ontroversy with the reprobate
Dominican; in the winter of 1520, he burnt the papal bull; in the
spring of 1518, he still laid himself at the feet of the Pope as the
vicegerent of Christ; but in the spring of 1521, he declared before the
Emperor, princes, and papal nuncios at the Imperial Diet at Worms, that
he did not trust either in the Pope or the councils alone, but only in
the witness of the Holy Scripture and the convictions of his own
reason. He had now become a free man, but the papal interdict and the
ban of the empire hung over him; he was inwardly free, but he was free
like the wild beast of the forest, with the bloodthirsty hounds giving
tongue after him. He had now arrived at the acme of his life: the
powers against which he had revolted, and even the thoughts which he
had excited in the people, began now to work against his life and
doctrines.

It appears that already at Worms, Luther was warned that he must
disappear for a time. The habits of the Franconian knights, among whom
he had many faithful adherents, gave rise to the idea of carrying him
off by armed men. The Elector Frederic planned the abduction with his
confidential advisers; yet it was quite in the style of this Prince to
arrange that he himself should not know the place of his confinement,
that in case of necessity he might be able to affirm his ignorance. It
was not easy to make this plan acceptable to Luther, for his valiant
heart had long overcome all earthly fear, and with ecstatic pleasure,
in which there was much enthusiasm and some humour, he watched the
attempts of the Romanists who wished to take away his life; this,
however, was under the disposal of another and higher power, which
spoke through his mouth.[36] He unwillingly submitted; but however
cleverly the abduction was arranged, it was not easy to keep the
secret. In the beginning, Melancthon was the only one of the
Wittenbergers who knew the place of Luther's concealment; but Luther
was not the man to accommodate himself, even to the most well-meaning
intrigue, and soon messengers were actively passing to and fro between
the Wartburg and Wittenberg, so that whatever circumspection was
employed in the care of the letters, it was difficult to prevent the
spreading of reports. Luther in the castle, learned what was going on
in the great world sooner than the Wittenbergers; he received accounts
of all the news of his university, and endeavoured to raise the courage
of his friends