Hermann was educated for the Church, and became elector and archbishop in 1515. He supported the claims of
Charles V, whom he crowned at
Aachen in 1520. At first, his attitude towards the reformers and their teaching was hostile. At the
Diet of Worms, he endeavored to have
Luther declared an outlaw. A quarrel with the papacy turned, or helped to turn, his thoughts in the direction of church reform, but he hoped this would come from within rather than from without. He was initially a proponent of the
Erasmian agenda of reform, which recognized certain corrupt and infelicitous religious practices but proposed no serious doctrinal change. Over time, his program for change expanded, and his evangelical sympathies became more pronounced. With the aid of his friend
Johann Gropper, he began, about 1536, to institute certain reforms in his own diocese. One step led to another, and, as all efforts at union with the
Catholic Church failed, he appointed
Martin Bucer his court preacher in Bonn in 1542, and sought out advice from Luther's compatriot,
Philip Melanchthon on the doctrinal portion of the Wied’s church orders,
Cologne Ordinances (
Didagma [Einfaltigs Bedencken einer Christlichen Reformation]), published in 1544. A revised Latin version,
Simplex ac Pia Deliberatio, was published in 1545 and was an influence on
Thomas Cranmer's
Common Book of Prayer in England. His formal break with
Rome was hailed by the
Protestants, and the
Schmalkaldic League declared they were resolved to defend him; but the
Reformation in the electorate was set back by the military victories of
Emperor Charles V over
William, duke of Cleves, and moreover his protestant theology found very little support among the people of Cologne. Summoned both before emperor and pope, Hermann was deposed and
excommunicated by
Pope Paul III in 1546. He resigned his office in February 1547, and retired to Wied. Hermann was also
Prince-Bishop of Paderborn from 1532 to 1547. ==Publications==