J. H. Merle D'Aubigné - History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Vol. 1-8)

As chancellor, Sorbonne, and parliament were agreed, it seemed impossible that the Reformation should not succumb under their combined attacks. They said to one another: ‘We must pluck up all these ill weeds ;’ but they did not require, however, that it should be done in one day. ‘If the king will only grant us some little isolated persecution,’ said the enemies of the Reform, ‘we will so work the matter that all the grist shall come to the mill at last.’

But even that they could not obtain from the king; the terrible mill remained idle and useless. The agitation of the clergy was, in the opinion of Francis, mere monkish clamour; he desired to protect learning against the attacks of the ultramontanists. Besides, he felt that the greatest danger which threatened his authority was the theocratic power, and he feared still more these restless and noisy priests. The Reformation appeared to be saved, when an unexpected circumstance delivered it over to its enemies.

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Everything appeared in France to incline towards peace and joy. The court was at Fontainebleau, where Francis I. and the Duchess of Angoulême, the King and Queen of Navarre, and all the most illustrious of the nobility, had assembled to receive the young Duke of Ferrara, who had just arrived (20th of May, 1528) to marry Madame Renée, daughter of Louis XII. and Anne of Brittany. It was a time of rejoicing. Francis I., whose favourite residence was Fontainebleau, had erected a splendid palace there, and laid out ‘beautiful gardens, shrubberies, fountains, and all things pleasant and recreative.’—‘Really,’ said the courtiers, ‘the king has turned a wilderness into the most beautiful residence in christendom—so spacious that you might lodge a little world in it.’ 651Foreigners were struck with the magnificence of the palace and the brilliancy of the court. The marriage of the daughter of Louis XII. was approaching: there was nothing but concerts and amusements. There were excursions in the forest, and sumptuous banquets in the palace, and learned men (says Brantôme) discoursed at table on ‘the higher and the lower sciences.’ But nothing attracted the attention of the foreign visitors so much as the Queen of Navarre. ‘I observed her,’ says a bishop, a papal legate, ‘while she was speaking to Cardinal d’Este, and I admired in her features, her expression, and in every movement, an harmonious union of majesty, modesty, and kindness.’ 652Such was Margaret in the midst of the court; the goodness of her heart, the purity of her life, and the abundance of her works spoke eloquently to those about her of the beauty of the Gospel.

The princess, who was compelled to take part in every court entertainment, never let an opportunity pass of calling a soul to Jesus Christ. In the sixteenth century there was no evangelist, among women at least, more active than her; this is a trait too important in the French Reformation to be passed by unnoticed. The maids of honour of the Duchess of Angoulême were no longer the virtuous damsels of Queen Claude. Margaret, feeling the tenderest compassion for these young women, called now one and now another to Christ; she conjured her ‘dears’ (as she styled them) not to be ‘caught by pleasure,’ which would render them hateful to God.

Farewell, my dear!

The court I flee

To seek for life

Beneath the tree.

If that my prayer

Could influence thee,

Thou shouldst not linger

After me.

Stay not, my dear,

But come with me,

And seek for life

Beneath the tree. 653

Francis I., who loved the chase, would often go into the forest, attended by his young lords, and hunt the boar and deer for days together. These youths took great pleasure in talking of their skill to the ladies of the court, or in challenging one another who could kill the finest stag.... The Queen of Navarre sometimes joined good-naturedly in these conversations; she would smilingly call these gay young lords ‘bad sportsmen,’ and exhort them ‘to go a-hunting after better game.’

Here is one of these conversations of Fontainebleau, which she herself relates:

As a youth was riding one day to the wood,

He asked of a lady so wise and good

If the game he sought for could be found

In the forest that spread so thickly round;

For the young man’s heart with desire beat high

To kill the deer. The dame, with a sigh,

Replied: ‘It’s the season for hunters, ’tis true,

But alas! no hunter true are you.

‘In the wood where none but believers go

Is the game you seek, but do not know;

It is in that bitter wood of the cross

Which by the wicked is counted dross;

But to huntsmen good its taste is sweet,

And the pain it costs is the best of meat.

If that your mind were firmly set

Every honour but this to forget,

No other game would be sought by you....

But ... you are not a hunter true.’

As he heard these words, the hunter blushed.

And with anger his countenance flushed:

‘You speak at random, dame,’ he cried;

‘The stag will I have, and nought beside.’

Margaret.

‘The stag you seek is close in view,

But ... you are not a hunter true.

‘Sit you down by the fountain’s brim,

And in patience wait for him;

There, with soul and body at rest,

Drink of that spring so pure and blest:

All other means but this are nought.

For eager in the toils of your heart to be caught,

The stag will come running up to you;

But ... you are not a hunter true.’

The Young Hunter.

‘Dame, ’tis an idle tale you tell;

Wealth and glory, I know full well,

Are not to be won without toil and care.

Of your water so pure not a drop will I share.

Margaret.

Then the stag will never be caught by you,

For ... you are not a hunter true.’

The young hunter understands at last what is wanted of him, and, after some further conversation with the lady, he exclaims:

‘With earnest faith my heart is filled;

All my worldly thoughts I yield

At the voice of my Saviour Christ Jesu!’

Margaret.

‘Yes, now you are a hunter true!’ 654

This narrative, and others of a like nature contained in the Marguerites , were in all probability facts before they became poems. The little ballads were circulated at court; everybody wished to read the queen’s ‘tracts,’ and many of the nobility of France, who afterwards embraced the cause of the Reform, owed their first religious sentiments to Margaret.

For the moment, the great thought that occupied every mind at Fontainebleau was the marriage of the ‘very prudent and magnificent Madame Renée.’ The gentlemen of France and of Ferrara appeared at court in sumptuous costumes; the princes and princesses glittered with jewels; the halls and galleries were hung with rich tapestry.

Dance and rejoice, make holiday

For her whose love fills every heart. 655

All of a sudden, on the morrow of Pentecost, a message fell into the midst of this brilliant and joyous company which excited the deepest emotion. A letter was handed to the king, and the effect it produced was like that occasioned by a clap of thunder in a cloudless sky. Francis, who held the letter in his hand, was pale, agitated, almost quivering, as if he had just received a mortal insult. His anger exploded in an instant, like a mountain pouring out torrents of lava. He gave way to the most violent passion, and swore to take a cruel revenge. Margaret, terrified by her brother’s anger, did not say a word, but withdrew, in alarm, to silence and prayer: she scarcely ventured an attempt to calm her brother’s emotion. ‘The incensed king,’ says the chronicler, ‘wept hard with vexation and anger.’ 656The court fêtes were interrupted: the courtiers, joining in unison with their master, called loudly for violent measures, and Francis departed suddenly for Paris. What had caused all this commotion?