Protestation and Appeal of the Evangelical Estates at Speyer (1529)
The formal protest made at the diet of Speyer in April 1529 by six princes, joined by fourteen cities, against a majority decision on religion, and the appeal in which they set out their grounds.
Read the text at archive.org ↗Full German text of the instrument of appeal (Ney’s edition, 1906) ↗
Kidd dates the protest 19 April 1529; the early prints described by Ney date the written protestation 20 April. On 25 April it was worked up into a notarised instrument of appeal. It is made in the name of John of Saxony, George of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Ernest and Francis of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Philip of Hesse and Wolfgang of Anhalt, and the envoys of fourteen imperial cities adhered to it.
The text is a legal act. It argues that the recess of 1526 was passed unanimously and cannot be undone by a majority, and that in what concerns God’s honour and the soul’s salvation each must answer to God for himself. It is made by princes and city councils, who speak in it for themselves and for their subjects.
Cited in
- 19 April 1529, firm date