Calvin Preaches Religious Reform In Italy.
The Duchess Of Ferrara.
Calvin's Flight From Aosta.
Towards the close of 1535, when the first edition, or, to speak
more accurately, the first sketch of his 'Christian Institutes'
had been prepared, or possibly published at Basle, Calvin had not
as yet come to any definite conclusion with regard to his
ultimate abode and life-work; he was engrossed in the propagation
of his faith, and wandered about, as one may say, in search of
places which might seem to promise the best means and chances of
success for his labours. He resolved to visit Italy and, like
others, to preach reform in the very stronghold of the ancient
Church. I say 'like others,' for the Reformation already
possessed more or less open adherents in Italy--reformers who
were sincere and active even when they were timid. Their chief
protector was Renée of France, duchess of Ferrara and daughter of
Louis XII.: they gathered round her, secure of her favour, and at
times tolerated by her husband Hercules d'Este, Duke of Ferrara;
but their religious labours were always to some extent disguised
by their love of learning and literature.
{203}
Either from prudence or in the interest of his cause, Calvin did
not travel in Italy under his own name, nor did he pass by it at
Ferrara; he was known as Charles d'Espeville, a name which he
often assumed to the end of his life whenever he wished to write
without compromising his friends. At the court of Ferrara he soon
found, or rather gained, admirers and disciples, some of them
ardent and enthusiastic like M. and Madame de Soubise, others
brilliant and vacillating like the poet Clement Marot. But
Calvin's most important and valuable conquest at Ferrara was the
Duchess Renée herself. She was a princess of insignificant
appearance, little and deformed, but she possessed rare
intelligence and a very noble nature; she was deeply interested
in the study of religion as well as that of literature, and was
capable of making great efforts and sacrifices for the Christian
faith, although she never forgot the requirements of her position
and royal birth. She had married her eldest daughter to Francis,
Duke de Guise, and in 1557, at the close of the disasters of the
army commanded by the duke in Italy, 'she saved,' says Brantôme,
'more than ten thousand souls, poor Frenchmen, soldiers and
others, who would have died of hunger and want if it had not been
for her; they passed through Ferrara and she succoured them all,
as many as ever there were, supplying their wants and giving them
money: so much so, that I have heard from one of her _maîtres
d'hôtel_ that their passage through the place cost her more
than ten thousand crowns; and when the _intendants_ of her
palace remonstrated at the excessive expense, she said nothing
more to them than--"What would you have me do? They are poor
Frenchmen of my nation, and if God had given me a beard on my
chin, and I had been a man, they would have been my subjects; and
indeed they would be my subjects now if that cursed Salic law did
not press so hardly upon me."'
{204}
Some years later, after 1559, the duchess became a widow, and she
then returned to France, and lived in her own castle of
Montargis; in 1562, in the midst of the civil war, she sheltered
in it a considerable number of Calvinists, some of them men of
rank; her grandson Henry, Duke de Guise, besieged the castle, and
summoned her to deliver up her guests. 'Take good care of what
you are doing,' was Renée's answer to the duke's envoy; 'know
that, except the king himself, no one has any right to dictate to
me, and if you execute your threats, I will be the first to enter
the breach, and I will try if you are bold enough to kill a
king's daughter, whose death both heaven and earth will be
compelled to avenge on you and your descendants, down to the
children in their cradles.'
Such a victory for the Reformation, and such a protector for the
reformers, were well worthy of the affectionate esteem and great
consideration which Calvin constantly showed the Duchess of
Ferrara from 1536 to 1564. During his short sojourn in Italy he
had evidently acquired that ascendency over her which a powerful
nature always obtains over a generous one, and a religious leader
exercises over his sincere adherents. There is no indication of
his having ever seen her again; but he was in constant
correspondence with her, and he became truly, in the language of
the seventeenth century, the director of her conscience. In this
difficult task he displayed an admirable admixture of religious
severity and wise moderation; he was prompt in his warnings when
he found the duchess weak, but very careful not to wound her by
unnecessary severity, or to require anything at her hands which
was inconsistent with her position; he took pains to put her on
her guard against the irregularities of her servants, but did
this without any meddlesome interference in her affairs or the
affection she felt for her family.
{205}
In 1554 she asked him to send her a chaplain for herself, and two
widow ladies 'to take charge of and have rule over the daughters
of her house.' Calvin sent her a reformed minister, Francis
Morel, who was known as Monsieur de Colonges. 'I think,' wrote
Calvin, 'you will find him so satisfactory that you will have
good reason to thank God. As he is a gentleman of good birth, he
will be so much the better received by those who will never
listen to good men if they are contemptible in the world's eyes.
