VII. BOOK to examine, but to condemn them; and that they would pay no regard to an assembly held under the influence of a Pope, who had already the coun- precluded himself from all title to act as a judge, 1545. cil of Trent. Conduct of Maurice of Saxony in this diet. by his having stigmatised their opinions with the name of heresy, and denounced against them the heaviest censures, which, in the plenitude of his usurped power, he could inflict.' WHILE the Protestants, with such union as well as firmness, rejected all intercourse with the council, and refused their assent to the Imperial demands in respect to the Turkish war, Maurice of Saxony alone shewed an inclination to gratify the Emperor with regard to both. Though he professed an inviolable regard for the Protestant religion, he assumed an appearance of moderation peculiar to himself, by which he confirmed the favourable sentiments which the Emperor already entertained of him, and gradually paved the way for executing the ambitious designs which always occupied his active and enterprising mind.' His example, however, had little influence upon such as agreed with him in their religious opinions; and Charles perceived that he could not hope either to procure present aid from the Protestants against the Turks, or to quiet their fears and jealou sies on account of their religion. But, as his schemes were not yet ripe for execution, nor his * Sleid. 343, &c. Seck. iii. 543, &c. Thuan, Histor. lib. ii. p. 56. S Seck. iii. 571. VII. 1545. preparations so far advanced that he could force BOOK the compliance of the Protestants, or punish their obstinacy, he artfully concealed his own intentions. That he might augment their security, August 4. he appointed a diet to be held at Ratisbon early next year, in order to adjust what was now left undetermined; and previous to it, he agreed that a certain number of divines of each party should meet, in order to confer upon the points in dispute.' testants BUT, how far soever this appearance of a de- The Prosire to maintain the present tranquillity might begin to have imposed upon the Protestants, the Empe- suspect the Emperor. ror was incapable of such uniform and thorough dissimulation, as to hide altogether from their view the dangerous designs which he was meditating against them. Herman Count de Wied, Archbishop and Elector of Cologne, a prelate conspicuous for his virtue and primitive simplicity of manners, though not more distinguished for learning than the other descendants of noble families, who in that age possessed most of the great benefices in Germany, having become a proselyte to the doctrines of the Reformers, had begun in the year one thousand five hundred and forty-three, with the assistance of Melancthon and Bucer, to abolish the ancient superstition in his diocese, and to introduce in its place the rites established among the Protestants. But the canons of his cathedral, who were not possessed Sleid. 351. VII. 1545. BOOK with the same spirit of innovation, and who foresaw how fatal the levelling genius of the new sect would prove to their dignity and wealth, opposed, from the beginning, this un. precedented enterprise of their Archbishop, with all the zeal flowing from reverence for old institutions, heightened by concern for their own interest. This opposition, which the Archbishop considered only as a new argument to demonstrate the necessity of a reformation, neither shook his resolution, nor slackened his ardour in prosecuting his plan. The canons, perceiving all their endeavours to check his career to be ineffectual, solemnly protested against his proceedings, and appealed for redress to the Pope and Emperor, the former as his ecclesiastical, the latter as his civil superior. This appeal being laid before the Emperor, during his residence in Worms, he took the canons of Cologne under his immediate protection; enjoined them to proceed with rigour against all who revolted from the established church; prohibited the Archbishop to make any innovation in his diocese; and summoned him to appear at Brussels within thirty days, to answer the accusations which should be preferred against him." To this clear evidence of his hostile intentions against the Protestant party, Charles added other proofs still more explicit. In his hereditary do u Sleid. 310.340.351. Seck. iii. 443. 553. VII. 1545. minions of the Low-Countries, he persecuted all BOOK who were suspected of Lutheranism with unrelenting rigour. As soon as he arrived at Worms, he silenced the Protestant preachers in that city. He allowed an Italian monk to inveigh against the Lutherans from the pulpit of his chapel, and to call upon him, as he regarded the favour of God, to exterminate that pestilent heresy. He dispatched the embassy, which has been already mentioned, to Constantinople, with overtures of peace, that he might be free from any apprehensions of danger or interruption from that quarter. Nor did any of these steps, or their dangerous tendency, escape the jealous observation of the Protestants, or fail to alarm their fears, and to excite their solicitude for the safety of their sect. Death of the Duke of Orleans. MEANWHILE, Charles's good fortune, which predominated on all occasions over that of his rival Francis, extricated him out of a difficulty, from which, with all his sagacity and address, he would have found it no easy matter to have disentangled himself. Just about the time when Sept. 8. the Duke of Orleans should have received Ferdinand's daughter in marriage, and together with her the possession of the Milanese, he died of a malignant fever. By this event, the Emperor was freed from the necessity of giving up a valuable province into the hands of an enemy, or from the indecency of violating a recent and solemn engagement, which must have occasioned an immediate rupture with France. He affected, however, to express great sorrow for the untimely VII. 1545. BOOK death of a young prince, who was to have been so nearly allied to him; but he carefully avoided entering into any fresh discussions concerning the Milanese; and would not listen to a proposal which came from Francis, of new-modelling the treaty of Crespy, so as to make him some reparation for the advantages which he had lost by the demise of his son. In the more active and vigorous part of Francis's reign, a declaration of war would have been the certain and instantaneous consequence of such a flat refusal, to comply with a demand seemingly so equitable; but the declining state of his own health, the exhausted condition of his kingdom, together with the burden of the war against England, obliged him, at present, to dissemble his resentment, and to put off thoughts of revenge to some other juncture. In consequence of this event, the unfortunate Duke of Savoy lost all hope of obtaining the restitution of his territories; and the rights or claims relinquished by the treaty of Crespy, returned in full force to the crown of France, to serve as pretexts for future wars.' dutchies of Placentia X The Pope UPON the first intelligence of the Duke of grants the Orleans's death, the confederates of Smalkalde Parma and flattered themselves that the essential alterations which appeared to be unavoidable consequences of it, could hardly fail of producing a rupture, which would prove the means of their safety. But they were not more disappointed with regard to his son. * Belcarii Comment. 769. Paruta, Hist. Venet. iv. p. 177. |