Luther After Augsburg: late October 1518

Five hundred years ago Martin Luther was feeling very much alone.  A year before he had sent around those famous Theses which caused such cacophonous catalepsies across Christian Catholicism. Luther had quickly gained a reputation for talking shit. In October of 1518 he had travelled to Augsburg in order to reconcile his positions with those of the papal leadership in meetings held with Pope Leo's legate, cardinal Cajetan. Luther was called to recant again and again but Luther would not. By mid-month and the end of the discussions the legate was so incensed that he demanded Luther's superior Johann von Staupitz to restrain him. Instead Staupitz released Luther from his Augustinian vows and hence freed him from his various administrative responsibilities as well as those protections his office could offer.

So it seemed this meeting in Augsburg was Luther's last chance to defend himself, but more, to defend the mere proposal of discussing matters that the papacy held dear. The very notions of faith in the sacrament, of papal authority to decide this and, the very important authority in dispersal of, and disbursal from the sale of indulgences, were at stake. The picture had been made quite clear that regardless of any presented scriptural interpretation, Luther and his supporters must either be 'made whole' or be cast out. Luther was also quite clear that he would not back down.

In fact, he immediately sent out letters to his peers describing and explaining his justifications for his positions. According to our biographer Lyndal Roper:

"The letters, with their detailed narrative and quotation were designed to be read aloud, to entertain, to keep the Elector on side, and, crucially, to contradict Cajetan's version of the encounter. A month after the meeting, when the cardinal [Cajetan] presented his own account of events to Friedrich [the Elector of Saxony], Luther had already given his side of the story. He then set out to rebut Cajetan's version point for point. And whereas the cardinal's letter consisted of ten neat paragraphs and a postscript, composed in precise, classic Latin, Luther's response, five times as long, was written in verbose, emotional prose." [pp. 107-8]

Another thing Roper tells us that Luther did while in Augsburg was to have a notary record these discussions. Later these would be printed and sold 'to devastating effect'.

"His use of print was tactically brilliant. He knew exactly how to forestall censorship and protect his ideas by spreading them as widely as possible, each new work making yet another radical advance delivered to an audience that was hungry for more. The logic of the market and its craving for novelty was part of what propelled Luther's cause." [p.108]

But he had known since at least May of that year he might be courting danger, even martyrdom for his positions. And as the year went on, and the date of the meeting in October in Augsburg drew nearer, those fears grew greater and greater. He had travelled much that year from maintaining they were just ideas to be discussed, propositions for disputation as was common for scholastics and monks and ecclesiastic brethren then, to fretting that his position might endanger the lives of all the brethren that still supported him. Part of that distance he knew as the trailblazer, but he also knew that much damage could be done in the name of the scandal surrounding the issues that he could not support.

In March, supporters had grown so incensed with notables, such as, Johannes Tetzel penning counterarguments to the original Theses (of which there already were several varieties printed) that, Tetzel's own Positiones were burned in the market square of Wittenberg. Tetzel had a lucrative trade selling indulgences to miners in German lands. It was therefore in his best interest to protect these and even Luther felt terrible that 'the poor salesman' had his copy publicly destroyed, but Luther swore he had nothing to do with it. [p.85] It was in March as well that Erasmus had sent a copy of (at least some of) the Theses on to Thomas More in Britain, without comment.

Instead Luther realized he needed to and began to focus more on his own physical security, sending more letters to his friends and to the Elector, preparing for the trip south, warning them of what might be in store. In time he did gradually become more secure, not only that he felt he was right with his God, but that the whole region had been engulfed in the controversy. [p. 110]

Returning to Wittenberg by 31 October 1518, Luther sent the Acta Augustana, the notarized copy of the discussion with papal legate cardinal Cajetan in Augsburg off to the printer. For him, there was no turning back. In just a few more month's time, politics would rear its head and those priorities - the election of the next emporer - would hold precedence as the debate over indulgences continued to rage and spread.
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notes, quotes and pagination from Roper, Lyndal: Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet; Random House, NY, 2017