THE HUGUENOTS DEMAND AN ALLIANCE WITH FRIBURG: THE MAMELUKES OPPOSE IT.
BERTHELIER IS ACQUITTED.
(DECEMBER 1518 TO JANUARY 1519.)
The cruel butchery of Navis and Blanchet, and the insolent sealed
letter, were acts ruinous to those who had committed them. If the
bishop had possessed only the spiritual power, he would not have been
dragged into such measures; but by wishing to unite earthly dominion
with religious direction, he lost both: a just punishment of those
who forget the words of Christ: ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’
The bishop had torn the contract that bound him to the free citizens
of the ancient city. The struggle was growing fiercer every day, and
would infallibly end in the fall of the Roman episcopate in Geneva.
It was not the Reformation that was to overthrow the representative
of the pope: it was the breath of liberty and legality that was to
uproot that barren tree, and the reformers were to come afterwards to
cultivate the soil and scatter abroad the seeds of life. Two parties,
both strangers to the Gospel, stood then face to face. On the one
side were the bishop, the vicar and procurator-fiscal, the canons,
priests, monks, and all the agents of the popedom; on the other were
the friends of light, the friends of liberty, the partisans of law,
the representatives of the people. The battle was between clerical and
secular society. These struggles were not new; but while in the middle
ages clerical society had always gained the victory, at Geneva, on the
contrary, in the sixteenth century the series of its defeats was to
begin. It is easy to explain this phenomenon. Ecclesiastical society
had long been the most advanced as well as the strongest; but in the
sixteenth century secular society appeared in all the vigour of youth,
and was soon to gain the victories of a maturer age. It was all over
with the clerical power: the weapons it employed at Geneva (the letter
and the walnut-tree) indicated a thorough decline of human dignity. Out
of date, fallen into childishness, and decrepid, it could no longer
contend against the lay body. If the duel took place on open ground,
without secret understandings, without trickery, the dishonoured
clerical authority must necessarily fall. The Epicurean hog (if we may
be permitted to use an ancient phrase), at once filthy and cruel, who
from his episcopal throne trampled brutally under foot the holiest
rights, was unconsciously preparing in Geneva the glorious advent of
the Reformation.
The meeting of the 5th of December was no sooner dissolved than the
citizens dispersed through the town. The insolent request of the
princes and the refusal of the people were the subject of every
conversation: nothing else was talked of ‘in public or in private, at
feast or funeral.’ The letter which demanded on behalf of Geneva an
alliance with Friburg was not sealed like the bishop’s; it was openly
displayed in the streets, and carried from house to house; a large
number of citizens hastened to subscribe their names: there were three
hundred signatures. It was necessary to carry this petition to Friburg;
Berthelier, who was still under trial, could not leave the city;
besides, it would be better to have a new man, more calm perhaps, and
more diplomatic. They cast their eyes on the syndic Besançon Hugues,
who in character held a certain mean between Berthelier the man of
action, and Lévrier the man of law. ‘No one can be more welcome among
the confederates than you,’ they said; ‘Conrad Hugues, your father,
fought at Morat in the ranks of Zurich.’--‘I will go,’ he replied,
‘but as a mere citizen.’ They wished to give him a colleague of a
more genial nature, and chose De la Mare. He had resided for some
time on a property his wife possessed in Savoy; but the gentry of the
neighbourhood ‘playing him many tricks,’ because he was a Genevan,
he had returned to the city burning with hatred against the Savoyard
dominion.
The two deputies met with a warm reception and great honour at Friburg.
The pensioners of Savoy opposed their demand in vain; the three hundred
Genevans who had signed the petition received the freedom of the city,
with an offer to make the alliance general if the community desired
it. On Tuesday, December 21, the two deputies returned to Geneva,
and on the following Thursday the proposal of alliance was brought
before the people in general council. It was to be a great day; and
accordingly the two parties went to the council determined, each of
them, to make a last effort. The partisans of absolutism and those of
the civic liberties, the citizens attached to Rome and those who were
inclined to throw off their chains, the old times and the new, met face
to face. At first there were several eloquent speeches on both sides:
‘We will not permit law and liberty to be driven out of Geneva,’ said
the citizens, ‘in order that arbitrary rule may be set up in their
place. God himself is the guarantee of our franchises.’ They soon came
to warmer language, and at last grew so excited that deliberation was
impossible. The deputy from Friburg, who had returned with Hugues
and De la Mare, strove in vain to calm their minds; the council was
compelled to separate without coming to any decision. Switzerland had
offered her alliance, and Geneva had not accepted it.[189]
The friends of independence were uneasy; most of them were deficient in
information and in arguments; they supplied the want by the instinct
of liberty, boldness, and enthusiasm; but these are qualities that
sometimes fail and fade away. Many of them accordingly feared that
the liberties of Geneva would be finally sacrificed to the bishop’s
good pleasure. The more enlightened thought, on the contrary, that the
rights of the citizens would remain secure; that neither privilege,
stratagem, nor violence would overthrow them; but that the struggle
might perhaps be long, and if, according to the proverb, Rome was
not built in a day, so it could not be thrown down in a day. These
notable men, whose motto was ‘Time brings everything,’ called upon the
people to be patient. This was not what the ardent Berthelier wanted.
