pope had released King Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
from the hard conditions of peace imposed upon him after his defeat at Pavia
Battle of Pavia
The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–26.A Spanish-Imperial army under the nominal command of Charles de Lannoy attacked the French army under the personal command of Francis I of France in the great hunting preserve...
, February 24, 1525, and had, on May 22, 1526, placed himself at the head of a Franco-Italian league, the League of Cognac, against the preponderance of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The combination of the emperor and the pope had brought about the Edict of Worms; the breach between the two virtually annulled it at the Diet of Speyer. Had the emperor then embraced the Protestant doctrines, he might have become the head of a German imperial state church, but all his instincts were against Protestantism.
The action of the Diet of 1526, and the quarrel between the emperor and the pope, were highly favorable to the progress of the Reformation. But the good effect was in great part neutralized by a stupendous fraud which brought Germany to the brink of a civil war.
Philip of Hesse, an ardent, passionate, impulsive and ambitious prince who was a patron of Protestantism, was deceived by an unprincipled and avaricious politician, Otto von Pack
Otto von Pack
Otto von Pack , German conspirator, studied at the University of Leipzig, and obtained a responsible position under George, Duke of Saxony, which he lost owing to his dishonesty...
, provisional chancellor of the Duchy of Saxony, into the belief that Ferdinand of Austria, the Electors of Mainz
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
, Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
and Saxony, the Duke of Bavaria and other Roman Catholic rulers had concluded a league at Breslau, May 15, 1527, for the extermination of Protestantism. He procured at Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
a sealed copy of the forged document, for which he paid Pack four thousand guilders. He persuaded Elector John of Saxony of its genuineness, and concluded with him, in all haste, a counter-league, March 9, 1528. They secured aid from other princes and made expensive military preparations in anticipation of an attack by the enemy.
Fortunately, the reformers of Wittenberg
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....
were consulted and an open outbreak of hostilities was prevented by their advice. Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
deemed the papal forces capable of anything, but was on principle opposed to aggressive war; Philip Melanchthon saw through the forgery and felt keenly mortified. When the fictitious document was published, the Roman Catholic princes indignantly denied it. Duke George denounced Pack as a traitor. Archduke Ferdinand declared that he never dreamed of such a league.
The rash conduct of Philip put the Protestant princes in the position of aggressors and disturbers of the public peace, and the whole affair brought shame and disgrace upon their cause.
The Diet of Speyer 1529 virtually condemned the innovations made but did not annul them.
Significance
The exercise of territorial sovereignty dates from this point, as well as the establishment of separate State churches in Germany. And as that country is divided into a number of sovereign States, there are there as many Protestant church organizations as Protestant States, according to the maxim that "the ruler of the territory is the ruler of religion within its bounds" (cuius regio, eius religioCuius regio, eius religio
Cuius regio, eius religio is a phrase in Latin translated as "Whose realm, his religion", meaning the religion of the ruler dictated the religion of the ruled...
).
Every Protestant sovereign hereafter claimed and exercised the so-called jus reformandi religionem, and decided the church question according to his own faith and that of the majority of his subjects. Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, Prussia, Anhalt
Anhalt
Anhalt was a sovereign county in Germany, located between the Harz Mountains and the river Elbe in Middle Germany. It now forms part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.- Dukes of Anhalt :...
, Lüneburg
Lüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
, East Friesland, Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
, Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
, and the cities of Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
, Strasburg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, and Lübeck, adopted Protestantism. The princes of the territories and the magistrates of the cities consulted the theologians and preachers. The powerful house of Austria, with the Emperor, and the Dukes of Bavaria, adhered to the old faith, and hotly contested the principle of independent state action on the church question, as being contrary to all the traditions of the Empire and of the Roman Church.
The Protestant princes and theologians prohibited the mass and the Roman religion wherever they had the power. Each party was bent upon victory, and granted toleration only from necessity or prudence when the dissenting minority was strong enough to assert its rights. Toleration was the fruit of a bitter contest, and was at last forced upon both parties as a modus vivendi
Modus vivendi
Modus vivendi is a Latin phrase signifying an agreement between those whose opinions differ, such that they agree to disagree.Modus means mode, way. Vivendi means of living. Together, way of living, implies an accommodation between disputing parties to allow life to go on. It usually describes...
. Protestantism had to conquer the right to exist, by terrible sacrifices. The right was conceded by the Peace of Augsburg
Peace of Augsburg
The Peace of Augsburg, also called the Augsburg Settlement, was a treaty between Charles V and the forces of the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran princes, on September 25, 1555, at the imperial city of Augsburg, now in present-day Bavaria, Germany.It officially ended the religious...
, 1555, and finally established by the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
, 1648, which first uses the term toleration in connection with religion, and remains valid to this day, in spite of the protest of the Pope. The same policy of toleration was adopted in England after the downfall of the Stuart dynasty in 1688, and included all orthodox Protestants, but excluded the Roman Catholics, who were not emancipated till 1829. In Germany, toleration was first confined to three confessions—the Roman Catholic, the Lutheran, and the German Reformed—but was gradually extended to other religious communions which are independent of state support and state control.