PROGRESS OF CALVINISM
(a) In Switzerland.
/Calvini Joannis, Opera quae supersunt/ in the /Corp.
Reformatorum/, vols. xxix.-lxxxvii. Doumergue, /Jean Calvin, les
hommes et les choses de son temps/, 1900-5. Kampschulte, /Johann
Calvin, seine Kirche und sein staat in Genf/, 1899. Fleury,
/Histoire de l'Eglise de Geneve/, 3 vols., 1880. Mignet,
/Etablissement de la reforme religieuse et constition du
calvinisme a Geneve/, 1877. Choisy, /La theocratie a Geneve au
temps de Calvin/, 1897. /Cambridge Mod. History/, ii., chap. xi.
(Bibliography, 769-83). For complete bibliography, see /Diction.
Theologique/ (art. Calvin).
John Calvin, from whom the heresy takes its name, was born at Noyon in
Picardy in 1509. In accordance with the wishes of his father he
studied philosophy and theology at the University of Paris, where he
was supported mainly from the fruits of the ecclesiastical benefices
to which he had been appointed to enable him to pursue his studies.
Later on he began to waver about his career in life, and without
abandoning entirely his hopes of becoming an ecclesiastic he turned
his attention to law in the Universities of Orleans and Bourges. In
French intellectual circles of this period a certain spirit of unrest
and a contempt for old views and old methods might be detected. The
Renaissance ideas, so widespread on the other side of the Alps, had
made their way into France, where they found favour with some of the
university professors, and created a feeling of distrust and suspicion
in the minds of those to whom Scholasticism was the highest ideal.
Margaret of Navarre, sister of the king, showed herself the generous
patron and defender of the new movement, and secured for it the
sympathy and to some extent the support of Francis I. A few of the
friends of the Renaissance in France were not slow to adopt the
religious ideas of Luther, though not all who were suspected of heresy
by the extreme champions of Scholasticism had any intention of joining
in a movement directed against the defined doctrines or constitution
of the Catholic Church.
As a student at Bourges, Calvin was brought into close relations with
Melchior Wolmar, a German Humanist, who was strongly Lutheran in his
tendencies, and through whom he became enamoured of Luther's teaching
on Justification. On his return to Paris he was soon remarkable as a
strong partisan of the advanced section of the university, and by his
ability and determination he did much to win over the Renaissance
party to the religious teaching that had become so widespread in
Germany. As a result of an address delivered by Nicholas Cop, rector
of the university, and of several acts of violence perpetrated in the
capital by the friends of heresy Francis I. was roused to take action.
Calvin, fearing death or imprisonment, made his escape from Paris to
Basle (1534). Here he published his first and greatest theological
treatise, /Christianae Religionis Institutio/, which he dedicated to
the King of France (1536). The work was divided into four sections,
namely, God the Creator, God the Redeemer, Grace, and the External
Means for Salvation. Both in its style and in its arguments drawn from
the Scriptures, the Fathers, and the theologians of the Middle Ages,
it was far superior, at least for educated readers, to the best that
had been produced by Luther and even to the /Loci Communes/ of
Melanchthon.
He arrived at Basle at a time when a crisis had arisen in the
political and religious development of Geneva. For a long period the
House of Savoy was seeking for an opportunity to annex the territory
of Vaud extending along the Lake of Geneva, and the episcopal cities
of Geneva and Lausanne. Berne, too, had aspirations of a similar kind.
The authorities of Berne, having adopted the Zwinglian doctrine,
thought that in it they had a means at their hand to detach Geneva and
Lausanne from any sympathy with Savoy and to secure these territories
for themselves. They despatched preachers to Geneva, where there were
already two political factions, one advocating a closer alliance with
Savoy, another clamouring for a union with Berne. The supporters of
Berne rallied round William Farel and the Zwinglian ministers, while
the friends of Savoy undertook to champion the old religion. The whole
struggle was at bottom political rather than religious, but the
triumph of the republican adherents of Berne meant victory for the
reforming party in Geneva. The Duke of Savoy issued a declaration of
war against the rebels to whom the Canton of Berne had pledged support
(1534). As a result the forces of Savoy were driven out of Geneva and
the Vaud, a close union was formed between Geneva and Berne, and every
effort was made to spread the new religion in the city and among the
Vaudois. A Zwinglian university was established at Lausanne, which
exercised a great influence in propagating the new doctrine, and which
had the honour of counting among its students Theodore Beza[1] the
most gifted and learned assistant of Calvin.
But though the Vaudois had been won over, Geneva was by no means
secured for the reformers. Farel and his followers, finding themselves
involved in serious difficulties, appealed to Calvin to help them in
completing the work they had begun. In 1536 Calvin accepted this
invitation, and took up his residence at Geneva. Gifted with great
powers as an organiser and administrator he soon restored order in the
city, and won over the people to his doctrines. Himself a man of very
strict notions, in whose eyes all even the most harmless amusements
appeared sinful or dangerous, he was determined that his followers
must accept his views. Under his rule Geneva, formerly so gay, became
like a city of death, where all citizens went about as if in mourning.
Such an unnatural condition of affairs could not be permanent. The
people soon grew tired of their dictator and of his methods; the
authorities of Berne were roused to hostility by his refusal to accept
their doctrinal programme or their model religious organisation; the
Synod of Lausanne declared against him for a similar reason, and in
1538 he and his principal supporters were driven from the city.
Cardinal Sadoleto took occasion to address a stirring appeal to Geneva
to return to the old faith, but his appeal fell upon deaf ears.
Calvin retired at first to Strassburg, and later he took charge of a
parish in France. During the interval he devoted himself to a closer
study of the disputed religious questions, and wrote much in favour of
the Reformation. It was at this time (1540) that he married the widow
of one of the Anabaptist leaders. Meanwhile Geneva was torn by
disputes between two factions, the Libertines as they were called, who
were opposed to Calvin, and the Guillermins, who clamoured for his
return. The latter body gained ground rapidly, and a decree was issued
recalling Calvin to Geneva (October 1540). Knowing well that his
presence was necessary to restore peace to the city he refused to
return unless the conditions imposed by him should be accepted. In the
end he went back to Geneva practically as its religious and political
dictator (1541).
The form of government introduced was theocratic. Calvin was
recognised as the spiritual and temporal ruler of the city. He was
assisted in the work of government by the Consistory, which was
composed of six clerics and twelve laymen. The latter was the worst
form of inquisition court, taking cognisance of the smallest
infractions of the rules laid down for the conduct of the citizens,
and punishing them by the severest form of punishment. Any want of
respect for the Consistory or opposition to its authority was treated
as a rebellion against God. Calvin formulated a very severe code of
rules for the guidance of the people not merely in their duties as
citizens and as members of his religious organisation, but also in
their social intercourse with one another. Even the privacy of family
life was not sacred in his eyes. All kinds of amusements, theatres,
dances, cards, &c., were banned as ungodly, as were also extravagance
of dress and anything savouring of frivolity. Nobody was allowed to
sell wine or beer except a limited number of merchants licensed to do
so by the Consistory.
Nor were these mere empty regulations designed only to keep religion
before the eyes of the people without any intention of enforcing them.
The preachers were invested with extraordinary powers, and were
commissioned to make house to house visitations, to inquire about
violations of the rules. In their reports to the Congregation and to
the Consistory they noted even the most minute transgressions. Not
content with this Calvin had his spies in all parts of the city, who
reported to him what people were saying about his methods and his
government. The punishment meted out by the courts were of a very
severe and brutal kind. No torture that could be inflicted was deemed
too much for any one bold enough to criticise the Consistory or the
dictator.
It was natural that such methods should be highly distasteful to those
of the citizens of Geneva who were not religious fanatics. A strong
party tried to resist him. They accused him of being much more
tyrannical than the Pope, but Calvin denounced such opponents as
libertines, heretics, and atheists. He handed them over to the devil
at least in so far as his ecclesiastical censures were effective,[2]
threatened the severest spiritual punishment against their aiders and
abettors, and when all such means of reproof failed he had recourse to
the secular arm.
