From the Diet of Worms to the Augsburg Confession - James Aitken Wylie

e saved under a cowl." Thirteen friars left the
convent, and soon the prior was the only person
within its walls.
Laying aside their habit, the emancipated
monks betook them, some to handicrafts, and
others to study, in the hope of serving the cause of
Protestantism. The ferment at Wittenberg was
renewed. At this time it was that Luther's treatise
on "Monastic Vows" appeared. He expressed
himself in it with some doubtfulness, but the
practical conclusion was that all might be at liberty
to quit the convent, but that no one should be
obliged to do so.
At this point, Andrew Bodenstein of Carlstadt,
commonly called Carlstadt, Archdeacon of
Wittenberg, came forward to take a prominent part
in these discussions. Carlstadt was bold, zealous,
honest, but not without a touch of vanity. So long
as Luther was present on the scene, his colossal
figure dwarfed that of the archdeacon; but the
greater light being withdrawn for the time, the
lesser luminary aspired to mount into its place. The
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