Frederik II by Hans Kniepr
Sigismunda Killinger, Lecture Record, February 3, 1999 Charpentier-Synthtranslate Edition.
In the concluding days of 1566, Philip Melanchthon, one of the last survivors of the first generation of Reformation theologians, died. For several reasons, and in several ways, this created a crisis for the Elector Alexander. To understand why, it is necessary to backtrack a bit to the grand strategy of his father, Friedrich IV.
You will recall Friedrich insisted the disputes between himself and the Holy Roman Emperor were to be solved on the battlefield, not by council, and refused to permit any of the Lutheran theologians gathered under his wing to participate in any official discussions, much less any bodies charged with resolving the theological differences in the church. Now this was for several reasons, not least that he did not want to lend any credibility to any tribunal that in the future could wield its power against him. But one effect this policy of his did have is that the 1530 Augsburg Confession of Martin Luther stood on its own. It was not amended, it was not revised, it was not even clarified. His formulations were allowed to stand, as if they were his funerary monument itself.
Thus, somewhat interestingly, considering his dislike for Luther as a person, Friedrich for completely different reasons ultimately contributed to enshrining Luther's place in the orthodox Lutheran Church. Melanchthon, whom Friedrich certainly preferred to Luther in all matters, and whose views on the Eucharist were certainly closer to Friedrich's, would have delighted in reworking the Augsburg Confession's language about the Eucharist, and Friedrich probably would have favored this on its substance.
But Friedrich did not permit Melanchthon to do this. Not just because Friedrich had called a halt to the ongoing cycles of negotiation with the Catholic Church at which systematic representations of Lutheran theology were necessary, so that there was no convenient venue in which to "restate" Luther's views without challenging them, but because Friedrich simply did not want to open up greater division in the Lutheran Church, or to risk any breach that might alienate other Lutheran princes, including those within his own family.
Without a doubt, Friedrich viewed himself, the prince, as having an unlimited prerogative to make just these judgments about church teachings. But in this instance, with respect to this subject matter, he felt prudence demanded nuance and deference. Now when Friedrich essentially ran Melanchthon as a candidate to lead the Lutheran Church in 1556-7, one of the reasons the other princes, and their appointed delegates to the Council, united around Flacius was the idea that Friedrich, at the end of his life, might finally be at the end of that forbearance and be ready to propound a theology for the Lutheran Church that would do away with the necessity of an idea of the physical presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Alarmed by Flacius's election, Friedrich then undertook to twist enough arms to see Melanchthon named to a new administrative post of chancellor of the Lutheran Church. Now, this was not the balm for the wounded ego of a trusted servant it is sometimes made out to be. Or rather, it may have been, but it was never just that. You will recall the formal powers of the respondency is actually extremely limited. The respondent is a kind of theologian-in-chief who pens authoritative statements, as if on command, but does little else. However, the chancellery that Friedrich bestowed upon Melanchthon had, at least within the Lutheran Church of Saxony, control over the disciplinary functions--which priests were to be stripped of their congregations, which banned from the priesthood, and which were to be referred to the prince for sterner punishments, whether exile, prison, or the most absolute and irrevocable penalty of all.
Essentially, Friedrich felt the genial and tolerant Melanchthon was the only one who could be trusted with this power, given who held the power to defining the church's official doctrine. Friedrich knew that with Luther's words still absolute in their authority, and with Flacius's whole project identified with a dogmatic application of Luther's teachings, Melanchthon's presence in the chancellery of the Lutheran Church of Saxony would be necessary to prevent a purge of all those Lutherans who held a different view of the Eucharist. Thus the news of Melanchthon's appointment from the direction of Duke Johann and Anna of Denmark was met with the gnashing of teeth.
Moreover, though Friedrich's own opinions on the Sacramental controversy had been repressed since before his investiture with the electoral dignity in 1533, it was still common knowledge within the Lutheran Church that he held a dissenting view. And with respect to actual Calvinists seeking entry into Saxony, his position had been to extend to them broad guarantees of religious freedom beginning with the Stranger's Law. It would have therefore been unwise to attempt a coercive enforcement of Luther's teaching with respect to the Eucharist within the Lutheran Church, and force Saxon Lutherans of a differing opinion into a worse situation than the actual Calvinists. Or, for that matter, to persecute in the elector's courts people for holding the elector's opinion.
Thus when Friedrich died in 1560, with Duke Johann installed in the regency, Flacius and his supporters saw their chance. As it turned out, Duke Johann's partial suspension of the Stranger's Law proved far too troublesome and controversial for him to have moved on to the repression of what were now being called the "Crypto-Calvinists" within the Lutheran Church. And even this more limited enterprise came to an abrupt stop when Alexander reached his majority and displaced his uncle.
Now, up until then, Alexander had in not divulging his personal views in religious matters given Flacius and his supporters no reason to think he was averse to their cause. And one school of thought held that Alexander's time at the Habsburg court might, whatever else it might have done, have given him a strongly conventional understanding of the Sacraments. But whatever he had thought before the regency, Flacius had now in allying himself with the duke all but declared himself the enemy of the new elector. It was a fatal political mistake.
