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Enforcement of the ban of the 41 sentences fell to the secular authorities. Luther appeared, as ordered, on April 17, 1521, before the Diet of Worms (Reichstag zu Worms). This was a general assembly (a diet) of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire that took place in Worms, a town on the Rhine. It was conducted from January 28 to May 25, 1521, with Emperor Charles V presiding. Prince Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, obtained an agreement that Luther would be promised safe passage to and from the meeting.

Johann Eck, speaking on behalf of the Empire as assistant of the Archbishop of Trier, presented Luther with a table laid out with copies of his writings and asked him if the books were his, and whether he stood by their contents. He confirmed he was the author, but requested time to think about the answer to the second question. He prayed, consulted with friends, and gave his response the next day: “Unless I shall be convinced by the testimonies of the Scriptures or by clear reason … I neither can nor will make any retraction, since it is neither safe nor honourable to act against conscience.”[46] He is also famously said to have added: “Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir. Amen.” (”Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”). This description of the declaration may be apochryphal,[47] as only the last four words appear in contemporaneous accounts.

Over the next five days, private conferences were held to determine the Luther’s fate. The Emperor presented the final draft of the Edict of Worms on May 25, 1521, declaring Luther an outlaw, banning his literature, and requiring his arrest: “We want him to be apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic”