Produced by Sigal Alon, Daniel J. Mount, Taavi Kalju and
the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net
HISTORY OF THE
RISE OF THE HUGUENOTS.
_VOLUME I._
A REVIEW OF THIS WORK,
_Occupying nearly four columns, appeared in the_ NEW YORK TRIBUNE _of
Dec. 30th, 1879, from which the following is extracted._
"It embraces the time from the accession of Francis I. in 1515, to
the death of Charles IX. in 1574, at which epoch the doctrines of
the Reformation had become well-grounded in France, and the
Huguenots had outgrown the feebleness of infancy and stood as a
distinct and powerful body before the religious world. In preparing
the learned and elaborate work, which will give the name of the
author an honourable place on the distinguished list of American
historians, Professor Baird has made a judicious use of the
researches and discoveries which, during the last thirty years,
have shed a fresh light on the history of France at the era of the
Reformation. Among the ample stores of knowledge which have been
laid open to his inquiries are the archives of the principal
capitals of Europe, which have been thoroughly explored for the
first time during that period. Numerous manuscripts of great value,
for the most part unknown to the learned world, have been rescued
from obscurity. At the side of the voluminous chronicles long since
printed, a rich abundance of contemporary correspondence and
hitherto inedited memoirs has accumulated, which afford a copious
collection of life-like and trustworthy views of the past. The
secrets of diplomacy have been revealed. The official statements
drawn up for the public may now be tested by the more truthful and
unguarded accounts conveyed in cipher to all the foreign courts of
Europe. Of not less importance, perhaps, than the official
publications are the fruits of private research, among which are
several valuable collections of original documents. While the
author has not failed to enrich his pages with the materials
derived from these and similar sources, he has made a careful and
patient study of the host of original chronicles, histories, and
kindred productions which have long been more or less familiar to
the world of letters. The fruits of his studious labours, as
presented in these volumes, attest his diligence, his fidelity, his
equipoise of judgment, his fairness of mind, his clearness of
perception, and his accuracy of statement.
"While the research and well-digested erudition exhibited in this
work are eminently creditable to the learning and scholarship of
the author, its literary execution amply attests the excellence of
his taste, and his judgment and skill in the art of composition.
His work is one of the most important recent contributions to
American literature, and is entitled to a sincere greeting for its
manifold learning and scholarly spirit."
HISTORY OF THE
RISE OF THE HUGUENOTS.
BY
HENRY M. BAIRD,
PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
_IN TWO VOLUMES._
VOL. I.
_FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH
REFORMATION TO THE EDICT OF
JANUARY (1562)._
London:
HODDER AND STOUGHTON,
27, PATERNOSTER ROW.
MDCCCLXXX.
Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury
PREFACE.
The period of about half a century with which these volumes are
concerned may properly be regarded as the formative age of the Huguenots
of France. It included the first planting of the reformed doctrines, and
the steady growth of the Reformation in spite of obloquy and
persecution, whether exercised under the forms of law or vented in
lawless violence. It saw the gathering and the regular organization of
the reformed communities, as well as their consolidation into one of the
most orderly and zealous churches of the Protestant family. It witnessed
the failure of the bloody legislation of three successive monarchs, and
the equally abortive efforts of a fourth monarch to destroy the
Huguenots, first with the sword and afterward with the dagger. At the
close of this period the faith and resolution of the Huguenots had
survived four sanguinary wars into which they had been driven by their
implacable enemies. They were just entering upon a fifth war, under
favorable auspices, for they had made it manifest to all men that their
success depended less upon the lives of leaders, of whom they might be
robbed by the hand of the assassin, than upon a conviction of the
righteousness of their cause, which no sophistry of their opponents
could dissipate. The Huguenots, at the death of Charles the Ninth,
stood before the world a well-defined body, that had outgrown the
feebleness of infancy, and had proved itself entitled to consideration
and respect. Thus much was certain.
