Synod of Homberg
The Synod of Homberg was a Catholic synod held in Homberg from 20 to 22 October 1526. The synod was attended by clergy, nobility, and representatives from several European cities. Its primary objectives concerned proposals for the reform of church governance and clerical discipline. The synod was convened in response to theological disputes arising from the introduction of Zwinglian reforms in Zurich.
Description
In the early 1520s, governmental authorities in the Holy Roman Empire, France, and England extended their influence in ecclesiastical affairs. The Diet of Speyer resolved that each territorial authority could determine its own religious policy, pending a general council, provided it remained accountable to God and its respective sovereign. This decision contributed to the development of the principle of territorial authority in religion during the Reformation.The synod was convened by Landgrave Philip of Hesse, who summoned "spiritual and temporal estates" to Homberg, "to deal, by the grace of the Almighty, with Christian matters and disputes". Proceedings began on October 20, 1526, in the town church. The former Franciscan preacher François Lambert, then a Protestant reformer, presented 158 theses, which were posted on the church doors of Homberg.
Following an opening address by the Chancellor, Johan Friis, Lambert read his theses with reference to Scripture. Later that day, Adam Kraft of Fulda translated the text into German and invited objections from those who considered the propositions inconsistent with biblical teaching. The following day, Nicholas Ferber of Marburg, a Franciscan prior, challenged Landgrave Philip of Hesse's authority to hold a synod or legislate on matters of faith, asserting that such powers belonged to the Pope and clergy.
Ferber later departed from Cologne, where he published "Assertiones trecentat ac viginti adversus ' Fr. Lamberti paradoxa impia" and subsequently "Assertiones aliœ"''. On the synod's final day, Waldau's Master Johann Sperber cited the Gospel of Luke's Hail Mary, attempting to justify the invocation of Mary, mother of Jesus.