USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historical collections, Vol. I > Part 2
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This state of religious affairs greatly alarmed the Pope and Papal priesthood, and, as a matter of interest to their cause, they exerted their influence to induce the emperor to call another diet at Spires. He being then more at leisure, caused the assembling of the diet in 1529, when the tolerant and wise resolutions enacted at the former diet of 1526 were revoked by a majority of the members present, greatly to the dissatis- faction of a large number of the most able princes of the en- pire, who, on the 19th of April, after finding all their argu- ments unavailing to change this decree, entered a solemn pro- test against the same, and appealed to the emperor and to a future council.
This decree, following that of 1526, made it imperative, that instead of every prince managing ecclesiastical mat- ters as he thought proper, until a meeting of the general council, every change was declared unlawful that should be introduced into the doctrine, discipline, or worship of the Romish religion, until a future council should decide other- wise. The effect of this was to prevent any change in eccle-
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siastical matters ; as it was the design of the established church and those opposed to reform not to call a council to act on this matter.
The princes of the empire who joined in this protest were John, Duke of Saxony ; George, Elector of Brandenburg ; Ernest, of Franconia; Francis, Duke of Lunenburg ; and Philip, Landgrave of Hesse ; with a number of others of less note. The emperor was at once advised by these Protestants of their doings, by special commissioners, which caused much excitement and irritation with him, finding that his desires for a suppression of " heresy," as then termed, and a union of all parties in the established church, was boldly opposed.
Their position, in opposing the plans of the emperor, was fully realized by these " Protestants," which name they now received in common with all who dissented from, and desired re- form in the Romish church. A bold course, and union among all who desired reform, was now deemed indispensable ; thus the origin of the treaty or league of Smalcald, entered into by these princes and their friends in 1530, which has been noted for its firmness in sustaining principles against arbitrary power.
Many disturbing elements now arose with the friends of reform in doctrinal points and church discipline, which made it difficult for them to place their sentiments clearly before the public, or to act in concert and with power. Further- more, it became necessary in their justification before the emperor, in opposing his will, to show the ground of their opposition to him, and their claims for a reform in the Romish church.
To do this, Luther, the leader of reform in Germany, was requested by the Elector of Saxony to reduce to writing the chief principles of the Reformed religion, and the objection to the doctrine and polity of the established church. This, Luther, and several others, eminent ministers engaged in the cause, performed, in seventeen articles, in the same year ; but
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it was soon after thought best to amplify them, which was done by Melancthon, preserving the principles as set forth by Luther, but framing them in language of greater elegance and clearness, conferring much honor upon that able writer. These principles were extended to twenty-eight articles, and have since been known as the " Augsburg Confessions."
These confessions were made public by being read at the diet of Augsburg, held, June 20, 1530, at which time the sub- ject of religion was permitted to be discussed by the party of reform in the emperor's presence.
These confessions were read by the Chancellor of Saxony. The clear exposition of the Protestant faith, as set forth in these articles, as well as their objections to the forms and proceed- ings of the Romish church, were heard by the princes with great interest. They confirmed the opinions of those who had before examined into the new faith, and changed the minds of others in their favor by the reasonableness of the principles and soundness of the arguments.
Of the twenty-eight chapters which contain the Augsburg Confessions, twenty-one include the exposition of the princi- ples of the Protestants, and seven the details of the errors of the Romish church.
Although a committee, sanctioned by the Pope, drew np articles of refutation of these principles, which, by their influ- ence, were supported by the emperor, they did not have the effect to change the honest and intelligent minds of the un- prejudiced.
During this period of excitement in religions affairs in Ger- many, the general principles acknowledged and accepted by its friends there, were taking root and advancing generally throughont the countries of Europe, and in none was there a more deep and earnest feeling in their favor than in France.
Here Lefevre and Farel were ardently engaged in this canse, before the voice of Luther was heard in Germany.
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The difference in the two countries at this time was, that the head of the government of France was more constantly with his subjects and ready to support the efforts of the Romish priesthood in suppressing any encroachments upon their hold on the superstitions minds of the people,
The light of truth as proclaimed by the Scriptures could no longer be shut out, with the unceasing efforts of those who had learned and compared them with the superstitious errors advanced by the friars and priests connected with Papacy.