The subsequent fortunes of the Huguenots of France--their wars until
they obtained recognition and some measure of justice in the Edict of
Nantes; the gradual infringement upon their guaranteed rights,
culminating in the revocation of the edict, and the loss to the kingdom
of the most industrious part of the population; their sufferings "under
the cross" until the publication of the Edict of Toleration--these offer
an inviting field of investigation, upon which I may at some future time
be tempted to enter.[1]
The history of the Huguenots during a great part of the period covered
by this work, is, in fact, the history of France as well. The outlines
of the action and some of the characters that come upon the stage are,
consequently, familiar to the reader of general history. The period has
been treated cursorily in writings extending over wider limits, while
several of the most striking incidents, including, especially, the
Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day, have been made the subject of special
disquisitions. Yet, although much study and ingenuity have been expended
in elucidating the more difficult and obscure points, there is,
especially in the English language, a lack of works upon the general
theme, combining painstaking investigation into the older (but not,
necessarily, better known) sources of information, and an acquaintance
with the results of modern research.
The last twenty-five or thirty years have been remarkably fruitful in
discoveries and publications shedding light upon the history of France
during the age of the Reformation and the years immediately following.
The archives of all the principal, and many of the secondary, capitals
of Europe have been explored. Valuable manuscripts previously known to
few scholars--if, indeed, known to any--have been rescued from obscurity
and threatened destruction. By the side of the voluminous histories and
chronicles long since printed, a rich store of contemporary
correspondence and hitherto inedited memoirs has been accumulated,
supplying at once the most copious and the most trustworthy fund of
life-like views of the past. The magnificent "Collection de Documents
Inedits sur l'Histoire de France," still in course of publication by the
Ministry of Public Instruction, comprehends in its grand design not only
extended memoirs, like those of Claude Haton of Provins, but the even
more important portfolios of leading statesmen, such as those of
Secretary De l'Aubespine and Cardinal Granvelle (not less indispensable
for French than for Dutch affairs), and the correspondence of monarchs,
as of Henry the Fourth. The secrets of diplomacy have been revealed.
Those singularly accurate and sensible reports made to the Doge and
Senate of Venice, by the ambassadors of the republic, upon their return
from the French court, can be read in the collections of Venetian
Relations of Tommaseo and Alberi, or as summarized by Ranke and Baschet.
The official statements drawn up for the eyes of the public may now be
confronted with and tested by the more truthful and unguarded accounts
conveyed in cipher to all the foreign courts of Europe. Including the
partial collections of despatches heretofore put in print, we possess,
regarding many critical events, the narratives and opinions of such apt
observers as the envoys of Spain, of the German Empire, of Venice, and
of the Pope, of Wurtemberg, Saxony, and the Palatinate. Above all, we
have access to the continuous series of letters of the English
ambassadors and minor agents, comprising Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Nicholas
Throkmorton, Walsingham, Jones, Killigrew, and others, scarcely less
skilful in the use of the pen than in the art of diplomacy. This English
correspondence, parts of which were printed long ago by Digges, Dr.
Patrick Forbes, and Haynes, and other portions by Hardwick, Wright,
Tytler-Fraser, etc., can now be read in London, chiefly in the Record
Office, and is admirably analyzed in the invaluable "Calendars of State
Papers (Foreign Series)," published under the direction of the Master of
the Rolls. Too much weight can scarcely be given to this source of
information and illustration. One of the learned editors
enthusiastically remarks concerning a part of it (the letters of
Throkmorton[2]): "The historical literature of France, rich as it
confessedly is in memoirs and despatches of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, possesses (as far as I am aware) no series of
papers which can compare either in continuity, fidelity, or minuteness,
with the correspondence of Throkmorton.... He had his agents and his
spies everywhere throughout France."
