AN ENERGETIC CITIZEN CALLS SWITZERLAND TO HELP
GENEVA AND THE REFORMATION.
(SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 1535.)
[Sidenote: THE COMING TEMPEST.]
The joy which then filled Geneva was not to be of long duration. The sky
was fair, and yet certain signs indicated that the tempest was not far
off. The Reformation which had been accomplished excited the most
serious uneasiness at Turin, at Rome, and around the puissant Charles V.
Hitherto a few desultory attacks had been made against the city: its
territory had been laid waste, its provisions intercepted, and ladders
had been placed against its walls: but now a regular campaign was about
to be opened, and the enemy were decided not to lay down their arms
until they had taken it and transformed it into a popish and Savoyard
city. The partisans of Rome felt their danger; they saw that as Geneva
was at the gates of France, Italy, and Germany, if the Reformation was
settled there, it might compromise the existence of the papacy
itself.[613] Accordingly all their thoughts were bent on putting down
_the revolt_, though at the cost of much bloodshed, and of treating
Geneva as Alby, 'of holy and illustrious memory,' had been treated
formerly. Paul III., a friend of the world and of the fine arts, wished,
however, to employ milder means at first—to reduce the city by famine.
'These Lutherans of four days' standing,' he said, 'will soon be
disgusted with their heresy.' He was deceived, but the duke of Savoy did
not share his mistake. That prince, who showed a certain kindness
towards his party, was hard, violent, and merciless whenever Geneva was
concerned. He was to be the Simon de Montfort of the new crusade. 'It is
impossible,' people said, 'that the Genevans can hold out in the face of
the duke's alliances. On the one hand, there is his brother-in-law the
emperor, his nephew the king of France, his father-in-law the king of
Portugal, and his allies the Swiss; and then all his own subjects, who
hem in Geneva for two hundred leagues round, as wolves surround a fold
of helpless sheep. On the other hand, there is the pope, the cardinals,
the bishops, and the priests, whose favor and support the bishop of
Geneva possesses.'[614] The cabinet of Turin resolved, therefore, to set
to work. On the 30th of August the duke publicly proclaimed Geneva as
infected with the plague, forbade his subjects, under pain of death, to
have any communication with its inhabitants, and promised hospitality in
his states to all who desired to escape from the pestilence. It was
thought in Piedmont that only a few mischief-makers would remain, and
that one bold stroke would make the ducal army master of the city.
Everything was prepared in the states of Charles IV. to strike a
decisive blow.[615]
[Sidenote: THE EMPEROR'S PROJECTS.]
On the 28th of August and 24th of September, numerous companies came as
far as the gates of Geneva, but the citizens drove them back. These were
mere skirmishes of outposts: more formidable attacks were in
preparation. Charles V., victorious over Barbarossa, called upon the
Swiss League, assembled at Baden near Zurich, to give material help to
the duke of Savoy. It was said in many quarters that the plan of that
ambitious monarch was to destroy four cities—Algiers, Geneva,
Wittemberg, and Constantinople—two cities of the Koran and two of the
Gospel. Did not an old prophecy speak of an emperor who was to achieve
the conquest of the world, command 'the adoration of the cross under
pain of death, and then be crowned at Jerusalem by _an angel of
God_?'—'That emperor,' said many, 'is Charles V.'[616]
Alarm was beginning to creep over the Genevese people; the councils
deliberated, but in vain, as to what could be done to save the city.
Fathers and mothers sat by their firesides with downcast eyes, silent
lips, and foreheads burdened with care; and groups collected here and
there in the streets, talking earnestly about their misfortunes! 'All
round the city there is nothing but fighting, blockade of provisions,
plunder, and conflagration. Within the city correspondence on a large
scale with the enemy. How can a handful of men resist such a multitude?'
