Nancy's+Reformation+Reflections



= ﻿Frederick III "The Wise" = = Patron, Protector, Friend to Martin Luther  = = By =

Nancy Daniel  Wiki Article Nancy Daniel 10/082010

Argument


 *  Historians have debated for centuries the motivations Frederick III had for protecting Luther throughout his ministry. Some say it was a religious conviction, some say it was for political gain, a few thought it was a friendship relationship that motivated Frederick. I have come to the conclusion that it was Frederick's love of learning and scholarship that prompted his patronage. The University at Wittenberg was the most obvious focus of his attention. He had a professor at his beloved university who pursued knowledge, and at the same time that he made trouble with Rome, he brought fame and prestige to the institution. ﻿﻿   ||

 Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, ruled over Saxony during the time of the European Reformations. He established a University at Wittenberg where the young monk, Martin Luther, became a professor of Bible Studies and Philosophy. For the rest of Frederick’s life he was a protector and patron of Luther. Why did he protect and defend Luther? Historians have debated whether his motivation was religious or if it was political opportunism. We may never find the definitive answer. This is an examination of the facts we know about this extraordinary man who did more than any other prince to advance the Reformation. [1] (Melanchthon) Frederick (1463-1525) was the eldest son of Ernest, Elector of Saxony and Elizabeth, daughter of Albert, Duke of Bavaria-Munich. He was born in the town of Torgau and succeeded his father as Elector in 1486. Frederick was among the princes who called for political reformation from the German king, Maximilian I, in 1495. In 1500 he was named president of the Council of Regency. Frederick had a love of learning and longed to establish a university. He had a love of religious relics. He had a collection of some 19,000 articles. Each relic had a mass or indulgence attached to it. If Frederick handled these relics correctly, this collection could have been very valuable to him in the afterlife. They would assure him a speedy trip through Purgatory. All told, the relics in his collection could have earned approximately 127,799 years off his time in Purgatory! Among these articles were four hairs from the Virgin Mary, some of her milk, fragments from the cross, a strand of Jesus’ beard, and a piece of bread from the Last Supper. In addition to being a collector of relics, he was a leading patron of visual arts. He chose the martyred Saint Bartholomew as his intercessor and collected paintings of him. Bartholomew was much in demand as an intercessor and protector from the recent plague. He had a court painter named Lucas Cranach the Elder, who was commissioned by Frederick to produce paintings of St. Bartholomew and himself. Frederick made a religious pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1493 and became a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre. He was educated in an Augustinian Monastery. He was a supporter of modern scholarship. He had a reputation as a man of justice. Before his establishment of the Wittenberg University, Frederick had a run-in with the Pope over the sale of indulgences. He used a local salesman, named Tetzel, to advertize the sale of indulgences to finance a bridge. Pope Alexander VI notified Frederick that he wanted a percentage of the sales to fund a crusade against the Turks. Frederick didn’t believe there would be a crusade and said he would hold the money until such a crusade materialized. He then used the money that had been set aside to finance the establishment of his university. When the university was set up, he installed Luther and Melanchthon as professors in Bible Studies and Philosophy. He soon found himself in a position as protector to these young monks. After Luther published his 95 theses, he was ordered to Rome to account for his indiscretions. Georg Spalatin, Frederick’s secretary, chaplain and friend, intervened on behalf of Luther. King Maximilian sent word to Frederick to, “take good care of that monk” [2]. The King thought Luther would be a good trump card to use later in power struggles with Rome. Frederick arranged for the hearing to be held in Germany, rather than Rome. Some people who were tried in Rome quietly disappeared after their trial. Frederick wanted to protect Luther from that fate. Frederick arranged for safe passage to the Diet of Worms. After the verdict was reached, Frederick refused to execute the subsequent Bull of 1520, which banned Luther from writing or preaching. On the way home from the Diet of Worms, Frederick had Luther kidnapped and spirited away to his castle in Wartburg where Luther would be safe. When Frederick left the Diet of Worms to attend the coronation of Charles V, Frederick was detained by Aleander, asking for Luther’s arrest. Frederick asked, “What are Luther’s chief errors?” Aleander replied, “He attacked the Pope in his crown and the monks in their bellies [3] .” Frederick said, “Luther should remain free”. Some time after that, Frederick outlawed the sale of indulgences in Electoral Saxony. Later the emperor of Germany called for a declaration by the princes that Luther was a heretic and should be banned from preaching. Four electors complied with this request. Two (including Frederick) abstained. In 1519, Erasmus wrote to Frederick encouraging him to protect Luther. Frederick worked with Erasmus to secure impartial judges to oversee Luther’s trial for heresy. This is one of the only documented requests for protection from someone on religious grounds. Frederick died while the Peasant’s War was just ending. He urged his successor (his brother, Duke John) to use moderation in his retaliation against the peasants. [4] The new elector ignored this request. Frederick died unmarried, but he left three children. He was later commemorated in the calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church. Frederick had only a few personal contacts with Luther over the years. Spalatin was the mediary between the two and there was only one documented instance where they met face to face (at the Diet of Worms) [5]. On Frederick’s deathbed he requested the Lord’s Supper bread and wine, a Protestant action. He was still considered a devout Catholic. Luther preached his funeral. We see only two instances of intervention with Frederick on Luther’s behalf. One was the communication by King Maximilian (political). The other was from Erasmus (religious). I don't see either of these interventions as a reason for a lifetime of protection for Luther.

