Page 25 - 11 Protest of the Princes

The Reformation was to be brought into

greater prominence before the mighty ones

of the earth. The evangelical princes had been

denied a hearing by King Ferdinand; but they

were to be granted an opportunity to present

their cause in the presence of the emperor

and the assembled dignitaries of church and

state. To quiet the dissensions which

disturbed the empire, Charles V, in the year

following the Protest of Spires, convoked a

diet at Augsburg, over which he announced

his intention to preside in person. Thither the

Protestant leaders were summoned.

Great dangers threatened the Reformation;

but its advocates still trusted their cause with

God, and pledged themselves to be firm to the

gospel. The elector of Saxony was urged by

his councilors not to appear at the Diet. The

emperor, they said, required the attendance