much from a spirit of intolerance, as from a fear that the influence of
Servetus might undermine French Protestantism. Rome envied Calvin the
honour of having condemned Servetus to the flames.
[59] Amongst the English we find the names of Spencer, Coxe, Chambers,
Bishop Hooper, and the Bishops of Exeter, Norwich, Durham, and
Salisbury.
XXV.
THE CATHOLIC REACTION.
The benefits conferred by the Reformation on Switzerland were
counterbalanced by a religious schism which divided the land into two
antagonistic moieties, and paralyzed political progress. The religious
enthusiasm in Europe had spent itself in the first half of the sixteenth
century, and the energy it had displayed had roused amongst the
Catholics a corresponding activity. They were led by the famous Philip
II. of Spain, but fortunately Queen Elizabeth of England was able to
withstand the attack directed against her country. But the new order of
Jesuits, lately launched on the world to undo the work of the religious
reformers, took the field with united ranks; whilst, on the other hand,
the Protestants, split as they were into sections, and stumbling over
questions of dogma, lacked the unity of aim and purpose necessary to
stand successfully an attack so formidable. The wars of Schmalkalden
(1547-49) were as injurious to Protestant Germany as the catastrophe of
Kappel had been to Reformed Switzerland. The tide of Reformation rolled
back in Germany, and the men of Zurich beheld with grief and indignation
the fall of their strong ally in the work of religious reform,
Constance, after its desperate stand against the Emperor, Charles V.
Zurich was prevented by internal dissension and Catholic intolerance
from assisting Constance, and, moreover, was compelled to release
Mulhausen and Strasburg from their evangelical union with her. Thus
Geneva, which the Papists threatened to level with the ground, was
forced into an isolated position, and was near becoming the prey of
invading Savoy. Considering the internal condition of the Confederation,
we may well ask what it was that saved the little republic from complete
destruction in the terrible storm of the reaction which swept over
Europe, if it was not the very strength of the Federal union, and the
common possession of the different Swiss bailiwicks, which bound the
parts so strongly together, and which triumphed over both party feelings
and private interests. Thanks to the moderation of the Protestants, war
was avoided, and the country settled into a state of comparative repose.
Through Zwingli's efforts Switzerland extended the _droit d'asile_ to
all, and she henceforward followed out her mission as a neutral power.
It is the protection so freely given to refugees by Geneva, Zurich, and
other Swiss cities that brightens the history of this gloomy reaction
period.
Henry II., anxious to win over Switzerland to the Catholic cause,
requested the Swiss to stand as sponsors to his daughter, Claudia, and
received their embassy with marked distinction. Bern and Zurich,
however, were not coaxed into an alliance with France by these
blandishments. France wished for the preservation of peace from
self-interest. But she extolled greatly the prowess of the Swiss, and
called them the very "marrow" of her army. The Swiss excelled in single
feats of arms, and amongst the Catholic captains stands out
conspicuously the valiant Ludwig von Pfyffer, of Lucerne, who played a
part, as regards political influence, not unlike that of Waldmann, and
was nicknamed the "Swiss King." The wealth he had hoarded up during his
French service he freely spent in the Catholic cause.
Pre-eminent amongst those who worked for the Catholic revival was the
famous Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, and nephew of Pius IV. He
lived the life of a saint, and in due time was canonized. To his see
belonged the Swiss bailliages in the Ticino and Valtellina.
Indefatigable in his labours, constantly visiting every part of his
diocese, toiling up to the Alpine huts, he gathered the scattered flocks
into the Papal fold, whether by mildness or by force. Shocked at the
state of religious matters in the Forest Cantons, he founded a seminary
for priests, to which Pfyffer at once gave a very large sum of money.
For the spread of Catholic doctrines he hit upon three different means.
He called into being the Collegium Helveticum in 1579 at Milan,[60]
where the Swiss priests were educated free. He sent the Jesuits into the
country, and placed a nuncio at Lucerne, in 1580. In 1586 was signed,
between the seven Catholic cantons, the Borromean or Golden League,
directed against the reformers, and in the following year a coalition
was, by the same cantons, excepting Solothurn, entered into with Philip
of Spain and with Savoy. The Jesuits settled themselves in Lucerne and
Freiburg, and soon gained influence amongst the rich and the educated,
whilst the Capuchins, who fixed themselves at Altorf, Stanz, Appenzell,
and elsewhere, won the hearts of the masses by their lowliness and
devotion. In this way did Rome seek to regain her influence over the
Swiss peoples, and the effect of her policy was soon felt in the
semi-Protestant and subject lands. To the impression made by the efforts
of the Capuchins the great dissension in Appenzell bears witness, the
canton actually breaking up into two hostile divisions. The Catholics
removed to Inner, and the Reformers to Outer Rhoden, and each managed
its own affairs independently of the other; the latter, however, soon
began to prosper more than the former. In the Valais, the Protestant
party, though strong, was quite swept out by the Jesuits, before 1630,
and fled to Vaud and Bern. The history of lacerated Graubuenden will
occupy the next chapter.
