USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historical collections: containing I. The Reformation in France; the rise, progress and destruction of the Huguenot Church. Vol I > Part 3
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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 outrage 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 Thou : "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.
The destruction was complete ; their mountain homes were one scene of desolation. Maimbourg represents over 3,000 persons killed, and 900 houses plundered and then destroyed.
* This decree dates November 18, 1540. See Browning's History of the Huguenots, page 23.
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Other historians confirm the facts here given ; but it is asserted that the king's orders for their punishment were exceeded.
Such was the condition of the French Protestants at the death of Francis I, which occurred March 31, 1547, at the age of fifty-three years. He was a man of ability ; but his character was tainted with debauchery, characteristic of that period, which hastened his death. His only surviving son, born of his wife Claude, March 31, 1519, now came to the throne of France as Henry II.
He was married in his 14th year, October 28, 1533, to Catherine de Medici, daughter of Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino, who was about his age.
During his reign his court was much divided in their re- ligious sentiments, as well as their political aspirations. The wars with Germany and the Spanish monarchy, which had so largely engaged the attention of his father, were continued, but with less ability. He also renewed the persecutions against the Protestants. Many of the nobles and some of the princes of the royal family gave their support to the Re- formation. The king's mistress, Diana de Portiers, the celebrated Duchess de Valentinois, had great influence in this reign, supplanting inost entirely the queen, Catherine de Medici.
In the reign of Francis I, his predecessor, there arose in France a class of persons remarkable for their subsequent acts, which gave tone to the moral, civil, and religious affairs of the kingdom, embracing not only the reigns of the four succeeding kings of the House of Valois, but extending their influence into the following royal House of Bourbon.
The first of these were of the House of Guise, a younger branch of the ducal family of Lorraine, which, by marriage, became connected with the royal family of France. The Guises, to promote their interests, gave ardent support to the Romish church, and bitterly opposed the cause of the Reformation.
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The second were those of the House of Conde ; these were a younger branch of the House of Bourbon, which, for a long period, held great influence in the affairs of Europe. These were also connected by marriage with the royal House of Valois and the royal family of Navarre. They were rivals of the Guises, and united with the Protestants and supported their cause.
The third was Admiral Coligny, honest and brave, a de- fender and lover of his country. He was a Calvinist in faith, and united with the Conde in the Protestant cause, and opposed the aspiring family of Guise. He deprecated the civil wars as greatly injurious to the kingdom, but was forced through necessity to join in them with the Conde, in behalf of the Protestants, to maintain his own religious sentiments, and in support of a common cause, against the persecutions by the Romish church.
The fourth was Catherine de Medici, of the celebrated family of that name, that possessed great power and wealth for many years in Tuscany. It was their wealth that induced Francis I to contract the marriage of his second son with Catherine, expecting that his eldest son would succeed him to the crown ; but his unexpected decease brought his son Henry to the throne, and made De Medici queen. Her family were strong supporters of the Papal church.
The character of Catherine, from her youthfulness, when she entered the French court, was readily conformed to the custom and taste of that period in France.
She had four sons and three daughters by this marriage. Three of her sons successively became Kings of France. Her eldest daughter, Elizabeth, became Queen of Spain, as the third wife of Philip II ; and her daughter, Margaret, by her marriage with Prince Henry, of Navarre, became Queen of France and Navarre, by the accession of her husband to the throne of France, as Henry IV, on the death of her brother, Henry III.
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There is scarcely a name more odious in history than Catherine de Medici. She was noted for her powers of dis- simulation and intrigue-treacherous to all parties, destitute of any declared principles in either civil or religious affairs, and quite ready to sacrifice either friends or foes to satisfy her love of power.
It was also during the reign of Francis I that arose that remarkable religious order in the Romish church called the " Society of Jesus," or Jesuits. The founder, Ignatius Loyola, was born in 1491, in Spain, and in his youth served in the court of Ferdinand and Isabella. Having been wounded as a soldier at a later period of his life, he retired from the camp, when his mind was engaged in meditations upon religious affairs, and after several years of a solitary life in doing pen- ance he originated this order in 1538, which, on application to Pope Paul III, and an ardent effort on his part, was admitted into connection with that church in September, 1540, and he became the chief of the order in 1541.
The characteristic principle of this order is the initiate vow which each member is obliged to take upon himself before he is accepted as one of that fraternity. They solemnly promise before God and the Pope, in the presence of the Virgin Mother and the Host, to observe perpetual poverty, chastity, and obedience to the commands of the church and the supe- riors of the order, leaving no discretion or preference on their part, even if the result is to be clearly a sacrifice of life for themselves or others.
