Many hoped that the decree might put an end to the confusion, but in
reality Charles V. was powerless to enforce it, especially as the
majority of the princes were unwilling to carry out its terms in their
territories. Hence, outside the hereditary dominions of the House of
Habsburg, the lands of Joachim I. of Brandenburg and of Duke George of
Saxony, and in Bavaria, it remained a dead letter.

On the route from Worms Luther was taken prisoner by soldiers of the
Elector, Frederick of Saxony, according to arrangements that had been
made for his protection, and was brought to the castle at Wartburg
where he remained for close on a year (May 1521-March 1522) under the
assumed name of Yonker George, safe in spite of the imperial decrees.
In the silence of his retreat at Wartburg Luther had an opportunity
for reflection on the gravity of the situation that he had created. At
times he trembled, as he thought of separating himself definitely from
the great world-wide organisation which recognised the jurisdiction of
the Bishop of Rome, and of setting up his own judgment against the
faith that had been handed down for centuries, and that was supported
by the ablest scholars from the days of Clement of Rome to those of
St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure.

In his anxiety of mind he was the victim of hallucinations, believing
that the spirit of evil appeared to him in visible form, and held
commune with him in human speech. He was assailed, too, with violent
temptations of the flesh, which reduced him to a state bordering on
despair. But these moments of depression passed away, to be succeeded
by fits of wild exultation in which he rejoiced at the storm that he
had created already, and at the still greater storm he was soon to
create. He set to work with tireless energy, believing himself to be
inspired from on high as was the apostle, St. John, during his stay in