480. LUTHER TO AMSDORF. Enders, iii, 15a Land-of-the-Birds (Waktburg), May 12, 1521.
Greeting. I had written to all of you lately, my dear Ams- dorf, but listened to good advice and tore the letters up, be- cause it was not yet safe to send letters away. Now I have written to Dr. Jerome * about the books * and the proof sheets,' and with this letter I am writing to the Prior * on the same sub- ject. You will look after the things that need to be looked after. The Lord a£9icts me, but pray for me, for I am always praying for you that God may strengthen your heart. Be faithful, therefore, and when occasion offers, speak the Word of God with boldness. Write me, too, how everything went with you on the journey * and what you heard or saw at Erfurt. You will find with Philip what Spalatin has written me.*
On the day when I was snatched from you, after a long ride, when I, a green rider, was weary, at almost eleven o'clock, I reached the castle under cover of the night. Now I am here with nothing to do, like a free man among captives. Be- ware of Rehoboam of Dresden, and Benhadad of Damascus/ your neighbor, for a cruel edict has been issued against us. But the Lord will have them in derision. In Him farewell, and greet all to whom greetings are due.
Yours, Martin Luther.
481. CASPAR CONTARINI TO THE SIGNORY OF VENICE. Brown, 1520-1526, no. 209. Worms, May 12, 1521.
Last evening, about 6 p.m., the Cardinal of Mayence sent for the Apostolic Nuncio [Marino Caracciolo], and told him that on the day of the Invention of the Cross [the 3d of May] Friar Martin Luther had been captured by one Hector,* a
- Schurff. Cf. Vol. I, p. 543, n. i.
'Apparently the books that he needed for his literary work.
- The Exposition of the Magnificat was going through the press at this time. Cf.
Philadelphia Ed., iii, iigf. A "quaternio" was what printers call a "signature," or bundle of pages printed together.
- Conrad Hclt. Cf. Vol. I, p. 136, n. 4.
- Amsdorf was traveling with Luther from Worms to Wittenberg and was
present when Luther was "captured.**
- Vide supra, no. 479.
^ Duke George of Saxony and the Elector Joachim of Brandenburg.
- l^lector of Morlau, called the Bohemian, was a robber knight, an enemy of
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