At the Diet of Worms

Most Serene Emperor, and You Illustrious Princes and Gracious Lords:—I this day appear before you in all humility, according to your command,Assertion — State that something is the case. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: outward the salutation and the first clause are fused in the printed text by ":—" and are filed together; "according to your command" is the whole of the summons as this page carries it, and it enters as obedience rather than as a charge answered and I implore your majesty and your august highnesses, by the mercies of God, to listen with favor to the defense of a cause which I am well assured is just and right.Order — Direct another to act. function: directive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: outward the proceeding is named in the first sentence as "the defense of a cause," which is not what the examiner has convened it to be; the request asks only for a hearing I ask pardon, if by reason of my ignorance, I am wanting in the manners that befit a court;Apology — Express contrition for a wrong. function: expressive · orientation: reality · motive: mixed · scope: narrow · target: outward contrition on a condition — "if" — and for manner alone; this is the first of the two concessions the answer makes, and both are about how he has spoken rather than what he has written for I have not been brought up in king's palaces, but in the seclusion of a cloister.Counter-signal — Decline an expected status marker to imply that one’s standing needs no proof. function: expressive · orientation: belonging · motive: mixed · scope: wide · target: outward misfire: orientation mismatch — the disclaimer of courtly formation is delivered in the most courtly sentence on the page, stacked with "your majesty," "your august highnesses," and "by the mercies of God"; the cloister is named where the credential would go (low confidence)

As to the second, I have composed writings on very different subjects.Frame-set — Install the construal that fixes which moves are legal. function: declaration · orientation: reality · motive: mixed · scope: wide · target: meta "the second" is the second of the two questions put by the Diet's examiner, and neither question appears on this page; the sentence that answers it partitions the corpus, after which the single act demanded — retract — has three objects and three prices In some I have discussed Faith and Good Works, in a spirit at once so pure, clear, and Christian,Assertion — State that something is the case. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: outward the first class is marked by "In some"; the two that follow get ordinals, and only they get an explicit refusal that even my adversaries themselves, far from finding anything to censure, confess that these writings are profitable, and deserve to be perused by devout persons.Report — Relay another's utterance. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: meta the warrant for the first class is his opponents' concession rather than his own claim, which is the one credential an assembly convened to condemn him might accept The pope's bull, violent as it is, acknowledges this.Report — Relay another's utterance. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: meta the instrument of condemnation is entered as a witness for the defense; the closing paragraph withdraws from the same authority any competence to settle the question What, then, should I be doing if I were now to retract these writings?Rhetorical question — Ask in form, assert in force. function: directive · orientation: belonging · motive: mixed · scope: wide · target: outward the demanded act is put as a question about its own consequences, and answered two clauses later; the room is asked to price the retraction before anyone has refused it Wretched man!Articulation — Render a felt sense into words; the saying changes it. function: expressive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: reflexive two words give the self a retraction would produce, and they are the only voice the retracting Luther is allowed anywhere in the answer I alone, of all men living, should be abandoning truths approved by the unanimous voice of friends and enemies, and opposing doctrines that the whole world glories in confessing!Assertion — State that something is the case. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: outward the cost is stated in the conditional and assigned to everyone else: what would be lost belongs to friends, enemies, and the whole world, and the man asked to give it up is the only one who can

I have composed, secondly, certain works against popery,Decoupling-flag — Mark a claim as taken in isolation. function: declaration · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: meta the ordinal seals the second class off from the first, so that the concession just banked — even adversaries approve those books — cannot be spent against these wherein I have attacked such as by false doctrines, irregular lives, and scandalous examples, afflict the Christian world, and ruin the bodies and souls of men.Assertion — State that something is the case. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: outward the targets are described by conduct and never named; "such as" leaves the assembly to fill in who is meant And is not this confirmed by the grief of all who fear God?Rhetorical question — Ask in form, assert in force. function: directive · orientation: belonging · motive: mixed · scope: wide · target: outward misfire: orientation mismatch — the question asks for confirmation of a fact and offers membership as the evidence; the only available denial is a claim not to be among those who fear God Is it not manifest that the laws and human doctrines of the popes entangle, vex, and distress the consciences of the faithful, while the crying and endless extortions of Rome engulf the property and wealth of Christendom, and more particularly of this illustrious nation?Rhetorical question — Ask in form, assert in force. function: directive · orientation: belonging · motive: mixed · scope: wide · target: outward the charge moves from consciences to property inside one sentence and narrows at its end to "this illustrious nation"; the grievance offered the German princes is the one they had been filing against Rome for a century, in money

