by Heather R. Darsie, J. D.

Sybylla of Cleves, Anna of Cleves’ elder sister, married into the powerful ruling Saxon family. Several members of the family, all prince-electors and including Sybylla’s husband Johann Friedrich, protected Martin Luther. In particular, Sybylla’s father-in-law John the Steadfast, embraced Lutheranism and did not avoid rubbing it in the Holy Roman Emperor’s face. From the beginning, the Electors of Saxony saw the value in protecting Martin Luther and allowing his ideas to flourish,

“In October 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on Wittenberg castle’s chapel door. The act of posting the 95 Theses in and of itself was not odd or rebellious…It was what followed from Luther’s action that was odd, and increasingly powerful. Frederick [Elector of Saxony] supported Martin Luther initially more out of duty to the Saxon legal system than because Frederick agreed with Luther’s position on theology. Additionally, Luther became a major attraction for potential students to Frederick’s new university in Wittenberg….

In 1518, an Imperial Diet was held at Augsburg to discuss who would become the next Holy Roman Emperor…At the same Diet, the topic of Martin Luther’s teachings arose. Frederick secured a meeting with the papal legate, who promised that Luther would only be interrogated. This satisfied Frederick for the time being… It slowly dawned on Frederick that keeping Luther in Saxony was dangerous for the Electorate….

By December 1518, Frederick threw caution to the wind and asked Luther to stay on at Wittenberg University. Frederick managed to maintain a neutral stance toward Luther. He never formally declared in favor of Luther’s burgeoning religion. Frederick chose to protect Luther because Frederick felt it was his duty, as a Christian prince, to allow for the cautious exploration of Luther’s teachings just in case Luther was correct….

[In 1521, at] the Diet of Worms still sitting, Martin Luther was ordered to appear on 17 April at 4:00 in the afternoon. Frederick did not agree with Luther being put on trial at the Imperial Diet, and believed that the proper legal protocol was for Luther to be interrogated in Saxony, first, before the issue was put before the Empire. Nevertheless, Luther was questioned, and his answers displeased Charles V.

In May 1521, the Edict of Worms was issued…Luther was allowed to return home. Frederick, fearing for Luther’s safety, intercepted him by Wittenberg and took Luther into custody. Frederick then hid Luther in Wartburg castle in Eisenach. Luther took up the disguise of ‘Junker Jörg’ or ‘Young Lord George’.

The Lutheran church grew in Electoral Saxony in part because Frederick looked the other way….”

If Martin Luther did not have the support of Saxony’s ruling family from the very beginning, one can imagine that at least German, if not European, history would have been quite different.

You Might Also Like: Martin Luther, Henry VIII, and the Papacy Martin Luther’s Influence on the German Language The Scandalous Marriage of Katharina von Bora and Martin Luther

If this excerpt piqued your interest, consider reading Children of the House of Cleves: Anna and Her Siblings, set for release in the UK on 15 June 2023 and in the US/Internationally on 12 September 2023. Can’t wait until September? The US Kindle version is released on 15 June, too! You might also like to read Heather R. Darsie’s biography on Anna of Cleves, the first researched and written from the German perspective, Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King’s Beloved Sister. Links below.

Sources & Suggested Reading

1. Darsie, Heather R. Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King’s Beloved Sister. Stroud: Amberley Publishing (2019).
2. Darsie, Heather R. Children of the House of Cleves: Anna and Her Siblings. Stroud: Amberley Publishing (2023).