The truth is that we must strive after that which is highest, and
even noble birth is not always to be desired if a man prizes it
too highly and is hindered, because of it, from serving God.'
[Footnote 66]
[Footnote 66: August 6th, 1554. _Lettres Françaises de Calvin_,
vol. i. p. 428.]
In 1555 the duchess was compelled to witness the cruelty of her
husband Hercules, Duke of Ferrara, towards the reformers, and
even to submit to his wishes with regard to Catholic ceremonies:
'I am sure,' wrote Calvin, 'that you have been compelled to
swerve from the right path, or you could not have satisfied those
who are of this world; for it is an evil sign that they who
offered such fierce opposition, in order to turn you from the
service of God, now leave you in peace. But, Madam, since our
good God is always ready to have mercy upon us, and stretches out
his hand when we stumble so that we may not fall utterly, I pray
you to take courage; and if the enemy for once, by reason of your
weakness, has had the advantage over you, yet do not let him
think that he has gained any real victory; let him rather feel
that those whom God has raised have twofold strength to sustain
them against all assaults.' [Footnote 67]
[Footnote 67: February 2d, 1553. Lettres Françaises, vol. ii.
p. 5.]
{206}
When the duchess sheltered the reformers in her chateau of
Montargis, in 1562, and gave such a haughty refusal to the
summons of the Duke de Guise that she should deliver them up,
Calvin congratulated her in a sternly eloquent epistle: 'I have
often thought, Madam, that God had reserved some trials for your
old age in order to indemnify himself for all the arrears that
you owe him on account of your timidity in the past. I speak
according to the manner of men, for if you had done a hundred, a
thousand times more, it would not have been enough to pay what
you owe him from day to day for the infinite benefits which he
continues to grant you. But I understand that he has shown you
singular honour, and has employed you in no less a service than
that of bearing his banner, so that you may be a refuge for the
members of Christ.' [Footnote 68]
[Footnote 68: May 10th, 1563. _Ibid_. vol. ii. p. 514.]
{207}
In 1564 Calvin was informed that the duchess was deeply grieved
at the violent hatred which the reformers continued to feel for
the memory of her son-in-law, Francis, Duke de Guise, who had
been assassinated the previous year by Poltrot, and by their
assertion that he would be condemned to everlasting punishment;
he was touched by her sorrow, and wrote to her four months before
his own death: 'Although we may all have said, "Woe to him by
whom the offence cometh, yet there has been reason why we should
lament and weep, in that a good cause has been very badly
conducted. And how could the Duke de Guise, who had kindled the
fire, be spared, if the evil which he committed vexed the souls
of all good men. I myself, even though I always prayed God to
have mercy upon him, yet verily I often implored the Lord to lay
his hand upon him and deliver the Church from him, if it was not
his will to turn his heart. And, I can assure you, that very
often during the war, if it had not been for me, impetuous and
resolute men would have attempted to rid the world of him; and
they were kept back by my exhortations only. Nevertheless, to say
that he will be damned is to go too far, unless we have sure and
certain signs of his condemnation. In which matter, we must guard
against rash presumption, for there is one judge only, before
whose throne we must all render up an account." [Footnote 69]
[Footnote 69: January 24, 1564. _Lettres Françaises de
Calvin_, vol. ii. p. 533.]
Surely, very few men in the sixteenth century--I do not speak of
any other--were liberal and large-hearted enough to use such
language concerning the death and the future state of their most
formidable enemy.
I do not hesitate to affirm, that the great Catholic bishops, who
in the seventeenth century directed the consciences of the
mightiest men in France, did not fulfil this difficult task with
more Christian firmness, intelligent justice, and knowledge of
the world, than Calvin displayed in his intercourse with the
Duchess of Ferrara. And the duchess was not the only person
towards whom he fulfilled this duty of a Christian pastor. His
correspondence shows that he exercised a similar influence, in a
spirit equally lofty and judicious, over the consciences of many
Protestants.
