The state of things in Germany, the relation of the emperor to the empire and to foreign countries, and the change which had just occurred in the papal see, led to another diet, which convened at Nuremberg Nov. 11, 1523. The members were a long time assembling, and Frederick was only prevailed upon by Ferdinand himself to be present. Here the elector received a brief from the new pope, Clement VII, recommending to him car- dinal Lorenzo Campeggio as his legate to the diet. The cardinal was the worthy tool of his master, who, far from wishing to effect any reform in the Church, sought only to uphold the power of the see of Rome,
and to use temporal power for personal or political pur- poses. The diet was finally opened January 14, 1524. Campeggio had not yet arrived. On his journey he had ample occasion to observe what progress the Ref- ormation was making, and how slight was the hold the Romish Church yet retained among the people ; but this only made him more resolute in abating nothing from his demands of the diet. He reached Nuremberg February 14, and presented another brief of Clement YII to the elector of Saxony, requesting him to serve the interests of the see of Rome. On his arrival Cam- peggio was not received by the states, but only by the clergy, and in the name of the assembly of the bishops at Bamberg and Treves. From the first, the majority in the diet showed itself opposed to the pope. They discussed the necessity of furnishing assistance to the king of Hungary, of contributing to the war against the Turks, and of removing the seat of government from Nuremberg to Esslingen. On this point the ma- jority went as much against the wishes of the emperor as on others against those of the pope. The orator of the imperial party, Haunart, announced clearly that his master wished the diet to dissolve, and Campeggio seconded him, as under the circumstances it was also the interest of the pope to have the diet dissolved. Finally it was declared that those who had served in the preceding diet could not take part in this, and thus the opposition majority was broken. F'rederick foresaw what the result of such a measure would be, and left the diet February 24, Philip von Feilitzsch re- maining as his representative. Campeggio now repre- sented again to the diet the danger there would be for the empire in any departure from their ancient faith; the states answered by referring him to the grievances complained of in the former diet, the redress of which was necessary for the welfare of the country. To this he answered that the pope had received no official communication of these grievances; that indeed three copies purporting to be the resolutions of the late diet had been received by private persons at Rome, and that he himself had read one, but that the charges in them were so absur<l that the\' had been considered merely as the productions of private individuals vent- ing their spite against the Church in that manner. That, besides, these charges were accompanied by re- quests the granting of which would only damage the papal authority, and which were even heretical, so that he would not treat of that question with the diet, but rather advise the carrying out of the Edict of Worms. Haunart seconded Campeggio, f<ir the emperor hoped in this way to obtain certain political advantages. The opposition, however, held fast. Frederick's representa- tive declared in his name that he had received no of- ficial communication of the Edict of Worms, that the late diet had not forbidden evangelical preaching, and that its decisions could not be laid aside without dis- cussion. The diet dissolved on April 18. The seat of government was removed to Esslingen, aid was given to the king of Hungary and to the war against the Turks, and the states recognised themselves bound by the Edict of Worms, but only that they " would see it executed as far as they could." It was further de- cided that the pope would cause, with the assent of the emperor, a free council to be held in Germany as soon as possible; but that in the mean time another diet as- sembled at Spires should decide on the grievances of the princes against the pope and the clergy, and — a very remarkable feature — decide on the manner in which the aforementioned council should be held. Until then the princes were to exercise a severe censorship over aU new doctrines and books, but at the same time sec that the Gospel be freely and peaceably preached and ex- plained in the manner generally received by the Church. The decisions did not mention Luther by name ; on the other hand, the address of the emperor to the Diet of Spires expressly mentions the Lutheran and other new doctrines as making great progress among the lower
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classes, leading them to insubordination, irreligion, etc. He insisted on the Edict of Worms being strictly car- ried out. Fcilitzscli, count Bernard of Solms, and count George of Werthcim protested; but the emperor, who found it for his advantage to please the pope, sent di- rect orders to the states; he was, however, prevented, by complications with France, from injuring the liefor- mation as deeply as had at first been feared. The states being thus at liberty to execute the Edict of Worms " so far as they could" in their own way, did not prove very strict, and the pope complained bitterly of it to the emperor and to the kings of France and of England. He even threatened to excommunicate Frederick as a heretic. His legate was in the mean time seeking to organize a so-called Catholic league in ojiposition to the evangelical princes and states, and even attempted, but in vain, to gain Mclancthon to his side {Corp. Re- form. i, G57-672).