At this eventful period the celebrated John Calvin* en- tered this field of labor.
It was through the efforts of this celebrated man that the Reformation received its shape and form in France. The simple word of the Scriptures, illustrated by the powerful efforts of Calvin, with the expose of the base condnet of the Romish priesthood, advanced greatly the numbers who joined in the cause of reform. He was exposed to great peril by the force of legal enactments, which provided severe penalties for all who should be found teaching the Reformed religion.
Many ministers of the Reformed church, convicted of preach- ing this faith, perished at this time by the flames. Calvin, the aged and venerable Lefevre, and Farel, fled their country, and, for a time, received protection from Margaret, Queen of Navarre, and Renee, Duchess of Ferrara; the latter, daughter of Louis XII ; and the first, sister of Francis I, of France.
But such minds as John Calvin's, and his earnest efforts in this cause, could not be pent up or controlled by penal enact- ments, or circumscribed by the territorial limits of France ; he
* John Calvin was born at Noyon in Picardy, near Paris, July 10. 1509. He was designed for the law; but, obtaining a copy of the Scriptures, his mind was greatly impressed with their truth and reasonableness, compared with the superstitious forms and observ- ances of the Romish church. The simplicity of the Revealed Word convinced his judgment, and at the age of twenty he was ripened in mind and determination to enter the field as a Reformer; this was at the crisis in Germany, the protest at the diet at Spires, in 1529, and of the promulgation of the Confessions of Augsburg, which soon followed. His theology, which immortalized his name, was written at the age of twenty-five.
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soon found safety in Geneva, where he united his labors with the great Reformers of Germany and Switzerland.
The underlying principle of the Reformation, at this time, was but imperfectly understood; it was not a religions form or dogma, but freedom of thought. This era was ushered in by the great discovery of the art of printing, the better use of the magnetic needle ; in fact, the general advance of knowl- edge among men. The Papal church flourished best in an ignorant and superstitions age. It had rendered much good service in the middle ages in the preservation of learning, and its acts of philanthropy, but had, in many respects, accom- plished its destiny, and was now to give place to a new development of ideas.
The human mind, with the new light it had received, could no longer be pent up by religious dogmas or ancient tradi- tions ; religion henceforth was to touch the heart, be weighed by the conscience, and governed by the spirit of truth and benevolence.
Those powers which undertook to stand in the way of its progress mistook their best interests and the revelations of the time. Its advance might, for a time, be retarded, but it could not be stayed ; there was a divinity in its nature that no human force could control.
The self-sacrificing labors of those remarkable men, called " The Reformers," extending through the long period from the days of Wycliffe, Huss, and Jerome of Prague, to Luther, Zuinglius, Melancthon, John Knox, John Calvin, and the learned Theodore de Beza, accomplished far more than was originally designed .*
* John de Wycliffe, an English Reformer, sometimes called the "Father of the Reforma- fion," was born in 1324, and died, December 31, 1384, aged sixty.
John Huss, of Bohemia, a disciple of Wycliffe, was born, July 6, 1373, and burned at the stake in Bohemia, July 6, 1415, aged forty-two.
Jerome of Prague (in Bohemia), was born in 1378, and burned as a heretic at ('onstance, May 30, 1416, aged thirty-eight.
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It was not a separation from the Romish church that they contemplated at first, but to correct abuses (the sale of indul- gences by mendicant friars was probably the first evil ob- jected to), to reform (thus they received the name of Reform- ers), to introduce a pure religious faith to a cultivated intel- lect ; clearing away the errors, superstitions, and corruptions introduced into the Romish church by a profligate and licen- tious priesthood. The laity were to be taught the Scriptures, that they might have the proper means of thought to form an intelligent faith, based upon their teachings. These pure- minded men did not believe in the absurdity of the declared infallibility of the Pope, or that the declarations of the priest- hood were to be received as truths, without a comparison and test of their value with the teachings of Scripture, and found to be there substantiated .*
Martin Luther, the leader of reform in Germany, born in Prussian Saxony, November 10, 1483, and died there, February 18, 1546, aged sixty-three.