He desired to act immediately, and seeing that the best-informed
men hesitated, he said: ‘When the wise will not, we make use of
fools.’ He had again recourse to the young Genevans, with whom he had
long associated, with a view of winning them over to his patriotic
plans. He was not alone. Another citizen now comes upon the scene, a
member of one of the most influential families in the city, by name
Baudichon de la Maison-Neuve, a man of noble and exalted character,
bold, welcome everywhere, braving without measure all the traditions
of old times, often turbulent, and the person who, more perhaps than
any other, served to clear in Geneva the way by which the Reformation
was to enter. These two patriots and some of their friends endeavoured
to revive in the people the remembrance of their ancient rights. At
the banquets where the young men of Geneva assembled, epigrams were
launched against the ducal party, civic and Helvetic songs were sung,
and among others one composed by Berthelier, the unpoetical but very
patriotic burden of which was:
Vivent sur tous, Messieurs les alliés!
Every day this chorus was heard with fresh enthusiasm. The wind blew
in the direction of independence, and the popular waves continued
rising. ‘Most of the city are joining our brotherhood,’ said Bonivard;
‘decidedly the townsfolk are the strongest.’ The Christmas holidays
favoured the exultation of the citizens. The most hot-headed of the
Genevan youths paraded the streets; at night they kindled bonfires in
the squares (which they called _ardre des failles_), and the boys,
making torches of twisted straw, ran up and down the city, shouting:
‘Hurrah for the League! the huguenots for ever!’ Armed men kept watch
throughout the city, and as they passed the houses of the mamelukes,
they launched their gibes at them. ‘They were very merry,’ said
Bonivard, ‘and made more noise than was necessary.’ The two parties
became more distinct every day, the huguenots wearing a cross on their
doublets and a feather in their caps, like the Swiss; the mamelukes
carrying a sprig of holly on their head. ‘Whoever touches me will be
pricked,’ said they, insolently pointing to it. Quarrels were frequent.
When a band of the friends of Savoy happened to meet a number of
the friends of the League, the former would cry out: ‘Huguenots!’
and the latter would reply: ‘We hold that title in honour, for it
was taken by the first Swiss when they bound themselves by an oath
against the tyranny of their oppressors!... But you mamelukes have
always been slaves!’--‘Beware,’ said the vidame, ‘your proceedings
are seditious.’--‘The necessity of escaping from slavery makes them
lawful,’ replied Berthelier, Maison-Neuve, and their followers. The
mountain torrent was rushing impetuously down, and men asked whether
the dykes raised against it would be able to restrain its fury.[190]
The party of Savoy resolved to strike a decisive blow. No one was
more threatened than Berthelier. The two princes might perhaps have
spared the lives of the other citizens whose names were contained
in the letter; but as for Berthelier, they must have his head, and
that speedily. This was generally known: people feared to compromise
themselves by saluting him, and timid men turned aside when they
saw him coming, which made Bonivard, who remained faithful to him,
exclaim with uneasiness: ‘Alas! he is abandoned by almost everybody of
condition!’ But Berthelier did not abandon himself. He saw the sword
hanging over his head; he knew that the blow was coming, and yet he
was the most serene and animated of the citizens of Geneva; it was he
who ‘by word and by example always comforted the young men.’ He asked
simply that _right should be done_. ‘I am accused of being a marplot
because I ask for justice;--a good-for-nothing, because I defend
liberty against the enterprises of usurpers;--a conspirator against
the bishop’s life, because they conspire against mine.’ His case was
adjourned week after week. His friends, touched by the serenity of his
generous soul, loudly demanded a general council. The people assembled
on the 19th of January: ‘All that I ask,’ said Berthelier, ‘is to
be brought to trial; let them punish me if I am guilty; and if I am
innocent, let them declare it.’ The general council ordered the syndics
to do justice.[191]
They hesitated no longer: they carefully examined the indictment;
they summoned the vidame and the procurator-fiscal three times to
make out their charges. The vidame, knowing this to be impossible,
got out of the way: he could not be found. Navis appeared alone, but
only to declare that he would give no evidence. All the formalities
having been observed, the Grand Council, consisting at that time of 117
members, met on the 24th of January, 1519, and delivered a judgment
of acquittal. The syndics, bearing their rods of office and followed
by all the members of the council, took their station (according to
the ancient custom) on the platform in front of the hôtel-de-ville. An
immense crowd of citizens gathered round; many were clinging to the
walls; all fixed their eyes with enthusiasm on the accused who stood
calm and firm before his judges. Then Montyon, the premier syndic, a
mameluke yet a faithful observer of the law, said to him: ‘Philibert
Berthelier, the accusations brought against you proceeding, not from
probable evidence but from violent and extorted confessions, condemned
by all law human and divine. We, the syndics and judges in the criminal
courts of this city of Geneva, having God and the Holy Scriptures
before our eyes,--making the sign of the cross and speaking in the name
of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,--declare you, Philibert, by our
definitive sentence, to be in no degree attaint or guilty of the crime
of conspiring against our prince and yours, and declare the accusations
brought against you unreasonable and unjust. Wherefore you ought to
be absolved and acquitted of these, and you are hereby absolved and
acquitted.’ This judgment, delivered by a magistrate devoted to the
duke and the bishop, was a noble homage paid to the justice of the
cause defended by Berthelier. A solemn feeling, such as accompanies
a great and just deliverance, pervaded the assembly, and the joyful
patriots asked if Berthelier’s acquittal was not the pledge of the
liberation of Geneva.[192]
But if the joy among the huguenots was great, the consternation of
the mamelukes was greater still. This _mystery_--for such they called
the acquittal of an innocent man--terrified them. They had fancied
their affairs in a better position, and all of a sudden they appeared
desperate. That noble head, which they desired to bring low, now rose
calm and cheerful in the midst of an enthusiastic people. To complete
their misfortune, it was one of their own party that had delivered that
abominable verdict of acquittal. They sent the news to their friends in
Piedmont, adding that their affairs had never been in a worse position.
Berthelier’s acquittal created a deep sensation at the court of Turin.
It was a triumph of law and liberty that compromised all the plans of
Savoy. By seizing Berthelier, they had hoped to extinguish that fire
of independence and liberty, which they could discern afar on the
Genevan hills; and now the fire which they hoped had been stifled, was
shooting out a brighter and a higher flame.... The Archbishop of Turin,
who had sworn to destroy all republican independence, represented
to his sovereign the true meaning of the sentence that had just
been delivered. The feeble duke, who knew not how to carry out his
enterprises and feared spending money more than losing his dominions,
had remained until this moment in a state of foolish confidence. He
now awoke: he saw that the alliance with Switzerland would deprive
him of Geneva for ever, and considered Berthelier’s acquittal as an
outrage upon his honour. He determined to break the alliance, to quash
the judgment, and to employ, if necessary, all the force of Savoy. He
began, however, with diplomatic measures.[193]
On the 30th of January his ambassadors, the president of Landes, the
seignior of Balayson, Bernard of St. Germain, and the skilful and
energetic Saleneuve, arrived in Geneva, and, having been introduced to
the general council, made at first loud protestations of friendship.
But soon changing their tone and wishing to terrify by their threats,
they said: ‘Nevertheless his Highness learns that some of you are
conspiring against him.’ At these words there was a great commotion
in the assembly: ‘Who are the conspirators? name them,’ was the cry
from every side. The seignior of Landes, who had let the word escape
him, corrected himself, and assured them that the duke was delighted
to hear that the people had refused to favour those who were opposed
to him. But the ambassador changed his tone to no purpose--the Genevan
susceptibility was roused: that unlucky word _conspire_ spread through
the city. ‘To conspire against the duke he must first be our prince,’
said some. ‘Now, whatever he may say, he is only _vidame_, that is,
a civil officer, and as such subordinate to the supreme council. We
will make no reply to the ambassadors of Savoy so long as they do not
name the conspirators.’ The Savoyards increased their attentions, and
showed the tenderest regard for the purses of the Genevans. ‘We are
quite alarmed,’ they said, ‘at the quantity of gold florins you will
have to pay Friburg for its alliance.’ They carefully hid themselves
under sheep’s clothing; but do what they would, the wolf’s fangs peeped
out unexpectedly now and then; and while the chiefs were enshrouding
themselves in diplomacy, sharp disputes occurred between the citizens
and the ambassadors’ attendants. ‘All the Genevans are traitors!’
exclaimed a servant belonging to the treasury of Chambéry. The varlet
was reprimanded, but the ambassadors thought it prudent to leave the
city. They were exasperated, and on their return to Turin told the
duke: ‘You will gain nothing by reasoning with these citizens. If
you say you are their prince, they will maintain that you are their
vassal.’--‘Well, then,’ said the duke, ‘let us settle the matter not
with the pen but with the sword.’ That was just what the energetic
Saleneuve desired.[194]