ABSTRACT

We have seen in the last chapter how even a work that claimed to have been constructed with the utmost attention to notions of accuracy and impartiality had fallen foul of both Catholic and Protestant readers. After the publication of his Commentaries, Sleidan had to spend the remaining months of his life defending his work and his honour against seemingly endless accusations and allegations. Despite all public outcries, the storm calmed down as soon as the Diet of Augsburg was successfully concluded. Printing presses across Europe did not stop printing Sleidan’s work, which had instantly become a key reference to the early Reformation.