Ulric Zuinglius, of Switzerland, a patriot and Reformer, born, January 1, 1484; killed in the battle of Cappel, October 12, 1531, aged forty-seven.
Philip, Melancthon, a learned scholar and graceful orator, of Germany, born in the Lower Palatinate, now Baden, February 16, 1497; died at Wittenberg, April 19, 1560, aged sixty- three.
John Knox, of Scotland, bold and zealous, born in 1505, and died in Edinburgh, Novem- ber 24, 1572, aged sixty-seven.
John Calvin, the great leader of reform in France, born in Noyon, Picardy, near Paris, July 10, 1500; died in Geneva, May 27, 1564, aged fifty-five.
Theodore de Beza, a French Reformer, born, June 24, 1519; an eminent scholar, and possessed of much wealth and family standing; died at Geneva, October 13, 1605, aged eighty-six.
* The exercise of the right of private judgment, or the right of the people to read the Bible, was, by the Romish church, peremptorily denied.
ORIGIN OF THE SALE OF INDULGENCES.
.
It is said that the teachings of the Romish church were, that only a certain degree of goodness was required to merit salvation, and that all the excess of goodness by saints, together with the infinite merits of the Saviour, were controlled by St. Peter and his suc- cessors, the Popes, who could at pleasure draw from the accumulated treasure of super- abundant goodness, and dispense it to such as were deficient, by being paid in money, according to the necessities of the delinquent.
Hence the origin of the sale of indulgences, which, it is stated, began in the eleventh century.
Pope Leo X, in 1517, granted the right of sale of indulgences in Germany, with a share of the profits, to the Archbishop of Magdeburg, for his agency. This sale having been conducted with such indiscretion, and so extensively, it created great alarm in the minds
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It was the design to relieve the minds of the masses from ignorance and the bondage of superstition and deception, which it was the interest of crafty parties to continue, that they might live in luxury upon their scanty earnings. Such was the work that engaged the attention of the Reformers.
The change of Henry VIII from a Romanist to the sup- port of Protestantism was, no doubt, for selfish purposes ; but, however this may have been, it was an act of wisdom, as the tendency of the people of England was against Popery, and to relieve themselves from all improper restraint in both political and religious affairs ; these ideas came naturally by their Saxon descent. The love of liberty has nowhere been more tenacions than that exhibited by the people residing in the low countries in Europe bordering upon the North sea.
Tacitus refers particularly to this trait in the ancient Fris- ians, Cimbrians, and Chancians, and of the frequent wars had with them by the Romans, but which could never subdue or deprive them of their liberty, which they so greatly prized.
These people occupied the greater part of what is now known as the Netherlands, and for a long time in possession of the Burgundians .*
The course adopted by Charles V, the Emperor of Ger- many, following the diet at Augsburg, indicated a lack of wisdom to perceive tlte tendency of the age.
Half of his German subjects, the better portion of them, opposed the course of the Romish church, and were at this time a united body in favor of reform principles, which had
of all who had regard for the cause of morals and religion. Besides, the great drain of money from the country excited alarm.
Among the most ardent opposers of this corrupting traffic was Martin Luther, showing the artifices of those who sold, and the simplicity of those who bought, which not only tended to correct the evil, but to shake the foundation of the Papal See. The Pope at- tempted to persuade Luther to desist-he then being a monk of the Augustine order-but to no purpose. His memorable articles of condemnation, ninety-five in number, were posted on the door of the Cathedral of Wittenberg, October 31, 1517. He was for this, and his preaching against this corrupting influence, condemned by the Pope, June 20, 1520, as a heretic.
* Sec Tacitus, London ed., 1770, note iv, Treatise of Germany, pp. 54-57.
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been adopted by the Protestants in all the countries of Europe as the foundation of the Reformation.
The emperor's ideas on this great question were far better adapted to the minds of his bigoted subjects of the peninsula of Spain. The policy he then adopted was continued by his narrow-minded son (after his abdication) with the people of the Netherlands, which resulted in their revolt, and subse- quent independence of his rule. 3 This unwise and intolerant course here commenced may be taken as the commencement of the downward course of the empire of Spain, and which has changed that monarchy from one of the most powerful governments to one of weakness and general disrespect.
