Whist Frederick the Wise protects Luther, Fredrick never publicly supports Luther’s ideas therefore Luther’s success cannot be owed to Fredrick. Instead Luther’s success is owed to improved communications at the time, nationalism in Germany, Luther’s ideas themselves being popular and the lack of response from the Pope and the Emperor
Frederick the wise was sympathetic to Luther and aided him as much as possible without directly incriminating himself, because of this Luther had to rely on other ways of making his ideas known. One of the ways that helped Luther to achieve success was the improved communications of the time. The printing press enabled Luther’s ideas to spread further and fast than thought was possible at the time. This was …show more content…
Fredrick had always been sympathetic to Luther from the start; Fredrick was a cultured and educated man who was highly respected for his sense of justice. This meant that Luther not only gained the support from Fredrick the wise and the powerful people who surrounded him. But also gained political protection from Fredrick In this sense whilst Fredrick had never publicly spoke of his support for Luther and never could achieve the amount of supporters that the printing press had brought Luther, Fredrick brought the most influential and powerful supporters to add to Luther’s allies. The Church condemned Luther as a heretic without using evidence from the Bible; this was an affront to Fredrick’s sense of justice this then gave Fredrick the opportunity to aid Luther more without incriminating himself. As Fredrick couldn’t speak for his support for Luther without having to face secure consequences, Fredrick used his position to protect Luther. An example of this is Fredrick the wise consistently opposing Luther’s extradition to Rome due to knowing that it was unlikely that Luther would receive a fair hearing and would most likely be executed. Fredrick used his position of power to ensure that Luther received a fair hearing in Germany and the Emperor was made to guarantee his safety. Another example of Fredrick protecting Luther is after the Edict of Worms, Luther is ‘kidnapped’ by Fredrick the Wise and remains in hiding at Wartburg castle. Whilst Fredrick’s protection of Luther was crucial for Luther’s survival, Fredrick’s declaration of support in private never really benefited Luther. Therefore Luther’s success was never dependent upon or due to support from Fredrick the wise as factors such as improved communications, nationalism in Germany and the
Frederick the wise was sympathetic to Luther and aided him as much as possible without directly incriminating himself, because of this Luther had to rely on other ways of making his ideas known. One of the ways that helped Luther to achieve success was the improved communications of the time. The printing press enabled Luther’s ideas to spread further and fast than thought was possible at the time. This was …show more content…
Fredrick had always been sympathetic to Luther from the start; Fredrick was a cultured and educated man who was highly respected for his sense of justice. This meant that Luther not only gained the support from Fredrick the wise and the powerful people who surrounded him. But also gained political protection from Fredrick In this sense whilst Fredrick had never publicly spoke of his support for Luther and never could achieve the amount of supporters that the printing press had brought Luther, Fredrick brought the most influential and powerful supporters to add to Luther’s allies. The Church condemned Luther as a heretic without using evidence from the Bible; this was an affront to Fredrick’s sense of justice this then gave Fredrick the opportunity to aid Luther more without incriminating himself. As Fredrick couldn’t speak for his support for Luther without having to face secure consequences, Fredrick used his position to protect Luther. An example of this is Fredrick the wise consistently opposing Luther’s extradition to Rome due to knowing that it was unlikely that Luther would receive a fair hearing and would most likely be executed. Fredrick used his position of power to ensure that Luther received a fair hearing in Germany and the Emperor was made to guarantee his safety. Another example of Fredrick protecting Luther is after the Edict of Worms, Luther is ‘kidnapped’ by Fredrick the Wise and remains in hiding at Wartburg castle. Whilst Fredrick’s protection of Luther was crucial for Luther’s survival, Fredrick’s declaration of support in private never really benefited Luther. Therefore Luther’s success was never dependent upon or due to support from Fredrick the wise as factors such as improved communications, nationalism in Germany and the