If I were to revoke what I have written on that subject, what should I do. … but strengthen this tyranny, and open a wider door to so many and flagrant impieties?Rhetorical question — Ask in form, assert in force. function: directive · orientation: belonging · motive: mixed · scope: wide · target: outward the stop and the ellipsis inside the sentence are the printed source's; the question survives the break because its two halves each carry the force Bearing down all resistance with fresh fury, we should behold these proud men swell, foam, and rage more than ever!Assertion — State that something is the case. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: outward a forecast in the counterfactual, and its first-person plural puts the speaker and the assembly in the same position, watching what their joint act would release And not merely would the yoke which now weighs down Christians be made more grinding by my retractation—it would thereby become, so to speak, lawful,—for, by my retractation, it would receive confirmation from your most serene majesty, and all the States of the Empire.Frame-set — Install the construal that fixes which moves are legal. function: declaration · orientation: reality · motive: mixed · scope: wide · target: meta the retraction is refiled as an act of the Empire: what the assembly would take home is not one monk's submission but its own signature under a jurisdiction it has been quarrelling with, and the frame prices the demand for the party making it Great God!Articulation — Render a felt sense into words; the saying changes it. function: expressive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: reflexive the second of the answer's two exclamations, and it arrives at the sentence where the Empire acquires a part in the act; the first arrived where he did I should thus be like to an infamous cloak, used to hid and cover over every kind of malice and tyranny.Assertion — State that something is the case. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: outward the figure makes the retraction a garment worn by other men's conduct, which keeps the acts it would cover in the room after he has stopped being their author; "used to hid" is the 1906 printing's, uncorrected

In the third and last place, I have written some books against private individuals,Decoupling-flag — Mark a claim as taken in isolation. function: declaration · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: meta the third and weakest class is marked off and answered on its own terms, which is what the partition was built to allow: the books hardest to defend are defended last and separately who had undertaken to defend the tyranny of Rome by destroying the faith.Assertion — State that something is the case. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: outward I freely confess that I may have attacked such persons with more violence than was consistent with my profession as an ecclesiastic:Apology — Express contrition for a wrong. function: expressive · orientation: reality · motive: mixed · scope: narrow · target: outward misfire: orientation mismatch — the fault is admitted in the conditional, "may have," and confined to violence of manner; the same sentence refuses the act the admission would license, so what the concession buys is the standing of a man who concedes I do not think of myself as a saint;Avowal — Constitute the self in the saying. function: declaration · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: reflexive fallibility is claimed in the clause before the refusal, which removes the ground the refusal would otherwise need — the books are held not because their author is holy but neither can I retract these books, because I should, by so doing, sanction the impieties of my opponents, and they would thence take occasion to crush God's people with still more cruelty.Promise — Commit oneself to a future act. function: commissive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: outward the answer's first explicit refusal, and its modal is "can," not "will"; the reason given is the use others would make of the act, which keeps the refusal from resting on his own judgment of the books

Yet, as I am a mere man, and not God, I will defend myself after the example of Jesus Christ, who said: "If I have spoken evil, bear witness against me" (John xviii:23).Report — Relay another's utterance. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: meta the words relayed were spoken under examination, by a defendant answering the high priest's officer; the model offered for this proceeding is another interrogation, and what it models is the demand for evidence How much more should I, who am but dust and ashes, and so prone to error, desire that every one should bring forward what he can against my doctrine.Assertion — State that something is the case. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: outward the a fortiori turns the citation into a standing invitation to refute him; it is declarative here and becomes a directive in the next paragraph, where it acquires an addressee and an instrument

Therefore, most serene emperor, and you illustrious princes, and all, whether high or low, who hear me, I implore you by the mercies of God to prove to me by the writings of the prophets and apostles that I am in error.Order — Direct another to act. function: directive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: outward misfire: orientation mismatch — the widest addressee in the answer, "all, whether high or low, who hear me," is asked for a proof out of prophets and apostles; the closing paragraph then withdraws that competence from pope and council, leaving the instrument in no hands the room contains As soon as I shall be convinced, I will instantly retract all my errors, and will myself be the first to seize my writings, and commit them to the flames.Promise — Commit oneself to a future act. function: commissive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: outward the demanded act is offered whole, with the burning the bull had ordered performed by his own hand, on a trigger only he can certify: "As soon as I shall be convinced"