Little, if at all, inferior in importance to governmental publications,
are the fruits of private research. Several voluminous collections of
original documents deserve special mention. Not to speak of the
publications of the national French Historical Society, the "Societe de
l'Histoire du Protestantisme Francais" has given to the world, in its
monthly Bulletin, so many hitherto inedited documents, besides a great
number of excellent monographs, that the volumes of this periodical, now
in its twenty-eighth year, constitute in themselves an indispensable
library of reference. That admirable biographical work, "La France
Protestante," by the brothers Haag (at present in course of revision and
enlargement); the "Correspondance des Reformateurs dans les Pays de
Langue Francaise," by M. Herminjard (of which five volumes have come
out), a signal instance of what a single indefatigable student can
accomplish; the collections of Calvin's Letters, by M. Jules Bonnet; and
the magnificent edition of the same reformer's works, by Professors
Baum, Cunitz, and Reuss, a treasury of learning, rich in surprises for
the historical student--all these merit more particular description than
can here be given. The biography of Beza, by Professor Baum, the history
of the Princes of Conde, by the Due d'Aumale, the correspondence of
Frederick the Pious, edited by Kluckholn, etc., contribute a great deal
of previously unpublished material. The sumptuous work of M. Douen on
Clement Marot and the Huguenot Psalter sheds new light upon an
interesting, but until now obscure subject. The writings of Farel and
his associates have been rescued from the oblivion to which the extreme
scarcity of the extant copies consigned them; and the "Vray Usage de la
Croix," the "Sommaire," and the "Maniere et Fasson," can at last be read
in elegant editions, faithful counterparts of the originals in every
point save typographical appearance. The same may be said of such
celebrated but hitherto unattainable rarities as the "Tigre" of 1560,
scrupulously reproduced in fac-simile, by M. Charles Read, of Paris,
from the copy belonging to the Hotel-de-Ville, and the fugitive songs
and hymns which M. Bordier has gathered in his "Chansonnier Huguenot."
No little value belongs, also, to certain contemporary journals of
occurrences given to the world under the titles of "Journal d'un
Bourgeois de Paris sous le regne de Francois Ier," "Cronique du Roy
Francoys, premier de ce nom," "Journal d'un cure ligueur de Paris sous
les trois derniers Valois (Jehan de la Fosse)," "Journal de Jean
Glaumeau de Bourges," etc.
The revival of interest in the fortunes of their ancestors has led a
considerable number of French Protestants to prepare works bearing upon
the history of Protestantism in particular cities and provinces. Among
these may be noted the works of MM. Douen and Rossier, on Picardy;
Recordon, on Champagne; Lievre, on Poitou; Bujeaud, on Angoumois;
Vaurigaud, on Brittany; Arnaud, on Dauphiny; Coquerel, on Paris; Borrel,
on Nismes; Callot and Delmas, on La Rochelle; Crottet, on Pons, Gemozac,
and Mortagne; Corbiere, on Montpellier, etc. Although these books differ
greatly in intrinsic importance, and in regard to the exercise of
historical criticism, they all have a valid claim to attention by reason
of the evidence they afford of individual research.
Of the new light thrown upon the rise of the Huguenots by these and
similar works, it has been my aim to make full use. At the same time I
have been convinced that no adequate knowledge of the period can be
obtained, save by mastering the great array of original chronicles,
histories, and kindred productions with which the literary world has
long been acquainted, at least by name. This result I have, accordingly,
endeavored to reach by careful and patient reading. It is unnecessary to
specify in detail the numerous authors through whose writings it became
my laborious but by no means ungrateful task to make my way, for the
marginal notes will indicate the exact line of the study pursued. It may
be sufficient to say, omitting many other names scarcely less important,
that I have assiduously studied the works of De Thou, Agrippa d'Aubigne,
La Place, La Planche; the important "Histoire Ecclesiastique," ascribed
to Theodore de Beze; the "Actiones et Monimenta" of Crespin; the memoirs
of Castelnau, Vieilleville, Du Bellay, Tavannes, La Noue, Montluc,
Lestoile, and other authors of this period, included in the large
collections of memoirs of Petitot, Michaud and Poujoulat, etc.; the
writings of Brantome; the Commentaries of Jean de Serres, in their
various editions, as well as other writings attributed to the same
author; the rich "Memoires de Conde," both in their original and their
enlarged form; the series of important documents comprehended in the
"Archives curieuses" of Cimber and Danjou; the disquisitions collected
by M. Leber; the histories of Davila, Florimond de Raemond, Maimbourg,
Varillas, Soulier, Mezeray, Gaillard; the more recent historical works
of Sismondi, Martin, Michelet, Floquet; the volumes of Browning,
Smedley, and White, in English, of De Felice, Drion, and Puaux, in
French, of Barthold, Von Raumer, Ranke, Polenz, Ebeling, and Soldan, in
German. The principal work of Professor Soldan, in particular, bounded
by the same limits of time with those of the present history, merits, in
virtue of accuracy and thoroughness, a wider recognition than it seems
yet to have attained. My own independent investigations having conducted
me over much of the ground traversed by Professor Soldan, I have enjoyed
ample opportunity for testing the completeness of his study and the
judicial fairness of his conclusions.
The posthumous treatise of Professor H. Wuttke, "Zur Vorgeschichte der
Bartholomaeusnacht," published in Leipsic since the present work was
placed in the printer's hands, reached me too late to be noticed in
connection with the narrative of the events which it discusses.
Notwithstanding Professor Wuttke's recognized ability and assiduity as a
historical investigator, I am unable to adopt the position at which he
arrives.
I desire here to acknowledge my obligation for valuable assistance in
prosecuting my researches to my lamented friend and correspondent,
Professor Jean Guillaume Baum, long and honorably connected with the
Academie de Strasbourg, than whom France could boast no more
indefatigable or successful student of her annals, and who consecrated
his leisure hours during forty years to the enthusiastic study of the
history of the French and Swiss Reformation. If that history is better
understood now than when, in 1838, he submitted as a theological thesis
his astonishingly complete "Origines Evangelii in Gallia restaurati,"
the progress is due in great measure to his patient labors. To M. Jules
Bonnet, under whose skilful editorship the Bulletin of the French
Protestant Historical Society has reached its present excellence, I am
indebted for help afforded me in solving, by means of researches among
the MSS. of the Bibliotheque Rationale at Paris, and the Simler
Collection at Zurich, several difficult problems. To these names I may
add those of M. Henri Bordier, Bibliothecaire Honoraire in the
Department of MSS. (Bibliotheque Rationale), of M. Raoul de Cazenove, of
Lyons, author of many highly prized monographs on Huguenot topics, and
of the Rev. John Forsyth, D.D., who have in various ways rendered me
valuable services.
Finally, I deem it both a duty and a privilege to express my warm thanks
to the librarians of the Princeton Theological Seminary and of the Union
Theological Seminary in this city; and particularly to the successive
superintendents and librarians of the Astor Library--both the living and
the dead--by the signal courtesy of whom, the whole of that admirable
collection of books has been for many years placed at my disposal for
purposes of consultation so freely, that nothing has been wanting to
make the work of study in its alcoves as pleasant and effective as
possible.
UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK,
September 15, 1879.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Meantime I am glad that we may expect before very long,
from the pen of my brother, Charles W. Baird, the history of the
Huguenot emigration to the American colonies in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries--a work based upon extensive research, that will
afford much interesting information respecting a movement hitherto
little understood, and fill an important gap in our historical
literature.]
[Footnote 2: Of the different modes of spelling this name, I choose the
mode which, according to the numerous fac-similes given by Dr. Forbes,
the worthy knight seems himself to have followed with commendable
uniformity.]
CONTENTS
OF
VOLUME FIRST.
BOOK I.
CHAPTER I
Page
FRANCE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 3
Extent at the Accession of Francis I. 3
Gradual Territorial Growth 4
Subdivision in the Tenth Century 5
Destruction of the Feudal System 5
The Foremost Kingdom of Christendom 6
Assimilation of Manners and Language 8
Growth and Importance of Paris 9
Military Strength 10
The Rights of the People overlooked 11
The States General not convoked 12
Unmurmuring Endurance of the Tiers Etat 13
Absolutism of the Crown 14
Partial Checks 15
The Parliament of Paris 16
Other Parliaments 17
The Parliaments claim the Right of Remonstrance 17
Abuses in the Parliament of Bordeaux 19
Origin and Growth of the University 20
Faculty of Theology, or Sorbonne 22
Its Authority and Narrowness 23
Multitude of Students 24
Credit of the Clergy 25
Liberties of the Gallican Church 25
Pragmatic Sanction of. St. Louis (1268) 26
Conflict of Philip the Fair with Boniface VIII. 27
The "Babylonish Captivity" 28
Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438) 29
Rejoicing at the Council of Basle 31
Louis XI. undertakes to abrogate the Pragmatic Sanction 32
But subsequently re-enacts it in part 33
Louis XII. publishes it anew 35
Francis I. sacrifices the Interests of the Gallican Church 35
Concordat between Leo X. and the French King 36
Dissatisfaction of the Clergy 37
Struggle with the Parliament of Paris 37
Opposition of the University 39
Patronage of the King 41
The "Renaissance" 41
Francis's Acquirements overrated 42
His Munificent Patronage of Art 42
The College Royal, or "Trilingue" 43
An Age of Blood 44
Barbarous Punishment for Crime 45
And not less for Heresy 46
Belief in Judicial Astrology 47
Predictions of Nostradamus 47
Reverence for Relics 49
For the Consecrated Wafer 50
Internal Condition of the Clergy 51
Number and Wealth of the Cardinals 51
Non-residence of Prelates 52
Revenues of the Clergy 52
Vice and Hypocrisy 53
Brantome's Account of the Clergy before the Concordat 54
Aversion to the Use of the French Language 56
Indecent Processions--"Processions Blanches" 59
The Monastic Orders held in Contempt 60
Protests against prevailing Corruption 61
The "Cathari," or Albigenses 61
Nicholas de Clemangis 63
John Gerson 64
Jean Bouchet's "Deploration of the Church" 65
* * * * *
Changes in the Boundaries of France during the 16th Century 66
CHAPTER II.
