1544.THE DIET OF SPIRES

 

Such were the lengths to which the protestants had proceeded, and such their confidence in their own power when the emperor returned from the Low-Countries, to hold a diet which he had summoned to meet at Spires.

The respect due to the emperor, as well as the importance of the affairs which were to be laid before it, rendered this assembly extremely full. All the electors, a great number of princes ecclesiastical and secular, with the deputies of most of the cities, were present. Charles soon perceived that this was not a time to offend the jealous spirit of the protestants, by asserting in any high tone the authority and doctrines of the church, or by abridging, in the smallest article, the liberty which they now enjoyed; but that, on the contrary, if he expected any support from them, or wished to preserve Germany from intestine disorders while he was engaged in a foreign war, he must soothe them by new concessions, and a more ample extension of their religious privileges. He began accordingly with courting the elector of Saxony, and landgrave of Hesse, the heads of the protestant party, and by giving up some things in their favor, and granting liberal promises with regard to others, he secured himself from any danger of opposition on their part. Having gained this capital point, he then ventured to address the diet with greater freedom. He began by representing his own zeal, and unwearied efforts with regard to two things most essential to Christendom, the procuring of a general council in order to compose the religious dissensions which had unhappily arisen in Germany, and the providing some proper means for checking the formidable progress of the Turkish arms.

But he observed, with deep regret, that his pious endeavors had been entirely defeated by the unjustifiable ambition of the French king, who having wantonly kindled the flame of war in Europe, which had been so lately extinguished by the truce of Nice, rendered it impossible for the fathers of the church to assemble in council, or to deliberate with security; and obliged him to employ those forces in his own defence, which, with greater satisfaction to himself, as well as more honor to Christendom, he would have turned against the infidels: that Francis, not thinking it enough to have called him oil from opposing the Mahometans, had, with unexampled impiety, invited them into the heart of Christendom, and joining his arms to theirs, had openly attacked the duke of Savoy, a member of the empire; that Barbarossa's fleet was now in one of the ports of France, waiting only the return of spring to carry terror and desolation to the coast or some Christian state: that in such a situation it was folly to think of distant expeditions against the Turk, or of marching to oppose his armies in Hungary, while such a powerful ally received him into the centre of Europe, and gave him footing there. It was a dictate of prudence, he added, to oppose the nearest and most imminent danger, first of all, and by humbling the power of France, to deprive Solyman of the advantages which he derived from the unnatural confederacy formed between him and a monarch, who still arrogated the name of Most Christian: that, in truth, a war against the French king and the sultan ought to be considered as the same thing; and that every advantage gained over the former was a severe and sensible blow to the latter: on all these accounts, he concluded with demanding their aid against Francis, not merely as an enemy of the Germanic body, or of him who was its head, but as an avowed ally of the infidels, and a public enemy to the Christian name.

In order to give greater weight to this violent invective of the emperor, the king of the Romans stood up, and related the rapid conquests of the sultan in Hungary, occasioned, as he said, by the fatal necessity imposed on his brother, of employing his arms against France. When he had finished, the ambassadors of Savoy gave a detail of Barbarossa’s operations at Nice, and of the ravages which he had committed on that coast. All these, added to the general indignation which Francis's unprecedented union with the Turks excited in Europe, made such an impression on the diet as the emperor wished, and disposed most of the members to grant him such effectual aid as he had demanded. The ambassadors whom Francis had sent to explain the motives of his conduct, were not permitted to enter the bounds of the empire; and the apology which they published far their master, vindicating his alliance with Solyman, by examples drawn from scripture, and the practice of Christian princes, was little regarded by men who were irritated already, or prejudiced against him to such a degree, as to be incapable of allowing their proper weight to any arguments in his behalf.

Such being the favorable disposition of the Germans, Charles perceived that nothing could now obstruct his gaining all that he aimed at, but the fears and jealousies of the protestants, which he determined to quiet by granting everything that the utmost solicitude of these passions could desire for the security of their religion. With this view, he consented to a recess, whereby all the rigorous edicts hitherto issued against the protestants were suspended; a council either general or national to be assembled in Germany was declared necessary, in order to re-establish peace in the church; until one of these should be held (which the emperor undertook to bring about as soon as possible), the free and public exercise of the protestant religion was authorized; the Imperial chamber was enjoined to give no molestation to the protestants; and when the term, for which the present judges in that court were elected, should expire, persons duly qualified were then to be admitted as members, without any distinction on account of religion. In return for these extraordinary acts of indulgence, the protestants concurred with the other members of the diet, in declaring war against Francis in name of the empire; in voting the emperor a body of twenty-four thousand foot, and four thousand horse, to be maintained at the public expense for six months, and to be employed against France, and at the same time the diet imposed a poll-tax to be levied throughout Germany on every person without exception, for the support of the war against the Turks.

Charles, while he gave the greatest attention to the minute and intricate detail of particulars necessary towards conducting the deliberations of a numerous and divided assembly to such a successful period, negotiated a separate peace with the king of Denmark; who, though he had hitherto performed nothing considerable in consequence of his alliance with Francis, had it in his power, however, to make a troublesome diversion in favor of that monarch. At the same time, he did not neglect proper applications to the king of England, in order to rouse him to more vigorous efforts against their common enemy. Little, indeed, was wanting to accomplish this; for such events had happened in Scotland as inflamed Henry to the most violent pitch of resentment against Francis. Having concluded with the parliament of Scotland a treaty of marriage between his son and their young queen, by which he reckoned himself secure of effecting the union of the two kingdoms, which had been long desired, and often attempted without success by his predecessors, Mary of Guise the queen mother, cardinal Beatoun, and other partisans of France, found means not only to break off the match, but to alienate the Scottish nation entirely from the friendship of England, and to strengthen its ancient attachment to France. Henry, however, did not abandon an object of so much importance; and as the humbling of Francis, besides the pleasure of taking revenge upon an enemy who had disappointed a favorite measure, appeared the most effectual method of bringing the Scots to accept once more of the treaty which they had relinquished, he was so eager to accomplish this, that he was ready to second whatever the emperor could propose to be attempted against the French king. The plan, accordingly, which they concerted, was such, if it had been punctually executed, as must have ruined France in the first place, and would have augmented so prodigiously the emperor’s power and territories, as might in the end have proved fatal to the liberties of Europe. They agreed to invade France each with an army of twenty-five thousand men, and, without losing time in besieging the frontier towns, to advance directly towards the interior provinces, and to join their forces near Paris.

 

PEACE OF CRESPY