It is, you know, something of a parlor game of German historians to pick apart the similarities and differences in the characters of the Electors Friedrich and Alexander, whose careers are so widely divergent. But we do know one similarity. Like an attack dog, once they sank their fangs in, it was rather hard to shake either one loose.
In their first audience, Alexander upbraided an overproud Flacius for speaking without being given permission, then spoke exclusively for the duration before curtly dismissing him. It was a performance the Electress Dorothea believed worthy of his father. And for all intents and purposes the religious policy of the first years of Alexander's rule was cognate with the last years of Friedrich's, including the reliance on Melanchthon to prevent Flacius from purging the Lutheran Church of everyone not of his party with respect to the Lord's Supper. And Alexander had every intent to run Melanchthon for the respondency at the end of Flacius's ten-tear term in 1567.
Even the question of Melanchthon's willingness was neatly sidestepped. His complaints about his age and desire for some small period of retirement before his death were dismissed by the Elector, who swore he would run Melanchthon against Flacius with him in his casket if he had to. Unfortunately, he would. Melanchthon died at the age of almost 70, leaving the chancellery open and requiring Alexander to go looking for a new standard-bearer for the 1567 council.
At the same time, Alexander had begun strategically undermining Flacius with the princes who would be appointing the delegates to the 1567 council. Recognizing Flacius's strength was his close alignment with Luther on the question of the Eucharist, Alexander instead exploited Flacius's more controversial notions, such as his extreme beliefs in the nature of the corruption of humankind after the Fall of Adam.
Alexander also let it be known that he understood, perhaps in a way his father had not, the Lutheran Church was not his toy. Instead he expressed the understanding that the first objective of the position of respondent must not be to bring the Church, or more particularly, the princes who protected and supported the church, to harm. The clear implication was that this was most definitely not the case with the current respondent and that urgent action was needed.
It was towards this purpose Alexander also took prompt action on what had been heretofore one of the great diplomatic problems of his tenure. Both as the grandson of the deposed Christian II, and the living barrier between the king's sister Anna and the rank of Electress, Alexander was not well-positioned for good relations with the Kingdom of Denmark. And Denmark had helped frustrate Friedrich IV's efforts to make Melanchthon Respondent in 1557 by lending critical support to Flacius.
Thus Alexander visited his cousin the King of Denmark in late 1566 in splendid state. Maria Eleonora could not accompany him, given that she was pregnant with her next child and the baby Johann had entered what would be his final illness. Though Alexander had been wise enough never to scruple with titles or to give the Danish king any reason to suspect that he pretended to his throne, Alexander went out of his way to reinforce the legitimacy of the ruling Danish royal family. His mother's hurt over this slight to her was assuaged by him naming her the regent in his absence, Duke Johann and his brood now having shown themselves untrustworthy.
All the same, Frederik II received Alexander in the context of his own crises. Denmark was in the midst of a war against Sweden that was becoming immensely expensive and damaging to the economy. Alexander, who arrived at the Danish court in a dazzling suit of silver armor, advertised himself as the answer to Danish troubles. He left with some impressive additions to Saxony's portfolio of loans, secured with an annual portion Denmark's Sound Dues. In return for these large loans, Denmark had agreed to make common cause with the Elector in all the affairs of the Lutheran church. And finally, the Danish king imparted some counsels to his sister the Duchess Anna having to do with humility.
It is of course the impressive success of this trip to Denmark by the young elector--whom I should remind you was still just 22--that brings to mind another round of the game of similarites and differences between Electors Friedrich and Alexander, that of their most profound difference. We do not need to belabor the point that to bargain with Friedrich IV was not exactly the most certain business. But Alexander was one of those figures who cultivate trust like a delicately tended garden. Thus, his alliance with Denmark would only deepen over the years, much to the benefit of himself and his heirs.
Now, Flacius's self-regard in the office of respondent was so impressive that though the office was supposed to be for a single term, by 1564 he had begun a campaign for re-election, unseemly as that may be to our sensibilities. And more unseemly still, the death of Melanchthon in fact spurred Flacius's hopes, as the Wettins' favorite had been seen as his most likely successor.
Several figures now vied to challenge Flacius. One was Martin Chemnitz, an orthodox Lutheran protegee of Melanchthon's who had served as a court librarian under Friedrich IV and as a tutor of the now Elector Alexander. Unfortunately, in a way very similar to Melanchthon, these close connections to the electoral court now worked against him. A figure favored by Duke Johann was Johann Marbach of Strassburg, who had engaged in vigorous anti-Calvinist polemics objecting to the Elector Friedrich III's efforts in the Palatine. And another figure, seen by many as a potential compromise, was Jakob Andreae, of Wuertemberg.
When the Second Decennial Council of Wittenberg met in early 1567, Flacius was quickly eliminated from contention in an early victory for the Elector. However, once again, ties to the Saxon court proved disqualifying for Chemnitz, who like Melanchthon would have to accept the consolation prize of the chancellery of the Saxon Lutheran Churches. Andreae was elected Respondent. While not ideal, this was definitely a result the young elector could live with. Within the year, Flacius had left his university post in Saxony. Chemnitz for his part focused his efforts on making sure Lutheran ministers received a proper education in Christian doctrine, rather than attending to controversial doctrinal disputes.