■_'. A mw cri>is for the German Reformation began in 1529 with i he- Diel ol Spire'. The emperor having vic- toriously finished hi- war-, was now free' from foreign entanglements, ami showed himself determined to main- tain the religious unity of the empire. A very numer- ous attendance of bishops and prelates secured a Cath- olic majority, which, in accordance with the imperial
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demand, decreed that the Edict of Worms should be car- ried through in the states which had hitherto acknowl- edged its authority, but that no innovations should be required in the remaining provinces; that none should be obstructed in celebrating the mass; and that the privileges of every spiritual estate should be respected. Against this recess, which if carried out would have made a further progress of the Reformation impossible, Electoral Saxony, Hesse, Limeburg, Anhalt, the mar- grave of Brandenburg, and fourteen imperial cities en- tered a protestation, from which they were henceforth called Protestants. They appealed from it to the em- peror—to a free council and a German national assem- bly. Philip of Hesse urged the evangelical princes to assume a defiant attitude for the defence of the Refor- mation, and, in order to strengthen their alliance, ad- vised a union with the imperial cities that favored the Reformation of Zuingli. In accordance with his wishes, a theological colloquy was arranged at Marburg (Oct. 1 to :i. 1529), in which Zwingli, Luther. (Ecolampadius, and Melancthon took part. They failed to effect an agreement in the doctrine of the Lord's supper, but parted with the mutual promise to end the public con- troversy. Soon after the evangelical princes assembled at the Convention of Schwabach, Luther had drawn up, on the basis of the articles of Marburg, the so-called sev- enteen Schwabach articles, which the Zwinglian cities were requested to sign as conditional of their admission to the alliance. The request was, however, declined, and the convention remained without result. At the next Diet of Augsburg (1530) the emperor intended to put an end to the religious strife. The elector of Saxony there- fore requested his theologians to draw up a brief summa- ry of the evangelical faith, and they accordingly present- ed to him a revision of the Schwabach articles at Torgau (the Torgau articles). The elector was accompanied to Augsburg by Spalatin, Melancthon. and Jonas. Luther, who was still under the ban of the empire, remained be- hind at Coburg. The emperor's arrival was delayed, and Melancthon used the time up to the opening of the diet (June 20) for composing, on the basis of the Torgau articles, the famous Confession of Augsburg (q. v.), the first of the symbolical books of the Lutheran Church, which, after being approved by Luther, was signed by the states. It had been drawn up both in Latin and in German; and although the emperor desired the Latin text to be read, it was at the request of the elector pub- licly read to the diet in German (June 25). Some of the princes admitted that they had derived from this document a clearer conception of the Reformation than they had possessed heretofore of its character and de- sign; but the emperor commissioned the Catholic theo- logians Faber, Eck, Cochlseus, and Wimpina to prepare a " confutation" of the Confession, which was read on Aug. 3. The emperor declared that he was determined to stand by the doctrines laid down in the confuta- tion; that he expected the same from the princes; that he was the patron of the Church, and not willing to tolerate a schism in Germany. He refused to receive the "Apology of the Augsburg Confession," which had been composed by Melancthon in reply to the "confuta- tion." The recess of the empire of Sept. 22 announced that the confession of the Protestants had been refuted, but that time for consideration would be given to them until April 15 of the next year; until then all should re- frain from diffusing their heresy by writing or preach- ing; and within six months a general council would be called for the ultimate settlement of the matter. The Edict of Worms was to be carried out, and the imperial court was to proceed against the disobedient. As, soon after the close of the diet, a legal process was actually be- gun against the Protestant states for having confiscated the property of the Church, the Protestant powers met at Smalkald, and concluded (1531) a defensive alliance for six years, at the head of which the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse were placed. Fortunately for the new alliance, the emperor was soon again in-