1512-1525.
THE REFORMATION IN MEAUX 67
Jacques Lefevre d'Etaples 67
Restores Letters to France 68
Wide Range of his Studies 68
Guillaume Farel, his Pupil 68
Devotion of Teacher and Scholar 69
Lefevre publishes a Latin Commentary on the Pauline Epistles (1512) 70
Enters into Controversy with Natalis Beda (1518) 71
The Sorbonne's Declaration (Nov. 9, 1521) 71
Briconnet, Bishop of Meaux 72
His First Reformatory Efforts 72
Invites Lefevre and Farel to Meaux 73
Effects of the Preaching of Roussel and others 74
De Roma's Threat 76
Lefevre publishes a Translation of the New Testament (1523) 77
The Results surpass Expectation 79
Bishop Briconnet's Weakness 80
Forbids the "Lutheran" Doctors to preach 81
Lefevre and Roussel take Refuge in Strasbourg 84
Jean Leclerc whipped and branded 87
His barbarous Execution at Metz 88
Pauvan burned on the Place de Greve 89
The Hermit of Livry 92
Briconnet becomes a Jailer of "Lutherans" 92
Lefevre's Writings condemned by the Sorbonne (1525) 93
He becomes Tutor of Prince Charles 94
Librarian at Blois 94
Ends his Days at Nerac 95
His Mental Anguish 95
Michel d'Arande and Gerard Roussel 96
CHAPTER III.
1523-1525.
FRANCIS I. AND MARGARET OF ANGOULEME--EARLY REFORMATORY
MOVEMENTS AND STRUGGLES 99
Francis I. and Margaret of Angouleme 99
The King's Chivalrous Disposition 100
Appreciates Literary Excellence 101
Contrast with Charles V. 101
His Religious Convictions 102
His Fear of Innovation 102
His Loose Morality 103
Margaret's Scholarly Attainments 104
Her Personal Appearance 105
Her Participation in Public Affairs 106
Her First Marriage to the Duke of Alencon 106
Obtains a Safe-Conduct to visit her Brother 106
Her Second Marriage, to Henry, King of Navarre 107
Bishop Briconnet's Mystic Correspondence 108
Luther's Teachings solemnly condemned by the University 108
Melanchthon's Defence 109
Regency of Louise de Savoie 109
The Sorbonne suggests Means of extirpating the "Lutheran
Doctrines" (Oct. 7, 1523) 110
Wide Circulation of Luther's Treatises 112
Francois Lambert, of Avignon 112
Life among the Franciscans 113
Lambert, the first French Monk to embrace the Reformation 113
He is also the First to Marry 114
Jean Chatellain at Metz 114
Wolfgang Schuch at St. Hippolyte 115
Farel at Montbeliard 117
Pierre Caroli lectures on the Psalms 118
* * * * *
The Heptameron of the Queen of Navarre 119
CHAPTER IV.
1525-1533.
