Second Commentary on the Doctrine of Abstinence

Then I shall look at matters closer to home, and in the remaining commentaries pursuing the begun project, I shall set forth in detail the abstinentia of FREDERICK THE WISE, the abstinentia of JOHN THE CONSTANT, and the abstinentia of JOHN FREDERICK. And indeed, regarding FREDERICK, beyond other considerations that will be relevant here, I shall prove [his virtue] primarily from his difficult delay in fostering and defending Luther on account of the imminent dangers, and at the same time, I shall show that in his lands there was at that time no bishopric that could have been turned to profane uses. Afterwards, I shall come to the brother and successor of Frederick, JOHN THE CONSTANT, whom I shall confirm—from one source and many, and especially from the testimonies of Megalander himself—to have held the purer sacred rites with equal integrity, and if anything was committed, I shall make it clear that it should be attributed not so much to the Prince as to his cunning administrators. Finally, I shall turn my mind to the son of John, JOHN FREDERICK, whose singular and almost incredible abstinentia will be attested to by his early age, during which, as Luther witnesses, he bore with difficulty the so-called pillaging of the monasteries; it will be attested to by the letters given to his spouse; and it will be attested to, finally, by that testimony, which is above all exception, by which he preferred to suffer captivity and other evils rather than the deceits of the book. Meanwhile, having been called to aid with my own vote, not without great...