Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Editorial Conventions
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- List of Early Editions
- Martin Luther’s Letter to Henry VIII
- Henry VIII’s Response to Martin Luther
- Marginalia from the Early Latin Editions
- Prologue and Epigraph to Pynson’s Edition
- Henry VIII’s Preface to the English Translation
- The Archbishop of Mainz’s Letter to Henry VIII
- Hieronymus Emser’s Preface to his German Translation
- Martin Luther’s Response to Emser’s Edition: Martin Luther's Response to the Title of the Insulting Text of the King of England
- Hieronymus Emser’s Confession
- Peter Quentell’s Preface to his First Cologne Edition
- Leonard Cox’s Preface to the Cracow Edition: To the Illustrious and Magnificent Lord Palatine Christopher à Szydłowiecki, Captain of Cracow, Supreme Chancellor of the Kingdom of Poland, etc, greetings from the Englishman Leonard Cox.
- Stanislaus Hosius’s Epigraph to the Cracow Edition
- Johannes Eck’s Preface to the Ingolstadt Edition
- Duke George of Saxony’s Letter to Henry VIII
- Ortwin Gratius’s Preface to the Second Cologne Edition
- Johannes Cochlaeus’s Admonition to the Reader: A notice to the reader about each epistle, by Johannes Cochlaeus
- Johannes Cochlaeus’s Brief Discussion of Luther’s Response: A Brief Discussion of Luther’s Response to the Royal Letter, addressed by Johannes Cochlaeus to that Noble and Valiant Man, Sir Hermann Rinck of Cologne, King’s Counsellor and Knight of the Golden Spur, etc.
- Ortwin Gratius’s Preface to the Variant Cologne Edition
- Johannes Cochlaeus’s Preface to the Variant Cologne Edition
- Clement VII’s Preface to the Roman Edition
- Commendatory Verses in the Roman Edition
- Johannes Fabri’s Preface to his Answer to Luther’s Response: translated by Richard Rex and Christoph Pretzer
- Juan Luis Vives’s Letter to Henry VIII: To His Royal Majesty.
- Select Bibliography
- Index of Names, Places, and Topics
- Index of Biblical Texts and References
Hieronymus Emser’s Confession
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 April 2021
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Editorial Conventions
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- List of Early Editions
- Martin Luther’s Letter to Henry VIII
- Henry VIII’s Response to Martin Luther
- Marginalia from the Early Latin Editions
- Prologue and Epigraph to Pynson’s Edition
- Henry VIII’s Preface to the English Translation
- The Archbishop of Mainz’s Letter to Henry VIII
- Hieronymus Emser’s Preface to his German Translation
- Martin Luther’s Response to Emser’s Edition: Martin Luther's Response to the Title of the Insulting Text of the King of England
- Hieronymus Emser’s Confession
- Peter Quentell’s Preface to his First Cologne Edition
- Leonard Cox’s Preface to the Cracow Edition: To the Illustrious and Magnificent Lord Palatine Christopher à Szydłowiecki, Captain of Cracow, Supreme Chancellor of the Kingdom of Poland, etc, greetings from the Englishman Leonard Cox.
- Stanislaus Hosius’s Epigraph to the Cracow Edition
- Johannes Eck’s Preface to the Ingolstadt Edition
- Duke George of Saxony’s Letter to Henry VIII
- Ortwin Gratius’s Preface to the Second Cologne Edition
- Johannes Cochlaeus’s Admonition to the Reader: A notice to the reader about each epistle, by Johannes Cochlaeus
- Johannes Cochlaeus’s Brief Discussion of Luther’s Response: A Brief Discussion of Luther’s Response to the Royal Letter, addressed by Johannes Cochlaeus to that Noble and Valiant Man, Sir Hermann Rinck of Cologne, King’s Counsellor and Knight of the Golden Spur, etc.
- Ortwin Gratius’s Preface to the Variant Cologne Edition
- Johannes Cochlaeus’s Preface to the Variant Cologne Edition
- Clement VII’s Preface to the Roman Edition
- Commendatory Verses in the Roman Edition
- Johannes Fabri’s Preface to his Answer to Luther’s Response: translated by Richard Rex and Christoph Pretzer
- Juan Luis Vives’s Letter to Henry VIII: To His Royal Majesty.
- Select Bibliography
- Index of Names, Places, and Topics
- Index of Biblical Texts and References
Summary
Emser's Confession that he was responsible for the title of Luther's Epistle to the King of England, which Luther twisted, but which he1 had thought too kind.
Hieronymus Emser the Elder, priest, wishes the reader health and every blessing.
Dear Christian Reader, Martin Luther has once more issued a shameful little new book, specifically against the title set at the head of his letter to the King of England. For while he has no idea how to rebut the king's solid and well grounded answer to him, nor yet how to apologise for the vices laid to his charge, he picks up on the title and thinks it is easier to deal with goats than with bears or lions. Therefore we fight not like the Andabates, blindly and awkwardly encumbered. He complains especially that he can see how it might happen that, through the aforesaid title, his letter might be interpreted as though he had also recanted his teaching. So I freely admit it in front of everyone, and particularly Luther, that I myself was responsible for the aforesaid title and published it. Nor indeed was it so entirely hidden from Luther as he makes out, for I did it not only in Latin but also in German, and I let it go forth openly in print exactly as it follows here:
The substance of the title
A Letter of Martin Luther's to the King of England, Henry, the eighth of that name, in which he disclaims and begs forgiveness for that with which he had foolishly and rashly injured the said king, with a promise to recant the same.
Here the reader should attend to the little word ‘dasselbig’ (‘the same’), a relative pronoun, which (grammar teaches us) refers to nothing other than what went just before, namely to ‘that with which he had foolishly and rashly injured the king’. Thus I do not say that Luther offers to recant his teaching as well. So his accusation against me is false, and he had no need to write this little book at all except that he sought a pretext for refreshing his lineage with new and unheard of vituperation.
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- Information
- Henry VIII and Martin LutherThe Second Controversy, 1525–1527, pp. 192 - 201Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2021