{208}
The severity of Hercules d'Este towards the Protestants obliged
Calvin to leave Ferrara. He knew no more than when he had arrived
there some months previously, where he should ultimately take up
his abode, nor how he should carry on the work to which he had
devoted his life. He wandered from place to place in northern
Italy, tarrying where he found friends, and teaching and
preaching religious reform wherever he went. Sometimes he was
received well, at others he was pursued by enemies who were
embittered against his doctrines and himself, for he had already
become famous. In 1536 he arrived in Piedmont and stayed there
some weeks, not in the city of Aosta itself, but in the
neighbourhood, at the house of a family of high rank, where
several of his adherents were assembled to meet him. But the
alarm was given to the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of
Piedmont: a council was held at Aosta, which was reinforced by a
strong manifestation of popular feeling. 'All the corporations in
the country renewed to the bishop the oath of fidelity which they
had taken to his royal highness, binding themselves to live and
die in obedience to him, and in the Apostolic and Roman faith.'
Orders were given to arrest Calvin 'and all others of his party.'
He escaped, but not without difficulty; he had to traverse
perilous Alpine passes, and, according to an ancient tradition,
was followed by 'the Marshal d'Aosta, Count of Chalans, who
pursued him to the very foot of the mountains with a drawn sword
in his hand.'
{209}
In 1541, five years later, a fountain surmounted by a cross was
erected, in the principal street of Aosta, in the market-place,
and the following inscription may now be seen on the pedestal:--
Hanc
CALVINI FUGA,
Erexit Anno MDXLI.
Religionis constantia reparavit
Anno MDCCXLI.
Civium pietas
Renovavit et adornavit
Anno MDCCCXLI.
'This cross, erected in 1541, in memory of Calvin's flight,
restored in 1741 by faithful believers, was renewed and
ornamented in 1841 by the piety of the citizens.'
The cross of Aosta and its inscription are not the only monuments
of Calvin's visit to Piedmont; local tradition has preserved many
other memorials: Calvin's _farm_ and Calvin's _bridge_
are still shown in the valley of Aosta; and the pass of Duranda,
one of the lofty passes on the borders of Valais which he
ascended when he fled from Piedmont, is still known as Calvin's
_window_.
Driven out of Italy, he returned to France; not, however, that he
desired to remain there, or would have been able to do so, for
there was no more safety for him in France than in Italy; his
intention was to establish himself at Basle or Strasburg; but
either attracted by recollections of home, or influenced by other
motives of which we are ignorant, he desired once again to see
the place of his birth, and those members of his family who were
still living.
{210}
He reached Noyon, and spent some time there, apparently meeting
with no opposition; at Noyon also he preached the Reformation and
made proselytes. Among others he induced one of his sisters,
Mary, and his only remaining brother, Anthony, to share his
belief and follow him to a new country; accompanied by them, he
set out for Basle; but as hostilities had again broken out
between Francis I. and Charles V. he did not go by way of
Lorraine, where the war was being carried on, but by Geneva. He
arrived there towards the end of August 1536, not intending, so
he says, to stay more than a single night. It was at Geneva,
however, after many severe trials, that he was to be established
and to find the great work of his life.
Great ideas, great men, and great events cannot be measured by
the magnitude of their cradles. Geneva at that time seems not to
have had more than from 12,000 to 15,000 inhabitants, and it was
not then a place of renown; but within its narrow limits it was
the scene of every crisis and every problem, great or small,
which can agitate human society. It had only just obtained the
national independence which it was still struggling to defend,
and which it had wrested from its former masters, the dukes of
Savoy, and from the hands of its own bishops. Its form of
government as an independent state was still imperfect and
unsettled, and was undergoing many experiments. Religious reform
had been inaugurated at the same time as political freedom, but
as yet it had not been condensed and embodied either in doctrine
or in ecclesiastical organization and discipline.
{211}
There was an urgent need of moral reform, for the ancient creeds
and authorities had strangely tolerated the decay of public
morality; and their downfall had been followed by an increase of
licence and profligacy. Religious reform made moral reform all
the more necessary, but did not succeed in accomplishing it. In
fact, Geneva presented the spectacle of a tottering republic, a
wavering faith, a nascent church; State and Church were sometimes
confused together, at others entirely separated, and there were
no definite rules recognised by both Church and State in their
mutual relation; whilst to all these public difficulties must be
added the frightful immorality of private individuals. What was
the meaning of these numerous indications? What would be the
result of a complication in which everything as yet seemed dark
and uncertain? Was it life-giving power that was at work, or
unfruitful anarchy? Such were the questions suggested in the
sixteenth century, in Geneva as well as in several of the great
European States; but in Geneva they were put forward more
distinctly, emphatically, and urgently than elsewhere.
Geneva became a celebrated city, because she was able to answer
these questions in a manner that for three centuries has been
satisfactory, whilst it is to Calvin that the answers are due.
{212}