Sebastian Castellio, a well-known preacher and Scriptural scholar, was
punished because he could not agree with Calvin's teaching on
predestination, as was also the physician Bolsec; Ameaux one of the
members of the Council was put to death because he denounced the
tyranny of Calvin and of the Consistory; Gentilis was condemned to
execution for differing with Calvin's teaching on the Trinity, and was
compelled to make a most abject public retraction before he could
obtain a reprieve. Several of the citizens were punished with long
imprisonment for dancing even on the occasion of a wedding, as
happened in the case of Le Fevre, whose son-in-law was obliged to flee
to France because he resented warmly such methods of promoting
religion. In Geneva and in the adjoining territory all Catholic
practices were put down by violence, and the peasants were allowed no
choice in their religious views. Possibly, however, the most glaring
example of Calvin's tyranny and high-handed methods was his treatment
of Michael Servetus, a Spaniard who had written against the Trinity.
He was on a journey through the territory of Geneva and was doing
nothing to spread his doctrines nor acting in any way likely to bring
him under the ire of Calvin. The latter having heard of his presence
there had him arrested, tried, and condemned to death. To justify such
harshness he published a pamphlet in which he advocated death as the
only proper remedy for heresy. Theodore Beza wrote strongly in support
of this opinion of his master's, as did also Melanchthon who, though
differing from Calvin on so many points, hastened to forward his
warmest congratulations on the execution of Servetus.[3]
Calvin's acts of cruelty were not the result of violent outbursts of
temper. By nature cold and immovable, he did not allow himself to be
hurried to extremes either by anger or by passion. How he succeeded in
maintaining his position for so many years in Geneva is intelligible
only to those who understand the strength of the religious fanaticism
that he was able to arouse amongst his followers, the terror which his
spiritual and temporal punishments inspired among his opponents, his
own wonderful capacity for organisation and administration, the
activity of his ministers and spies, and the almost perfect system of
repression that he adopted in his two-fold character of religious and
political dictator.
To strengthen his position and to provide for the continuance of his
system he established an academy at Geneva (1558) principally for the
study of theology and philosophy. It was attended by crowds of
scholars from Switzerland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, England,
and Scotland. By means of the academy, Calvinism was spread throughout
Switzerland notwithstanding the opposition of the Zwinglian preachers,
and Calvin's system of ecclesiastical organisation became the model
aimed at by his disciples in most countries of Europe, notably France,
the Netherlands, and Scotland. The Zurich school, at the head of which
stood Bullinger, did not yield ground to the new teaching without a
severe struggle, and Calvin found himself obliged to come to terms
with them in the /Consensus Tigurninus/ (1549). In his desire to
secure the religious unity of Switzerland he had no difficulty in
abandoning or minimising his own doctrine in the hope of overcoming or
winning over his opponents. After a life of tireless energy his health
began to fail in 1561, and three years later he passed away (1564).
Calvin was a man of morose and gloomy temperament, severe even to
harshness with his followers, and utterly devoid of human sympathy.
Not so however his disciple and assistant Theodore Beza. The latter
was born in Burgundy in 1519, and after completing his classical
studies at Orleans he drifted to Paris, where he plunged into all the
pleasures and dissipations of the capital, and where at first he was
remarkable more for his love songs than for his theology. He devoted
himself to the study of law, and in 1539 he took his licentiate at
Paris. Having become attached to the opinions of the Swiss Reformers
he left Paris and settled at Geneva, where he fell completely under
the influence of Calvin, but not even Calvin's temperament and system
could change his naturally gay and sympathetic disposition. For this
reason he became a general favourite, and did much to win the good-
will of those who felt themselves rebelled by the harshness of the
dictator. Beza was, besides, a man of very superior ability, and had
been especially well equipped in Hebrew and in the classics. He was
master of a striking style whether he wrote in French or in Latin,
eloquent beyond most of his contemporaries, and in every way capable
of making a good impression not merely on the ordinary citizen but on
the more educated classes. His writings in defence of Calvin's system
and his translations of the Scriptures gave him a great reputation
throughout Europe, and gained for him a commanding position in Geneva,
where he died in 1605.
Calvin's system was modelled to a great extent on the doctrines of
Luther and Zwingli, but it was coloured largely by his own harsh and
morose disposition. For the distinguishing feature of his system,
namely, absolute predestination, he was dependent largely upon the
works of Wycliffe. Like Luther, he began with the assumption that the
condition of man before the Fall was entirely natural, and that
consequently by the Fall he was deprived of something that was
essential to his nature and without which human nature was completely
corrupted. Man was no longer free, and every act of his was sinful.
His want of freedom was the result of the play of external forces
directed and arranged by God, rather than of any internal necessity by
which he was forced to sin. God is, according to Calvin, the author of
sin, in the sense that he created a certain number of men to work evil
through them in order that He might have an opportunity of displaying
the divine attribute of mercy. Hence the motive of God in bringing
about evil is different from the motive of the sinner, and therefore
though the sinner is blameworthy God is nowise responsible for his
crime.
Adam sinned because it was decreed by God that he should fall in order
that the divine mercy should be manifested to the world. For the same
reason God did not intend that all should be equally good or that all
should be saved. He created some men that they might sin and that
their punishment might afford an example of God's justice, while He
made others that they might be saved to show His overwhelming mercy.
The former are condemned to hell by an irreversible decree, the
others, the elect, are predestined absolutely to glory. The elect are
assured of justification through the merits of Christ, and once
justified they are always justified, for justification cannot be lost.
Faith such as that advocated by Luther was the means of acquiring
justification, but, mindful of his other doctrine that even the best
of men's works are sinful, Calvin took care to explain that justifying
faith was only the instrument by which a man laid hold of the merits
of Christ. It was like a vessel which, though containing some
priceless treasure, was in itself worthless.
As might be expected, Calvin refused to admit that the sacraments were
endowed with any objective power of conferring Grace. In the case of
their reception by the elect, however, he held that they were the
means of strengthening the faith by which justification is acquired,
but for those predestined to damnation they were mere signs without
any spiritual effect. In regard to the Eucharist, while he rejected
the Catholic view of Transubtantiation, he maintained against the
Lutherans that Impanation or Companation was equally absurd. Nor did
he agree with Zwingli that the Eucharist is a mere sign of Christ's
love for men. According to him Christ is really present, in the sense
that though the bread and wine remain unchanged, the predestined
receive with the Eucharistic elements a heavenly food that proceeds
from the body of Christ in Heaven.
Like Luther he contended that the true Church of Christ is invisible,
consisting in his view only of the predestined, but, realising the
necessity for authority and organisation, he was driven to hold that
the invisible Church manifested itself through a visible religious
society. Unlike Luther, however, he was unwilling to subordinate the
Church to the civil power, believing as he did that it was a society
complete in itself and entirely independent of temporal sovereigns.
Each Calvinistic community should be to a great extent a self-
governing republic, all of them bound together into one body by the
religious synods, to which the individual communities should elect
representatives. The churches were to be ruled by pastors, elders, and
deacons. Candidates for the sacred ministry were to receive the
confirmation of their vocation by a call from some Calvinistic church
body, and were to be ordained by the imposition of the hands of the
presbyters or elders. For Calvin as for Luther the Holy Scriptures
were the sole rule of faith to be adopted by both the preachers and
the synods. The special illumination of the Holy Ghost was sufficient
to guard individuals from being deceived either in determining what
books are inspired, or what is the precise meaning which God wished to
convey in any particular book or passage.[4]
----------
[1] Baird, /Theodore Beza, Counsellor of the French Reform/, 1900.
[2] Galli, /Die Lutheran, und Calvinist, Kirchenstrafen im
Reformationszeitalter/, 1878.
