to his son Philip in 1555,
abdicated the crown of the Empire to his brother Ferdinand in 1556.
[Sidenote: Ferdinand, 1556-64] He died two years later in a monastery,
a disappointed man, having expressed the wish that he had burned Luther
at Worms. The energies of Ferdinand were largely taken up with the
Turkish war. His son, Maximilian II, [Sidenote: Maximilian II,
1564-76] was favorably inclined to Protestantism.

[Sidenote: Catholic reaction]

Before Maximilian's death, however, a reaction in favor of Catholicism
had already set in. The last important gains to the Lutheran cause in
Germany came in the years immediately following the Peace of Augsburg.
Nothing is more remarkable than the fact that practically all the
conquests of Protestantism in Europe were made within the first half
century of its existence. After that for a few years it lost, and
since then has remained, geographically speaking, stationary in Europe.
It is impossible to get accurate statistics of the gains and losses of
either confession. The estimate of the Venetian ambassador that only
one-tenth of the German empire was Catholic in 1558 is certainly wrong.
In 1570, at the height of the Protestant tide, probably 70 per cent. of
Germans--including Austrians--were Protestant. In 1910 the Germans of
the {133} German Empire and of Austria were divided thus: Protestants
37,675,000; Catholics 29,700,000. The Protestants were about 56 per
cent., and this proportion was probably about that of the year 1600.

[Sidenote: Lutheran schisms]

Historically, the final stemming of the Protestant flood was due to the
revival of energy in the Catholic Church and to the internal weakness
and schism of the Protestants. Even within the Lutheran communion
fierce conflicts broke out. Luther's lieutenants fought for his
spiritual heritage as the generals of Alexander fought for his empire.
The center of these storms was Melanchthon until death freed him from
"the rage of the theologians." [Sidenote: April 19, 1560] Always half
Catholic, half Erasmian at heart, by his endorsement of the Interim,
and by his severe criticisms of his former friends Luther and John
Frederic, he brought on himself the bitter enmity of those calling
themselves "Gnesio-Lutherans," or "Genuine Lutherans." Melanchthon
abolished congregational hymn-singing, and published his true views,
hitherto dissembled, on predestination and the sacrament. He was
attacked by Flacius the histor