The Glöselian Duel: Two Opposing Opinions on Religious Freedom for the Hungarian Estates

it should be / in consideration of all non-Catholic Princes
that only the Augsburg Confession The primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church, presented in 1530. At this time, it was often the only non-Catholic faith with any legal standing in the Holy Roman Empire. has been requested until now / so that
it might be permitted alongside the Catholic Religion /
and as no Duke of Austria has ever
permitted any other religion / it would rest within Your Princely
Serenity’s power / as the matter does not currently stand [as law] / and though
the Hungarians advise it / Your Princely Serenity would be the
first of your lineage / who, aside from the true Ca-
tholic Religion, had permitted more than one sect.

Furthermore, it would also be shameful / that Your Princely Serenity
should grant the Helvetic Religion original Latin: Helveticam Religionem. This refers to the Reformed or Calvinist tradition originating in Switzerland, which was legally distinct from Lutheranism. to your hereditary subjects
the Hungarians—a faith of the peasants and craftsmen in Switzerland / who
have always and in every way been the greatest enemies
of this House of Austria / and who, out of their bloodthirsty Zwinglian
opinion, have shed so much innocent blood / and also
caused so much turmoil / yet not all Swiss are Zwinglian /
but five well-known locations remain Catholic / which
perhaps the Hungarian rebels do not know / and instead
request the Helvetic Religion in general / Beyond this, there are of-
ficial Imperial Recesses original: Reichs-Abschiede; the official resolutions passed at the conclusion of an Imperial Diet (Reichstag). and decrees / in which
Zwinglianism and Calvinism are condemned / and held to be
such a heresy / with which no honest
political man should have fellowship. To grant this
opinion now to the Hungarians / would give Your Princely
Serenity a bad name among all Lutheran Electors and Princes /
alienating their minds / and where
they have previously held you in high respect /
such a resolution might cause that respect to justly fall / yet if