History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume III Part 64

Behind him, Basle and Strasburg supported him with their advice and their printing-presses; before him lay the provinces of Franche Comte, Burgundy, Lorraine, the Lyonnais, and the rest of France, where men of G.o.d were beginning to struggle against error in the midst of profound darkness. He immediately began to preach Jesus Christ, and to exhort the faithful not to permit themselves to be turned aside from the Holy Scriptures either by threats or stratagems. Beginning, long before Calvin, the work that this reformer was to accomplish on a much larger scale, Farel was at Montbeliard, like a general on a hill whose piercing eye glances over the field of battle, cheering those who are actively engaged with the enemy, rallying those ranks which the impetuosity of the charge has broken, and animating by his courage those who hang back.[970] Erasmus immediately wrote to his Roman-catholic friends, that a Frenchman, escaped from France, was making a great disturbance in these regions.[971]

[970] This comparison is employed by one of Farel's friends during his stay at Montbeliard. Strenuum et oculatum imperatoram, qui iis etiam animum facias qui in acie versantur. Tossa.n.u.s Farello, MS. in the conclave of Neufchatel, 2d September 1524.

[971] Tumultuatur et Burgundia n.o.bis proxima, per Phallic.u.m quemdam Gallum qui e Gallia profugus. Er. Epp. p. 809.

[Sidenote: PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL--LYONS.]

Farel's labours were not unfruitful. "On every side," wrote he to a fellow-countryman, "men are springing up who devote all their powers and their lives to extend Christ's kingdom as widely as possible."[972] The friends of the Gospel gave thanks to G.o.d that his blessed Word shone brighter every day in all parts of France.[973] The adversaries were astounded. "The _faction_," wrote Erasmus to the Bishop of Rochester, "is spreading daily, and is penetrating Savoy, Lorraine, and France."[974]

[972] Suppullulare qui omnes conatus afferant, quo possit Christi regnum quam latissime patere. Neufchatel MS., 2d August 1524.

[973] Quod in Galliis omnibus sacrosanctum Dei verb.u.m in dies magis ac magis elucescat. Ibid.

[974] Factio crescit in dies latius, propagata in Sabaudiam, Lothoringiam, Franciam. Erasm. Epp. p. 809.

For some time Lyons appeared to be the centre of evangelical action within the kingdom, as Basle was without. Francis I., marching towards the south on an expedition against Charles V., had arrived in this city with his mother, his sister, and the court. Margaret brought with her many gentlemen devoted to the Gospel. "All other people she had removed from about her person," says a letter written at this time.[975] While Francis I. was hurrying through Lyons an army composed of 14,000 Swiss, 6000 French, and 1500 lances of the n.o.bility, to repel the invasion of the imperialists into Provence; while this great city re-echoed with the noise of arms, the tramp of horses, and the sound of the trumpet, the friends of the Gospel were marching to more peaceful conquests. They desired to attempt in Lyons what they had been unable to do in Paris. Perhaps, at a distance from the Sorbonne and from the parliament, the Word of G.o.d might have freer course? Perhaps the second city in the kingdom was destined to become the first for the Gospel. Was it not there that about four centuries previously the excellent Peter Waldo had begun to proclaim the Divine Word? Even then he had shaken all France. And now that G.o.d had prepared everything for the emanc.i.p.ation of his Church, might there not be hopes of more extended and more decisive success? Thus the people of Lyons, who were not generally, indeed, "poor men," as in the twelfth century, were beginning more courageously to handle "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of G.o.d."

[975] De Sebville to Coct, 28th December 1524. Neufchatel MS.

[Sidenote: ARANDE, PAPILLON, VAUGRIS, DU BLET.]

Among those who surrounded Margaret was her almoner, Michael d'Arande.

The d.u.c.h.ess caused the Gospel to be publicly preached at Lyons; and Master Michael proclaimed the Word of G.o.d with courage and purity before a great number of hearers, attracted partly by the charm that attends the glad tidings wherever they are published, and partly also by the favour in which the preaching and the preacher were held by the king's beloved sister.[976]

[976] Elle a ung docteur de Paris appele maitre Michel, Eleymosinarius, lequel ne preche devant elle que purement l'evangile.

Neufchatel MS.

