Martin Luther and J lis Revolt against the Church Ji Ernhold. Naturally ; and I think there are plenty of other things we suffer by : settling for archbishops' palli- ums, and paying annates, pensions, and six hundred other exactions. When will the Romans moderate their demands? I fear that we Germans will not stand them much longer, for matters are getting worse and worse, and there is no end to their robbery and extortions. Hutten. As you well say, unless they are more reasonable and show some restraint in their mode of life, this nation of ours will at last have its eyes opened. It will see how mis- erably it has been misled and swindled, and will recognize the deceptions which have been employed to delude a free people and bring into contempt a brave and strong nation with its noble princes. I already notice that many are begin- ning to talk freely and act as if we were about to cast off this yoke. Ernhold. God grant that we may soon cease to be the victims of foreigners ! l The above was written probably in 15 19, before Hut- Hutten ten had become interested in Luther, and shows how the interested Germans might have been led to revolt against the papal in Lu then supremacy on other than religious grounds. Early in 1520 Hutten was attracted by Luther's utterances and wrote a letter to him beginning " Long live liberty," and offering him the protection of the German knights. He then began translating his own earlier dialogues into Ger- man, and added others of a more serious nature, in which he introduced Luther. In September, 1520, he appealed to some of the German princes, urging them to reduce the exactions of the curia. His letter to the elector of Saxony is of the greatest interest, and its description of 1 Some idea of Hutten's dialogue called "The Onlookers," may be obtained from the extract given by Whitcomb, Source Book of the Ger- man Renaissance, pp. 62 sq.
