In 1521 Martin Luther stood before the Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms. In that same year Ignatius Loyala entered convalescence from an injury and soon had a spiritual conversion of sorts. Loyola subsequently formed the Society of Jesus, the greatest single force in Catholicism's campaign to recapture the spiritual domains seized by Protestantism.

While the Catholic Church did not immediately respond to the Protestant challenge, when it finally did it called upon its spiritual warriors, the Jesuits. It convened a new, militant council; and it reformed the machinery of the papal office. Faced by the rebellion of almost half of Europe, Catholicism rolled back the tide of Protestantism until by the end of the sixteenth century Protestantism was limited roughly to the northern third of Europe, as it is today.

Some historians have interpreted the Catholic Reformation as a counterattack against Protestantism; others have described

The young Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, successor to Ferdinand and Isabella. Heir to the wealth of the New World. The nephew of Catherine of Aragon. In 1521 summoned Luther to the Diet of Worms to give an account of his writings, and declared Luther an outlaw. Condemned Luther to death. After 1530 he tried to quench the growing heresy, but the Lutheran princes banded together against him and out of this conflict grew the Peace of Augsburg.

[tags]BlogRodent, Catherine-of-Aragon, Charles-V, church-history, ChurchRodent, Diet-of-Worms, history, Peace-of-Augsburg[/tags]

After Martin Luther burned Pope Leo X's papal bull condemning him as a heretic he was excommunicated in January of 1521. Subsequently, Emperor Charles V, who was under oath to defend the church and remove heresy from the empire, summoned Luther to the imperial Diet (assembly) meeting at Worms to give an account of his writings. Before the assembly Luther once again insisted that only Biblical authority would sway him. Charles V declared Luther an outlaw and gave him 21 days safe passage to Saxon before the sentence fell. Fortunately Luther was saved from arrest and death by the prince of Saxony, Duke Frederick the Wise.

[tags]BlogRodent, Charles-V, church-history, ChurchRodent, Diet-of-Worms, Frederick-the-Wise, history, Martin-Luther[/tags]