They divide the world into provinces, each having a chief of the order, who receives orders of duty from the chief general who resides at Rome. These orders and plans are transmitted to each member wherever situated, in any part of the globe, and promptly executed, and the result reported back to the head at Rome, thus keeping up a constant sur- veillance over society and individuals everywhere, and with
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perfect secrecy, except reports to superiors. The orders of the Pope or the chief of the order are regarded as the com- mands of God. The leaders, at first, were principally Spaniards, and were the tools of the Pope and King of Spain for execut- ing secret plots. Frequent assassinations proceeded from this source. No hardships were too great, and no place too remote for their action ; neither the extreme heat of the trop- ics, nor the frozen regions of the two extremities of the earth, were any bars to their efforts. They penetrated alike the most polished courts, the highest abodes of civilization, and the distant regions of the most barbarous races of men. A secret and wily espionage was continually observed upon the acts of all, and every movement that militated against their designs and the effect of their doings was speedily for- warded to Rome.
The aspirations of the parties before described were awed into subjection during this reign, but exercised an influence which gave tone to its character.
The persecution of the Huguenots was early renewed. In the precincts of Guyenne, Santonge, and Angoumois, where the Reform party were most numerous, the Duke of Guise and the Constable Montmorency were dispatched with armed forces, that for a time subjected the Huguenots, through the brutal slaughter of large numbers of those who adhered to the Reformed faith.
At Paris several minister's and leading parties, convicted of preaching the new faith and giving encouragement to the same, were doomed to the flames.
In these executions the king and court appeared at the scene to witness the sacrifice.
While these rigid acts of intolerance were in exercise in France, Henry II did not hesitate to send troops to assist the Protestants in the Netherlands, while Charles V was using
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the most rigorous measures to suppress the Reformation among the people.
The result of this foreign war for France was favorable to this reign, as well as advantageous to the Protestants in Ger- many. By the terms of the peace concluded in 1552, called the " Treaty of Passau," the cities of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, which had been under the protectorate of the emperor, but not an integral part of his empire, were now retained in pos- session of France, greatly to the mortification of Charles V ; and, although he soon after struggled hard to regain them, they have ever since remained as a part of the French king- dom till the late war between France and Prussia, when some part or all passed to the latter power, as is believed.
The ill success of Charles V in his endeavors to suppress the Reformation, being compelled to conclude this favorable treaty, granting tolerance to the heretics, the loss of these cities, and the presto of his arms, in his endeavors to recap- ture them, was no doubt the cause of his abdication, and finally led to his death at the monastery of St. Just, in Estremadura, September 21, 1558, at the age of fifty-eight. His son, Philip II, continued the wars of his father against Henry II, and renewed the war of persecution against the Protestants of the Netherlands ; these wars were carried on with great effort on both sides, and by Philip with inhuman severity .*
Henry II, naturally inclined to a life of ease and pleasure, was induced, even with some sacrifice, to relieve himself of these foreign wars, and secure a peace with the King of Spain. Fortunately for this object, Mary Tudor, Queen of England, died while this attempt at peace occurred. This released
* Philip II, son of Charles V, of Germany, was born at Valladolid, Spain, May 21, 1527. He married Mary of Portugal in 1543, who died in 1545, after the birth of her son. His second marriage was with Mary Tudor, of England, in 1554, who died childless in 1558; he married Elizabeth of France, in 1559, who died in 1568; when, in 1570, he married Anne of Austria, daughter of Maximillian II. who became the mother of his successor, Philip III. He died, September 13, 1598, aged seventy-one.
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Philip II from a marriage which had brought no favorable results to his kingdom, and there was no prospect for a mar- riage with Elizabeth, the successor to the English crown.
With the negotiations for this peace in 1559 he solicited and obtained the hand of Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Henry II, then in her fourteenth year, who had been pre- viously pledged in marriage to his unfortunate son, Don Carlos, the only child of his first wife, Mary, the infanta of Portugal; and, as an additional bond of peace, Piedmont was surrendered to the Duke of Savoy, who was to receive in mar- riage Margaret, daughter of Francis I, sister of the King.
As might be expected, great preparation was made to cele- brate these nuptials and peace.
And as there were a large number of noted persons from Spain and Savoy who were friends and firm adherents of the Romish church, the bishops and leading Catholics of France proposed to the king to make an exhibit of his devotion to the Papal cause by taking severe measures for suppressing the increasing progress of the Reformation, and this particu- larly in respect to the marriage of his daughter to the King of Spain.
