The Augsburg Interim (full formal title: ''Declaration of His Roman Imperial Majesty on the Observance of Religion Within the Holy Empire Until the Decision of the General Council'') was an imperial decree ordered on 15 May 1548 at the 1548
Diet of Augsburg (also having become known as the 'harnessed diet', due to its tense atmosphere, very close to outright hostility) by
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, who had just defeated the forces of the Protestant
Schmalkaldic League in the
Schmalkaldic War
The Schmalkaldic War (; July 1546May 1547) was fought within the territories of the Holy Roman Empire between the allied forces of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Maurice, Duke of Saxony against the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League, with the forc ...
of 1546/47. Although it ordered Protestants to readopt traditional
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
beliefs and practices, including the seven
Sacraments, it allowed for Protestant clergymen the right to marry and for the
laity
In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...
to receive
communion in
both kinds (bread and wine). It is considered the first significant step in the process leading to the political and religious
legitimization of
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
as a valid alternative
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
creed
A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets.
Many Christian denominations use three creeds ...
to Roman Catholicism finally realized in the 1552
Peace of Passau and the 1555
Peace of Augsburg. The Interim became Imperial law on 30 June 1548. The
Pope
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
advised all bishops to abide by the concessions made to the Protestants in the Interim in August 1549.
Schmalkaldic War and the Battle of Mühlberg
In June 1546,
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III (; ; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549.
He came to the papal throne in an era follo ...
entered into an agreement with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to curb the spread of the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
. The 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 f Trent against the Smalcald League, and against all who were addicted to the false belief 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.
Shortly thereafter,
Maurice of Saxony invaded the lands of his rival and stepbrother John Frederick, beginning the brief, but devastating, conflict known as the
Schmalkaldic War
The Schmalkaldic War (; July 1546May 1547) was fought within the territories of the Holy Roman Empire between the allied forces of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Maurice, Duke of Saxony against the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League, with the forc ...
. The military might of Maurice combined with that of Charles V proved to be overwhelming to John Frederick and the Protestant
Schmalkaldic League. On 24 April 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 19 May 1547
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...
, the heart of the Reformation and the final resting place of
Martin Luther
Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
’s remains, fell to the Emperor without a fight.
The Interim
Charles V had won a military victory but realized that his only chance he had to contain
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
as a movement effectively was to pursue political and ecclesiastical compromises to restore religious peace in the Empire. The series of decrees issued by the Emperor became known as an “Interim” because they were intended to govern the church only temporarily pending the conclusions of the general council convened at
Trent by Pope Paul III in December 1545.
The first draft of the twenty-six chapter decree was written by
Julius von Pflug, but several theologians were involved in the final draft: on the Catholic side,
Michael Helding,
Eberhard Billick,
Pedro Domenico Soto and
Pedro de Malvenda; on the Protestant side,
John Agricola.
Included in the provisions of the Interim was that the Lutherans restore the number of sacraments (which the Lutherans reduced to two: Baptism, the Lord's Supper) and that the churches restore a number of specifically Roman ceremonies, doctrines, and practices that had been discarded by the Lutheran reformers, including
transubstantiation, and the rejection of the doctrine of
justification by grace, through faith alone. The God-given authority of the Pope over all bishops and the whole Church was reaffirmed but with the proviso that "the powers that he has should be used not to destroy but to uplift".
In stark contrast to Charles V's past attitude, significant concessions were made to the Protestants. What was basically a new code of religious practices permitted both clerical marriage and
communion under both kinds. The Mass was reintroduced, but the offertory was to be seen as an act of remembrance and thanks, rather than an act of propitiation as in traditional Catholic dogma. The Interim went further in making significant statements on other matters of dogma such as justification by faith, the veneration of the saints, and the authority of the Scriptures. Even such details as the practice of fasting was breached upon.
The attempt by the emperor to devise a formula to which both Catholics and Protestants of Germany could subscribe was objected to outright by the Catholic
Electors, the prince-bishops and the Pope even before the decree was published. Charles had intentionally kept the text of the document from the Pope and his representatives, making it available to a papal nuncio less than an hour before it was read out to the Diet and subsequently published.The Pope, of course, would have preferred to be consulted first
Therefore, as a decree, the Interim applied only to the Protestant princes, who were given just 18 days to signify their compliance.
Although
Philip Melanchthon, a friend of Luther's and co-architect and voice of the Reformation movement, was willing to compromise on those 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 died as a result. Some preachers left for England (McCain et al., 476).
As a result of the Interim, many Protestant leaders, such as
Martin Bucer, fled to England, where they would influence the
English Reformation
The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...
.
Charles V tried to enforce the Interim in the Holy Roman Empire but was successful only in territories under his military control, such as Württemberg 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 since they were worried about rising imperial authority. The papacy refused to recognize the Interim for over a year, as it was seen as an infringement upon papal jurisdiction.
Leipzig Interim
In a further effort to compromise, Melanchthon strived for a second "Interim".
Maurice of Saxony, who had been Charles's ally in the previous conflict, worked with Melanchthon and his supporters a compromise known as the
Leipzig Interim in late 1548. Despite its even greater concessions to Protestantism, it was barely enforced.
[M Rady, p84]
Protestant leaders rejected the terms of the Augsburg 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, but to make them yield 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.
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
auriceto be viewed as a champion of Lutheranism than as a traitor" (McCain et al., 480). On 5 April 1552, Maurice attacked Charles V's forces at Augsburg, and Charles was forced to withdraw. This victory eventually resulted in the signing of the treaties of
Passau
Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north.
Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...
(2 August 1552) and
Augsburg
Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
(1555). These two treaties resulted in the principle "
Cuius regio, eius religio" – He who rules, his the religion – allowing the ruler of a territory to set the religion therein.
References and notes
Sources
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External links
Information about the Augsburg Interim
{{Authority control
1548 in Europe
1548 in the Holy Roman Empire
16th century in Bavaria
16th-century Christian texts
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
History of Augsburg
Schmalkaldic War
Reformation in Germany