Philipp Melanchthon: Band T 27: Texte 8143–8472 (März–Dezember 1557)

Since the aim of the religious talks was to try to bring about an understanding between Catholics and Protestants after all, the sixty-year-old Melanchthon set out for Worms in mid-August 1557 at the behest of the Saxon Elector. On the way, he was honored with a reception by the University of Marburg. During the Worms negotiations, he once again argued vehemently for church unity, but the disunity among the Protestants that had come to light was seized upon by the Catholics as an opportunity to push for the breakdown of the talks. While the negotiations were suspended, Melanchthon spent a few days in Heidelberg, where he had once studied. There, his friend Joachim Camerarius—who had rushed to him from Leipzig specifically for this purpose—brought him the news of the death of his wife, Katharina; Melanchthon was deeply shaken. It was not until shortly before Christmas that he returned to Wittenberg from this journey, which had lasted several months and would prove to be his last major journey.