What I have just said I think will clearly show that I have well considered and weighed the dangers to which I am exposing myself;Assertion — State that something is the case. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: meta the speaker files his own preceding paragraphs as evidence of deliberation, which forecloses the reading the room has available — that a man in his position has failed to understand his position but far from being dismayed by them, I rejoice exceedingly to see the Gospel this day, as of old, a cause of disturbance and disagreementArticulation — Render a felt sense into words; the saying changes it. function: expressive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: reflexive the felt state named is joy, and its object is the disorder the Diet was called to end; the sentence runs into the next without a stop in the printed text It is the character and destiny of God's word.Frame-set — Install the construal that fixes which moves are legal. function: declaration · orientation: reality · motive: mixed · scope: wide · target: meta misfire: frame collision — under this construal the disturbance is the mark of the word rather than the symptom of an error, so the evidence the assembly was convened to act on becomes evidence for the man it was convened to judge; the party asked to hold the frame is the party it disqualifies "I came not to send peace unto the earth, but a sword," said Jesus Christ.Report — Relay another's utterance. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: meta the authority quoted supplies the frame the sentence before it installed, and supplies it from a source no one in the chamber can contradict God is wonderful and awful in His counsels.Assertion — State that something is the case. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: outward a proposition about divine unpredictability, entered immediately before two warnings whose whole force depends on it Let us have a care, lest in our endeavors to arrest discords, we be bound to fight against the holy word of God and bring down upon our heads a frightful deluge of inextricable dangers, present disaster, and everlasting desolations.Order — Direct another to act. function: directive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: outward hortative, and the harm attached to non-compliance is not the speaker's to inflict — which is what keeps this off the commissive column; he states God's terms and includes himself among those bound by them … Let us have a care lest the reign of the young and noble prince, the Emperor Charles, on whom, next to God, we build so many hopes, should not only commence, but continue and terminate its course under the most fatal auspices.Order — Direct another to act. function: directive · orientation: reality · motive: mixed · scope: wide · target: outward misfire: orientation mismatch — homage in its grammar and a forecast of a ruined reign in its force; the "us" who must take care includes a speaker with no part in that reign, and the one man who can take it is spoken of in the third person while seated in front of him (low confidence) I might cite examples drawn from the oracles of God.Assertion — State that something is the case. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: outward the modal announces a citation that is then made; the declining and the doing occupy the same two sentences I might speak of Pharaohs, of kings of Babylon, or of Israel, who were never more contributing to their own ruin than when, by measures in appearances most prudent, they thought to establish their authority!Assertion — State that something is the case. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: outward the common feature of the ruined kings is a measure that looked most prudent, which is the description under which the assembly's own vote would fall "God removeth the mountains and they know not" (Job ix:5).Report — Relay another's utterance. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: meta the verse closes the warning by naming ignorance as the condition of the powerful at the moment they are moved; nothing is added to it

In speaking thus, I do not suppose that such noble princes have need of my poor judgment;Mismatch-repair — Name the scope or orientation gap itself. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: meta the standing his own admonition has just claimed is named and disclaimed by the speaker, in the sentence directly after he has instructed an emperor about the fate of a reign but I wish to acquit myself of a duty that Germany has a right to expect from her children.Avowal — Constitute the self in the saying. function: declaration · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: reflexive the warrant is relocated from judgment to duty and from the Church to the nation; the grievance four paragraphs back had already been made German — "more particularly of this illustrious nation" And so commending myself to your august majesty, and your most serene highnesses, I beseech you in all humility, not to permit the hatred of my enemies to rain upon me an indignation I have not deserved.Order — Direct another to act. function: directive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: outward the one request he makes on his own account, and it asks the assembly for protection of his person in the paragraph before he denies it any authority over his faith; the two asks are kept apart by their objects

Since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses require of me a simple, clear and direct answer,Report — Relay another's utterance. function: assertive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: meta the demand reaches this page only here, inside the recital of the man answering it; the examiner's words are nowhere on it, and the terms he set — simple, clear, direct — are quoted at the moment they are granted I will give one, and it is this:Promise — Commit oneself to a future act. function: commissive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: outward an undertaking discharged inside its own sentence, and the form conceded after nine paragraphs of another form; what follows is short enough to be read aloud into a decree I can not submit my faith either to the pope or to the council, because it is as clear as noonday that they have fallen into error and even into glaring inconsistency with themselves.Frame-break — Collapse the operative frame. function: declaration · orientation: reality · motive: mixed · scope: wide · target: meta misfire: frame collision — the two tribunals that give the proceeding its subject matter are removed by being declared fallible, and one of them was entered as a witness for the defense earlier on this page: "The pope's bull, violent as it is, acknowledges this" If, then, I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scripture, or by cogent reasons, if I am not satisfied by the very text I have cited, and if my judgment is not in this way brought into subjection to God's word, I neither can nor will retract anything;Promise — Commit oneself to a future act. function: commissive · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: wide · target: outward the refusal is stated as the failure branch of a condition, and the condition names the only court that could compel the act: Scripture, cogent reasons, and his own satisfaction — none of them seated at Worms. "Can nor will" puts incapacity ahead of refusal for it can not be right for a Christian to speak against his conscience.Frame-set — Install the construal that fixes which moves are legal. function: declaration · orientation: reality · motive: mixed · scope: wide · target: meta the ground rule under which the refusal is obedience rather than obstinacy, and its subject is "a Christian," not "I" — which lays the rule on every baptized man in the chamber, including the one who will sign the decree I stand here and can say no more.Avowal — Constitute the self in the saying. function: declaration · orientation: reality · motive: cooperative · scope: narrow · target: reflexive the sentence the legend carries as "Here I stand, I can do no other"; this translation's verb is "say," so the same clause both fixes the man in place and ends his testimony, and the second act is one a witness can perform God help me. Amen.