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

=WURTEMBERG RESTORED.=

On the 27th of June the peace of Cadan put an end to all differences, and restored Wurtemberg to its national princes, with a voice in the council of the empire. If there had never been a war more energetically conducted, there had never been a peace so promptly concluded. The landgrave had displayed a spirit and talents which, men thought, might in future prove troublesome to the puissant Charles. 606

The emperor having received his lesson, the pope's turn came next. As the state of Wurtemberg had been wrested from the hands of Austria, the Church was to be saved from the clutches of the papacy. At the diet of Augsburg, in 1530, Duke Christopher had seen the landgrave, his relation and friend, come forward as the most intrepid champion of the Reformation. His generous heart had been won to a cause which included such a noble defender, and his desire was to see it triumph in Wurtemberg. On the other hand, King Ferdinand, when renouncing his authority over the duchy, desired at least to maintain that of the pope; and he therefore proposed to insert in the treaty of peace an article forbidding any change in religious matters. But the dukes, the landgrave, and the Elector of Saxony unanimously declared that the Gospel ought to have free course in the duchy, and the electoral chancellor wrote this word on the margin, by the side of the article proposed by the King of the Romans: Rejected . 607'You are in no respect bound as to the faith,' said the evangelical princes to Ulrich; while the papal nuncio Vergerio entreated King Ferdinand not to give way to the Lutherans. All the efforts of the Romish party were useless. The important victory of the landgrave (and of Francis I.) was about to open the gates of Wurtemberg to the Reformation, and consequently those of other Roman-catholic countries.

Ulrich and Christopher, being quite as desirous of bringing souls to the knowledge of the Word of God as of replacing their subjects under the sceptre of the ancient house of Emeric, 608set to work immediately. They invited to their states Ambrose Blaarer, the friend of Zwingle and Bucer, and Ehrard Schnepf, the friend of Luther, converted by his means at Heidelberg at the beginning of the Reformation. 609Their labours and those of other servants of God spread the evangelical light over the country. 610Nor was that all: if the defeat at Cappel had restored many cities to the Romish creed, 611the victory of Laufen allowed many to come to the evangelical faith. Baden, Hanau, Augsburg, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, and other places began, advanced, or completed their reformation about this time. French money had never before returned such good interest.

=A KINGLY PROJECT.=

France was now about to undertake a still greater task. We have seen that there were at that time two systems of reform: Margaret's system and Calvin's. It was in the order of things that the one which remained nearest to catholicism should be tried first. If the most eminent persons of the age, who sought in this middle course the last and supreme resource of christendom, did not see their efforts crowned with success, it would be necessary to undertake, or rather to continue spiritedly, a more simple, more scriptural, more practical, and more radical reform. When Margaret failed, there remained Calvin. The realisation of this specious but illusory system, recommended in after years to Louis XIV. by a great protestant philosopher of Germany, was about to be tried by Francis I. The narrative of this experiment ought to occupy a remarkable place in the religious history of the sixteenth century.

586Rœhrich, Reform in Elsass , ii. p. 274.

587'Dominus excitet multos isti heroï similes.'—Bucer to Chelius.

588'Adhuc vehementer laboratur.'—Du Bellay to Bucer.

589'Omnes enim bene sperare jubent.'—Du Bellay to Bucer.

590'Etiam rex ipse, cujus animus erga meliores litteras magis ac magis augetur.'—Ibid.

591'Una tamen in re vehementer a Germanis abhorret.'—Ibid.

592Béthune MSS. 8493. Ranke, iii. p. 456.

593'Restitutio ducis Wurtembergensis brevi magnos motus pariet. Divinationes meas nosti.'— Corp. Ref. ii. p. 706.

594'Magna et periculosa res universo orbi terrarum ac præcipue nobis.'—Ibid. p. 728.

595'Mit monstrosen Figuren.'—Seckendorf, p. 833.

596'Gallum iterum venturum in potestatem imperatoris Caroli.'—Ibid.