Although Frederick had his own instances of disillusionment with Rome and the Pope, by all accounts he remained a Catholic. He did not make a Protestant profession of salvation by grace alone, nor did he submit to adult baptism. The Pope awarded the Golden Rose of Virtue to Frederick III at one point which would show his standing with the Catholic Church.

He took the Lord’s Supper, in the Protestant form, on his deathbed. By supporting Luther, he negated the advantages of the indulgences attached to his relic collection. (Although Luther intervened to save Frederick's collection when the destruction of images was happening.) Frederick weakened his political position by supporting Luther. At one point he had been promoted as a candidate for Emperor of Germany but he did not seem to have political ambitions. This would appear to indicate that neither political ambitions, nor religious convictions, were important in his protection of Luther. Ironically, Luther’s nickname for Frederick was “The Hesitator”. Why would Luther criticize his loyal protector? His nickname with others was “The Wise”. It would seem to be a jibe between friends, but I see no evidence of friendship since they only saw one another very few times. Did Frederick have a salvation experience based on the writings of Luther? Did he keep his distance from Luther in order to protect him? Could they have been friends with no more contact between them than one or two meetings? Was his support based on Luther’s association with Frederick’s beloved university? Did he simply want to maintain a “superstar” professor on staff? Was Frederick a supporter of Reformation of any kind, either political or religious? At first glance, it seemed to be a friendship with no political or religious advantages for Frederick. I see no evidence of a friendship in the historical records. If it was a politically motivated stand he took, why take the Protestant communion on his deathbed? If it was religiously motivated, why not renounce Catholicism? The only motive that stands throughout the historical records is the love of learning embodied in the Wittenberg University.

[1] http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail2vid

[2] Durant, Will. “The Reformation A History of European Civilization from Wyclif to Calvin: 1300-1564” Simon and Schuster New York 1957: 347

[3] Lindberg, Carter. “The European Reformations” Wiley-Blackwell (2010 Second Edition): 77-78

[4] History of the Christian Church, Volume VII, Modern Christianity, The German ReformationChristian Classics Ethereal LibraryPage 76. The Three Electors

[5] []

Three article analyses for my sources: Article Analysis for Wiki Page Nancy Daniel-History 220 Oct. 9, 2010

Carter Lindberg-European Reformations-Chapter 3 The Dawn of a New Era What were motivations for Frederick III to protect Luther? Luther proposed political and religious motives for his actions.


 * What was Frederick’s advantage? || Political || Religious ||
 * During the Imperial Election of 1519-Page 77 || Frederick refused candidacy as King for Germany which shows a lack of political ambition. || He used this opportunity to influence Rome to leave Luther alone-obviously in defiance to Rome’s position. ||
 * Before the Diet of Worms || Frederick defied the decision by Charles V to send Luther to be tried for heresy. || Frederick insisted that Luther would not only be heard at his trial, but that he receive safe conduct. ||
 * After the Diet of Worms || Frederick defied the ruling of the court that Luther’s writing be banned and that he not be able to teach/preach. || Frederick hid Luther in his own castle to prevent his being detained by officials from Rome. ||

Even in these few instances of protection of Luther, Frederick does not seem to be pursuing either political or religious advancement. Frederick never professed to be a Protestant. The only motivation left is concern for his own university at Wittenberg. A famous, rebellious professor would ensure that attention would be focused on the scholarship of the university.