[3] Rouquette, /L'Inquisition protestante. Les victimes de Calvin/,
1906. Galiffe, /Quelques pages d'histoire exacte sur les proces
intentes a Geneve/, 1862. Paulus, /Luther und Gewissensfreiheit/,
1905. Id., /Melanchthon und Gewissensfreiheit/ (/Katholik/, i.,
546 sqq.).
[4] Schwane, /Dogmengeschichte der neuerenzeit/. Cunningham, /The
Reformers and the Theology of the Reformation/, 1862.
(b) Calvinism in France.
Lavisse, /Histoire de France/ (vols v.-vi.), 1904-5. De Meaux,
/Les luttes religieuses en France au XVIe siecle/, 1879. Imbart de
la Tour, /Les origines de la Reforme/, vols. i.-ii., 1904-9.
Hauser, /Etudes sur la Reforme francaise/, 1909. Capefigue,
/Histoire de la reforme, de la ligue et du regne de Henri IV./, 4
vols., 1834. Maimbourg, /Histoire du Calvinisme/, 1682. Soldan,
/Geschichte des Protestantismus in Frankreich bis zum Tode Karls
ix./, 2 Bde, 1855. Baird, /History of the Rise of the Huguenots in
France/, 2 vols., 1879. See also bibliography, chap. iii. (a).
Many causes combined to favour the introduction of the reformed
doctrines into France. Owing to the anti-papal attitude adopted by the
French theologians during the Great Western Schism, there was still
lurking in many circles a strong feeling against the Holy See and in
favour of a national Church, over which the Pope should retain merely
a supremacy of honour. Besides, the influence of the old sects, the
Albigenses and the Waldenses, had not disappeared entirely, and the
principles of the French mystics favoured the theory of religious
individualism, that lay behind the whole teaching of the reformers.
The Renaissance, too, was a power in France, more especially in Paris,
where it could boast of powerful patrons such as Margaret of Navarre,
sister of Francis I. and wife of the King of Navarre, the king's
mistress, his favourite minister Du Bellay, and the latter's brother,
the Bishop of Paris. Not all the French Humanists, however, were
equally dangerous. A few of them were undoubtedly favourable to
Luther's views, while many others, infuriated by the charges of
unorthodoxy levelled against them, were inclined to look with
complacency on whatever was condemned by their Scholastic opponents.
The proximity of Strassburg, where Lutheran and Zwinglian doctrines
found support, and the close relations existing between the Paris
University and German scholars helped to disseminate among Frenchmen
the writings of Erasmus, Luther, and Melanchthon and with them the new
religious views.
Against the success of the Reformation in France was the fact that the
people, Latin rather than Teuton in their sympathies, were thoroughly
devoted to their religion and to the Holy See, that the bishops though
nominated by the king according to the Concordat of 1516, were more
zealous than their German brethren, that in the main Paris University,
then the great centre of intellectual life in France, was thoroughly
Catholic, and that the queen-mother, the chancellor of state, the
leading ministers both lay and ecclesiastic, and the parliamentary
authorities could be relied upon to offer Lutheranism their strongest
opposition. Nor, however much Francis I. might be inclined to
vacillate in the hope of securing the help of the German Protestant
princes in his struggle with the empire, had he any desire to see his
kingdom convulsed by the religious strife raging on the other side of
the Rhine.
In 1521 the Parliament of Paris with the approval of the king forbade
the publication of writings dealing with the new religious views.
Luther's books were condemned, and the Paris University drew up a list
of erroneous propositions extracted from the works of the German
theologians (1523). At the request of the queen-mother the theological
faculty of Paris formulated a plan for preventing the spread of the
German errors in France, the main points of which were that heretical
books should be forbidden, that the bishops should be exhorted to seek
out such works in their dioceses and have them destroyed, and that the
Sorbonne should have a free hand in maintaining religious unity. Yet
in spite of these precautions a Lutheran community was formed at Meaux
in the vicinity of Paris, and in the South of France, where the
Waldensian party was still strong, Lutheran teaching found many
supporters. In some places various attempts were made to imitate the
tactics adopted so successfully at Wittenberg and Berne to bring about
by force the discontinuance of Catholic worship. But these attempts
failed, owing mainly to the independent attitude of the local
parliaments and to the energy of the bishops, who removed one of the
most dangerous weapons wielded by the heretics by insisting on a
thorough reform of the clergy.
But though Francis I. had been moved to take action against the
sectaries, and though Calvin and other leaders were obliged to leave
France, the reforming party, relying on the influence of patrons like
Margaret of Navarre[1] and on the Humanist section at the university
and at the newly established College de France, felt confident of
ultimate success. They realised that the king was most anxious to
arrive at an understanding with the Protestant princes of Germany
against Charles V., and that therefore it was unlikely that he would
indulge in a violent persecution of their co-religionists at home.
They knew, too, that Francis I. had set his heart on securing complete
control of the Church in his own dominions, as was evident by the hard
bargain which he drove with Leo X. in the Corcordat of 1516,[2] and
they were not without hope that Luther's teaching on the spiritual
supremacy of the civil rulers might prove an irresistible bait to a
man of such a temperament. Negotiations were opened with Francis I. by
some of the German reformers, who offered to accept most of the
Catholic doctrines together with episcopal government if only the king
would support their cause (1534). As it was impossible to arrange for
a conference, the Lutheran party submitted a summary of their views
embodied in twelve articles to the judgment of the Sorbonne. In reply
to this communication the doctors of the Sorbonne, instead of wasting
their energies in the discussion of particular tenets, invited the
Germans to state explicitly whether or not they accepted the authority
of the Church and the writings of the Fathers. Such an attitude put an
end to all hopes of common action between the French and German
theologians, but at the same time Francis I. was not willing, for
political reasons, to break with Protestantism. The publication,
however, of a particularly offensive pamphlet against Catholicism,
printed in Switzerland and scattered broadcast throughout France,
served as a warning to the king that his own country was on the brink
of being plunged into the civil strife which Protestantism had
fomented in Germany, and that if he wanted to preserve national unity
and peace the time for decisive action had arrived. Many of the
leading reformers were arrested and some of them were put to death,
while others were banished from France (1535).
From this time the Lutherans began to lose hope of securing the active
co-operation of Francis I., but the friendly political relations
between the king and the German Protestant princes, together with the
close proximity of Strassburg, Geneva, and Berne, from which preachers
and pamphlets made their way into France, helped to strengthen the
heretical party in the country despite the efforts of the
ecclesiastical and lay authorities. In the South many of the Waldenses
in Dauphiny and Provence went over formally to the side of the
Calvinists. In places where they possessed considerable strength they
indulged in violent attacks on the clergy, for which reason severe
measures of repression were adopted by the local administrators and by
the king. As in Switzerland, so too in France Calvinism proved to be
the most attractive of the new religious systems. Calvinistic
communities were formed at Paris, Rouen, Lyons and Orleans, all of
which looked to Geneva for direction. The name given to the French
followers of Calvin was Huguenots.
Henry II. (1547-59), who succeeded on the death of Francis I. had no
difficulty in allying himself with the German Protestants, and in
despatching an army to assist Maurice of Saxony in his rebellion
against the Emperor, while at the same time taking every precaution
against the spread of heresy at home. He established a new inquisition
department presided over by a Dominican for the detection and
punishment of the Huguenots, and pledged the civil power to carry out
its decisions. In this attitude he was supported strongly by the
University of Paris, which merited the heartiest congratulations of
Julius III. by its striking defence of Catholic doctrines, especially
the necessity of obedience to the Holy See. Yet notwithstanding all
measures taken against them the Huguenots continued to increase in
numbers. The Bishop of Navarre went over to their side, as did a
certain number of the clergy, and the attitude of some of the others
was uncertain. So strong did the Huguenot party find itself in France
that a Synod representing the different reformed communities was held
in Paris in 1559, at which the doctrine and ecclesiastical
organisation introduced by Calvin into Switzerland were formally
adopted. The accession of Elizabeth to the throne in England, and the
hopes entertained in France of detaching that country from Spain made
the French government less anxious to adopt severe measures against
the Protestants. After the Peace of Cateau Cambresis (1559), when
Henry determined to make a great effort to extirpate Calvinism, he was
prevented by death.
