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

Thoughts of a different order were soon to engross Margaret's attention. Hers was a sincere and living piety, but she had an excessive fear of contests and divisions, and, like many eminent persons of that epoch, she desired at any cost, and even by employing diplomatic means, to achieve a reform which should leave catholicity intact. To set before herself a universal transformation of the Church was certainly a noble and a christian aim; but Calvin, Luther, Farel, and others saw that it could only be attained at the expense of truth. The Queen of Navarre's fault was her readiness to sacrifice everything to the realisation of this beautiful dream; and we shall see what was done in France (Francis lending himself to it from mere political motives) to attain the accomplishment of this magnificent but chimerical project.

166 Lettres de la Reine de Navarre , i. p. 247.

167 Lettres de la Reine de Navarre , i. p. 246.

168Ibid. ii. p. 105.

169Flor. Rémond, Hist. de l'Hérésie , p. 487.

170'Jussu reginæ Navarræ, ut hoc tandem dissidium tollatur.'—Buceri Opera Anglicana , fᵒ 693. Gerdesius, ii. p. 33.

171'Præbetur telum hostibus.'—Gerdesius, iv. p. 33.

172'Nunquam suo officio deest christianissima illa heroīna, regis soror.'—Ibid.

173'Procerum magnus numerus jam veritati accessit.'—Ibid.

174'Ut cœperint eam vocare parvam Allemaniam .'—Ibid.

175'Rex a veritate alienus non est.'—Ibid.

176'Bona spes est, brevi fore, ut Christus publicum apud ipsos obtineat.'—Gerdesius, iv. p. 33.

177Charles de Sainte-Marthe, Oraison funèbre de Marguerite .

178 Lettres de la Reine de Navarre , i. p. 269.

179Ibid.

180Ibid. i. pp. 272, 273.

181Marot, Chronique de François I. p. 90.

182'An unlettered king is a crowned ass.' A.D. 936.

183Teissier, Eloge des Hommes savants , i. p. 200.

184Flor. Rémond, Hist. de l'Hérésie , p. 884.

185The Latin word gallus signifies both Frenchman and cock . 'The Frenchman crows,' said the bishop. 'Would to God,' retorted Danès, 'that Peter (the pope) would repent at the crowing of the cock!' Sismondi, Hist. des Français , xvi. p. 359.

186 Les Marguerites de la Marguerite , i. pp. 505-508.

187 Lettres de la Reine de Navarre , i. p. 280; ii. p. 120.

188 Lettres de la Reine de Navarre , i. p. 269.

Table of Contents

=CHARLES SLANDERS THE PROTESTANTS.=

THE royal trio was now broken up. Margaret, knowing well that her mother had always influenced her brother in favour of popery, hoped to profit by an event that had cost her so many tears, and immediately attempted to incline her brother to the side of the Reform. But there were other influences at work at court: the Sorbonne, the bishops, Montmorency, and even the emperor endeavoured to set Francis against the evangelicals. Charles V. especially desired to take advantage of the alliance which drew him closer to France, in order to turn its sovereign against Luther. His envoy, Noircarmes, had very positive instructions on this point. One day, when this ambassador had gone to present his homage to the king, they had a long conversation together, and Noircarmes gave utterance to all the usual calumnies against the Reformation. Francis did not know what answer to make, but fixed the diplomatist's accusations in his memory, with the intention of repeating them to his sister. He paid her a visit, while still in a state of excitement. 'Madame,' said he angrily, 'do you know that your friends the protestants preach the community of goods, the nullity of the marriage tie, and the subversion of thrones? Noircarmes says that if I do not destroy Lutheranism, my crown will be in danger.' 189To justify the innocent was one of the tasks which the Queen of Navarre had imposed upon herself. 'Sire,' she said to the king, 'the reformers are righteous, learned, peaceful men, who have no other love than that of truth, no other aim than the glory of God, and no other thought than to banish superstition and to correct morals.' The Queen of Navarre was so gracious, so true, so eloquent, that the king left her completely changed—at least for the day. 190But it was not long before perfidious insinuations again roused his anger.