It is painful to read of an act of violence committed by the Papists in
the expulsion of the Evangelians from Locarno, in the winter of 1555,
where a little band of two hundred adherents of the Zwinglian Church had
formed round Beccaria. Zurich supported them, notwithstanding the
opposition of France, and even of some of the Protestant cantons, and
Bullinger was their comfort and strength in all transactions. However,
Beccaria was compelled to flee to Misox valley, whence he ministered by
stealth to his flock. In January, 1555, stronger measures were taken,
and men and women were driven over the snowy heights to Misox, a sorry
substitute for the luxurious homes some of them had left in Locarno. But
they were soon moved on by the Papal legate, and in May some 120 of the
band arrived at Zurich, where Bullinger had arranged for them a
hospitable welcome. These new-comers revived the old trade with
Lombardy, and reintroduced the silk manufacture, which, being a
monopoly, became a source of great wealth to Zurich. Thus the town was
rewarded for its hospitality. Some of the aristocratic Zurich families
of to-day trace their origin to these Locarno refugees.
The city of Zurich was indeed at this time a general asylum for
religious refugees from all quarters. Germans, Italians, and English
fled there, and especially the Marian exiles from England. We find Peter
Martyr from Oxford established as a professor at the Carolinum; and
Occhino as minister to the Italian congregation in Zurich; Socinus and
other famous Italians.[61] Martyr and Socinus both died at Zurich, and
lie buried in its minster. For several years Peter Martyr and Bullinger
had lived on terms of the closest friendship with each other, and their
letters show how close was the tie between them. Their respective
religious views naturally tended to greater mutual resemblance.
Bullinger, like Calvin, kept up an immense correspondence with the
reformed churches, and was in frequent communication with monarchs,
princes, powerful nobles, and learned doctors. The readers of the
present story will naturally feel most interest in the relation between
the Swiss and the English Churches, and it will perhaps be better to
leave on one side the tangled skein of religious dissensions which
agitated Europe, and show from authentic sources[62]--letters
chiefly--how the Swiss Churches and Swiss divines influenced the
Reformed Church of England.
Though the English Reformation under Henry VIII. was greatly influenced
by Luther, under Edward VI. the Church veered round more to the Swiss
views, Cranmer especially leaning strongly towards Zwinglianism. Since
1536 the prelate had been on most friendly terms with Bullinger, and in
this same year some young Englishmen, Butler, Udrof, and Partridge, by
Cranmer's desire, settled in Zurich, to study its religious aspect and
enjoy intercourse with the distinguished Bullinger. In the following
year Eliot and others arrived with similar intent, and a great
attachment sprang up between the young men and their spiritual guide.
At the request of the students, Bullinger addressed to Henry two
treatises on the "Authority of the Scriptures," and on the "Dignity and
Office of Bishops," respectively, and was afterwards told that the
treatises greatly interested both the king and the archbishop. "It is
incredible what fame you acquire in England by your writings," says
Eliot in his letter to Bullinger in 1539; "the booksellers are growing
rich through you." Under Edward VI., Bullinger's relations with Cranmer
and Hooper, with Warwick and Dorset, and with Coxe and Cheke, grew
closer and closer, and the Church of Zurich regained its ascendency. At
Bullinger's house Hooper passed his second exile, and he says he was
received with delight, "being a true Christian," and he states that his
faith was greatly quickened by the writings of the famous Zurich divine.
