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 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.
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
Noble and Valiant Lord Hermann,
Over the last few days I have received from different sources copies of two rather different books. The first is from here in Cologne, issued on your instructions, in which there are two letters, one of them from Luther to the Most Serene King of England, etc, and the other from that same king, making a weighty and distinguished reply. I had in fact seen both letters before, not indeed without much joy and admiration. The other book came from Saxony, from Wittenberg indeed, and in it Luther responds in German to that weighty and stylishly latinate letter of the king's with mere piffle and blockheaded boasting. Now, although I am preoccupied with other matters, I cannot, for the infamy of the thing, refrain from snatching a few hours over a couple of days to try and show briefly how witless, lightweight, unscholarly and frankly bombastic this response of Luther's really is when set against the learned, elegant, heavyweight, and altogether heroic letter of the king’s. Not that I embark on this discussion of Luther's response because I think the king's letter needs any defence: it is so rock-solid in itself that it can scarcely be touched in any point by Luther, still less refuted. I merely mean to show ordinary people that there is absolutely no reason or merit in Luther's defence of his dogmas against his opponents, especially the English ones. He tried once before to answer His Most Serene Highness, but so ineffectually that not even his followers thought much of it. And he did his cause more harm by responding witlessly than he could have done by holding his peace. Then that Reverend Father, the most learned and upright Doctor John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, rebutted and refuted his teachings in numerous weighty tomes. But to this day neither Luther nor any of the Lutherans has found so much as a word to say in reply. Nor have any of the Lutherans replied to Thomas More, that man of the highest reputation, nor to that illustrious theologian John Powell, nor to William Melton, Chancellor of York Minster, nor to the many other scholarly Englishmen who have all written against the Lutheran faction.
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- Henry VIII and Martin LutherThe Second Controversy, 1525–1527, pp. 226 - 265Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2021