4. The Firtt Diet of Spire, held in 1526. Charles ^., being in Spain, named his brother, archduke Fer- iinand, to preside over that assembly, where the duke of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse demanded, at first, a free exercise of tibe Lutheran religion, so tliat the Lutherans preached there publicly against Popery ; and the servants of the Lutheran princes had these five letters, V. D. M, I. M,, embroidered on their sleeves ( Verbum Dei manet in Jstemttm), to show publicly that tlwy would follow nothing but the pure Word of God. The archduke, not daring to oppose these courses, pro- posed two things : the first, concerning the Popish re- Uj^on, which was to be observed in maintaining the •diet of Worms ; and the second concerning the help demanded by Louis, king of Hungary, against the Txuks. The Lutherans prevailing about the first, it
^as decreed that the emperor should be desired to call
a general council in Germany within a year ; and that, in the mean time, every one was to have liberty of conscience. Whilst they were deliberating in vain about the second, king Louis was defeated and killed in the battle of Mohacz.
5. The Second Diet of Spire was held in 1629. It was decreed against the Lutherans that wherever the edict of Worms was received, it should not be lawftd for any one to change his opinions ; but in the conn* tries where the new religion (as they termed it) was received, it should be lawful to continue in it till the next council, if the old religion could not be re-estab- lished there without sedition. Nevertheless, the mass was not to be abolished there, and no Romanist was allowed to turn Lutheran ; the Sacramefttarians were to be banished out of the empire, and the Anabaptists put to death; and preachers should nowhere preach against the Church of Rome. Six Lutheran princes, namely, the elector of Saxony, the marquis of Bran- denbuig-Bayreuth, the two dukes of Luneburg, the landgrave of Hesse, and the prince of Anhalt, with the deputies of fourteen imperial towns, protested, in writ- ing, two days after, in the assembly, against this de- cree, which they would not obey, it being contrary to the Gospel; and appealed to a general or national council, to the emperor, and to any other unprejudiced judge. From this solemn protestation came the fkmons name of Protestants, which the Lutherans soon adopt- ed ; and, subsequently, the Calvinists, and other R»> formed churches. They also protested against contrib- uting anything towards the war against the Turks till after the exercise of their religion was fr'ee in all Ger- many. The next year the emperor held the Diet of Augsburg.
6. The Fint Diet ofAugtburg was called in the year 1580, by Charles Y ., to reunite the princes about some matters of religion, and to join them all together against the Turks. The elector of Saxony, followed by many princes, presented the confession of faith called the Confession of Augsburg. The conference about matters of foith and discipline being concluded, the emperor ended the diet by a decree that nothing should be altered in the doctrines and ceremonies of the Church of Rome till a council should order it oth- erwise.
7. 7%e Firet Diet ofRaUAon, in 1541, for uniting the Protestants to the Church of Rome. The pope's leg- ate having altered the twenty-two articles drawn up by the Protestant divines, the emperor proposed to choose some learned divines who might agree peacea- bly on the articles, and, being desired by the diet to choose them himself^ he named three Papists, namely, Julius Pflugius, John Gropperus, and John Eckius, and three Protestants, namely, Philip Melancthon, Martin Bucer, and John Pistorius. After an exami- nation and disputation of a month, those divines could not agree on more than five or six articles, wherein the diet still found some difficulties. The emperor, to terminate these controversies, ordered, by an edict, that the decision of these articles should be referred to a general council, or to the national council of all Grer- many, or to the next diet, eighteen months after ; and that, in the mean time, the Protestants should keep the articles agreed on, forbidding them to solicit any- body to change the old religion, as they called it. But, to gratify the Protestants, he gave them leave, by patent, to retain their religion, notwithstanding the edict.
8. The Second Diet of RaHebon was held in 1646: none of the Protestant confederate princes appeared. It was therefore soon decreed by a plurality 4>f votes that the Council of Trent should be foUowed. The Protestant deputies opposed, and this caused a war against them.
9. The Second Diet ofAugeburg was held in 1547, re- specting matters of religion. The electors being di- vided concerning the decisions of the Council of Trent.
DIETERICH
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the emperor demanded that the management of this afikir should be left to him, and it was directed that every one should conform to the decision of that coun- dl.
10. The Third Diet of Augsburg was held in 1548, when the commissioners appointed to examine some memoirs about a confession of faith not agreeing to- gether, the emperor named three divines, who drew up the plan of the famous ItUerim. See Interim.
11. The Fourth Diet of Augsburg was held in 1550. The emperor complained that the Interim was not ob- served, and demanded that all should submit to the council, which they were going to renew at Trent: but the deputies of duke Maurice of Saxony protested that their master had agreed to snbmit to the coun- cil on condition that the divines of the Confession of Augsburg not only should be heard there, but should vote also, like the Romish bbhops, and that the pope should not preside ; but, by plurality of votes, submis- sion to the council was agreed upon.