Francis II. who lived only one year (1559-60) succeeded, and he was
followed by Charles IX. (1560-74). The latter of these was a mere
child, and during the minority the government of the country was in
the hands of Catharine de' Medici, his mother, who became regent of
France. At the court two parties struggled for supremacy, the family
of Guise which stood for Catholicism, and the Bourbons who favoured
Calvinism. The regent, not being a woman of very decided religious
convictions or tendencies, set herself to play off one party against
the other so as to increase her own power, and in this way a splendid
opportunity was given to the Calvinists to pursue their religious
campaign. Several of the more powerful people in the kingdom favoured
their schemes solely out of hatred to the Duke of Guise[3] and with
the hope of lessening his power. Amongst the prominent Calvinist
leaders at this period were Antoine de Bourbon,[4] King of Navarre,
and his brother Louis Prince de Conde, the Constable de Montmorency
and Admiral Coligny,[5] the recognised head and ablest leader of the
Huguenot party.
Taking advantage of the bitter feeling aroused amongst their followers
by the execution of some of their number, the Huguenots formed a
conspiracy (Tumult of Amboise 1560) to seize the young king, to
overthrow the Duke of Guise, and to set up in his place the Prince de
Conde. The Calvinist theologians, having been consulted about the
lawfulness of such an enterprise, declared that the conspirators might
proceed without fear of sinning so long as a prince of the royal
family was amongst their leaders. The plot was discovered, however,
before their plans were matured, and several of those who took part in
it were put to death. Instead of weakening, it served only to
strengthen the family of Guise. Francis, Duke of Guise, was appointed
a lieutenant-general of France with the title of saviour of his
country, while his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine, became chief
inquisitor and one of the papal legates appointed for the reform of
abuses in France. The King of Navarre, to whom Pius IV. addressed a
personal appeal, confessed his unfaltering loyalty to the Catholic
religion, although at the same time he was doing much to spread
Calvinism in his own dominions and throughout the South of France.
Though the royal edict against the Calvinists, published in 1560, was
severe, yet little was done to enforce its terms except against those
who had recourse to arms. The Prince de Conde organised a new
conspiracy and attempted to secure Lyons. He was arrested, tried, and
condemned to death, but before the sentence could be carried out
Francis II. passed away.
A new grouping of parties now took place. The regent, Catharine de'
Medici, alarmed at the growing influence of the Guise faction, threw
the whole weight of her influence into the scales in favour of the
Prince de Conde and of the Huguenots. A royal edict was issued
suspending all prosecutions against heretics and ordering the release
of all prisoners detained on account of their religion (1561). The
regent wrote to the Pope praising the religious fervour of the
Calvinists, and calling upon him to suppress several Catholic
practices to which the heretics had taken exception. She professed
herself anxious for a national council to settle the religious
differences, and failing this she insisted upon a religious
disputation at Poissy. The disputation ("Colloquy" of Poissy) took
place (1561) in presence of the young king, his mother, and a large
number of cardinals, bishops, and ministers of state. The Catholics
were represented by the Cardinal of Lorraine, the Jesuit General
Lainez, and other distinguished clergy, while the Calvinists sent a
large number of their ablest leaders, conspicuous amongst whom were
Theodore Beza and Francois de Morel. The principal doctrines in
dispute, notably the authority of the Church and the Eucharist, were
discussed at length without result. Then a small committee, composed
of five theologians representing each side, was appointed, but without
any better success. In the end, as no agreement could be secured, the
conference was dismissed.
Owing to the close alliance between the regent and the Prince de Conde
the former issued a new edict, in which she allowed the Calvinists
free exercise of their religion outside the cities provided that they
assembled unarmed, commanded them to restore the goods and churches
they had seized, and forbade them to have recourse to violence or to
conspiracies to promote their views (1562). Encouraged by these
concessions, the Calvinists especially in the South of France
attempted to force their religion on the people. They attacked
churches, profaned the Blessed Sacrament, murdered several priests and
laymen, and obliged the peasants to listen to their preachers. Feeling
between the two parties was extremely bitter, and the Catholics were
especially incensed that a small minority should be allowed to have
their own way regardless of the opinions of the vast body of the
French people.
In these circumstances it required very little to lead to serious
conflict. At Vassy some soldiers accompanying the Duke of Guise
quarrelled with a party of Calvinists, whose psalm-singing was
disturbing the Mass at which the Duke was assisting. The latter,
hearing the noise, hastened out to restore peace, and was struck with
a stone. His followers, incensed at this outrage, drew their swords
and killed a large number of the Calvinists. This incident, referred
to generally as the massacre of Vassy, led to a new civil war (1562).
The Calvinists hastened to take up arms, and the Prince de Conde was
assured of English assistance. A large army attacked Toulouse, but
after a struggle lasting four days the Calvinists were defeated and
driven off with severe loss. In Normandy and other centres where they
were strong they carried on the war with unheard of cruelty; but as
they were in a hopeless minority and as the English failed to give
them the necessary assistance they lost many of their strongholds, and
finally suffered a terrible defeat at Dreux where the Prince de Conde
was taken prisoner (Dec. 1562). Coligny escaped to Orleans, which city
was besieged by the Duke of Guise, who was murdered during the siege
by one of the followers of Coligny.[6] Before his execution the
prisoner accused Coligny and Beza as being accessories to his crime,
but it is only fair to say that Coligny denied under oath the truth of
this statement.
Though the Catholics were victorious the awful struggle had cost them
dearly. Their ablest leader the Duke of Guise had fallen, as had also
Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre, who had been converted from
Calvinism; many of their churches and most valuable shrines were
destroyed; and to make matters worse they recognised that the struggle
had been fought in vain, as the regent proclaimed a general amnesty
and concluded a peace with the Huguenots (Peace of Amboise, 1563),
whereby Calvinist nobles and their followers were allowed free
exercise of their religion with certain restrictions.
Neither side was satisfied with these terms. Coligny and the Prince de
Conde were annoyed furthermore by the fact that the regent broke off
her close relations with them, and began to lean towards the Catholic
side and toward an alliance with Spain. After raising large sums of
money and arming their forces for a new effort they determined to
seize the king and his court at Monceau, but the Constable de
Montmorency with six thousand trusty Swiss soldiers hastened to the
king's defence, and brought him safely from the midst of his enemies
(1567). This attempt together with the terrible slaughter of Catholics
at Nimes (29 Sept.)[7] led to the outbreak of the second civil war.
The Catholic forces were successful at St. Denis though they lost one
of their ablest generals, the Constable de Montmorency, and were
deprived of the fruits of their victory by the intervention of the
Elector of the Palatinate. Owing to the mediation of the latter a new
treaty was made in 1568, but as the Huguenots continued to seek
alliances with England, Germany, and the Netherlands, Charles IX.
recalled the concessions he had made, and forbade the exercise of
Calvinist worship under penalty of death.
Thereupon the third civil war broke out (1569). The Huguenots received
assistance from England, the Netherlands, and Germany, while the
Catholics were supported by Spain and the Pope. The war was carried on
with relentless cruelty on both sides. In the battle of Jarnac the
Huguenot forces were defeated, and the Prince de Conde was slain
(1569). The struggle was however continued by Coligny supported by
Henry King of Navarre and the young de Conde. By wonderful exertions
Coligny put a new army into the field only however to suffer another
terrible defeat at Montcontour, where the Huguenots were almost
annihilated. It seemed that the long struggle was to end at last and
that peace was to be restored to France. But unfortunately at this
juncture some of his courtiers succeeded in convincing Charles IX.
that his brother, the Duke of Anjou, who with the young Duke of Guise
was mainly responsible for the Catholic victories, might use his
recognised military ability and his influence with the people to make
himself king of France. Alarmed by the prospect of such a contingency
Charles IX., already jealous of his brother's triumphs, turned against
the Catholic party and concluded the Peace of St. Germain-en-Laye with
the Huguenots (1570).
