Diet of Augsburg

The diets of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in the German city of Augsburg. Both an Imperial City and the residence of the Augsburg prince-bishops, the town had hosted the Estates in many such sessions since the 10th century. In 1282, the diet of Augsburg assigned the control of Austria to the House of Habsburg. In the 16th century, twelve of thirty-five imperial diets were held in Augsburg, a result of the close financial relationship between the Augsburg-based banking families such as the Fugger and the reigning Habsburg emperors, particularly Maximilian I and his grandson Charles V. Nevertheless, the meetings of 1518, 1530, 1547/48 and 1555, during the Reformation and the ensuing religious war between the Catholic emperor and the Protestant Schmalkaldic League, are especially noteworthy. With the Peace of Augsburg, the cuius regio, eius religio principle let each prince decide the religion of his subjects and inhabitants who could not conform could leave. An Imperial Diet took place at Augsburg from July to October 1518, during the reign of Maximilian I, who died a few months later. He tried, among other things, to appoint his grandson Charles as King of Romans, in order to guarantee his accession to the throne, but he failed. (His only son Philip had died in 1506.) The Elector Frederick persuaded the pope Leo X to have Luther examined at Augsburg, instead of being called to Rome, where the Imperial Diet was held. Between 12 and 14 October 1518 Luther defended himself under questioning by papal legate Cardinal Cajetan. The pope's right to issue indulgences was at the centre of the dispute between the two men. The hearings degenerated into a shouting match. More than writing his theses, Luther's confrontation with the church cast him as an enemy of the pope: "'His Holiness abuses Scripture', retorted Luther. 'I deny that he is above Scripture'." Cajetan's original instructions had been to arrest Luther if he failed to recant, but the legate desisted from doing so.