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

The most earnest men believed in the salutary influences which the Reformation would exert. In fact, by awakening the conscience and reviving faith, it was to be a principle of order and liberty; and the religious activity which it called into existence could not but be favourable to education and morality, and even to agriculture, manufactures, and commerce. If Francis I. had turned to the Gospel, the noblest minds would have followed him, and France would have enjoyed days of peace and marvellous prosperity.

Among the enlightened men of whom we are speaking, we must include Philip de Chabot, seignior of Brion, admiral of France, a favourite with the king, and inclined to the cause of the Reform; 455Maure Musée, groom of the chamber, also won over to the Gospel; and the pious Dame de Cany, who influenced her sister, the Duchess of Etampes, in favour of the reformed. 456That frivolous woman was far from being converted; but if the Reform was reproached with the protection she afforded it, the evangelicals called to mind that Marcia, mistress to the Emperor Commodus, as the duchess was to the king, had protected the early christians, and primitive Christianity was none the less respected for it.

Calvin did not place his hope in the powers of the world: 'Our wall of brass,' he said, 'is to have God propitious to us. If God be for us —that is our only support. There is no power under heaven or above which can withstand his arm, and having him for our defender we need fear no evil.' 457And yet the blows which Francis I. had warded from the head of the queen were to fall upon Cop and Calvin himself. But before we come to these persecutions, we must follow the king, who, quitting Toulouse and Montpellier, proceeded to Marseilles to meet the pope.

426 Chronique du Roi François I. p. 98.

427 Lettres de la Reine de Navarre , i. p. 88.

428Castaigne, Notice sur Marguerite . Freer, Life of Marguerite .

429'Prætor stipatus centum apparitoribus gymnasium adit.'—Calvini Epp. p. 1.

430'Suis jussis domum circumcidere, ne quis elaberetur.'—Ibid.

431'Sed cum forte in amici cubiculo esset, tumultum prius exaudisse.'—Calvini Epp. p. 1.

432'E quibus per occasionem fugeret.'—Ibid.

433'Autor sceleris deprehendi non poterat.'—Ibid.

434'Dum vult obsistere gymnasiarcha.'—Calvini Epp. p. 1.

435'Lapides a nonnullis pueris conjecti sunt.'—Ibid.

436'Quod pro scena recitassent jussit repetere.'—Ibid.

437'Improbatæ religionis.'—Ibid.

438'Longa et acerba oratione.'—Calvini Epp. p. 1.

439'In reginam virtutum omnium et bonarum literarum matrem arma sumere.'—Calvini Epp. p. 1.

440'Ut dicant Academiam fecisse.'—Ibid.

441'Ne se immiscerent tanto discrimini, ne regis iram experiri vellent.'—Ibid.

442'Omnium sententia fuit factum abjurandum.'—Ibid.

443'Magnificis verbis regis integritatem.'—Calvini Epp. p. 1.

444'Fidei animosum protectorem.'—Ibid.

445'Aliquos sinistros homines.'—Ibid.

446'Se quidem fuisse delegatum Academiæ decreto.'—Ibid.

447'Fœminam tam sanctis moribus, tam pura religione præditam.'—Ibid.

448'Omnes esse culpæ affines, si qua esset, quantumvis abnegarent.'—Calvini Epp. p. 1.

449'Nisi oblitus esset suæ theologiæ.'—Ibid.

450Théodore de Bèze, Hist. Eccl. p. 9.

451This letter is the first in the collection published by Theodore Beza, and will be the tenth in that to be published by Dr. Bonnet.

452'Omnes cœperunt loqui liberius.'—Bucer to Blaarer. Strasburg MSS.

453'Dominus excitet multos isti heroï similes.'—Bucer to Chelius, quoted by Schmidt.

454'Quidvis pati pro Christo.'—Sturm to Bucer. Ibid.

455'Admiralius adest, qui unice nobis favet.'—Sturm to Bucer, quoted by Schmidt.

456 Lettres de Jean Calvin , i. p. 335, edit. J. Bonnet.

457Calvini Opp. passim.

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THIS interview of the pope with the king might be more injurious to the Gospel than all the attacks of the Sorbonne. If Clement united sincerely with Francis against Charles; if Catherine de Medici became the pledge of union between Rome and France; would not the Reformation soon be buried by the mournful glare of the pale torches of this fatal marriage? Yet men still hoped that the projected interview would not take place. In fact, Henry VIII. and the emperor did all they could to prevent Francis from meeting the pope. 458

=THE INTENDED MARRIAGE.=

But Clement VII., more charmed than ever with a matrimonial union between the family of the Florentine merchants and that of St. Louis, cared naught for the emperor or the king of England; and about the end of April 1533, he convoked a sacred college at Rome, to whom he communicated his plans. They already knew something about them: the Roman cardinals smiled and congratulated his Holiness, but the Spanish cardinals looked very much out of humour. The pope tried to persuade them that he only desired this marriage for the glory of God and of the Church. 'It is for holy opportunities ,' he told them. No one dared oppose it openly; but, on leaving the meeting, the emperor's cardinals hurried to his ministers and informed them of the pontifical communication. The latter lost no time; they called upon all their friends, managed them with great ability, and, by dint of energy and stratagem, succeeded in holding a congregation at the beginning of June, at which none of the French cardinals were present. Not daring to oppose the marriage itself, Charles's prelates displayed extreme sensibility for the honour and welfare of the pope. They appeared to be suddenly seized with a violent affection for Clement. 'What! the pope in France!' they exclaimed. 'Truly it must be something more than the marriage of a niece to move a pope from his seat .' Then, as if Clement's health was very precious to them, and the Roman air excellent, the crafty Spaniards brought forward sanitary reasons. 'Such a journey would be dangerous, considering the extreme heat of Provence .'—'Never mind that,' cunningly answered the pope; 'I shall not start until after the first rains.'

=IMPERIAL OBSTACLES.=

Charles then sought other means to prevent the conference. He will contrive that the pope shall delay his departure from week to week, until the winter sets in, and then it is not to be thought of. A very natural occasion for these delays presented itself. The marriage of Henry VIII. with Anne Boleyn having been made public, the emperor haughtily demanded that justice should be done to the queen, his aunt. Here, certainly, was matter enough to occupy the court of Rome for months; but Clement, who had let the English business drag along for years, being eager to finish the other marriage, hastily assembled a consistory, and pronounced against Henry VIII. all the censures which Charles V. demanded. Then, in his zeal forgetting his usual cunning, he made Catherine's marriage the peroration of his speech, and having done with England and its king, he ended by saying: 'Gentlemen, if any of you desire to make the voyage with me, you must hold yourselves in readiness for departure.' 459

Immediate preparations were made for fitting up the galleys of Rhodes in which the pope was to sail. All was bustle in the harbour. Those long low barks were supplied with everything necessary for subsistence, for sailing, and even for attack and defence. The oars were fixed in their places; the yards and sails were set; the flags were hoisted.... Then the imperialists, trying to outwit the pope, had recourse to a new stratagem; they were smitten with a sudden fondness for Coron.—'Coron, that city in the south of Greece,' they said to the pope, 'a city of such great importance to christendom, is attacked by the Turks; we require the galleys of Rhodes to defend it; we must deliver the Greeks our brothers from slavery, and restore the empire of the East.'... The pope understood; it was difficult to beat him in cunning. 'Well, well,' said he, 'make haste; fly to the help of christendom.... I will lend you the said galleys, and will add my own ... and ... I will make the passage on board the galleys of France.' 460