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
Johannes Cochlaeus’s Admonition to the Reader: A notice to the reader about each epistle, by Johannes Cochlaeus
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
You have here two epistles, gentle reader, which you will indeed read with great benefit, provided that you entirely set aside all sinister affection, whether favourable or unfavourable, so that you may on the contrary be able to discern and make out, as though with the eye of rightful and good intention, what is true, decent, and godly. For it is written: ‘If your eye is single, your whole body will be light. But if your eye is wicked, your whole body will be dark’. If you are a Catholic, therefore, the king's answer will not displease you in the least, since it everywhere manifests its integrity, erudition, and piety.
If you are a Lutheran, however, it may perhaps displease you to see Luther portrayed this way. But stop a while and ponder, as you read the first letter, whether it is appropriate for someone who wants to be reckoned an evangelist, a prophet, a preacher, a man of God, the Apostle of Germany, and all the rest, to display such inconsistency, that he both condemns himself to his adversary for inconsistency; and now freely wishes to recant in a published book (provided only that he understands by the merest hint that it would be well received) what previously he wrote completely seriously and asserted with such certainty (if you believe him), making out that he had it all from heaven; now craving forgiveness with womanish endearments from an opponent whom he assailed so fiercely and arrogantly, contrary to all sound principles and especially to evangelical charity and kindness. Heedless of what the princes and politicians, and the wisest people, whom he boasts of having on his side, will say, because he has so wickedly deceived them and now, to their enormous embarrassment, wants to recant. So that at last he gives them the same reward that he previously gave the peasants, most wickedly deceived and so wretchedly slaughtered, if he can just find himself some foreign protector.
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- Information
- Henry VIII and Martin LutherThe Second Controversy, 1525–1527, pp. 222 - 225Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2021