According to the terms of this Peace the Huguenots were allowed free
exercise of their religion in France with the sole exception of the
capital. They were not to be excluded from any office of the state,
and four of the strongest fortresses of the country, La Rochelle,
Montauban, Cognac, and La Charite were to be delivered to them for
their protection and as a guarantee of good faith. The whole policy of
Charles IX. underwent a complete change. Obsessed with the idea that
the Catholic party, led by the Duke of Anjou, was becoming too
powerful to be trusted, he turned to Coligny and the Calvinists, broke
off the alliance concluded with Spain the previous year, and sought to
bring over France to the side of England and of the rebel subjects of
Spain in the Netherlands. Coligny was invited to court, where he soon
became the most trusted and influential councillor of the king. He
endeavoured to embitter the mind of Charles IX. against his mother,
against the Duke of Anjou and the family of Guise. No effort was
spared by him to bring France into the closest relations with England
and the Netherlands against Spain, and as a sign of the reconciliation
that had been effected between the court and the Huguenots a marriage
was arranged between Henry, the Calvinist King of Navarre and Margaret
of Valois, the sister of Charles IX.
The Catholics were highly indignant at this sudden change of policy.
Mindful of the misfortunes brought upon their country by the Huguenots
and of the losses and cruelties they had suffered at the hands of this
implacable minority, they resented the domination of Coligny, whom
they regarded as their most dangerous enemy, and they were embittered
by the thought that the victories they had won at so much cost had
resulted only in their own downfall and in the triumph of their worst
enemies. Catharine de' Medici, the queen-mother, felt more acutely
than the rest the influence of Coligny. She believed that he was using
his power to alienate the young king from herself, and to win him from
the policy she had advocated. She was only waiting an opportunity to
wreak her vengeance on Coligny and the whole Huguenot party, knowing
well as she did that she could count upon the popular feeling of the
nation to support her.
The opportunity came on the occasion of the marriage between the King
of Navarre and Margaret of Valois. The leading Calvinists anxious to
take part in the ceremony flocked to Paris, where they and their
followers paraded the streets armed to the teeth and with the air of
conquerors. Catharine de' Medici took steps to secure the murder of
Coligny on the 22nd August, 1572, but the attempt failed. Such a step
served, however, to embitter feelings on both sides, and to arouse the
queen-mother to make one final effort for the destruction of her
Huguenot opponents. In an audience with the king she represented to
him that the Calvinists were plotting to take his life, and that the
only way to secure himself against them was to anticipate them. In
view of the previous history of the party and the suspicious
temperament of the king, it required little to convince him of the
truth of this allegation, and at last he signed an order that on a
certain pre-arranged signal having been given the soldiers should let
loose on the Huguenots. On the night preceding the feast of St.
Bartholomew (23-24 Aug.) the bells of the church of St. Germain-en-
Laye were rung, and the troops sallied forth to carry out their
instructions. Rumours of a Huguenot plot had been spread through the
city. The people were alarmed, and the general body of the citizens
took up arms to support the soldiers. In the melee that followed over
a thousand Calvinists including Coligny were put to death. The
movement spread through the provinces where about the same number
suffered as in the capital, though many of the Catholic clergy, as for
example, the Bishop of Lisieux, exerted themselves to put an end to
the butchery.
This event is known in history as the massacre of St. Bartholomew. The
massacre was in no sense a premeditated affair. It was a sudden
outburst of popular indignation brought about by the machinations of
the queen-mother, and was neither encouraged nor approved by the
bishops of the Catholic Church. The king presented himself before the
Parliament of Paris on the day following the massacre, and declared
that he alone was responsible for what had happened. He explained that
a plot had been formed against his life and that he had taken the only
measures that it was possible for him to take. This was the account of
the affair that was forwarded to the French diplomatic representatives
abroad, and which they gave at all courts to which they were
accredited. Gregory XIII., acting on the report of the French
ambassador, ordered that a /Te Deum/ should be sung in thanksgiving
for the safety of the king and royal family, and not, as has been so
often alleged, as a sign of rejoicing for the murder of the
Calvinists. On the contrary he was deeply pained when he learned the
true state of affairs. The massacre of St. Bartholomew was indeed
unjustifiable, but it was done neither to promote religion nor at the
instigation of the Church. It was merely political in its object as
far as the king and the queen-mother were concerned, and it was a
sudden popular outburst in so far as the citizens of Paris or the
people of the country took part in it. In judging the responsibility
and blame for what took place nobody can put out of mind the terrible
excesses, of which the Huguenots had been guilty during their long
struggle against their own countrymen. The German Lutherans, who
looked upon the slaughter as a judgment from Heaven on the Calvinist
heretics, were rejoiced at their execution.[8]
The Huguenots flew to arms to avenge their brethren who had fallen,
and the fourth civil war began. The Duke of Anjou laid siege to their
strongest fortress, La Rochelle, but failed to take it, and on his
election as King of Poland (1573) a treaty was concluded according to
which the Huguenots were allowed free exercise of their religion. A
large number of French politicians were at last growing tired of a
struggle which was costing their country so dearly, and were anxious
to conclude peace even though it were necessary to yield to the
demands of the Huguenots. At the head of this party stood some of the
most powerful nobles of France including the Duc d'Alencon, and when
on the death of Charles IX. the Duke of Anjou succeeded as Henry III.
(1575-89) his sympathies were entirely with the party of the moderates
as against the extremists of both sides. By the terms of the Peace of
Beaulieu (1576) the Huguenots were assured of complete freedom except
in Paris and at the French Court, and of full civil rights, and as a
guarantee of good faith they were continued in possession of their
fortresses.
Indignant at such concessions the Catholic party formed the League[9]
with the young Duke of Guise at its head. Henry III., finding that it
was impossible to oppose this combination with any hope of success,
determined to control it by becoming himself its leader. The
concessions made to the Huguenots were recalled (1577), and the fifth
civil war broke out. This was brought to an end by the Peace of
Poitiers (1577). The Huguenot party, under the King of Navarre and the
young Prince de Conde, continued to make headway against the League,
and sought to strengthen themselves by an alliance with England and
the Netherlands.
The question of the succession to the French throne became serious for
both parties. Henry III. was childless, and on the death of the heir-
apparent, his brother the Duke of Anjou (Alencon, 1584), the
succession devolved apparently on Henry King of Navarre, but as he was
a Calvinist the Catholics were unwilling to recognise him. The League
declared Cardinal de Bourbon son of the Duke of Vendome as the lawful
heir to the French throne, though many of its out and out supporters
were in favour of the Duke of Guise. An attempt was made to get the
approval of the Pope for the League and its policy, but both George
XIII. and Sixtus V. were not inclined to support its pretensions. At
the earnest request of Spain the latter, however, issued a
constitution in 1585, by which he declared that Henry of Navarre and
the Prince de Conde, as notorious heretics excommunicated by the
Church, had forfeited all claim to the throne of France. Henry of
Navarre lodged a solemn protest in Rome, and he appealed to the
Parliament of Paris, which refused to approve of the publication of
the papal document. Both sides had recourse once more to arms, and the
Huguenots under the leadership of Henry of Navarre were victorious in
the battle of Coutras (1587). The League however continued the
struggle, captured some of the principal cities such as Lyons,
Orleans, and Bourges, while Henry III. favoured both parties in turn.
Overawed by the successful exploits of the Duke of Guise he pledged
himself to put down the Huguenots, and the French people were called
upon by royal proclamation to swear that they would never accept a
heretic as their king (1588).