The Bourbon princes of the blood, Anthony, King of Na- varre, in right of his wife, and Henry, Prince of Conde, by the influence of Francis, Duke of Guise, and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine, had been wronged and kept from the court in the former and present reign, which accounts for their enmity to that family ; and, as the Guises were sustained by the Catholics, it explains the reason for their favoring the Huguenots.
The Queen of Navarre, Jane de Albret, had from early youth been trained in the faith of the Reformed by her mother.
With such examples in the royal family, great encourage- ments had been given to the hearts of the Protestants ; when
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Henry II, deemed it his duty at this time, being relieved from the heavy duties occasioned by the late wars, to make an earnest effort to suppress the advancing cause of the Reformation.
For this purpose he was encouraged by the bishops and car- dinals to strike a blow upon persons of note who held high places in the government. Several counselors had favored toleration to the Protestants in his presence. These and many well-known Protestants were ordered to be arrested, and were tried and condemned for heresy, and sentenced to be burned at the stake.
The ambassadors of several Protestant princes in Germany petitioned the king for a mitigation of their sentence, but their petitions were not regarded. Great consternation fell upon the Huguenots by the severity of this movement, and they began to regard their condition as almost hopeless ; but, in the midst of this despondency, while the splendor and magnificence of the celebration was in progress, a tournament war held on the 29th of June, 1559, in which the king was engaged, and, as was to be expected with the courtiers wlio participated, the sovereign gained the laurels.
Henry II, elated with his success, called upon the captain of his Scotch guards, Count Montgomery, to appear in this trial of skill with the lance, there being two yet unbroken.
The count endeavored to be excused, and the queen used her efforts to dissuade the king from renewing the encounter. But Henry insisted; when the combatants rushed upon each other, and the king, by receiving a splinter from Montgomery's lance in his left eye, fell upon the ground, and was immediately taken to his palace, where, after eleven days, he expired, July 10, 1599, aged forty-five .*
* Henry II had the honor, in his reign, of taking from England the last foot of French soil which that power held in France. Calais, which England had held over 200 years, was besieged by Francis, Duke of Guise, and restored to France, January 8, 1558.
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This sudden calamity placed a new phase upon the condi- tion of the condemned Huguenots. The termination of this reign before their sentence was executed, set them free.
His eldest son, Francis Hercules, Duke of Alencon, now came to the throne, at the age of sixteen years, as Francis II.
This may properly be said to be a crisis in the kingdom of France ; instead of one central head in the government, factions ruled. The great wars for foreign territory and glory in the field had ended with Henry II. The three succeeding reigns, continuing until Henry IV came to the throne, and closing the House of Valois, presents a government of weakness, per- secution, and confusion. Civil war prevailed a large portion of this period-about thirty years. The noted parties hereto- fore described, controlled alternately the affairs of the king- dom. The closing of the reign of Henry II was also a crisis in the Reformation in France ; up to this time the friends of reform had struggled without any stated declaration of their principles; but now, like the German Protestants in publishing the Confessions of Augsburg, they became an organized body.
A national synod was held in Paris in 1559, by the lead -. ing ministers of the Calvinistic churches. A confession of faith and rules for the government of the Reformed churches were adopted and published.
This bold step evinced, not only an unshaken confidence in the righteousness of their cause, but an unmistakable deter- mination to maintain it.
Their proclaimed object in sending forth these confessions of faith was similar to that of the Germans-to refute misrep- resentations of their religious faith, which had been spread abroad by the Papists, and to make known their real sen- timents.
These confessions contained forty articles,* set forth with
* See Rev. John G. Lorimer's History of the Protestant Church of France, republished by the Presbyterian Board of Publication, Philadelphia, in 1842; pp. 24-35.
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great clearness. It is said that Calvin took part in forming these confessions, or counseled, as Luther did with Melanc- thon, in forming those of Augsburg.
This act of the French Protestants, not only strengthened and confirmed the faith of those who had united in support of the Reformation, but it led many others to join with them.
It is represented that when the general synod met at Rochelle in 1571, twelve years from the date of its first organization in 1559, the French Protestant church had ad_ vanced to its highest point of prosperity. The presiding officer at this meeting was the noted French Reformer, Theo- dore de Beza. It is stated that he reported the number of their churches at this time to be 2,150. Among the many noted persons present at this synod were Jane de Albret and her son, Prince Henry, afterwards Henry IV, of France ; Henry, Prince of Conde ; Prince Louis, Count of Nassau ; and Admiral Gaspard de Coligny .*
Francis II, in 1558, the year preceding the death of his father, married Mary Stuart, of Scotland ; she was the daugh- ter of James V, who died about ten days after her birth, December, 1542. She was crowned Queen of Scotland, Sep- tember 9, 1543, and having by her mother been betrothed to the dauphin of France, was sent to that court at the age of six years, and received her education and formed her char- acter there. At the time of her marriage she was about the age of her husband.