Then the preachers of the Word pointed to the glorious deliverances
recorded in the Scriptures. 'God will do the same for you to-day,' they
said, 'provided you place your whole trust in Him.' And lifted up by
that mighty word, those men against whom princes took counsel together,
exclaimed: 'We will place our hope and our refuge in God alone.'[617]
Charles III., encouraged by the emperor's support, sent his ambassadors
to the Swiss Cantons, and demanded that the duke and the bishop,
'escorted by my Lords of Berne, should be brought back to Geneva, to
resume all their pre-eminence therein; and that no person should make
innovations.' Happily the deputies from Geneva—Lullin, Des Clefs, and
Claude Savoye were there, and remained firm as rocks to uphold the
rights of their country. The Swiss, finding the two parties equally
inflexible, withdrew, saying: 'This affair of Geneva tires us to death;
get out of it the best way you can!' Lullin and Des Clefs returned to
Geneva; but Claude Savoye, determined to obtain help, remained in the
territories of the League.[618]
The hopes of this energetic reformer were not without some foundation.
When the council of Berne had heard of the abolition of the mass at
Geneva, they had rejoiced, and, on the 28th of August, had written a
letter of congratulation to the magistrates: 'Seeing that you have
learnt the truth,' they said, 'be watchful over it and persevere firmly.
So doing, be not afraid that God will let you be destroyed at last.'
Claude Savoye departed for Berne, and on arriving there went from house
to house and appeared before the heads of the State, 'What!' said he,
'you sent us your minister Farel, and now that we have obeyed the Word
which he preached to us, you deliver us up into the cruel hands of our
enemies.' That noble reformer, Berthold Haller, supported him with all
his strength, and called upon Berne 'not to abandon Geneva
faint-heartedly.' Meanwhile the deputies from Turin canvassed the lords
of the council on the opposite side. Self-interest prevailed among the
patricians. 'Raise troops for your own defence,' they told Claude
Savoye, 'provided it be not on our territory; all that we can possibly
do for you is to commend you to God's grace.' And they ended with this
expressive but familiar saying: 'The shirt is nearer to us than the
coat.'[619]
[Sidenote: GENEVA TRUSTS IN GOD.]
When the Genevans heard of Berne's refusal, they were thunderstruck.
Berne, reformed like themselves, abandoned them! The faith, so necessary
to nations, began to waver in many hearts; but Farel endeavored to
strengthen those who were shaken. 'Certainly,' he said to them, 'my
lords of Berne have sent us to a great and strong master—to God. He it
is who will have all the honor of our deliverance, and not men. He has
done mightier things than this. He always shows his power in what is
desperate; and when it seems that all is lost, it is then that all is
won.'[620]
The court of Turin did not think like Farel, and seeing the Swiss
abandoning Geneva, it felt no doubt that the city, coveted so long,
would soon fall into its hands. It was desirable to take advantage of
the dejection of the citizens; and accordingly the Piedmontese cabinet
hastily sent ambassadors to summon 'my lords of Geneva,' in the name of
their masters, to expel heresy and the heresiarchs, to restore the
bishop and clergy to their rights, and to set up the images again. But
the Genevese, prouder still in misfortune than in prosperity, replied to
the envoys: 'Noble lords, we will sacrifice our fortunes, our interests,
our children, our blood, and our lives in defence of the Word of God.
And sooner than betray that holy trust we will set fire to the four
corners of our city, as our Helvetian ancestors once did.'[621] The
ambassadors carried back this heroic answer to their master, and the
duke pressed forward his preparations.
A danger not less great—possibly greater—threatened Geneva: discord. An
implacable hatred 'like that which in old times existed between Cæsar
and Pompey,' says Froment, divided the captain-general Philippe and the
syndic Michael Sept; a fatal hatred whence proceeded great woes, with
loss of goods, of honor, and of men, exile, and death. Some took part
with Philippe, others with Michael Sept. 'When the eldest son of the
captain-general,' said the former, 'was taken prisoner by the men of
Peney, who offered to exchange him against a number of their comrades
who were imprisoned in Geneva, Michael Sept answered: "No, it would be
contrary to the interests of the state."'—'It is true,' replied the
syndic's friends, 'but did he not add: "Let us redeem Philippe's son; I
will give three hundred crowns as my share. If it were the case of my
own child, my advice would not be different."' The council having
refused the exchange in consequence of this advice, the captain-general,
a liberal and brave but haughty, turbulent, and violent man, swore a
deadly animosity against Michael Sept. He scattered fire and flame
everywhere against that venerable magistrate, and sacrificing the
interests of his country to his resentment, he retired murmuring to his
tent. 'I am sick,' he replied, 'I will be captain-general no longer.'
Extreme susceptibility may ruin a man and sometimes a state.
The retirement of the captain-general, in the serious position in which
Geneva was now placed, as well as the divisions with which it was
accompanied, greatly increased the danger of the city. Moreover, they
did not know whom to appoint as Philippe's successor. Many named
Baudichon de la Maisonneuve; but he was hasty and impetuous like the
other, and the council would have liked a more sedate, more penetrating,
more prudent character; they feared the eagerness and want of
circumspection of that daring citizen. But his friends represented that
nobody was more devoted to the cause of independence and of the Gospel;
and that what they wanted now was a chief full of courage and zeal. De
la Maisonneuve was appointed captain-general.
The new commander immediately called a muster of all the men who were
ready to march out with him against the enemy. They were but four
hundred in all. It mattered not. De la Maisonneuve grasped a banner on
which he had ordered some fiery tears to be emblazoned. Greater
simplicity might have been more becoming at such a moment; yet it was a
deep and true feeling of the tragical position in which Geneva was
placed that animated the captain-general. He waved his standard before
his four hundred soldiers, and exclaimed: 'Let every one be prepared to
die. It is not common tears that we must shed, but tears of blood!'
[Sidenote: THE GENEVANS IMPLORE DIVINE AID.]
On returning into the city, the little army went to the churches. Farel
had as much ardor in praying as Baudichon in fighting. Every day there
were sermons and prayers to the Lord. 'O God,' said the reformer, 'be
pleased to defend thy cause!'[622]
In truth, it was not only the independence of Geneva that was
threatened, but the Reformation. The Genevans enumerated their
sufferings, outrages, poverty, famine, cold, loss of goods, furniture,
and cattle, stolen by bands of plunderers; young children, and even men
and women, carried off, maltreated, and put to death; attacks made at
all hours, and so violently that it was scarcely possible to hold out
longer. But greater misfortunes were still to come. Charles of Savoy,
supported by the emperor, was recruiting old Italian and Spanish
soldiers, and had selected to command them one of the cruellest captains
of the age, employed somewhat later by Charles V. against the
Protestants of Germany. The heads of the state, convinced of the danger,
made this declaration on the 3d of October: 'Our enemies are preparing
every day to attack us; so that, if God does not help us, we cannot
escape their blood-stained hands.'[623]
During this time Claude Savoye, who was soliciting help from Berne,
received nothing but refusals. He was sad and heart-stricken; all was
growing darker round him; he knew not whence aid could come. On a sudden
a ray of light cheered him. Farel had proclaimed at Neuchâtel the Gospel
he was preaching at Geneva. The towns and villages and valleys of that
country were the scene of many of the reformer's victories. He had also
preached to the mountaineers of the see of Basle, who had imagined they
were 'listening to an angel come down from heaven.' Claude Savoye,
rejected by the lords of Berne, turned his eyes towards the Jura, where
the French language being in use, it would be easy for him to plead the
cause of his country. He shook off the dust of his feet against Berne,
and departed.
There was in those parts a man known for his evangelical zeal, a friend
of Farel, and on whom Savoye thought he could reckon. Jacob Wildermuth,
or Wildermeth,[624] belonged to a family whose members had filled the
highest offices at Bienne, of which they were the hereditary mayors; but
they also possessed the citizenship of Neuchâtel, and the one of whom we
are speaking seems to have frequently resided in the latter country. His
father had gained distinction in the famous battles of Morat and
Grandson, and he himself had made the campaigns of Italy from 1512 to
1515. _Wildermuth_ signifies _wild courage_, a name very appropriate to
the intrepid warrior. Although advanced in years,[625] he had all the
fire of youth and could support great fatigue. About the end of 1529,
when Farel went to Neuchâtel, Wildermuth had welcomed him; and when the
magistrates forbade the reformer to preach in the churches: 'Stay,' said
the soldier to him, 'I will make you preach in the houses.' He was
immediately assailed with threats: 'I can easily brave them,' he said,
'for I know that God is stronger than man or devil.'[626]
Such was the man to whom Claude Savoye made known the danger of Geneva.
He conceived at once the design of delivering that city. Wildermuth was
not only full of faith in the Gospel, and of aversion to ultramontane
superstitions, but he was intelligent, skilful, and courageous; and
having already made the campaigns of Italy, he knew better than others
how to organize and lead a body of volunteers. 'A burgess of Berne,'
said the Genevan to him, 'has given me six hundred crowns, wherewith to
raise a troop to fight against the duke and the pope.'—'Very good,' said
the Swiss warrior, 'I undertake, with the help of my strong-handed
cousin, Ehrard of Nidau,[627] to enrol some stout fellows, and lead them
secretly and promptly to Geneva.'
[Sidenote: THE HEROINE OF NIDAU.]
Half a league from Bienne, on the lake of that name, in the Seeland,
which forms part of the canton of Berne, stands the pretty little town
of Nidau. Ehrard Bourgeois was one of the citizens most devoted to the
Gospel and to liberty; and, more than that, he was one of those strong,
practical men, who know how to act upon others, and who, when they have
once embraced a cause, never give it up until it has triumphed. At once
he made the critical position of Geneva known in Nidau and its environs.
If he had a strong hand, he had a no less powerful voice; those who
loved the Gospel and hated despotism answered to his call. In a humble
dwelling of this neighborhood there lived a woman with her husband and
three sons, whose name has not been handed down to us. Filled with
ardent zeal for the Gospel, she determined to contribute to the
deliverance of her brethren of Geneva. A religious spirit has often
invested women with a strength that does not seem to belong to their
sex. The heroine of Nidau stood up: grasping a two-handed sword, and
addressing her husband and three sons, she inspired them all with
courage. She burnt with desire to march with her people to encounter
those soldiers of Savoy, who, urged on by the pope, were advancing
against Geneva. Their number and force did not stop her. 'Though I
should be alone,' she said to her husband and children, 'I would fight
with this sword against all yonder Savoyards.[628] The father and sons
were valiant warriors and fervent in the Gospel; and all five presented
themselves to Ehrard in order to march to the rescue of Geneva. It is a
great sign when women bestir themselves about the maintenance of rights,
and encourage their sons and their husbands, instead of dissuading them
from the battle: when this occurs, the enemy is already beaten. We have
seen it in antiquity, and in modern times. The fire which animated this
heroine spread all around her, and a goodly number of valiant fellows
hastened from the Seeland, Bienne, and the valleys of the Jura, to be
enrolled under the flag of Ehrard.
During this time Claude Savoye and Wildermuth were appealing to the men
of good-will at Neuchâtel and in its valleys. In every place Savoye
uttered his lament over the poor city of Geneva: 'Help us in God's
name,' he said. 'Give aid and succor to your Christian brethren, who
hold the same faith and obey the same law as you: and who, because they
have the Gospel preached, and defend their liberties and franchises, are
beleaguered by the enemies of the faith.' These words were not
ineffectual. Many generous minds threw far from them the selfish
thoughts that might have restrained them. 'Shall we not be moved with
pity towards our brethren in the Lord?' said the men of Neuchâtel to one
another. 'Shall not the charity we owe to our neighbor impel us?' One of
the most fervent was Jacques Baillod, called also the Banneret, whose
family, one of the oldest in the Val de Travers, filled the chief
offices of the state. He was, as it would appear, misshapen in body,
short,[629] and a little hunch-backed, not very unlike Æsop (said some);
but he was a skilful and valiant captain. Many men from the Val de
Travers and other places listened to his appeal. Even at Neuchâtel, an
ex-councillor was distinguished by his zeal; this was André, surnamed
Mazellier, or 'the butcher,'[630] one of those firm characters who, when
they have put their hands to the plow, never look back. 'In a short
time,' says a contemporary chronicler, 'a thousand picked men, fine
men-of-war, faithful and of stout heart—if there are any such in all
Switzerland—were assembled, and ready to march at once to the succor of
Geneva at their own expense.'[631] According to others, only eight or
nine hundred men took up arms.
[Sidenote: OPPOSITION OF DE PRANGINS.]
Meanwhile the rumor of these preparations reached the castle of
Neuchâtel. The Sire de Rive de Prangins, governor of the county for the
princess of Longueville, 'a papist and a Savoyard,' says the chronicler
Roset; 'a great enemy of the Word,' says Froment; had done all he could
to prevent the establishment of the Reformation in the county, and now
the Neuchâtelans wanted to go and support Geneva. Astonished at so much
audacity, he forbade those brave men to move under pain of his serious
indignation. Among those who had answered to the appeal of Savoye, there
were some who now hesitated. A certain number of these brave men had no
strong belief or strong will to maintain them. Full of respect for the
princess and her lieutenant, they bent easily beneath the authority
which presumed to constrain them. Their wives endeavored to revive their
zeal. In the eyes of the latter it was not an ordinary war; it was a
struggle for the Word of God. Being ardent evangelists, they had at
heart, as much as Farel, to uphold the faith, and combined with pure
doctrine that keen sensitiveness, that impulsiveness of the heart, which
are the portion of their sex. 'Go,' they said; 'if you do not go, we
will go ourselves.' Some, indeed, did go, like the heroine of Nidau.
Others, speaking in the name of religion, overawed their husbands and
decided them: 'We will not leave our Christian brethren of Geneva to
perish miserably,' said the Neuchâtelans to those who wished to detain
them; 'they are attacked for no other cause than to destroy the Gospel
and their liberties. _In such a quarrel we will all die._'
It was necessary to depart at once. The men who had risen in the towns,
the valleys, and the plain, to defend, without official character, a
city they had never seen, were not armed _cap-à-pied_ like the brilliant
knights of Savoy whom they were going to fight. Some had muskets, all
had swords, but they wore neither helmet nor cuirass. The justice of
their cause was to be their breast-plate. In the evening of the 7th
October the most distant corps—that from Bienne, the bishopric of Basle,
Nidau, and the Seeland—began their march. It is probable that they
crossed the lake of Neuchâtel to avoid the city. On arriving at the
entrance to the Val de Travers they halted, that being the place of
rendezvous. Those from Neuchâtel, Valangin, and other places soon
arrived, and all were now assembled in that picturesque country where
the Areuse rushes out of the valley. The intrepid Wildermuth took the
command.[632]
[Sidenote: STRUGGLE OF THE NEUCHATELANS.]
The little army was preparing to depart when it saw a cavalcade
approaching from the direction of Neuchâtel: they were officers of the
government sent to prevent any of Madame's subjects from marching to the
help of Geneva. Having reached the force, these delegates from the Sire
of Prangins approached the men under their jurisdiction, and ordered
them to return each one to his home. To go and fight against the duke of
Savoy was to put themselves in revolt against their sovereign, who would
treat them as rebels. 'They were forbidden, and in stronger terms than
before, and with fierce threats, so that many lost courage.' These
Neuchâtelans had not at first reflected that their government was
strongly opposed to the Reformation. Now their respect for the
established powers counterbalanced the sentiments which had induced them
to go to the help of the Gospel. They feared the unpleasant consequences
that their disobedience might entail upon themselves and their families.