But in his heart Henry III. favoured the cause of the King of Navarre,
if for no other reason because he wished to escape from the
dictatorship of the Duke of Guise. In 1588 he procured the murder of
the two greatest leaders of the League, Henry Duke of Guise and his
brother Louis the Cardinal-archbishop of Lyons. This outrage drew upon
him the wrath of the League and of the great body of the French
Catholics. Charles de Lorraine, brother of the murdered Duke of Guise,
put himself at the head of the king's enemies. Sixtus V. issued a
strong condemnation of the murder of the cardinal-archbishop, and the
Sorbonne declared that the nation no longer owed any allegiance to the
king. The war was renewed vigorously on both sides, the League being
supported by Philip II. of Spain and its opponents by Protestant
troops from Germany and Switzerland. While the combined forces of
Henry III. and of the King of Navarre were besieging Paris, Henry III.
was assassinated (1589).
Thereupon Henry of Navarre had himself proclaimed King of France under
the title of Henry IV., but the League refused to recognise his claims
and put forward instead the aged Cardinal de Bourbon, then a prisoner
in the hands of the King of Navarre. The Cardinal also was proclaimed
king (Charles X.). Spain, too, refused to acknowledge Henry IV., and
assisted the League with both money and soldiers. The Popes, Sixtus V.
Gregory VIX. and Clement VIII. adopted an attitude of great reserve.
While they were not inclined to support the demands of the League in
their entirety they were unshaken in their reserve to acknowledge no
heretic as king of France. Henry IV., though supported by many of the
moderate Catholics (/Les Politiques/), began to recognise that as a
Calvinist he could never hope for peaceful possession of the French
throne. He determined, therefore, to yield to the entreaties of his
most powerful supporters and to make his submission to the Catholic
Church. In July 1593 he read a public recantation in the Church of St.
Denis, and was absolved conditionally from the censures he had
incurred. The following year he made his formal entrance into Paris,
where he was welcomed by the people, and acknowledged as lawful king
of France by the Sorbonne. Having pledged himself to accept the
decrees of the Council of Trent, to abide by the terms of the
Concordat of 1516, and to rear his heir and successor as a Catholic he
was reconciled to the Holy See. The League dissolved itself in a short
time, and so far as Catholics were concerned peace was restored to
France.
The Huguenots, Henry IV.'s former co-religionists, were deeply pained
at the step taken by their leader, and they insisted that their
demands must be satisfied. Henry IV., more anxious for the unity and
welfare of France than for the triumph of either religious party,
determined to put an end to the civil strife by the publication of the
Edict of Nantes (1598). The principal articles of the Edict were that
the Calvinists should enjoy freedom of worship throughout the greater
part of the kingdom, that they should be eligible for all positions of
honour and trust in the state, that they should have for their own use
the Universities of Montauban, Montpelier, Sedan, and Samur, that the
funds for the upkeep of these universities and for the maintenance of
their religion should be supplied by the state, and that for a period
of eight years they should have possession of some of the principal
fortresses. On their side they engaged to break off all alliances with
foreigners, to allow Catholic worship to be restored in the places
where it had been suppressed, to observe the marriage laws of the
Catholic Church, and to abstain from anything that might be regarded
as a violation of Catholic holidays. Such concessions were regarded
with great disfavour by the Pope, the clergy, and the vast majority of
the French people as being opposed to the entire national tradition of
France, and it required all the efforts of the king to secure for them
the approval of the Paris Parliament (1599). Similarly the Calvinists
were not content with what had been conceded to them, nor were they
willing to abide by the terms of the Edict of Nantes in so far as to
allow the establishment of Catholic worship in the places which were
under their control. Their public attacks on the Blessed Eucharist and
on the Pope were very irritating to their countrymen, but Henry IV.,
who was a good king deeply interested especially in the welfare of the
lower classes, continued to keep the peace between both parties. His
sympathies were, however, with the Protestants of Germany, and he was
actually on his way to take part in a war against the Emperor when he
was assassinated (1610).
He was succeeded by his son Louis XIII. (1610-43) who was then a boy
of nine years. His mother Mary de' Medici, who acted as regent
approved the terms of the Edict of Nantes, but the Huguenots relying
on the weakness of the government refused to carry out those portions
of the Edict favourable to Catholics, and made demands for greater
privileges. They rose in rebellion several times especially in the
South, entered into alliance with every rebel noble who took up arms
against the king, and acted generally as if they formed a state within
a state. Cardinal Richelieu who was for years the actual ruler of
France (1624-42),[10] inspired solely by political motives, determined
to put an end to a condition of affairs that was highly dangerous to
the strength and national unity of the kingdom. He saw that it was
impossible for France to extend her power so long as there existed at
home a well-organised body of citizens prepared to enter into
treasonable relations with foreign enemies, and to turn to their own
advantage their country's difficulties. His opportunity came when the
Huguenots having concluded an alliance with England rose in rebellion
(1627). He laid siege to their strongest fortress, La Rochelle, drove
back the fleet which England sent to their assistance, and compelled
the city to surrender (1628). By this strong measure he put an end to
the power of the Huguenots in France and secured peace and unity for
the country, while at the same time he treated the conquered with
comparative mildness, confirming the Edict of Nantes (Edict of Nimes,
1629), proclaiming a general amnesty, and restoring the leaders of the
rebellion to the property and positions they had forfeited.
During the reign of Louis XIV. (1643-1715) the whole tendency of the
government was dangerous to the Huguenots. Louis XIV. was determined
to make himself absolute ruler of France, and, therefore, he could
regard only with the highest disfavour the presence in his territories
of a well-organised privileged party like the Huguenots. An
opportunity of carrying out his designs came in 1659, when with the
approval of the Synod of Montpazier they attempted to negotiate an
alliance with England. They were punished with great severity,
forbidden to preach in any place without express permission, to attack
Catholic doctrines publicly, or to intermarry with Catholics. Converts
from Calvinism were encouraged by promises of special concessions.
Owing to the disfavour of the king and the energetic action of the
clergy and bishops, whose education and culture at that time stood
exceedingly high, large numbers of the Huguenots returned to the
Church so that in some places, as for example in Normandy, where once
they could boast of considerable influence, the sect became almost
extinct.
The severity of the measures taken by Louis XIV. led to new
rebellions, which were suppressed with great severity. Finally in 1685
a royal proclamation appeared announcing the revocation of all the
privileges granted to the Huguenots and more particularly all those
contained in the Edict of Nantes (1685). The churches which they had
built recently were to be destroyed, their religious assembles were
forbidden, and their clergy were offered their choice between
submission to the Church or exile. The prime minister Louvois sent
soldiers to enforce this proclamation, and the unfortunate Huguenots
were treated with great harshness and cruelty. Many of them, unwilling
to change their religion and unable to endure their hard lot at home,
left the country and sought refuge in England, Germany, Denmark, and
Holland. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes was not due to the
religious zeal of Louis XIV. or of his ministers. Indeed at the very
time that Louis XIV. was engaged in dragooning the Huguenots into the
Catholic Church he was in bitter conflict with the Pope, and was
committed to a policy that seemed destined to end in national schism.
Some of the French bishops, notably Fenelon, disapproved of this
attempt at conversion by violence, and Pope Innocent XI., having no
representative in Paris at the time, instructed his nuncio at London
to induce James II. of England to bring pressure to bear on Louis XIV.
to favour the Huguenots.[11] Several times during the reign of Louis
the Calvinists rose in arms to defend their religion but without
effect. After his death the decrees against them were not enforced
with much severity, but it was only in 1787 that a measure of almost
complete political equality was granted to them by Louis XVI.
----------
[1] Lefranc, /Les idees religieuses de Marguerite de Navarre/, 1898.
[2] Thomas, /Le Concordat de 1516/, 3 vols., 1910.
