The
Augsburg Interim was an imperial decree
ordered on
May 15,
1548,
at the
Diet of Augsburg, after
Charles V, Holy Roman
Emperor, defeated the forces of the
Schmalkaldic League in the
Schmalkaldic War, from
1546 to
1547. The document was
written by three theologians:
Johannes
Agricola,
Julius von Pflug, and
Michael Helding. Although it ordered
Protestants to readopt traditional
Catholic beliefs and practices,
including the seven
Sacraments, it allowed for
Protestant clergymen the right to marry and for the laity to
receive
communion in both kinds (bread and
wine).
In June of 1546 the
Pope entered into an
agreement with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to curb the spread of
the Reformation. This agreement
stated, in part:
In the name of God and with the help and assistance of
his Papal Holiness, his Imperial Majesty should prepare himself for
war, and equip himself with soldiers and everything pertaining to
warfare against those who objected to the Council [of Trent],
against the Smalcald League, and against all who were addicted to
the false believe and error in Germany, and that he do so with all
his power and might, in order to bring them back to the old faith
and to the obedience of the Holy See (Bente, p. 219).
Shortly thereafter, Maurice, the Duke (and later, Elector) of
Albertine Saxony, invaded the lands of his rival and stepbrother in
Ernestine Saxony, John Frederick, beginning the brief, but
devastating, conflict known as the Smalcaldic War. The military
might of Maurice combined with that of Charles V proved to be
overwhelming to John Frederick and the
Schmalkaldic League. On April 24, 1547
the armies of the Schmalkaldic League were decisively defeated at
the Battle of Mühlberg.
Following the defeat of the Schmalkaldic League at
Mühlberg, Charles V’s forces took and occupied
the Lutheran territories in quick succession.
On May 19, 1547
Wittenberg
, the heart of the Reformation, and final resting
place of Martin Luther’s remains, fell
to the Emperor without a fight.
The Interim
Charles V had won a military victory, but realized that the only
chance he had to effectively eliminate
Lutheranism as a movement was to pursue
political and ecclesiastical compromises. The series of decrees
issued by the Emperor became known as an “Interim” because they
were only intended to govern the church temporarily until a formal
council could be convened, and the matters in question could be
dealt with properly. Included in the demands of the Interim was
that the Lutherans restore the number of sacraments from two to
back to seven. That the churches restore a number of specifically
Roman ceremonies, doctrines, and practices which had been discarded
by the Lutheran reformers, including also transubstantiation, and
the rejection of the doctrine of justification by grace, through
faith alone. It also required that the Pope be acknowledged as the
head of the Church by divine right and that the churches receive
again the authority of the Roman bishops. In concession to the
Lutherans, the Interim allowed for the marriage of clergy, and that
the laity be given both elements (bread and wine) in
communion.
Despite the fact that
Philip
Melanchthon, friend of Luther and co-architect and voice of the
Reformation movement, was willing to compromise these issues for
the sake of peace, the Augsburg Interim was rejected by a
significant number of Lutheran pastors and theologians.
Pastors who refused to follow the regulations of the
Augsburg Interim were removed from office and banished; some were
imprisoned and some were even executed. In Swabia and along the
Rhine River, some four hundred pastors went to prison rather than
agree to the Interim. They were exiled, and some of their families
were killed or dies as a result…Some preachers left for England
(McCain, et. Al., 476).
The Leipzig Interim
In a further effort to compromise, Melanchthon worked on a second
“Interim”. Charles's ally during the Schmalkaldic War, Maurice of
Saxony, along with Melanchthon and his supporters, worked out
within Maurice's estates a compromise known as the
Leipzig Interim. Despite its even greater
concessions to Protestantism was barely enforced.Charles V tried to
enforce the Interim in the Holy Roman Empire, but was only
successful in territories under his military control, such as
Wurttemberg and certain imperial cities in southern Germany. There
was a great deal of political opposition to the Interim. Many
Catholic princes did not accept the Interim, worried about rising
imperial authority. The papacy refused to recognise the Interim for
over a year, as it saw it as an infringement of its own
jurisdiction.
Protestant leaders also rejected the
terms of the Interim. The Leipzig Interim, was designed to allow
Lutherans to retain their core theological beliefs, specifically
where the doctrine of justification by grace was concerned, while
yielding in other, less important matters, such as church rituals.
This compromise document again drew opposition. Those who supported
the Leipzig Interim became identified as
Philippists, as they supported Melanchthon’s
efforts at compromise. Those who opposed Melanchthon became known
as “Gnesio-Lutherans”, or “genuine” Lutherans.
As a result of the Interim, many Protestant leaders, such as
Martin Bucer, fled to England, where
they would influence the
English
Reformation.
Elector Maurice, seeing that the Leipzig Interim was a political
failure, began making plans to drive Charles V and his army from
Saxony. It was, in his estimation “more expedient for him [Maurice]
to be viewed as a champion of Lutheranism than as a traitor”
(McCain, et. Al., 480). On April 5, 1552 Maurice attacked Charles
V’s forces at Augsburg and he was forced to withdraw. This victory
eventually resulted in the signing of the treaties of Passau
(August 2, 1552) and Augsburg (1555). These two treaties resulted
in the principle “Cuius region, eius religio” – He who rules, his
the religion – allowing the ruler of a territory to set the
religion therein.
Notes
- Acton, et al., p. 264.
- Kagan, p. 367
- M Rady, p84
- M Rady, The Emperor Charles V, (1988), p84
- S Macdonald, Charles V, (2000), p104
Sources
External links