But Luther, on the 26th of May, had left Worms on his return to
Wittemberg. When he had passed over about half the distance, his friend
and admirer, Frederic of Saxony, conscious of the imminent peril which
hung over the intrepid monk, sent a troop of masked horsemen who seized
him and conveyed him to the castle of Wartburg, where Frederic kept him
safely concealed for nine months, not allowing even his friends to know
the place of his concealment. Luther, acquiescing in the prudence of
this measure, called this retreat his Patmos, and devoted himself most
assiduously to the study of the Scriptures, and commenced his most
admirable translation of the Bible into the German language, a work
which has contributed vastly more than all others to disseminate the
principles of the Reformation throughout Germany.
It will be remembered that Maximilian's son Ferdinand, who was brother
to Charles V., had married Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, King of Hungary
and Bohemia. Disturbances in Spain rendered it necessary for the emperor
to leave Germany, and for eight years his attention was almost
constantly occupied by wars and intrigues in southern Europe. Ferdinand
was invested with the government of the Austrian States.
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