Diet of Regensburg (1541)

The Regensburg Colloquy of 1541 took place in the course of the Regensburger Reichstag and should be a peaceful means for the settlement of Old Believers ( Catholics ) and Protestants. It was convened by the Emperor Charles V, who in the face of the threat of a Turkish could not do without the military support of the Protestant princes.

In Worms Colloquy, which took place from December 1540 to January 1541 and from which the so-called Book Worms was developed as a basis for discussion, the continuation of the religion conversation had been decided. This took place between May 22, 1541 on 5 April. Emperor Charles V since 1532 appeared to mark the occasion for the first time in the empire. He appointed a committee of well-known theologians at that time, which was to negotiate under the direction of his minister Nicolas de Granvelle and the Count Palatine Frederick II. The Protestant representatives were Martin Bucer, John Calvin, Philipp Melanchthon and Johannes Pistorius. Representatives of the orthodox (Catholic) side were John Eck, Johannes Gropper and Julius von Pflug. In addition, the papal legate Gasparo Contarini acted as a consultant with the Catholics. It should be tried on all 23 items of Worms book. After one could agree on the first four items, there was Article 5, to the doctrine of justification to a sensational first seeming agreement. However, this was only possible by a not always clearly formulated agreement text, which was then rejected by Rome and from which the Protestants distanced later. Cardinal Gasparo Contarini had previously worked through the book and Worms along with Gropper and the Cardinal Bishop Giovanni Morone some places, especially Article 14 of the Eucharist in terms of its view official Catholic doctrine changed, the colloquy was to be this article for the most irreconcilable point of contention.

In the discussion, the discussion participants developed a new article on justification, namely free from the Wormser template that you put aside. They tried the Augustinian doctrine that connect the aspect of imputed righteousness ( justitia imputata ), represented by the Protestants, with the aspect of the resulting effective justice ( justitia inhaerens ), by the Old Believers ( Catholics ) was represented, . As a result, this compromise formula was referred to as duplex justitia ( doctrine of double justification ). Whether this compromise was the chance to overcome the schism is controversial in the research, as well as the importance for the ecumenical efforts in the 20th century.

Irreconcilable differences were transubstantiation in Article 14 of the Eucharist and the question of the Church's Magisterium and the confession. The 23 Latin teaching articles and tabled by the Protestants 9 counter products, the so-called Book of Regensburg, were officially handed over to the Emperor on 31 May 1541. The efforts of the emperor to mutual understanding was failed.

Venue

The conversation took place was in the premises of the so-called New Waag, which are accessible via the adjacent Haidplatz and were then in the possession of the imperial city of Regensburg. In the courtyard of the building complex since 1960, remembers a wall fresco, is presented to the participants Eck and Melanchthon, at the Colloquy. Today, the Bavarian Administrative Court Regensburg is located in these buildings.