THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
In the first half of the sixteenth century occurred the two events
which shaped the future of Geneva: Reformation theology was accepted;
political independence was achieved.
Geneva, it should be explained, was a fief of the duchy of Savoy; or
so, at all events, the Dukes of Savoy maintained, though the citizens
were of the contrary opinion. Their view was that they owed allegiance
only to their Bishops, who were the Viceroys of the Holy Roman Emperor;
and even that allegiance was limited by the terms of a Charter granted
in the Holy Roman Emperor’s name by Bishop Adhémar de Fabri. All
went fairly well until the Bishops began to play into the hands of
the Dukes; but then there was friction, which rapidly became acute.
A revolutionary party--the Eidgenossen, or Confederates--was formed.
There was a Declaration of Independence and a civil war.
So long as the Genevans stood alone, the Duke was too strong for them.
He marched into the town in the style of a conqueror, and wreaked his
vengeance on as many of his enemies as he could catch. He cut off the
head of Philibert Berthelier, to whom there stands a memorial on the
island in the Rhone; he caused Jean Pecolat to be hung up in an absurd
posture in his banqueting-hall, in order that he might mock at his
discomfort while he dined; he executed, with or without preliminary
torture, several less conspicuous patriots. Happily, however, some of
the patriots--notably Besançon Hugues--got safely away, and succeeded
in concluding treaties of alliance between Geneva and the cantons of
Berne and Fribourg. The men of Fribourg marched to Geneva, and the
Duke retired. The citizens passed a resolution that he should never
be allowed to enter the town again, seeing that he ‘never came there
without playing the citizens some dirty trick or other’; and, the more
effectually to prevent him from coming, they pulled down their suburbs
and repaired their ramparts, one member of every household being
required to lend a hand for the purpose.
[Illustration: THE LAST SNOW ON THE WOODED SLOPES]
Presently, owing to religious dissensions, Fribourg withdrew from the
alliance. Berne, however, adhered to it, and, in due course,
responded to the appeal for help by setting an army of seven thousand
men in motion. The route of the seven thousand lay through the canton
of Vaud, then a portion of the Duke’s dominions, governed from the
Castle of Chillon. Meeting with no resistance save at Yverdon, they
annexed the territory, placing governors (or _baillis_) of their own
in its various strongholds. The Governor of Chillon fled, leaving his
garrison to surrender; and in its deepest dungeon was found the famous
prisoner of Chillon, François de Bonivard. From that time forward
Geneva was a free republic, owing allegiance to no higher power.