With Francis I, of France, at the time of the promulga- tion of the Augsburg Confessions, his position was somewhat different ; a large majority of his subjects were submissive to the mandates of Popery ; the powerful efforts of Calvin did not then exist ; his was then an ascendant Inminary just making its appearance above the base of the moral horizon.
This king of France was not ignorant of the principles of the reform, or of the tendency of the age ; and, no doubt, had he acted in accordance with his own unbiased judgment, he would have favored the purifying of the Papal church. If these reforms had at first been submitted to by the Romish church with the design of sustaining purity of worship, and the promotion of sound moral and Christian principles, no doubt, it would to this day have remained undivided, but con- formed to the light of truth and reason, in its advanced stages.
It is proper here to mention two celebrated ladies noted for their intelligence and purity of purpose, before referred to, who rose above the ordinary selfish motives adopted by royalty, as it was actuated at this period. They were Marga- ret of Valois,* Queen of Navarre, and sister of Francis I, of
* Margaret of Valois was the daughter of Charles of Orleans, Duke of Angouleme, and
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France ; and Renee de France, Duchess of Ferrara, daughter of Louis XII, and Anne of Brittany, and youngest sister of Claude, the wife of Francis I.
The former had much influence over Francis I, her brother, and had at one time prevailed on him to listen to the preach- ing of a Protestant minister, and finally engaged him to hear the eloquent and noted Reformer, Melancthon, discuss the Reform doctrines. Melancthon was sent for, and the time appointed for hearing his views of reform, which step caused great alarm with the Papists, but gave great encourage- ment to the Protestants, as favoring their cause; but, through the influence of the Cardinal de Tournon (Francis, Arch- bishop of Lyons), then the king's spiritual adviser, he was
Louisa of Savoy. She was born at Angouleme in 1492. In 1509, at the age of seventeen, she married Charles, the last Duke of Alencon, who died at Lyons after the battle of Pavia, in 1525. She visited Madrid, in Spain, to attend Francis I, then sick, and a prisoner of Charles V, he having been taken in the noted battle of Pavia, which was fought, February 24, 1525. It was through the influence of his sister Margaret, then a widow, that the empe- ror and his ministers treated her brother according to his royal rank. and finally restored him to his kingdom.
His love and high regard for his sister led him to promote her marriage with Henry de Albret, King of Navarra, which took place in January, 1527; by this marriage she became the mother of the noted Jane de Albret, who became Queen of Navarre, and mother of Prince Henry, of Navarre, whose father was Anthony of Bourbon. and on the death of Henry III, of France, and last of the House of Valois, by his marriage with Margaret of France, he, by right became the lawful heir to the throne of France, in 1580, as Henry IV, and the first of the House of Bourbon, in that kingdom. Margaret of Valois died in 1549. Was the author of the "Heptameron."
Renee, Duchess of Ferrara, was born at Blois, in 1510; she was married in 1527, at the age of seventeen, to Hercules II, of Este, Duke of Ferrara. Her knowledge and interest in the religious controversies of that time were great, and she joined in support of reform in the Papal church, and favored the friends of the Reformation.
Calvin visited her in disguise, and he and his principles were favorably received. Her court became the asylum of those who were suspected of heresy. This was greatly displeas- ing to Henry II, of France, and he wrote to the Duke of Ferrara: "If the duchess persists in her course she must be separated from all conversation; her children must be taken from her: and all her domesties who are suspected of heresy must be prosecuted. With regard to the princess herself, the king refers to the prudence of her husband."
Her four children were taken from her and brought to France to be educated in the Roman Catholic faith. After the death of her husband in 1559, she returned to her castle at Mon- targes in France, and when the Duke of Guise summoned her to give up some Protestants who had sought her protection, she replied : " That she would not deliver them, and should he attack her castle she would be the first to place herself in the breach to see if he would dare to kill a king's daughter." She was obliged to send away a large number of these Pro- testauts to preserve peace, but paid the expense of their journey to places of safety. She died in Montarges in 1575, aged sixty-five.
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prevailed npon to decline hearing this discussion of reform principles by Melancthon, and to make the promise never to desert the Romish faith.