[3] Forneron, /Les Ducs de Guise/, 1877.
[4] De Ruble, /Antoine de Bourbon/, 2 vols., 1881-2.
[5] Marcks, /Gaspard von Coligny/, 1892. Delaborde, /Gaspard de
Coligny/, 3 vols., 1879-83.
[6] De Ruble, /L'assassinat de Francois de Lorraine/, 1898.
[7] Rouquette, /L'inquisition protestante, Les Saint-Barthelemy
calvinistes/, 1906.
[8] On the massacre of St. Bartholomew, cf. De la Ferriere, /La St.
Barthelemy/, 1892. Fauriel, /Essai sur les evenements qui ont
precede et amene la St. Barthelemy/, 1838. Bordier, /La St.
Barthelemy et la critique moderne/, 1879. Hanoteaux, /Etudes
historiques sur le XVIe et le XVIIe siecle en France/, 1886.
Vacandard, /Etudes de critique et d'histoire religieuse/, 1905.
Id., /Les papes et la St. Barthelemy/ (/Rev. du Cler. Francais/,
1904).
[9] Richard, /La papaute et la ligue francaise/, 1901. De Chalambert,
/Histoire de la Ligue sous Henri III. et Henri IV./, 1898. De
l'Epinois, /La Ligue et les papes/, 1886.
[10] Caillet, /L'Administration en France sous le ministere du
cardinal de Richelieu/, 2 vols., 1863.
[11] Gerin, /Le Pape, Innocent XI. et la Revocation de l'Edit de
Nantes/ (/Rev. des Quest. Historiques/, xxiv.).
(c) Calvinism in the Netherlands.
Cramer-Piper, /Bibliotheca Reformatoria Neerlandica/, 1903-11.
Juste, /Histoire de la revolution des Pays Bas sous Philippe II./,
2 vols., 1863-7. De Lettenhove, /Les Huguenots et les Gueux/, 6
vols., 1882-5. Gossart, /La domination espagnole dans les Pays Bas
a la fin du regne de Philippe II./, 1906. Holzwarth, /Der Abfall
der Niederlanden/, 2 Bde, 1865-72.
The Netherlands formed part of the vast territories ruled over by
Charles V. For many reasons it was not to be wondered at that the
people should sympathise with the great religious revolt in Germany.
They were allied closely with the Germans by blood and language. Like
them, too, they looked upon Spain and upon the Spaniards with feelings
of distrust. Again, as in other parts of the world, so too in the
Netherlands the wealth of the Church had led to grave abuses as well
as to a loss of respect for ecclesiastical authority, the latter of
which was fostered in the minds of some by the spirit of mysticism
that flourished in the land of St. Thomas a Kempis.
Yet, notwithstanding these favourable circumstances, the Reformation
made little progress in the Netherlands during the reign of Charles V.
He was a man who understood the people and who respected their rights
and privileges. He visited the country frequently, was always ready to
listen to their demands, and he took care not to offend their national
instincts by a display of Spanish troops or Spanish officials.
Besides, having a freer hand to deal with the new religious movement
in the Netherlands than he had in Germany, he was determined to
preserve his hereditary dominions from the dimensions and civil strife
that had done so much to weaken the empire. He insisted on the
proclamation and execution of the decree of the Diet of Worms against
Luther, forbade the spread of heretical writings, introduced the
Inquisition, and punished with great severity those who were found
guilty of attempting to tamper with the faith of the people. But
despite his efforts the trouble that had broken out in the
neighbouring countries, France and Germany, could not fail to find an
echo in the Netherlands, and the views of Calvin and Luther found some
support.
In 1555 Charles retired and was succeeded by his son Philip II. (1555-
98). The new ruler unlike his father made no effort to win the
affections of his subjects in the Netherlands, or to attach them to
himself by bonds of loyalty. On the contrary he came amongst them only
too seldom, and after 1559 he never set foot in the country. He showed
himself careless about their commercial interests, regardless of their
constitutional rights and privileges, and indifferent to their
national prepossessions. Instead of relying on the native officials
and nobles to carry on the administration of the kingdom, he sought to
strengthen his own power by appointing Spaniards to offices of trust
and by sending Spanish troops to suppress all symptoms of discontent.
He set aside the Grand Council which by custom had the rights of a
parliament, and without consultation with the authorities in the
Netherlands he decided upon a new ecclesiastical division of the
country. Hitherto there were only four bishops, whose Sees were
subject to foreign metropolitans. Philip decided that the time had
come when the number of bishoprics should be increased, and the
jurisdiction of foreign metropolitans should be abolished. The main
reason that influenced him to adopt this decision was the fact that,
as matters stood, a complete and far-reaching scheme of reform could
not be put into operation. In conjunction with Pope Paul IV. he
arranged (1559) that the Spanish Netherlands should be placed under
the three newly-erected archiepiscopal Sees of Utrecht, Cambrai, and
Mechlin, and that suitable provision should be made for the
maintenance of the new bishops out of the possessions of the
monasteries and of the ecclesiastical institutions as well as from the
contributions of the laity.
Many of the nobles were already tired of the Spanish rule, and were
not unwilling to look favourably on the religious struggle as a means
of securing independence. They objected to several unconstitutional
acts of which the government of Philip II. had been guilty. They
disliked Cardinal de Granvelle, the prime minister in the Netherlands,
and insisted on his recall. They objected to the introduction of the
Inquisition, and they protested against the new diocesan division as
unnecessary, burdensome to the country, and an infringement of the
rights and privileges of certain individuals. The clergy and people,
whose positions were affected by the new arrangement, supported them
strongly in their opposition to this measure. The leaders of this
movement were the Count of Egmont and William of Orange,[1] the latter
of whom was a clever politician of boundless ambitions, who was not
without hope that a rebellion against Spain might be the means of
securing supreme power in the Netherlands. His brother, the Prince of
Nassau, had adopted Calvinism, and William himself was not troubled
with any particularly strong religious convictions. By his marriage
with the daughter of Maurice of Saxony he sought to assure himself of
the support of the German Protestant princes, while at the same time
he was intimately connected with the Huguenots of France, and was on
terms of the closest friendship with Counts Egmont and Horn, both of
them, though for different reasons, hostile to Philip II. For William
and for many of his abettors religion was but a secondary issue,
provided only that by means of a religious revolution the power of
Spain could be overthrown. Cardinal Granvelle, the minister of the
Duchess of Parma,[2] who was then regent of the country, was a strong
man and a dangerous opponent, for whose removal the party of William
of Orange strove with all their might. They succeeded at last in 1564,
but despite all their efforts they could not prevent the publication
of the decrees of the Council of Trent. They met together in the
following year (1565) and formed the union known as the Compromise of
Breda, nominally for the preservation of their constitutional rights
but in reality to promote a political and religious rebellion. Many
earnest Catholics unaware of the motives that inspired the leaders of
this movement lent them their support. Having strengthened themselves
by negotiations with some of the Protestant princes of Germany, the
revolutionary party presented themselves before Margaret of Parma at
Brussels to demand redress (1566). During the course of the interview
Count de Berlaymont referred to them as a crowd of "gueux" or beggars,
and this was the name they adopted to designate their party (/Les
Gueux/).
Though they professed themselves willing to maintain the Catholic
religion the friends of William of Orange had strong leanings towards
Protestantism. Calvinist preachers flocked in from France; Calvinist
communities began to be formed; and in districts where the party found
itself powerful enough to do so, attacks were made on Catholic
churches and Catholic worship. These outrages served to indicate the
real tendency of the movement, and to drive into the opposite camp
many Catholics who had joined the party merely to secure redress of
political grievances. The Duchess of Parma, having failed to put an
end to the disturbances by friendly negotiations, determined to employ
force against the rebels. She was completely successful. William of
Orange fled to Germany, and Counts Egmont and Horn surrendered
themselves to the mercy of the king (1567). Had Philip II. known how
to take advantage of this victory he might have put an end to
Calvinism in the Netherlands, for as yet the vast majority of the
inhabitants were at heart loyal to the Catholic church.