=REINHOLD AND THE COURTIERS.=

Margaret, either by her own hand or through her agents, informed the protestants of Germany of the charges brought against them by Charles's ambassador, and called upon them to contradict Noircarmes. This they did immediately. One of them, Matthew Reinhold, a man devoted to the Gospel and a clever diplomatist, arrived in Paris about the middle of April 1531, and having been received by the king, attended by his lords and his bishops, he handed in a letter from the Elector of Saxony, the Landgrave of Hesse, and their allies. Francis opened it and appeared to read it with interest. 'Sire,' wrote the princes, 'a few monks (Tetzel and his friends) having through avarice hawked their indulgences about the country to the dishonour of Christ and the ruin of souls, 191certain just and wise men have reproved them; the sun has risen upon the Church, and has brought to light a world of scandals and errors. Help us, Sire, and use such means that these disputes may be settled, not by force of arms, but by a lawful judgment, which shall do no violence to the consciences of christians.' 192

While Francis was reading this letter, the lords and prelates of his court eyed the Lutheran from head to foot. They went up to him and asked the strangest questions. 'Is it true,' said a bishop, 'that the women in your country have several husbands?'—'All nonsense!' replied the German envoy. To other questions he returned similar answers; the eagerness of the speakers increased, and the conversation was becoming animated, when the king, who had finished the letter, declared that he thought it very reasonable, and, to the great surprise of the court, smiled graciously upon Reinhold. 193A few days later (21st April) he gave the envoy an answer: 'In order to heal the sores of the christian republic,' he said, 'there must be a council; provided the Holy Ghost, who is the lord of truth, has the chief place in it.' Then he added: 'Do not fear the calumnies of your enemies.' 194The first step was taken.

The grand idea of the counsellors of Francis I., and of the king himself, was, at this time, to substitute for the old policy of France a new and more independent policy, which would protect it against the encroachments of the papacy. Melanchthon was charmed at the king's letter. 'The Frenchman answered us in the most amiable manner,' he said. 195A council guided by the Spirit of God was precisely what the German protestants demanded: they thought themselves on the point of coming to an understanding with the King of France. This hope took possession of Margaret also, and of the powerful party in the royal council who thought, like her, that the union of France, Germany, and England would lead to an internal and universal reform of christendom. The king, urged to form an alliance with the German princes, resolved to send an ambassador on his part, and selected for this mission one Gervais Waim. The choice was an unlucky one: Waim, a German by birth, but long resident in Paris, 196desired that everything in Germany should remain as he had left it. A blind partisan of the ancient state of things, he regarded any change as an outrage towards the German nation, and was full of prejudices against the Reformation. Accordingly, he had hardly arrived at Wittemberg (this was in the spring of 1531), when he sought every opportunity of gratifying his blind hatred. He met with a grand reception; banquets and entertainments were given in his honour. One day there was a large party, at which Luther was present with his friends and many evangelical christians, who were desirous of meeting the envoy of the King of France. The latter, instead of conciliating their minds, grew warm, and exclaimed: 'You have neither church nor magistrate nor marriage; every man does what he pleases, and all is confusion as among the brutes. The king my master knows it very well.' 197On hearing this extravagant assertion, the company opened their eyes. Some got angry, others laughed, many despaired of ever coming to an understanding with Francis I. Melanchthon changed his opinion entirely. 'This man,' he said, 'is a great enemy of our cause.... The kings of the earth think of nothing but their own interest; and if Christ does not provide for the safety of the Church, all is lost.' 198He never said a truer thing. Waim soon found that he had not been a good diplomatist, and that he ought not to have shocked the protestant sentiment; he therefore confined himself to his duty, and his official communications were of more value than his private conversations. 199We shall see presently the important steps taken by France towards an alliance with evangelical Germany.