They were agitated and divided. Wildermuth and other worthy persons
perceiving that some of them were giving way, were grieved at it; but
they did not want men whose hearts were weakened. It was right in their
eyes to protect the innocent against the wicked; but they would not
force their convictions on their brethren. Wildermuth called out:
'Comrades, if you have not the courage to die for Geneva, and kill as
many false priests as shall offer themselves, go about your business! It
is better for us to be few, but men of heart, as in the days of Gideon,
than to drag half-hearted ones after us.'
The struggle in these Neuchâtelans became more severe. Should they go
forward or should they return? Wildermuth had named Gideon: they
remembered how that Israelitish chief had consulted God to know if he
was to march against Midian. These honest people, who had taken up arms
in God's cause, believed in God and in His help. All, therefore, knelt
down on the spot in order to ask of their Sovereign Lord the road they
ought to take; and that troop, but lately so tumultuous, remained for
some minutes in deep silence. God himself was to choose whom He would
for the battle. When the prayer was ended, each man stood up, and the
energetic captain exclaimed aloud and with great earnestness: 'Now, let
those return home whom threats alarm; but you, to whom God has given
hearts to fight for your brethren, without fear for your lives—forward!'
Three or four hundred returned home.[633] It is not doubtful that they
acted thus from a spirit of obedience to the superior authority.
The others, who belonged particularly to the canton of Berne and to the
Jura, had not received a similar prohibition, and although diminished in
number, they did not hesitate. The little force was reduced by one half,
and consisted of four hundred and fifteen men; but those who remained
were filled with faith and courage. They departed calling upon the name
of God, and praying Him to be their helper.
[613] Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, p, 169.
[614] Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, p. 169.
[615] Chron. MSC. de Roset, liv. iii. ch. xxxvii.
[616] Stettler, _Chronik_, p. 68.—Ranke, _Deutsche Geschichte_, vol. iv.
p. 118.
[617] Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, pp. 168, 169.
[618] Registres du Conseil du 26 Septembre 1535.—Stettler, _Chronik_,
p. 69.—Chron. MSC. de Roset.
[619] Registres du Conseil du 26 Septembre 1535.—Froment, _Gestes de
Genève_, p. 170.—Letters of Haller to Bullinger.
[620] Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, p. 171.
[621] This refers to the twelve cities destroyed by the Helvetians when
they departed for Gaul, about 58 B.C.
[622] Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, p. 172.
[623] Registres MSC. du Conseil du 3 Octobre.—Froment, _Gestes de
Genève_, pp. 168, 172, 184, 185, &c.
[624] Dictionnaire de Len.
[625] 'Den wohlbetagten Hauptman Jacob Wildermuth.'—Stettler, _Chronik_,
p. 70.
[626] Letter from Jacob Wildermuth to the Council of Berne, dated
Neuchâtel, December 3, 1529. Archives de Berne.—Herminjard,
_Correspondance des Réformateurs dans les pays de Langue française_,
ii. p. 212.
[627] 'Seines handvesten Vetters.'—Stettler, _Chronik_.
[628] Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, p. 195.
[629] _Abrégé chronologique de l'Histoire de Neuchâtel_, par un ancien
Justicier, p. 161.
[630] Annales de Boyne, liv. ii. p. 293.
[631] Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, p. 192.
[632] The documents in the French language, the _Gestes de Genève_ of
Froment, an official letter in the State Archives at Geneva
(_Portefeuille historique_, No. 1152) call the captain-in-chief _Jacob
Verrier_. The _Verriers_, or glass-makers, were generally rich and
influential men in the country. Wildermuth belonged to that class. _See_
Herminjard's _Correspondance des Réformateurs dans les pays de Langue
française_, ii. p. 211.
[633] Froment says about three hundred.—_Gestes de Genève_, p. 194. The
Bernese ambassadors say four hundred and fifty.—Registres du Conseil de
Genève _ad annum_.