This sudden change of the king was regarded as a severe blow to the principles of reform in France. It gave evidence that under the reign of this king there was to be no tolerance of the Reformed faith.
An edict against propagating the Reformed religion in his kingdom was sanctioned by Francis I, as early as 1523, when several congregations of this faith were dispersed, and many leaders were burnt as heretics. This effort for suppressing the Reformation in France has been mentioned by Fleury, a Jesuit priest .
"From time to time some false prophet appeared upon the scene, to publish his fanaticism, or sound the disposition of the court. But repression was prompt. It cost dear to many for having spoken under pretended inspiration. They were all burnt alive; and a dread of fire silenced the spirit of several oracles." "History mentions these despi- cable persons, doubtless to perpetuate the reproach of their birth and impiety, rather than to celebrate these vile founders of the Calvinistic church." "An annual procession was instituted to render thanks to God that they had got rid of such heretics."
This exhibits the spirit manifested in the period of the reign of Francis I.
His time was largely engaged in the operations of war with either Charles V or Henry VIII; and, while he persecuted with unrelenting vigor the Protestants of France, he did not scruple to give aid and encouragement to the Reformed within the limits of the dominions of the Emperor of Germany when- ever they rebelled against Papal persecution. And Charles V was governed by the same principles in relation to the Protestants of France.
History clearly shows that religious faith had little or no effect upon the acts of the chief rulers of Europe further than it served their political policy during the reigns of the three
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monarchs here referred to ; and even the bigoted successor of Charles V was at all times ready to aid the Protestants of Navarre when he could withdraw them from an alliance with France ; while at the same time he was using all his military power to ernsh out liberty, and establish the Inquisition in the provinces of the Netherlands.
There will be found but little exception from this in later and more recent times.
Marriage and religion has with royalty. with few excep- tions, been governed by matters of expediency. The great question for decision has been what would best strengthen and perpetuate the claims of royalty.
Likewise the nobility shared largely the same policy ; what there was that might be called religions faith, rested with the middle and lower classes of society, and with these their minds were largely governed by superstition and fanaticism, leaving of what might be called rational faith a small part.
When Calvin published his " Christian Institutes " at Geneva, he dedicated the work to Francis I, imploring his compassion for the Protestants. This, Cardinal Tournon represented to his majesty " as an ontrage upon his honor and the religion of his ancestors." The effect was to increase rather than dimin- ish persecution. "It was even declared a crime to pray in French." " It became about as dangerous to converse in secret as to discuss these questions in public."
Nothing escaped the vigilance of the Cardinal Tournon. Foreign princes were accustomed to say that " the cardinal alone was equal to an inquisition in France."
The most awful acts against those who refused obedience to the Romish church in this reign were those inflicted upon the descendants of the ancient Vaudois, who had settled in the mountain districts of Dauphine, where, by their peaceful and quiet industry, they were leading a comfortable and happy life.
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They had heard of the severe persecutions against the Huguenots, whose faith was similar to their own, which led them to express their sympathy in their behalf, and a detesta- tion of the superstitions of Popery. This coming to the knowledge of the court, a decree was passed ordering them to appear and give an account of their religion ; but, delaying to obey this decree, " an order was passed for their extermination as rebels ; their goods were to be confiscated, their houses destroyed, and that even the trees of their plantation should be dug up."*
This order was delayed until 1545, when Francis I, near the close of his reign, permitted it to be executed.
Says the historian De Thon : "Everything was horrible and cruel in the sentence pronounced against them, and everything more horrible and more cruel in its execution." Twenty-two towns or villages were burned or sacked with an inhumanity of which the history of the most barbarous people hardly presents an example. The unfortunate inhabi- tants, surprised in the night by a brutal soldiery, were pursued by the light of their burning dwellings and slain indiscrimi- nately. Voluntary surrender did not exempt any ; neither the cries of the aged nor the women and children had the power to soften the excesses of their brutality. It was for- bidden, under pain of death, to afford them any refuge. The women, in instances where they had remained shut up in their houses, were hunted out and driven in large numbers into barns filled with straw, which were then set on fire, and all who attempted to escape were forced back by the sword, and consumed by the flames.
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