The friendship between the two men was most intimate. At Hooper's
desire, Bullinger dedicated a series of his sermons on the "Christian
Faith" to Edward, who was greatly delighted with them, and had them
translated into English. During his imprisonment Hooper composed a
remarkable treatise addressed to Parliament in defence of the Zwinglian
teaching with regard to the Lord's Supper, and Traheron states (1548)
that England at large was inclined towards the Zwinglian view. In 1550
King Edward sent an envoy to ask the state of Zurich to unite with
England with regard to a Church Council, and, curiously enough, with
regard to reconciling that country with France.[63]
A charming episode in the life of Bullinger was the springing up of the
friendship with Lady Jane Grey, then a young and studious girl of
fourteen. Three letters written by her hand, and still treasured up at
Zurich, bear witness to this friendship. Of the treatise on "Christian
Marriage" dedicated to her, she translated a portion into Greek, and
presented it as a Christmas present to her father. Bullinger's sermons
and letters were a delight to her, and were to her "as most precious
flowers from a garden." She asked his advice as to the best method of
learning Hebrew, and regarded him as particularly favoured by the grace
of God. He it was whose teaching quickened her love for Christ, and gave
her and her family such support in their great trials later on. Even at
her last hour her thoughts were of him, for at the block she took off
her gloves and desired that they should be sent on to her Swiss
friends.[64]
It was on the Continent, among the Reformed Churches, that Hooper and
others gained their taste for a simple form of religious worship. When
Hooper was made Bishop of Gloucester, in 1550, he refused both the oath
and the episcopal vestments, and was sent to prison for his refusal. His
opposition, indeed, sowed the germs of that religious development which
so strongly agitated the Church under Elizabeth, and which, breaking
into open schism, resulted in the rise of Puritanism, and, later on, of
the dissenting movements generally. And, as is well known, the Puritans
fled to New England rather than give up their religious liberty. Hooper
was exempted from taking the oath, but had to give way in the matter of
the vestments. During his episcopacy Bullinger was ever his faithful and
wise counsellor, and when the martyr's death overtook him, he
recommended his persecuted country to his Swiss friends. "Of all men
attached to thee," he assures Bullinger in 1554, "none has been more
devoted than myself, nor have I ever had a more sincere friend than
thee."
Many other Marian exiles settled in Zurich, to whom, however, only a
passing word can be devoted. Bullinger alone accommodated often as many
as twenty guests at a time, and both ministers and magistrates--Gualter,
Lavater, and others--received the English exiles "with a tenderness and
affection that engaged them to the end of their lives to make the
greatest possible acknowledgment for it," to quote the words of one
Englishman. The correspondence between the Swiss hosts and their English
guests proves how close were the friendships formed between them.
Amongst these correspondents we find the English archbishops, Grindal
and Sandys, Bishop Pilkington, the Earl of Bedford, and other notable
men. Other proofs without number might be given of the close connection
between Switzerland and England in religious matters in the sixteenth
century, but what has been said must suffice.
Enough has been said to show how the influence of the Reformed Swiss
Churches was brought to bear on English Protestantism; on the Anglican
Church in respect of doctrine; and on the dissenting Church, that is,
Puritanism, in respect of both doctrine and form of worship. The
Reformed Church is the result of an amalgamation between the two mother
Churches of Geneva and Zurich, the union being brought about by the
desire of the leaders Calvin, Farel, Beza, Bullinger, who, anxious for
peace and concord, made mutual concessions.[65] Thus in Switzerland the
narrowness of Calvinism has been tempered by an admixture of the broader
and more enlightened teachings of Zwinglius, or rather the basis of the
teaching is Zwingli's, and Calvin has confirmed, intensified, and
completed it. Over France, England, Scotland, Holland, and North America
the reformed faith spread its roots "to grow up to trees of the same
family, but of different shape and size according to the soil from which
they started up." That Switzerland, with the exception of Geneva,
inclined strongly to Zwinglianism we have already shown. To deal
adequately with the question of the religious influence of Switzerland
on other European countries would be impossible within the limits of
this work. But that its influence was very great needs no saying. And
not in Europe alone, for the Puritan spirit was carried beyond the
ocean, and the reformers of Switzerland had their disciples in far-away
New England. Even modern Unitarianism is, in a sense, the direct
descendant of the reformation of Zurich, and its apostles--Williams,
Channing, Parker--are so far the successors of Zwingli and Bullinger.
The revival of learning witnessed by the sixteenth century had its full
effect in Switzerland. The thirst for knowledge was so great that men
would undergo almost any privations in their pursuit of it. Thomas
Platter--to cite but one instance out of many--rose from the humble
position of goatherd to be a prominent master of Hebrew and the classics
at Basel. In early life he laboured at rope-making, or turned
serving-man, or even begged in the streets. His son Felix was a notable
physician. The great reformers have already been spoken of. Besides the
above,[66] we may just mention among the Catholics, Glarean, the
foremost classical scholar of his country, crowned poet-laureate by the
Emperor Max. I.; and Tschudi, of Glarus, the brilliant narrator, author
of the national epic, Tell, and for centuries the first authority on
Swiss history; Paracelsus of Einsiedeln: of Protestants, Manuel (Bern),
the satirical poet, and painter of the _Todten Taenze a la Holbein_; and,
above all, Gessner, of Zurich, scholar, philosopher, naturalist, the
"Pliny of Germany."