Anthony Papillon, a man of highly cultivated mind, an elegant Latin scholar, a friend of Erasmus, "the first in France for knowledge of the Gospel,"[977] accompanied the princess also. At Margaret's request he had translated Luther's work on monastic vows, "in consequence of which he had much ado with those Parisian vermin," says Sebville;[978]

but Margaret had protected him against the attacks of the Sorbonne, and procured him the appointment of headmaster of requests to the dauphin, with a seat in the Great Council.[979] He was not less useful to the Gospel by his devotedness than by his prudence. A merchant, named Vaugris, and especially a gentleman named Anthony du Blet, a friend of Farel's, took the lead in the Reformation at Lyons. The latter person, a man of great activity, served as a bond of union between the Christians scattered throughout those countries, and placed them in communication with Basle. While the armed hosts of Francis I. had merely pa.s.sed through Lyons, the spiritual soldiers of Jesus Christ halted there with Margaret; and leaving the former to carry the war into Provence and the plains of Italy, they began the fight of the Gospel in Lyons itself.

[977] Ibid.

[978] Ibid.

[979] Ibid.

[Sidenote: THE SAONE AND MACON--SEBVILLE AT GREn.o.bLE.]

But they did not confine their efforts to the city. They looked all around them; the campaign was opened on several points at the same time; and the Christians of Lyons encouraged by their exertions and their labours all those who confessed Christ in the surrounding provinces. They did more: they went and proclaimed it in places where it was as yet unknown. The new doctrine ascended the Saone, and an evangelist pa.s.sed through the narrow and irregular streets of Macon.

Michael d'Arande himself visited that place in 1524, and, aided by Margaret's name, obtained permission to preach in this city,[980]

which was destined at a later period to be filled with blood, and become for ever memorable for its _sauteries_.[981]

[980] Arandius preche a Mascon. Coct to Farel, December 1524, Neufchatel MS.

[981] After the taking of Macon in 1562, the governor, St. Pont, amused the dissolute women who were invited to his table, by taking several Huguenots from prison and compelling them to _leap_ (sauter) from the bridge over the Saone into the river. It is added that he did not confine his savage cruelty to the Huguenots, but would seize other persons, untainted with heresy, and put them to the same inhuman death.

After exploring the districts of the Saone, the Christians of Lyons, ever on the watch, extended their incursions in the direction of the Alps. There was at Lyons a Dominican named Maigret, who had been compelled to quit Dauphiny, where he had boldly preached the new doctrine, and who earnestly requested that some one would go and encourage his brethren of Gren.o.ble and Gap. Papillon and Du Blet repaired thither.[982] A violent storm had just broken out there against Sebville and his preachings. The Dominicans had moved heaven and earth; and maddened at seeing so many evangelists escape them (as Farel, Anemond, and Maigret), they would fain have crushed those who remained within their reach.[983] They therefore called for Sebville's arrest.[984]

[982] Il y a eu deux grands personages a Gren.o.ble. Neufchatel MS. The t.i.tle of _Messire_, given to Du Blet in Coct's letter, indicates a person of rank. I am inclined to think that the epithet _negotiator_, elsewhere applied to him, refers to his activity; it is possible, however, that he may have been a great merchant of Lyons.

[983] Conjicere potes ut post Macretum et me in Sebvillam exa.r.s.erint.

Anemond to Farel, 7th September 1524. Neufchatel MS.

[984] Les Thomistes ont voulu proceder contre moi par inquisition et caption de personne. Letter from Sebville. Ibid.

[Sidenote: FONDNESS FOR SYMBOLS--CONVENTICLES.]

The friends of the Gospel in Gren.o.ble were alarmed; must Sebville also be taken from them!......Margaret interceded with her brother; many of the most distinguished personages at Gren.o.ble, the king's advocate among others, open or secret friends to the Gospel, exerted themselves in behalf of the evangelical grayfriar, and at length their united efforts rescued him from the fury of his adversaries.[985]

[985] Si ce no fut certains amis secrets, je estois mis entre les mains des Pharisiens. Letter from Sebville, Neufchatel MS.

