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

Thus died François de Ternier, lord of Pontverre, whose ancestors had always been enemies of Geneva, 'and who himself had been the worst,' says one of his contemporaries. He fell a martyr to feudalism, say some; a victim to his own insolence, say others. His sole idea had been to ruin Geneva, to disperse its inhabitants, to throw down its walls; and now he lay dead a few yards from the place where, in 1519, he was present at the head of his troopers to take part in the murder of Berthelier, and in the very place by which he had arranged to enter and destroy the city by fire and sword.—'A memorable instance of divine justice,' said some of the citizens; 'a striking deliverance for Geneva; a terrible lesson for its enemies!' There is a great difference, it must be observed, between the martyrs of liberty and right, and those of feudalism and the papacy. Arbitrary power perfidiously seized the greatest citizens, the Bertheliers and Lévriers, in the midst of an inoffensive life, and put them to death by the vile hand of the common headsman, after a sham trial, which was a disgraceful mockery of justice; but it was only when provoked by the champions of feudalism, and at the risk of their own lives, that the men of liberty struck their adversaries. Pontverre died in a contest in which he had been the first to draw the sword.

=HONOURS TO THE DEAD.=

As the Genevans wished to show every mark of respect to their dead enemy, the council ordered that he should be buried with the usual rites by the Franciscans in a chapel of the convent of Rive, which had been founded by his family, and where some of his ancestors had been laid. After this ceremony had taken place according to the forms of the Roman ritual, an inquest was made into the cause of this tragical death, 'to do justice therein, if there should be need.' All the cool-headed people in Geneva were seriously grieved: 'Alas!' said they, 'what a pity that he would not live in peace, for he was a virtuous cavalier, except that he was so pugnacious! It would have been better to make him prisoner; it would have been the means of obtaining a perpetual treaty!' The officers of justice found letters on his person which had reference to the plot hatched against Geneva, and in which the knights of the Spoon were ordered to assemble 'with swords and spears' against the city. It was made evident that he had been the chief of the bands which pillaged and killed without mercy the citizens and inhabitants of the country, and that he was to blame, having first wounded Bandière: the magistrates, therefore, came to the conclusion that there were no grounds for bringing any one to trial. The Sire de Simon and the other companions of the famous captain were conducted uninjured to the frontier of Savoy. 798

One would have thought that, as the head of the league against Geneva had fallen, the league itself would have been weakened; but, on the contrary, Pontverre's death added fuel to the rage of the brethren of the Spoon. Disorder and violence increased around the city, and the very next day, Sunday, the 3rd of January, the gentry, wishing to avenge their chief, kept the field everywhere. 'We will kill all the Genevans we can find,' said they.—'They fell upon the first they met, committing violence and murder.' It seemed as if Pontverre's soul had revived, and was impelling his former colleagues to offer sacrifices without number to his shade. An early attack was expected; the alarm spread through Geneva, and the council met. 'François de Ternier's death,' said one of the members, 'has thrown oil upon the fire instead of extinguishing it. Alone, we cannot resist the attack of Savoy and of the knights. Let us make haste to inform Berne and Friburg.'—'It is impossible,' said another councillor; 'all the gentlemen of Vaud are in arms; no one can cross the province. Our envoys would be stopped at Versoy, Coppet, Nyon, and Rolle; and whoever is taken will be put to death to avenge the fall of the illustrious chief.'

But a free people always finds citizens ready to sacrifice themselves. Two men stood up: they were two of the bravest huguenots, Jean Lullin and Robert Vandel. 'We will go,' they said. They embraced their relatives, and got into a boat, hoping to reach some place on the lake where they could land without danger. But they had hardly left the shore when they were recognised and pursued by some of the enemies' boats, well manned and armed. As soon as the two Genevans observed them, they saw their danger, and, catching up the spare oars, assisted the boatmen with their vigorous arms, and rowed off as fast as they could. They kept gaining on the Savoyard boats; they passed unmolested within sight of several harbours occupied by their enemies, and at last reached Ouchy, dripping with perspiration. The people of Lausanne, who were well disposed towards the Genevans, assisted them. They got to Friburg, 'by subtle means,' probably in disguise, and told their old friends of the increasing dangers to which the city was exposed, especially since the death of Pontverre. 799

=THE SIRE DE VIRY.=

The place of the latter was now filled by the Sire de Viry, whose castle, like Pontverre's, was situated between Mont Salève and the lake (between Chancy and Léluiset), and whose family had always supplied Savoy with fanatical partisans. Viry was furious at the escape of Lullin and Vandel; and, accordingly, on the next day, the servants of these two Genevans, who had been ordered to take their masters' horses to Lausanne, having passed through Coppet, were thrown into prison by his orders. He did not stop at this. 'The gentlemen assaulted every Genevan they met with their daggers and battle-axes, striking them on the loins, the shoulders, and other parts, and many died thereof.'—'All the territory of Monseigneur of Savoy is in arms,' said people at Geneva in the beginning of March 1529, 'and no one can leave the city except at great risk.'

The ducal party, desirous of defying the Genevans in every way, resolved to send them, not a written but a living message, which would show them the fate that awaited them. On the 14th of March, the people who were leaving the church of Our Lady of Grace, saw a strange figure coming over the bridge of Arve. He had at his back a wooden plank reaching from his feet to above his head, to which he was fastened; while his outstretched arms were tied to a cross piece which was placed on a level with his shoulders. The gentlemen had thought it a pretty jest to crucify a Genevan, without doing him any great injury, and they left his feet at liberty, so that he could return home thus singularly arrayed. 'What is that?' asked the people, stopping at the foot of the bridge. They thought they recognised an inhabitant of the city. 'They have made a cross of him front and back,' said the spectators. The man came over the bridge, approached his fellow-citizens, and told them his story. 'I had gone to the village of Troinex on business, when the enemy caught me, trussed me up in this manner, and compelled me to return in this condition to Geneva.' The people hardly knew whether to laugh or be angry; however, they unbound their crucified fellow-citizen, and all returned together to the city.

This was only a little joke of the young ones among the knights; the Sire de Viry and his colleagues had more serious thoughts. The attack upon Geneva, resolved upon at the castle of Nyon, was to be put into execution. The lords issued with their armed retainers from all the castles in the great valley, and on the 24th of March some peasants from the banks of the Arve came and told the syndics that there was a great concourse of gentlemen and soldiers at Gaillard; that these armed men intended on the following night to secretly scale the walls of the city, and that there was a strong guard upon all the roads to detain everybody who ventured out of Geneva. At that time the whole garrison consisted but of fifty soldiers, 'keeping watch and ward by turns,' as Bonivard informs us. How was it possible to resist with such a few men? Yet two powers kept the walls: the energy of the citizens and the providence of God.