Luther Page #7

torn the world apart.

I urged the princes to action.

and how they have

answered my call!

I said these rebels

were outside God's law.

that nothing on earth is more

poisonous, hurtful, or devilish

than a nebel.

that they must be stopped

by every means possible.

And yet the blood they sled

is as nothing

commpared to this slaughter

I have unleashed.

You don't want to

go in there, sir.

It's over.

Yes. It's over.

How many?

No one knows yet.

How many?

Some say 50,000.

Some 100.

100,000...

dead peasants.

There were knights among them.

That's a plague, Spalatin.

That's butchery.

Have a care, Martin.

You may need these butchers.

Grete.

We are seeking Dr. Luther.

Please. My sisters and I

escaped three days ago

from the convent at Nimbschen.

And... you still came here?

Because this is

where Dr. Luther lives.

Sir, we were smuggled out

in these herring barrels.

We've been two nights

on an open wagon,

have had no rest,

no food, no sleep.

So if you could just tell me...

I...

I'm Luther.

Katharina von Bora.

Martin Luther.

But you know that already.

I'll take you to a shelter.

Who's there?

No.

Martin Luther?

My lord.

Well. We meet at last.

I dedicated this work

to you, my lord.

The translation

of the New Testament...

into our own language.

Into German?

But this will

separate us from Rome...

forever.

I have always

sought Christian unity,

but not at the price of servitude.

I answer to God's law,

not Roman.

Roman law is the reality.

I believe in the reality of Christ.

With no compromises?

None.

You realize, of course,

they'll take this to be

an act of sheer provocation.

Yes.

And they will not hesitate

to strike back.

Yes, I know.

Well, so long as you know.

Do you think I could have

my present now?

Yes, of course.

Take my heart

And never worry

Evil tongues will mock

We'll mock in turn

For my heart

is my gift to thee

Have not a care

Never worry

Stay, Ulrick, stay.

Please.

Marry one of

these lovely young women.

I know there's at least one left.

I'll bring God's word

to my homeland.

No, this is not a good time.

No prince can protect you there.

I want the Dutch people to know

what I experienced when I

read His word for the first time.

Then God be with you.

And with you, Martin.

You left so quickly,

I feared it was my singing.

If only it were.

Look at him.

He goes to his fate,

hurrying like a bridegroom.

Not all bridegrooms

are so fleet.

I would not say the bachelors

of Wittenberg have been tardy.

True.

The other nuns are all spoken for.

And you've made it so clear

that marriage

is an honorable estate...

for everyone else, at least.

I see why you scare them.

My grief is that I scare you.

I know you like me, Doctor.

I feel your heart

when we make music together.

But when the music ends,

you flee.

I'm a man of blood, Katie.

I divide people.

Thousands have died

because of me.

Most days I'm so depressed

I can't even get out of bed.

People try to make me

a fixed star.

But I'm not.

I'm a wandering planet.

No one should

look to me for guidance.

Two things I promise you...

we will make

joyous music together,

and to get to you,

your enemies will have to

step across my dead body.

In return,

I ask only one thing...

that you bring none of them

to our marriage bed,

not peasants or princes or Popes,

unless He be a God of love.

For God's sake,

at least get new candles!

There's nothing left except these.

Now!

So much for Leo

who would rebuild Rome...

Banknupt.

800.000 ducats in debt.

Had he lived. He would lave

sold the Vatican itself.

But as a Pope,

he could have changed the world.

He could have reformed the church

instead of just rebuilding it.

Leo was a spiritual dwarf

when we needed a giant like Luther.

Well, Luther's getting married.

To a runaway nun.

He wouldn't dare.

If I were to tell you that

Albert of Mainz sent us

a wedding present.

what would you say?

Send it back.

Then it's as well

he did no such thing,

or we'd be having

our first quarrel.

Martin.

They are going to burn Ulrick!

They caught him at the border.

What is it?

What has happened?

The Emperor summons

our princes to Augsburg.

Why?

To finish

what he began at Worms.

You mustn't go.

They'll fry you like a suckling pig.

If you die, everything

you stand for dies with you.

All right, what will you say? How will you

make them change their minds?

I don't know.

Well, I need to know!

Katie, first they

wanted me to recant.

Now they want half of Europe

to bow the knee.

We must fight!

Let somebody else fight.

Let somebody else be

roasted like a pig!

All I want is Luther.

Break the princes,

and you break Luther.

Their tactics will be to delay,

to bog the process down in detail.

Luther's hymns.

They are.

You must keep the issues

simple, Excellency.

They must accept

there is only one church.

This plague

just goes on spreading.

I should have burned him!

My princes. Brothers in Christ.

this isn't a time for caution.

but for boldness.

Charles is not the frightened youth

you saw at Worms, Dr. Luther.

He has humbled France

and sacked Rome itself.

Only the Turk

remains a threat to him.

In a word, he has all the time

and resource in the world

to reduce us to a powder

piece by piece,

state by state.

And I think he means to do it.

My lords...

silence will not save us.

If we challenge Charles,

will there be war...

the awful shedding

of yet more blood?

I honestly don't know. I've mislaid

all my former certainties.

But think.

The Emperor invites us

to present our creeds,

to present what we believe in.

Satan invites us to preach in hell.

Is that a trap?

Or our greatest opportunity so far?

And remember, since I may not

come with you to Augsburg,

you'll face Charles' wroth alone.

Your choice is simple.

If you give in, my lords,

the bright comet that is our faith

will shatter and be reduced

to a few isolated torches,

sputtering in a dark universe.

This way!

And why does the father run

to meet his prodigal son?

Landowners don't run.

Noblemen don't run.

Princes don't run.

So why does this rich,

landowning father run?

Because he's afraid.

He's so afraid that his son

will run back to the filthy pig farm.

He runs

because he loves his son.

And there's

a special word for this love.

Compassion.

Compassion.

And you know

what this word means?

It's just a church bell, Martin,

ringing the Angelus.

Continue the story.

Beloved princes of the Empire,

I will be brief

and to the point.

Your ministers

shall not preach,

and you will outlaw these Bibles

in the common language

and declare anyone who possesses one

an enemy of the state.

We will not stop our ministers

from preaching the word,

here or anywhere else.

Do not concede, my lord.

We will not outlaw

the new Bible, my lord.

As a sign

of your loyalty to me,

tomorrow you shall all march

in the Corpus Christi procession

to the cathedral

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