Forerunner of the Necessary Defense of Noble Evangelical Persons

B 2

The scheme concerning the aforementioned transfer The transfer of the Palatine Electoral title to Bavaria was covered up with the greatest skill and effort original: "summo artificio & studio". The declaration of the Imperial Ban Imperial Ban A form of outlawry in the Holy Roman Empire; the person is stripped of rights and property followed long afterward, and it was only published after the sorrowful fall before Prague Refers to the Battle of the White Mountain in November 1620, a decisive defeat for Frederick V. The executions The carrying out of the legal and military penalties against the Palatinate were also conducted under an entirely different appearance and pretext, as the circumstances and the entire course of events clearly demonstrate and prove to this very day.

Nevertheless, the pretext of the Imperial name, authority, office, and majesty is still used even now—specifically the excuse of the "administration of dear Justice"—even though something entirely different and the exact opposite has now come to light. How all of this aligns with the Golden Bull Golden Bull The fundamental law of the Empire from 1356 which defined the electoral system, the ancient constitutions of the Empire and the Electoral Houses, their majesty and privileges, and especially the Emperor’s highly sworn Capitulation Electoral Capitulation A contract an Emperor-elect was required to sign, guaranteeing the rights and liberties of the Imperial Estates, as well as the beneficial Imperial statutes, shall be demonstrated at another time. The whole honorable world and, finally, worthy posterity will be able to judge these matters.

Yes, what is most significant—and entirely intolerable to the German nation—is that these matters were brought to Rome, where they were consulted, negotiated, prepared, and concluded. Thus, the Pope actively involves himself in the matter and intends to set the terms and limits for how the secular Electoral Houses should be treated. For this reason, he negotiates with a Roman Emperor and the Catholic original: "Päbstischen" (Papist) Estates of the Empire; and finally, because in this matter Spain has the most... The sentence continues on the following page