But if Sebville's life was saved, his mouth was stopped. "Remain silent," said they, "or you will be led to the scaffold."--"Silence has been imposed on me," he wrote to Anemond de Coct, "under pain of death."[986] These threats alarmed even those of whom the most favourable hopes had been entertained. The king's advocate and other friends of the Gospel now showed nothing but coldness.[987] Many returned to the Romish worship, pretending to adore G.o.d secretly in their hearts, and to give a spiritual signification to the outward observances of Romanism. A melancholy delusion, leading from infidelity to infidelity. There is no hypocrisy that cannot be justified in the same manner. The unbeliever, by means of his systems of myths and allegories, will preach Christ from the christian pulpit; and a philosopher will be able, by a little ingenuity, to find in an abominable superst.i.tion among the pagans, the type of a pure and elevated idea. In religion the first thing is truth. Some of the Gren.o.ble Christians, among whom were Amadeus Galbert, and a cousin of Anemond's, still clung fast to their faith.[988] These pious men would meet secretly with Sebville at each other's houses, and _talk_ together about the Gospel. They repaired to some secluded spot; they visited some brother by night; or met in secret to pray to Christ, as thieves lurking for a guilty purpose. Often would a false alarm disturb the humble a.s.sembly. The adversaries consented to wink at these secret conventicles; but they had sworn that the stake should be the lot of any one who ventured to speak of the Word of G.o.d in public.[989]

[986] Ibid.

[987] Non solum tepidi sed frigidi. Neufchatel MS.

[988] Tuo cognato, Amedeo Galberto exceptis. Ibid.

[989] Mais de en parler publiquement, il n'y pend que le feu. Ibid.

[Sidenote: PREACHING AT LYONS--MAIGRET IMPRISONED.]

Such was the state of affairs when Du Blet and Papillon arrived at Gren.o.ble. Finding that Sebville had been silenced, they exhorted him to go and preach the Gospel at Lyons. The Lent of the following year would present a favourable opportunity for proclaiming the Gospel to a numerous crowd. Michael d'Arande, Maigret, and Sebville, proposed to fight at the head of the Gospel army. Everything was thus preparing for a striking manifestation of evangelical truth in the second city of France. The rumour of this evangelical Lent extended as far as Switzerland. "Sebville is free, and will preach the Lent sermons at Saint Paul's in Lyons," wrote Anemond to Farel.[990] But a great disaster, which threw all France into confusion, intervened and prevented this spiritual combat. It is during peace that the conquests of the Gospel are achieved. The defeat of Pavia, which took place in the month of February, disconcerted the daring project of the reformers.

[990] Le samedi des Quatre-Temps. Dec. 1524. Neufchatel MS.

Meantime, without waiting for Sebville, Maigret had begun early in the winter to preach salvation by Jesus Christ alone, in despite of the strenuous opposition of the priests and monks of Lyons.[991] In these sermons there was not a word of the worship of the creature, of saints, of the virgin, of the power of the priesthood. The great mystery of G.o.dliness, "G.o.d manifest in the flesh," was alone proclaimed. The old heresies of the poor men of Lyons are reappearing, it was said, and in a more dangerous form than ever! But notwithstanding this opposition, Maigret continued his ministry; the faith that animated his soul found utterance in words of power: it is in the nature of truth to embolden the hearts of those who have received it. Yet Rome was destined to prevail at Lyons as at Gren.o.ble.

Maigret was arrested, notwithstanding Margaret's protection, dragged through the streets, and cast into prison. The merchant Vaugris, who then quitted the city on his road to Switzerland, spread the news everywhere on his pa.s.sage. All were astonished and depressed. One thought, however, gave confidence to the friends of the Reformation: "Maigret is taken," said they, "but _Madame d'Alencon is there; praised be G.o.d_!"[992]

[991] Pour vray Maigret a preche a Lion, maulgre les pretres et moines. Ibid.

[992] Neufchatel MS.

[Sidenote: MARGARET INTIMIDATED.]

It was not long before they were compelled to renounce even this hope.

The Sorbonne had condemned several of this faithful minister's propositions.[993] Margaret, whose position became daily more difficult, found the boldness of the partisans of the Reformation and the hatred of the powerful increasing side by side. Francis I. began to grow impatient at the zeal of these evangelists: he looked upon them as mere fanatics whom it was good policy to repress. Margaret, thus fluctuating between desire to serve her brethren and her inability to protect them, sent them word to avoid running into fresh dangers, as she could no longer intercede with the king in their favour. The friends of the Gospel believed that this determination was not irrevocable. "G.o.d has given her grace," said they, "to say and write only what is necessary to poor souls."[994] But if this human support is taken away, Christ still remains. It is well that the soul should be stripped of all other protection, that it may rely upon G.o.d alone.

[993] Histoire de Francois I. par Gaillard, iv. 233.

[994] Peter Toussaint to Farel, Basle, 17th December 1524. Neufchatel MS.

CHAPTER XII.

The French at Basle--Encouragement of the Swiss--Fears of Discord--Translating and Printing at Basle--Bibles and Tracts disseminated in France.