597'Leo carebit auxilio et decipietur a lolio.'—Ibid. The correct reading is evidently lilium (lily) and not lolium (tares). The preposition a indicates that the word is taken in a symbolical sense.

598'Dolore et indignatione accensus replicui.'—Sanchez' report to Ferdinand: Bucholz. Ranke.

599'Cassellæ nescio quid memorant noctu, super aquis monstri visum esse.'— Corp. Ref. ii. p. 729.

600Ranke, Deutsche Geschichte , iii. p. 459.

601'Quid si Deus illa publica vitia tum punire, tum aliqua ex parte tollere decrevit?'— Corp. Ref. ii. p. 729.

602'Ut Christum invocare et præsentiam ejus experiri discamus.'— Corp. Ref. ii. p. 730.

603Sleidan, i. liv. ix p. 365. Ranke, iii. p. 461. Rommel, ii. p. 319.

604'In senatum pontifex venit, lectæque ibi sunt litteræ fratris Caroli.'—Pallavicini, Conc. Trid. i. p. 294.

605'The Duke of Wyttemberg lately restored by his and his good brother's meanes.'— State Papers , vii. p. 568.

606Sleidan, i. pp. 366-368. Ranke, iii. pp. 465-468.

607'Soll aussen bleiben.'—Sattler, iii. p. 129. Sleidan, iii. p. 369. Ranke, iii. p. 481.

608The house of Wurtemberg boasts its descent from Emeric, mayor of the palace under Clovis.

609 Hist. of the Ref. of the Sixteenth Century , vol. i. bk. iii. ch. ii.

610'Snepfius Stuttgardiæ pastor ecclesias in illo ducatu reformavit.'—Melch. Adami Vitæ Germanorum Theologorum , p. 322.

611 Hist. of the Ref. of the Sixteenth Century , vol. iv. bk. xvi. ch. x.

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THE Wurtemberg affair being ended, Du Bellay thought of nothing but his great plan; that is, a Reformation according to the ideas of the Queen of Navarre—the combination of catholicism and truth by the union of France and Germany. They were not the only persons who entertained such thoughts: Roussel, Bucer, and many other evangelical christians asked themselves whether the great success obtained in Germany would not decide the reformation of France. Intercourse was much increased between the two countries. Frenchmen and Germans were continually crossing and recrossing the Rhine.

=A WITTEMBERG STUDENT.=

In the month of July 1534, the Queen of Navarre was in one of the chambers of her palace: before her stood a bashful timid young man, and she had a letter in her hand which she appeared to be reading with the liveliest interest. The young man was a native of Nîmes, Claude Baduel by name. He had just come from Wittemberg, where he had found, at the feet of Melanchthon and Luther, the knowledge of the Saviour. He was not an ordinary student. Of reserved manners, 612generous heart, rare disinterestedness, and great firmness in the faith, he had at the same time a highly cultivated mind. He spoke Latin not only with purity, but with great elegance, and his discourses were as full of matter as of harmony. 613

Like many other young scholars, Baduel was very poor, not having the means of studying and scarcely of living. Often during his residence at Wittemberg, he found himself in his little room reduced to the last extremity. He had uttered many a groan, and had prayed to that heavenly Father who feedeth the birds of the air. As the moment of his departure approached, his distress had increased. How could he perform the journey? What would become of him in France? He had asked himself with sorrow whether he ought not to abandon letters and devote himself to some manual labour. On a sudden, he conceived the idea of applying to the Queen of Navarre; and going to Melanchthon, he said to him: 'Ill fortune compels me to forsake the liberal arts for vulgar occupations, which my nature and my will abhor with equal energy. 614In vain have I zealously devoted myself to the study of Holy Scripture and of eloquence; in vain have I ardently desired to make further progress; a cruel enemy—poverty—lays its barbarous hands upon me, and compels me to renounce a vocation which transported me with joy. 615Yet I am determined to make a last and supreme attempt. The Queen of Navarre is a sort of providence, almost a divinity for the friends of letters and of the arts. 616... Pray, dear master, give me a letter to her.'