Analysis Two Scott H. Hendrix, Loyalty, Piety, or Opportunism: German Princes and the Reformation Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Autumn 1994) 211-224

Hendrix proposes that political and religious motivations were so interwoven that they cannot be separated when considering the German princes, including Frederick III. Again, it seems that there was little advantage, either political or religious, for German princes to make their decisions. Personal opportunism would be the motivation for them. In the case of Frederick, it would make sense that he would make his choices according to what mattered the most to him personally. His passion was scholarship and education so his decisions benefitted his university. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 * German Princes faced with decisions of loyalty || Political Opportunism || Religious Convictions ||
 * Adopt Protestantism || There was little advantage in converting to Protestantism because Charles V was Catholic, as was Maximilian. || Even if the princes were drawn toward Luther’s teachings, it was prudent to keep a distance from it as Frederick did. ||
 * Retain Catholic loyalty || If the princes remained Catholic, the grip Rome had on Germany must have been difficult if for no other reason, economic. || If the princes remained Catholic, the teachings on Purgatory and Indulgences must have taxed the mind of any educated person now that scriptures were available to be read. ||

Analysis Three Paul Thigpen, Luther’s Political Allies, Christian History; 1992, Vol. 11, Issue 2, p 44, 1p,2

Thigpen presents Frederick III as a pious collector of relics and a supporter of scholarship. From the perspective of these three historians, I conclude that Frederick III had little interest in political power. He didn’t have the conviction to publicly profess his religious beliefs. The only contact he maintained with Luther was in Luther’s writings. It seems that his primary motivation in his protection of Luther was the protection of his university. Luther was good for this learning institution and so was a valuable asset to Frederick III.
 * Frederick’s Passions || Scholarship || Religion || Power ||
 * His education || Augustinian Monastery || Pilgrimage to Holy Land || Wanted to make Wittenberg the Rome of Germany ||
 * His Collection || He wanted to deposit his most precious finds at his University. || Masses and Indulgences attached to his relics. || He used his political power to benefit Luther. ||
 * His Reputation-The Wise || He was known as wise and just in his dealings with his people. || We have no record of his allegiance when it came to Catholic beliefs or Protestant convictions. || His power was usually reserved for Luther and to maintain his collection of relics. ||
 * On His Deathbed || We only know that he left his relics to the University. || He took communion in the form associated with Protestants. || His final wish was ignored by his own brother. ||

Sources: Lindberg, Carter. "The European Reformations": Wiley-Blackwell Second Edition 2010: 77-79

Hendrix, Scott. "Journal of Interdisciplinary History", XX:2 (Autumn 1994): 211-224

Neudecker and Preller, Jena "History of the Christian Church, Volume VII, Modern Christianity", The German Reformation Christian Classics Ethereal Library The Three Electors 1882: 76

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Thigpen, Paul. "Luther's Political Allies" Christian History; 1992, Vol. 11, Issue 2: p44, 1p,2 EBSCOhost: Luther's political allies#db=wdh&AN=9604291033 []

Bacon, Paul. "Art Patronage and Piet in Electoral Saxony: Frederick the Wise Promotes the Veneration of His Patron, St. Bartholomew" EBSCOhost: Art Patronage and Piety in Electoral Saxony: Frederick the Wise Promotes the. . .#db=a9h&AN=36947972 []

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Additional Sources: What Life Was Like in the Age of Chivalry Time-Life Books Alexandria, Virginia Durant, Will. "The Reformation-A History of Euporean Civilization from Wyclif to Calvin 1300-1564" Simon & Schuster New York 1957 Rockefeller Center, 630 Fifth Ave. New York 20, N.Y. Quest for the Past The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. Pleasantville, N. Y./Montreal 1984 []

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