198 THE GERMAN REFORMATION. A.D. 1517 To 1580.
Church, in Latin and German pamphlets, in poetry and prose, with all the weapons of learning, common-sense, wit, and satire. He was, next to Luther, the boldest and most effective polemical writer of that period, and was called the German Demosthenes on account of his philippics against Rome. His Latin is better than Luther’s, but his German far inferior. In wit and power of ridicule he resembles Lucian; at times he reminds one of Voltaire and Heine. He had a burning love of German liberty and independence. This was his chief motive for attacking Rome. He laid the axe at the root of the tree of tyranny. His motto was, “Jacta est alea. Ich hab’s gewagt.” }
He republished in 1518 the tract of Laurentius Valla on the Donation of Constantine, with an embarrassing dedication to Pope Leo X., and exposed on German soil that gigan- ἡ tic fraud on which the temporal power of the papacy over all Christian Europe was made to rest. But his chief and most violent manifesto against Rome is a dialogue which he published under the name “ Vadiscus, or the Roman Trinity,” in April, 1520, a few months before Luther’s “ Address to the German Nobility” (July) and his “ Babylonian Captivity” (October). He here groups his experiences in Rome under several triads of what abounds in Rome, of what is lacking in Rome, of what is forbidden in Rome, of what one brings home from Rome, etc. He puts them into the mouth of a Roman consul, Vadiscus, and makes variations on them. Here are some specimens :?—
‘Three things keep Rome in power: the authority of the Pope, the bones of saints, and the traffic in indulgences. ‘‘ Three things are in Rome without number: strumpets, priests, and scribes.
1 “The die is cast. I have ventured it.’ An allusion to the exclamation of Cesar when he crossed the Rubicon, and marched to Rome.
2 Strauss, U. v. H., p. 285 sqq., 289; and his translation, in Hutten’s Gespr. Ῥ. 94 sqq., 114 sqq. I have omitted the interlocutories in the dialogue. Vadiscus is Hutten’s friend Crotus of Erfurt (also Luther’s friend); and Ernhold is his friend Arnold Glauberger, with whom he had been in Rome.
ὃ 42. ULRICH VON HUTTEN AND LUTHER. 199
‘Three things abound in Rome: antiquities, poison, and ruins.
‘Three things are banished from Rome: simplicity, temperance, and piety (or, in another place: poverty, the ancient discipline, and the preaching of the truth).
“Three things the Romans trade in: Christ, ecclesiastical benefices, and women.
“Three things everybody desires in Rome: short masses, good gold, and a luxurious life.
‘‘ Three things are disliked in Rome: a general council, a reformation of the clergy, and the fact that the Germans begin to open their eyes.
‘Three things displease the Romans most: the unity of the Christian princes, the education of the people, and the discovery of their frauds,
‘* Three things are most valued in Rome: handsome women, fine horses, and papal bulls. |
‘* Three things are in general use in Rome: luxury of the flesh, splendor in dress, and pride of the heart.
** Three things Rome can never get enough of: money for the episcopal pallium, monthly, and annual incomes from vacant benefices.1
‘* Three things are most praised and yet most rare in Rome: devotion, faith, and innocence.
‘* Three things Rome brings to naught: a good conscience, devotion, and the oath.
‘“‘Three things are necessary in Rome to gain a lawsuit: money, letters
. Οὗ recommendation, and lies.
‘Three things pilgrims usually bring back from Rome: a soiled conscience, a sick stomach, and an empty purse.
‘* Three things have kept Germany from getting wisdom: the stupidity of the princes, the decay of learning, and the superstition of the people.
“Three things are feared most in Rome: that the princes get united, that the people begin to open their eyes, and that Rome’s frauds are coming to light.
‘‘Three things only could set Rome right: the determination of the princes, the impatience of the people, and an army of Turks at her doors.”’
This epigrammatic and pithy form made the dialogue popular and effective. Even Luther imitated it when, in his * Babylonian Captivity,” he speaks of three walls, and three rods of the Papists. Hutten calls the Roman court a sink of
1 Allusion to the papal claims to fill the ecclesiastical vacancies which occurred during the long months (January, March, etc.), and to receive the annates, i.e., the first year’s income from every spiritual living worth more than twenty-four ducats per annum. Luther, in his Address to the German Nobility, characterizes this papal avarice as downright robbery.