le course and in 1525 gave some
moderate advice to the council, which meanwhile had turned more Catholic
again.

The old bishop, who for some years had no longer resided in his town, in
1527 requested the chapter to relieve him of his office, and died
shortly afterwards. Then events moved very quickly. After Berne had,
meanwhile, reformed itself in 1528, Oecolampadius demanded a decision
also for Basle. Since the close of 1528 the town had been on the verge
of civil war. A popular rising put an end to the resistance of the
Council and cleared it of Catholic members; and in February 1529 the old
service was prohibited, the images were removed from the churches, the
convents abolished, and the University suspended. Oecolampadius became
the first minister in the 'Muenster' and leader of the Basle church, for
which he soon drew up a reformatory ordinance. The new bishop remained
at Porrentruy, and the chapter removed to Freiburg.

[Illustration: XXIII. ERASMUS'S RESIDENCE AT FREIBURG, 1529-31]

The moment of departure had now come for Erasmus. His position at Basle
in 1529 somewhat resembled, but in a reversed sense, the one at Louvain
in 1521. Then the Catholics wanted to avail themselves of his services
against Luther, now the Evangelicals would fain have kept him at Basle.
For his name was still as a banner. His presence would strengthen the
position of reformed Basle; on the one hand, because, as people
reasoned, if he were not of the same mind as the reformers, he would
have left the town long ago; on the other hand, because his figure
seemed to guarantee moderation and might attract many hesitating minds.

It was, therefore, again to safeguard his independence that Erasmus
changed his residence. It was a great wrench this time. Old age and
invalidism had made the restless man a stay-at-home. As he foresaw
trouble from the side of the municipality, he asked Archduke
Ferdinand--who for his brother Charles V governed the German empire and
just then presided over the Diet of Speyer--to send him a safe conduct
for the whole empire and an invitation, moreover, to come to court,
which he did not dream of accepting. As place of refuge he had selected
the not far distant town of Freiburg im Breisgau, which was directly
under the strict government of the Austrian house, and where he,
therefore, need not be afraid of such a turn of affairs as that at
Basle. It was, moreover, a juncture at which the imperial authority and
the