_Kleinkunst_, lesser or practical art, also made brilliant progress in
Switzerland. Painting on glass, wood-carving, manufacture of
painted-tile stoves developed into industries almost peculiar to the
country in their excellence. This is shown by an inspection of the
magnificent specimens of these arts with which the country
abounds--splendid painted windows, beautiful wainscots, exquisite
relievi, beautiful tiled stoves, and so forth.
A few words respecting affairs in Geneva must close our account of the
sixteenth century. The Dukes of Savoy, unwilling to renounce their
claims, continued to harass the city. Henry IV., of France, came forward
as a protector, and Elizabeth, of England, addressed to the Swiss
cantons and reformed cities letters remarkable for the noble sentiments
and clear judgment displayed in them.[67] She urged them not to throw
away the key of Switzerland. However, on the night of the 21st of
December, 1602, Duke Charles Emmanuel ventured on a treacherous _coup de
main_ on the city known as the famous "Escalade." Eight thousand men had
been drawn up before her gates, and some three hundred had already
scaled her walls, when the sudden firing by a watchful guard roused the
citizens to a sense of their danger. A fierce conflict took place in the
streets, and the intruders were fortunately overpowered. This event
caused the greatest indignation throughout Europe, but it sealed the
independence of the Republic. The anniversary of the victory is still
regarded by the Genevans.
FOOTNOTES:
[60] This still exists in connection with the episcopal seminary.
[61] Faustus Socinus, the nephew of this Laelius Socinus, formed into a
regular system the ideas of his uncle, and really prepared the way for
modern Unitarianism.
[62] The Zurich archives are remarkably rich in materials relating to
the Reformation period. The Simmler collection contains copies of
eighteen thousand authentic letters. The "Epistolae Tigurinae," published
by the Parker Society, London, in 1842, contain copies of original
letters from the Marian exiles to Zurich divines. At Zurich are
preserved original letters from Erasmus, Henry the Fourth of France,
Lady Jane Grey, &c.
[63] Pestalozzi's "Life of Bullinger," Zurich.
[64] Pestalozzi's "Life of Bullinger."
[65] In England the general name Calvinistic is applied to certain
doctrines of the Reformed Churches, but not altogether appropriately,
seeing that Calvin was only one of the teachers of these doctrines.
[66] Glarean and Tschudi were Catholics, Manuel a Protestant.
[67] Copies are preserved among the Zurich letters.
XXVI.
THE ARISTOCRATIC PERIOD.
(1600-1712.)
In the life of nations no less than of individuals there are
vicissitudes, alternations of prosperity and adversity. If the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries witnessed the glorious rise of the
Swiss people, the seventeenth and eighteenth saw the political decline
of the Republic. Even the Reformation itself led the way to this decline
by lodging all power--political, fiscal, moral, and educational--in the
Protestant cantons in the hands of the governments. Patriotism was on
the wane, and the old mania for foreign service as a means of securing
foreign gold was again breaking out. Even Zurich, which for well-nigh a
century had steadfastly borne in mind the patriotic maxims of Zwingli,
now yielded to the persuasions of France. Indeed the Swiss Commonwealth
was rapidly becoming a mere vassalate of that country, under the
despotic Louis XIV. Swiss rule was taking that tinge of absolutism which
was colouring the governments of almost all European states. Louis, the
personification of absolute rule, had stamped the century with his
_cachet_, and aristocracies and oligarchies were taking the place of the
old democratic governments. This seems incompatible with the old Swiss
republican tenets. Yet, drawn within the influence of the monarchical
states, how could Switzerland escape the effects of that influence any
more than Venice or Genoa?
The political and religious passions and animosities of the previous
century now found vent in the terrible Thirty Years' War, which from
1618 to 1648 convulsed Europe. Thanks to its good fortune and
far-sightedness, Switzerland was not drawn into the conflict, save as to
its south-eastern corner, close as it was to the theatre of the great
struggle. Most anxiously was the neutrality of the country maintained,
yet its territory was not unfrequently violated. To give one instance,
General Horn led his Swedes into Swiss territory to besiege Constance.
Germany and Sweden--Gustavus Adolphus especially[68]--did all they could
to draw Switzerland to their side, but the Swiss had the good sense to
resist all blandishments, and bear patiently with vexatious intrusions.
The terrible scenes that were taking place across the Rhine were enough
to quell all intestine disputes in Switzerland itself, and the
comparative peace and prosperity found within its borders was the envy
of the neighbouring lands. A German traveller chronicles his surprise at
finding in Switzerland neither rapine nor murder, but security and
content. However rough and rugged its surface, the little republic
seemed to him an earthly Paradise.
[Illustration: HIGH ALTAR, CHUR CATHEDRAL.
(_From a Photograph._)]