Her mother was Mary of Lorraine, daughter of Claud, the first Duke of Guise, and the founder of that family, then con- spicuous in France.
Mary Stuart, the young queen, was a beautiful and intelli- gent person, while her husband was weak physically and
* See W. S. Browning's History of the Huguenots, chapters 3 and 4, inclusive. Lori- mer's historical sketch of the Protestant church of France ; also Nath'l Wm. Wraxall's IIis- tory of France, in the reigns of Francis I and Henry II; likewise Menzel's History of Ger- many, in the reign of Charles V.
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mentally. She was the admiration of the French court ; but, by her confiding character, became the dupe of her uncles, the Guises ; and they, in this short reign, through her influ- ence over the king, governed the kingdom.
The persecutions against the Protestants were in this reign carried on with increased severity ; courts of ecclesiastical judicature were established with inquisitorial powers; the strictest search was made to discover any departure from the Romish faith ; and all religious offenders were brought to severe punishment.
The Protestants, by this rigorous course, were driven to a state of despair. They were liable at any moment to be brought before this court upon suspicion, or even doubtful evidence, and many were condemned as heretics, and made to suffer an ignominious death.
The Guises were justly regarded as the chief cause of this sad state of affairs. This rigid course against the Protestants caused them and their friends to unite for a common defense; and their first step for protection was to take the young king away from the influence of the Guises. In attempting to seize the king and Catherine de Medici, his mother, they were dis- covered before their plans were matured, when about 1,200 of these conspirators were put to death.
This act of the Protestants was, no doubt, an extreme meas- ure, but deemed necessary under the desperate condition of their affairs. This was called the " Conspiracy of Amboise," which occurred on the 15th of March, 1560.
Though neither Louis, Prince of Conde, nor Coligny, had at this time declared themselves the head of the Protestant party, yet they were known to have favored the doctrines of Calvin. In the following August, when the court and nobility held a meeting at Fontainebleau, Coligny and many of his friends being present, he presented to Francis II a petition un- signed, in which a toleration was demanded for the professors
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of the Reformed faith, adding that though as yet no names were affixed, still, whenever his majesty should be pleased to signify his pleasure, it would be instantly signed by 150,000 persons.
This act of Coligny offended the Guises, and was the com- mencement of that bitterness that from this time continued between these parties .*
The conduct of the Guises displayed such haughtiness and bitterness against Anthony, the King of Navarre, and Louis, Prince of Conde, that they did not appear at the court at Fontainebleau. This was regarded by the Bourbon princes as a design to entrap them, and they were not long left in sus- pense in that respect, as they soon learned that the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of Lorraine were determined on their destruction.
With this view the Guises had induced Francis II to call a council at Orleans, and had the Bourbon princes summoned imperatively to appear. After much hesitation and urging, the King of Navarre and his brother, the Prince of Conde, and also the admiral and his brother, d'Andelot de Chatillon, appeared at the court about the same time. Although the strongest assurances of protection had been given them, the Prince of Conde was immediately arrested and with much haste tried and condemned to be beheaded as a rebel. Great exertion was used with Francis II for an arrest of this judg ment by his friends, especially by his mother and the Princess of Conde. At last, the Guises were appealed to, when they replied, " We must with one blow cut off the head of both heresy and rebellion."
* Gaspard de Chatillon, Admiral Coligny, born, February 16, 1517, was murdered in Paris, August 24, 1572, a victim of the St. Bartholomew Massacre. He was author of the French military code. For his bravery while in command against the emperor, Charles V, he was appointed by Henry II, Governor of Picardy, and received the title of Admiral. He was the principal military leader of the Protestants up to the time of his death. In the reign of Charles IX he made several unsuccessful attempts in planting Protestant colonies in America; that in Florida, in 1562, was the movement which led to the founding of St. Augus- tine, the first European colony in North America.
GASPARD LE COLIGNY ADMIPAL OF FRANCE
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The complete destruction of the Protestants was to follow. It was believed by the Catholics that if the leaders and the Bourbon princes, their supposed chief reliance for counsel and defense, were cut off, the suppression of the Reformation in France would be easily accomplished.
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