But instead of coming to make a personal appeal for the allegiance of
his subjects and of trying to win over the malcontents by a policy of
moderation Philip II., more concerned for the suppression of heresy
than for the maintenance of Spanish rule, sent the Duke of Alva[3]
(1567-72) with an army of ten thousand men to punish the offenders and
to wipe out all traces of Calvinism. Alva was a soldier who had
distinguished himself on many a field against the Turks and against
France. His character is sufficiently indicated by the title "the iron
duke" given him by those who knew him best. He had no faith in
diplomacy or concession. For him martial law was the only means of
reducing rebels to subjection. The Duchess of Parma, unwilling to
share the responsibility of government with such an associate,
petitioned for her recall, and the Duke of Alva was appointed regent
of the Netherlands. Two leaders of the rebellion, Counts Egmont and
Horn, were tried and put to death (1568), as were also many of their
followers. The goods of the rebels were confiscated, soldiers were
quartered on the districts which were supposed to be sympathetic with
the movement, and martial law became the order of the day. But the
cruel measures adopted by the Duke of Alva did not put an end to the
rebellion in the Netherlands. On the contrary, the contempt shown by
him for the constitution of the country and the rights of individual
citizens, the excessive taxation, and the license given to the
soldiers in their treatment of civilians served only to embitter the
issue and to drive even moderate men into the path of rebellion.
William of Orange, backed by his brother, Louis of Nassau, made
descents upon the country, while vessels manned by their supporters
set themselves to do as much harm as possible to Spanish trade. With
the aid of England they managed to capture the city and port of Briel
(1572). Several of the northern states threw off the yoke of Spain and
acknowledged William of Orange as their ruler, so that in a short time
the Provinces of Holland and Zeeland were practically lost to Philip
II. William of Orange tried to obscure the religious nature of the
campaign by proclaiming religious freedom, but his followers could not
be restrained. The Catholic churches were attacked, the clergy were
expelled, and in 1572 nineteen priests were martyred for the faith at
Gorcum. Holland and Zeeland went over completely to Calvinism, nor
were the southern provinces, which were still Catholic, contented with
the rule of Alva. Driven to desperation by his taxation and
unconstitutional policy they formed a league with the followers of
William of Orange to put an end to Spanish rule in the Netherlands.
Philip II. began to realise that he had been unfortunate in his
selection of a governor. A deputation that was sent from the
insurgents was received kindly, and Alva's resignation of his office
was accepted.
In his place Don Louis Requesens was sent as governor of the
Netherlands (1573-5). Though inferior to Alva in military skill he was
much superior to him in the arts of diplomacy and conciliation. He
withdrew promptly the financial decrees that had caused such general
discontent, yielded to most of the demands made by the people, and
offered a general amnesty to those who would return to their
allegiance. It required all the skill of William of Orange to prevent
the submission of his adherents. Disappointed by the removal of the
grievances that had provoked a national uprising, he was forced to
have recourse more and more to the religious issues in order to
maintain his power. He proclaimed himself the protector and champion
of Calvinism, and as such he could still count on the aid of the
northern provinces. Unfortunately, too, at the very time when the
success of his policy of mildness seemed assured, Requesens died
leaving it to his successor to complete his work.
Don Juan of Austria, the natural son of Charles V., who had won renown
throughout the world by his annihilation of the Turkish fleet at
Lepanto, was appointed in his place. Before his arrival the southern
and northern provinces had bound themselves together in the
Pacification of Ghent (1576). Don Juan was obliged to accept the terms
of the Pacification and to dismiss the Spanish troops before his
authority would be recognised. William of Orange, secure in the north,
determined to occupy the southern provinces, but his public profession
of Calvinism and the religious intolerance of his followers prevented
a combined national effort. The Catholic nobles of the Walloon
provinces objected to the Protestant campaign that was being carried
on in the name of liberty, and showed themselves not unwilling to come
to terms with Don Juan. The latter, only too glad to meet them half-
way, issued a very conciliatory decree (1577), which secured him the
support of many of the Catholic party, and partly by force, partly by
negotiation he succeeded in winning back much of what had been lost.
On the death of Don Juan (1578) Alexander Farnese, son of the former
regent Margaret of Parma, was appointed his successor. Being something
of a statesman as well as a soldier he lost no opportunity of
endeavouring to break the power of the Prince of Orange. He devoted a
great deal of his energies to the work of detaching the southern
provinces, which still remained Catholic, from the northern, which had
gone over to Calvinism. The intolerance of the Calvinists and their
open violation of the religious freedom guaranteed to all parties
tended to the success of his plans. During his term of office Belgium
returned its allegiance to Spain, and this step put an end to the
hopes entertained by the Calvinists of winning that country to their
side. Meanwhile the northern provinces were entirely in the hands of
William of Orange. In 1579 the five provinces Holland, Zeeland,
Friesland, Geldern, and Zutphen bound themselves together by a solemn
compact in the Union of Utrecht under the name of the United
Provinces, and practically speaking established a Dutch republic. They
agreed to make common cause in war and in peace, and appointed William
of Orange as Stadtholder for life. A short time later (1581) William
of Orange, notwithstanding all his proclamations regarding religious
liberty, forbade the public exercise of the Catholic religion, and
refused to allow the new Archbishop of Utrecht to take possession of
his See. In these circumstances nothing remained for the Pope except
to appoint a vicar-apostolic to take charge of the religious interests
of the Catholics, who formed two-fifths of the population of Holland,
but even the vicar-apostolic was soon banished from the country.
In 1584 William of Orange was assassinated, and his son Maurice was
appointed to succeed him. The English Government anxious to strike a
blow at Spain encouraged the Dutch to continue the war, and despatched
troops to their assistance. After the defeat of the Spanish Armada the
situation was much more favourable to the rebels, and at last in 1609
a twelve years' truce was concluded. On the expiration of the truce
the war was renewed without any very striking success on either side.
Finally in the Peace of Westphalia (1648) the independence of the
Dutch republic was acknowledged by Spain. From the very beginning of
the religious revolt in the Netherlands Calvinism was the sect most
favoured by the people, as is evidenced by the /Confessio Belgica/ in
1562. The University of Leyden decided in its favour, as did also the
Synods of Dordrecht in 1574 and 1618. The Catholic minority in Holland
were treated with the greatest severity, but in spite of all the
efforts to induce them to change their faith many of the districts
remained completely Catholic.
The Catholic provinces, which remained true to Spain and to the
Catholic Church, suffered very severely from the long-drawn-out
struggle, but despite the ravages of war they were soon the centre of
a great religious, literary and artistic revival. The University of
Louvain, founded in 1425, developed rapidly under the generous
patronage of the civil rulers. During the sixteenth century it was
recognised as an important centre of learning whither scholars flocked
not merely from the Low Countries but from all parts of Europe.
Throughout the Reformation struggle Louvain and Douay, the latter of
which was founded in 1562 by Philip II. to assist in stemming the
rising tide of Calvinism, remained staunch defenders of Catholic
orthodoxy, though the unfortunate controversies waged round the
doctrines of Baius and Jansenius did something to dim the glory of the
university to which both belonged. The Jesuits, too, rendered
invaluable service to religion and learning, particularly the men who
hastened to offer their services to Father van Bolland in his famous
/Acta Sanctorum/. Nor can it be forgotten that it was in these days
Catholic Belgium gave to the world the great Flemish school of
artists, amongst whom must be reckoned such men as Rubens, Van Dyck,
and Jordaens.
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[1] Lacheret, /L'evolution religieuse de Guillaume le Taciturne/,
1904.
[2] Rachfal, /Margareta von Parma/, 1898.
[3] /Vita Ferdinandi Toletani, ducis Albani/, 1669.