A correspondence of the brethren with Bucer and Luther has been preserved.

In one letter they deeply deplore the schisms on the doctrine of the eucharist as hurtful to their cause.

The {376} famous artist Lorenzo Lotto [Sidenote: 1540] was employed to paint pictures of Luther and his wife, probably copies of Cranach.

The appearance of the Socinians about 1550, and the mutual animosity of the several sects, including the Anabaptist, was destructive.

Probably more fatal was the disaster of the Schmalkaldic war and the complete triumph of the emperor.