Wartburg

Luther's traveling wagon had been attacked and he had been captured and carried off, no one knew whither.

In reality, he had been taken secretly to the Wartburg, the castle of the Elector Frederick, there to remain hidden till the immediate danger was passed.

Some thought he had been seized by the Imperial or Papal party and put to death, and the greatest anxiety was felt throughout Germany until the news leaked out that he was safe.

At Wurms there was still some difficulty about the issuing of the Imperial ban, and it was not until May 25th, 1521, after the departure of Frederick of Saxony and other members favorable to Luther, that the consent of the Diet was obtained.

This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, read by Pamela Nagami.

Book 3, Chapter 10.

Martin Luther and His Work, Part 2 While Luther was in the Wartburg, his views were becoming more and more popular.

Monks, secular priests, and even bishops preached his doctrines.

His survival depended upon the fragmented political structure of the Empire and the willingness of Frederick the Wise to protect him.

On 4 May, during the return journey, armed men intercepted Luther and took him to Wartburg Castle.

The apparent abduction had been arranged for his safety.

Hidden there, he grew a beard and adopted the identity of a knight known as Junker Jörg.

stake, or not being born at his stake like the rest, is because of Saxony's ruler, Friedrich the Wise, who protected Luther from imperial execution.

And he established a sanctuary at Wartburg Castle where Luther translated the New Testament into German.

Next slide.

And so you also had the wars of religion because this time the reform had spread to other parts of Europe, to Switzerland, to Germany, and so on and so forth.

Frederick the Wise

... was the one who took, took him to Wartburg Castle.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, a lot of it was kind of luck.

When Martin Luther eventually emerged from Wartburg, the emperor was distracted with all kinds of other matters.

And so he didn't press for Luther's immediate arrest.

So ultimately, with rising public support for Luther among the German people, he got the protection of some of the princes.

I think that would make a very interesting movie if anybody wants to further cover Luther's life.

So Frederick himself kind of could plausibly deny any kind of involvement by making it look faked.

And then Luther spent about 10 months in hiding at Wartburg Castle, and that was near Eisenach.

So this was disguised as a minor night, and he went by the name Junker Jorg.

Luther had been entertained by Frau von Cotta in one of its gabled houses while the reformer was still a boy.

High above the city towered the Wartburg, where Luther translated the Bible through his inkwell at the devil and composed some of his sturdiest chorales.

Up there, too, had dwelt the saintly Elizabeth, while in its halls knightly minnesingers had competed in tourneys of song.

In the remoter distances rose the fabled Roseburg, where according to legend Dame Venus held her unholy court and ensnared the souls of unwary men.

because Frederick knew it was not safe to leave Luther in circulation.

So he took him to the Wartburg Castle to keep him safe.

And while he was there, Luther translated the New Testament into German.

Meanwhile, back here in Wittenberg, reform within the church continued.

the spanish guards were mentally stacking faggots around the lonely little figure in the middle of the room princes nobles and the holy roman emperor leaned forward to catch his words since your majesty and your lordships want a direct reply i will answer without horns or teeth he began quietly the spectators looked at each other significantly then back to the earnest friar confidence was returning and his voice carried plainly to all corners of the room unless convinced by the testimony of scripture or right reason for i trust neither the pope nor councils inasmuch as they have often erred and contradicted one another i am bound in conscience held captive by the word of god in the scriptures i have quoted i neither can nor will recant anything for it is neither right nor safe to act against conscience god help me amen there was silence for an instant then pandemonium broke loose the interrogator tried to restore order but the emperor walked out and the meeting adjourned luther was escorted back to his rooms by the admiring populace nobles who had been on the fringe now openly praised the courageous preacher and vowed their support during the night warning notices were surreptitiously posted on the doors of his enemies charles summoned the electors and princes the following day to decide what should be done his own impulse to condemn luther right away was restrained because he needed the good-will of the germans in other measures coming before the diet a plan was evolved whereby a select group of theologians would call on luther and try to effect a reconciliation through persuasion the discussion always bogged down when luther insisted he must be persuaded on the basis of scripture having received a twenty one day safe-conduct luther set out for wittenberg on april twenty sixth the diet closed officially on may twenty fifth and the next day following a rump session of prejudiced nobles the emperor signed the edict of worms according to it luther was the devil himself in a monk's habit he was to be seized on sight and turned over to the emperor an outlaw of the church and the state End of Chapter 6 Chapter 7 of Martin Luther by Karl E. Kopenhauer This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

Drastic Changes Wartburg to Wittenberg fortunately for luther there was more than noisy adulation among the people a few sober minds knew how relentless the papal wolves would be in tracking him down after the safe-conduct expired and so a kidnapping and removal to a safe place was planned luther made a detour along the road to wittenberg in order to visit relatives at For months the outside world knew only that he had been captured near there in the Thuringian forest by a band of knights.

Many lamented him as dead, but gradually the flow of thorny letters to his adversaries and the new treatises rolling from the press allayed their fears.

By a circuitous route, Luther had been conveyed to the Wartburg, an ancient fortress castle near Eisenach, he arrived on may fourth and with the exception of short trips into the forest and to nearby villages did not leave for seven months to outward appearances he was junker george a care-free bearded knight with sword swinging impressively at his side the secret was well kept and at the outset even the elector who authorized the masquerade did not know luther's whereabouts Luther chafed at his forced inactivity, and ever the monk fell to contemplation and examination of himself.

Could past generations and earlier scholars have been so completely out of step with the gospel? Could a mere friar be right against them all? Might he not be in error and drag many others to eternal damnation? hard work helped take his mind off his problems during his stay in the wartburg in addition to correspondence and pamphlets he authored a work on confession expositions on several psalms a commentary on the magnificat had a volume of sermons on the epistles and gospels well under way and had translated the entire new testament into german prayer and study restored his conviction to doubt or even to remain silent was like going against conscience neither right nor safe with conviction came a sense of divine commission when events called him back into the world again he went courageously and with determination he was a revolutionary but a conservative one that quality is what took him back to wittenberg from freedom to license so often a new movement suffers from over enthusiasm the reformation was no exception in this respect zealots took the usual short cut from bondage to freedom by way of turmoil instead of restrained orderly procedure in parts of germany the old ways were thrown off hastily organs paintings and statues were thrown from the churches vestments were discarded bread and wine were both administered to the laity priests married nuns took husbands monastic vows were renounced various forms of the mass were discontinued priests and worshippers who persisted in the traditional forms were attacked rumors of violent acts reached the wartburg luther still in the guise of junker george made a hurried trip to wittenberg early in december fifteen twenty one matters there had not yet reached the unrestrained stage which they later assumed nevertheless he cautioned the people in a warning against riot and rebellion written on his return to the wartburg in it he reasoned that reform is not so much a matter of externals as of faith breaking up the furniture in a church does not change the heart of a man vandalism is by no means a sign of repentance and trust in god in fact it approaches the old form of seeking favor through works giving wine as well as bread in the lord's supper is not as important as the spiritual attitude of the communicant finally the tumult in wittenberg reached the point where he had to step in so in the face of the imperial ban he returned on march sixth fifteen twenty two insisting that no drastic change should be made until through re-education those affected requested it as a matter of faith he restored order in the university city in a remarkably short time the peasants meanwhile took the short cut to freedom too in a series of bloody uprisings chafing under their bondage to the nobles they adapted luther's free lord of all statement to their own demands for social reform luther preached the christian duty of submission to lawful authority

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April 18th, Luther will not recant.

April 26th, leaves Worms.

From Magdeburg he went to Eisenach, where he completed his schooling whilst living with relatives of his mother.

Eisenach lies below the Wartburg, the mighty castle of the Landgrafs of Thuringia and the place where he would later spend a few years as Junker Jörg, translating the Bible into German.

Now, during these school days in Eisenach, he heard rumors of a monk called Johann Hilton, who had been imprisoned by his own order for predicting the end of all monastic life for the year 1516.

That's eerily close to 1517 and something that was later woven into the Protestant narrative.