In this, by
appealing to superstition, he was somewhat successful. He addressed the
following circular letter to the German States:
"A stone, weighing two hundred pounds, recently fell from heaven, near
the army under my command in Upper Alsace, and I caused it, as a fatal
warning from God to men, to be hung up in the neighboring church of
Encisheim. In vain I myself explained to all Christian kings the
signification of this mysterious stone. The Almighty punished the
neglect of this warning with a dreadful scourge, from which thousands
have suffered death, or pains worse than death. But since this
punishment of the abominable sins of men has produced no effect, God has
imprinted in a miraculous manner the sign of the cross, and the
instruments of our Lord's passion in dark and bloody colors, on the
bodies and garments of thousands. The appearance of these signs in
Germany, in particular, does not indeed denote that the Germans have
been peculiarly distinguished in guilt, but rather that they should set
the example to the rest of the world, by being the first to undertake a
crusade against the infidels."
For a time Maximilian seemed quite encouraged, for quite a wave of
religious enthusiasm seemed to roll over Europe.
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