Ob 500-letnici Luthrovega nastopa na državnem zboru v Wormsu ▪︎ On the 500th Anniversary of Luther’s Appearance at the Diet of Worms
Authors: Rajšp Vincenc 
Published: July 2021

Following the publication of Luther’s theses on 31 October 1517, the Diet of Worms was the next fundamental step in the reform movement of the 16th-century European Christianity. In the “Holy Roman Empire,” the way was opened for further religious and new institutional development in the previously unified church, culminating in the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, which granted individual rulers of political units in the country, princes, prince-bishops etc. the right to decide on the religion of their Catholic and Lutheran subjects. The immediate cause of “Worms 1521” and the consequent “Edict of Worms” were two papal bulls addressed to Luther. The first, Exsurge Domine from 1520, threatened him with excommunication unless he recanted almost one half of the theses published in 1517. Luther responded by proclaiming the pope the Antichrist, although he had until then somewhat avoided criticising him, and publicly burned the bull in December of the same year. Exsurge Domine was followed in January 1521 by the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem excommunicating Luther, which also meant death sentence and exile from the state. According to the established doctrine and practice the execution of the sentence would follow automatically. This doctrine was rejected by Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, who was not convinced by the arguments about Luther’s “heresy” and demanded judgement by domestic experts and authorities. He had his University of Wittenberg in mind, which firmly defended Luther’s views. Frederick the Wise reached the agreement with Emperor Charles that “the case of Luther” would be discussed at the Diet, and that Luther was guaranteed safe arrival in Worms and return to Wittenberg. Luther appeared before the Diet on April 17 and 18. The party representing Luther’s conviction gave him only the option of renouncing the convicted theses, which is why he requested more time for reconsideration and was granted the emperor’s personal permission. The next day, on April 18, Luther performed brilliantly, to which the emperor personally responded on April 19. Thus, Emperor Charles and the monk Luther literally stood opposite each other at the Diet, in front of the highest representatives of the state, which was previously completely unimaginable. Both presented their religious perceptions and understandings, referring to their own conscience. They were in a very unequal position not only as emperor and monk; it was a much more sensitive matter, since the emperor was religiously “free” while Luther was a validly convicted and excommunicated “heretic”. The case of Luther at the Diet was far from solely religious in nature, but rather a reflection of the broader socio-religious situation at the turning point in history. The conflict culminated in the contradictions between “cultural” Rome and barbaric “Germanism”, as perfectly illustrated by the correspondence of the papal nuncio, Girolamo Aleandro the elder. The great understanding for Luther’s resistance to Rome was supported at the Diet by decades-old German complaints (gravamina) debated at Diets, which were not taken seriously in Rome. The most notable figures in the case of Luther (causa Lutheri) at the Diet were: Martin Luther, Emperor Charles V, Elector of Saxony Frederick the Wise, and the papal nuncio Girolamo Aleandro the elder. Although at the end of the Diet each of them was “victorious” in one way or another, the actual winner was Martin Luther, who achieved unprecedented success only by appearing before the Diet, not renouncing the convicted theses and being able to return to Wittenberg under the emperor’s protection. It is true that he published his fundamental reform writings as early as 1520, but the door for the Reformation has only now opened. After Luther was “abducted” on his way back, he undertook the translation of the Bible into German, which became the only recognized religious basis, and he incorporated his theology into the translation. He used his native, German language to communicate the faith. This was already demonstrated at the Diet, where he spoke first in German and only then in Latin for those who did not understand German, e.g. the emperor and the papal nuncio Aleandro. Pamphlets (Flugschriften) handed out in the streets also reported about the events at the Diet in German. At first glance, the conclusion of the Diet was not favorable for Luther. The Edict of Worms, dated May 8 and signed by the emperor on May 26, as an act of the emperor and not as a resolution of the Diet, legitimized Luther’s conviction. The edict was drafted by the nuncio Aleandro, and partly also by Peter Bonomo, later Trubar’s teacher. However, the edict did not have fatal consequences for Luther, because the emperor did not send it to the province of Saxony; consequently Frederick, Elector of Saxony, did not have to declare it, so the edict did not apply where the “heretic” lived. This, in turn, enabled Luther to continue working as both a religious reformer and a university professor at the University of Wittenberg, which became a central institution for the education of Lutheran reformers.