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

=THE APPARITION IN THE CONVENT.=

On the following night the monks rose at the usual hour and entered the church, carrying their antiphonaires or anthem-books in their hands. They began to chant; their hoarse voices were intoning matins ... when suddenly a frightful tumult was heard, coming from heaven as it seemed, or at least from the ceiling of the church. On hearing this 'great uproar,' the chanting ceased, the monks appeared horrified, and Coliman, the bravest, moved forward, armed with all the weapons of an exorcist, and conjured the evil spirit; but the spirit said not a word. 'What wantest thou?' asked Coliman. There was no answer. 'If thou art dumb,' resumed the exorcist, 'show it us by some sign.' Upon this the spirit made another uproar. The hearers, not in the secret, were terror-stricken. 'All is going on well,' said Coliman, Stephen, and their accomplices; 'now let us circulate the news through Orleans.' The next day the friars visited some of the most considerable personages of the city who were among the number of their devotees. 'A misfortune has happened to us,' they said, without mentioning what it was; 'will you come to our help and be present at our matins?'

These worthy citizens, anxious to know what was the matter, did not go to bed, and went to the convent at midnight. The monks had already assembled in the church to chant their collects, anthems, and litanies; they provided good places for the devout laymen, and with trembling voices began to intone:

Domine! labia ...

The words had hardly been uttered, when a frightful noise interrupted the chanting. 'The ghost! the ghost!' exclaimed the terrified monks. Then Coliman, who had 'the usual equipment when he wished to speak to the devil,' came forward, and, playing his part admirably, said, 'Who art thou?'—Silence.—'What dost thou want?'—Silence.—'Art thou dumb?'—Silence.—'If thou art not permitted to speak,' said Coliman, 'answer my questions by signs.... For Yes , give two knocks; and three for No . Now, tell me ... art thou not the ghost of a person buried here?' The ghost began to knock Yes . Then resumed Coliman: 'Art thou the ghost of such a one, or such a one?' naming in succession many of those who were buried in the church; but to each question the ghost answered No . After a long circuit, the exorcist came at last to the point he desired: 'Art thou the ghost of the provostess?' The spirit replied with a loud Yes . The mystery seemed about to be cleared up: a new act of the comedy began. 'Spirit, for what sin hast thou been condemned?' asked the exorcist: 'Is it for pride?'— No! 'Is it for unchastity?'— No! Coliman, after running through all the sins enumerated in Scripture, bethought himself at last, and said: 'Art thou condemned for having been a Lutheran?' Two knocks answered Yes , and all the monks crossed themselves in alarm. 'Now tell us,' continued the exorcist, 'why thou makest such an uproar in the middle of the night? Is it for thy body to be exhumed?'— Yes! There could no longer be any doubt about it: the provostess was suffering for her Lutheranism. The report had been prepared beforehand, but a few witnesses refused to sign it, suspecting some trick. The provincial concealed his vexation, and wishing to excite their imaginations still more strongly, he exclaimed: 'The place is profaned; let us leave it ... as the papal canons command.' Forthwith one of the monks caught up the pyx containing the corpus Domini ; another seized the chalice; others took the relics of the saints and 'the rest of their tools;' 651and all fled into the chapter-room, where divine service was thenceforward celebrated.

=INQUEST ON THE SPIRIT.=

The news of this affair soon reached the ears of the bishop's official, and there was much talk about it at the palace. The Franciscans were pretty well known there. 'There is some monkish trick at the bottom,' said the official, an estimable and upright clergyman. He could not conceal his disgust at this cheat of the friars. He thought that these impetuous cordeliers would compromise, and perhaps ruin the cause of religion, instead of advancing it, by their pretended miracles. It was to be one of the peculiarities of protestantism to unveil the cunning, avarice, and hypocrisy of the priests, the workers of miracles. Extraordinary acts of the divine power were manifested at the time of the creation of the Church, as at the time when the heavens and the earth were first made by the Word of God. Is not all creation a miracle? But the Reformation turned away with disgust from the tricks and cheats of the Roman mountebanks, who presumed to ape the power of God. There were even in the Catholic Church men of good sense who shared this opinion. Of this number was the official of Orleans, the man who filled the place which some had destined for Calvin.

He took with him a few honest people, and went to the grey friars' church to inquire more particularly into the fact. He called the monks together: brother Coliman gravely told the whole story, and the official, after hearing their tales, said: 'Well, my brethren, I now order these conjurations to be performed in my presence.—You, gentlemen,' he said to some of his party, 'will mount to the roof and see if any ghost appears.'—'Do nothing of the kind,' exclaimed friar Stephen of Arras, in great alarm; 'you will disturb the spirit!' The official insisted that the conjuration should be performed; but it was not possible; the exorcist and the ghost both remained dumb. The episcopal judge withdrew, confirmed in his views. 'Here's a ghost that appears only to the monks,' he said to his companions; 'it is frightened at the official.' This affair, which made some tremble and others smile, soon became known throughout the city; the news reached the dark and winding streets where the students lived: one told it to another, and all hurried off to the university. Everything was in commotion there: some were for the monks, the majority against them. 'Let us go and see,' exclaimed this young France. Off they started, and arriving in a large body, says Calvin, soon filled the church. They raised their heads, they fixed their eyes on the roof that had become so celebrated; but they waited in vain, it uttered no sound. 'Pshaw!' said they, 'it is a plot the friars have wickedly contrived to be revenged of the provost and his wife. We will find out all about it.' These curious and rather frolicsome youths rushed to the roof in search of the ghost; they looked for it in every corner, they called it, but the phantom was determined to be neither seen nor heard, and the students returned to the university, joking as they went.

=THE PROVOST APPEALS TO THE KING.=

There was one person, however, in Orleans who did not joke: it was the provost. Irritated at the insult offered to his wife, he had recourse to the law: a written summons was left at the convent, but the monks refused to put in an answer, pleading the immunities they enjoyed in their ecclesiastical quality. The provost, true to his character, was not willing to lose this opportunity of giving the friars a severe lesson. 'What!' he exclaimed, 'shall these wretches make her, who rests at peace in the grave, the talk of the whole city? If she had been accused in her lifetime, I would have defended her, much more will I do so after her death!' He determined to lay the matter before the king, and set out for Paris.

The story of the ghost who appeared with a great noise in a convent at Orleans, had already reached the capital, and been repeated at court. The monks, in general, were not in high favour there. The courtiers called to mind the words of the king's mother, who thanked God for having taught her son and herself to know 'those hypocrites, white, grey, black, and of all colours.' Du Bellay especially and his friends gladly welcomed a story which set in bold relief the vices of the old system and the necessity of a reform. As soon as the provost reached the capital, he had an audience of the king. Francis, who was not famed for his conjugal affections, could not understand the emotion of the widower; but despising the monks at least as much as his mother and sister did, and delighted to put in practice the new reforming ideas which were growing in his mind, he resolved to seize the opportunity of humbling the insolence of the convents. He granted all the provost asked; he nominated councillors of parliament to investigate the matter; and as the cordeliers pleaded their immunities, Duprat, in his quality of legate, gave, by papal authority, power to the commissioners to proceed.