INCREASED SEVERITY--LOUIS DE BERQUIN 122
Captivity of Francis I. 122
Change in the Religious Policy of Louise 123
A Commission appointed to try "Lutherans" 124
The Inquisition heretofore jealously watched 125
The Commission indorsed by Clement VII. 126
Its Powers enlarged by the Bull 128
Character of Louis de Berquin 128
He becomes a warm Partisan of the Reformation 129
First Imprisonment (1523) 130
Released by Order of the King 130
Advice of Erasmus 131
Second Imprisonment (1526) 131
Francis from Madrid again orders his Release 132
Dilatory Measures of Parliament 132
Margaret of Angouleme's Hopes 133
Francis violates his Pledges to Charles V. 134
Must conciliate the Pope and Clergy 135
Promises to prove himself "Very Christian" 137
The Council of Sens (1528) 138
Cardinal Duprat 138
Vigorous Measures to suppress Reformation 139
The Councils of Bourges and Lyons 139
Financial Help bought by Persecution 140
Insult to an Image and an Expiatory Procession 141
Other Iconoclastic Excesses 143
Berquin's Third Arrest 143
His Condemnation to Penance, Branding, and Perpetual Imprisonment 145
He Appeals 145
Is suddenly Sentenced to Death and Executed 146
Francis Treats with the Germans 147
And with Henry VIII. of England 148
Francis meets Clement at Marseilles 148
Marriage of Henry of Orleans to Catharine de' Medici 148
Francis Refuses to join in a general Scheme for the Extermination
of Heresy 149
Execution of Jean de Caturce, at Toulouse 150
Le Coq's Evangelical Sermon 151
Margaret attacked at College of Navarre 152
Her "Miroir de l'Ame Pecheresse" condemned 152
Rector Cop's Address to the University 153
Calvin, the real Author, seeks Safety in Flight 154
Rough Answer of Francis to the Bernese 155
Royal Letter to the Bishop of Paris 156
* * * * *
Elegies on Louis de Berquin 157
CHAPTER V.
1534-1535.
MELANCHTHON'S ATTEMPT AT CONCILIATION, AND THE YEAR OF
THE PLACARDS 159
Hopes of Reunion in the Church 159
Melanchthon and Du Bellay 160
A Plan of Reconciliation 160
Its Extreme Concessions 161
Makes a Favorable Impression on Francis 162
Indiscreet Partisans of Reform 162
Placards and Pasquinades 163
Feret's Mission to Switzerland 164
The Placard against the Mass 164
Excitement produced in Paris (Oct. 18, 1534) 167
A Copy posted on the Door of the Royal Bedchamber 167
Anger of Francis at the Insult 167
Political Considerations 168
Margaret of Navarre's Entreaties 168
Francis Abolishes the Art of Printing (Jan. 13, 1535) 169
The Rash and Shameful Edict Recalled 170
Rigid Investigation and many Victims 171
The Expiatory Procession (Jan. 21, 1535) 173
The King's Speech at the Episcopal Palace 176
Constancy of the Victims 177
The Estrapade 177
Flight of Clement Marot and others 179
Royal Declaration of Coucy (July 16, 1535) 179
Alleged Intercession of Pope Paul III. 180
Clemency again dictated by Policy 181
Francis's Letter to the German Princes 182
Sturm and Vore beg Melanchthon to come 182
Melanchthon's Perplexity 183
He is formally invited by the King 184
Applies to the Elector for Permission to go 184
But is roughly refused 185
The Proposed Conference reprobated by the Sorbonne 187
Du Bellay at Smalcald 188
He makes for Francis a Protestant Confession 189
Efforts of French Protestants in Switzerland and Germany 191
Intercession of Strasbourg, Basle, etc. 191
Unsatisfactory Reply by Anne de Montmorency 193
CHAPTER VI.
1535-1545.
CALVIN AND GENEVA--MORE SYSTEMATIC PERSECUTION BY THE KING 193
Changed Attitude of Francis 193
Occasioned by the "Placards" 194
Margaret of Navarre and Roussel 195
The French Reformation becomes a Popular Movement 196
Independence of Geneva secured by Francis 197
John Calvin's Childhood 198
He studies in Paris and Orleans 199
Change of Religious Views at Bourges 199
His Commentary on Seneca's "De Clementia" 200
Escapes from Paris to Angouleme 201
Leaves France 202
The "Christian Institutes" 202
Address to Francis the First 203
Calvin wins instant Celebrity 204
The Court of Renee of Ferrara 205
Her History and Character 206
Calvin's alleged Visit to Aosta 207
He visits Geneva 208
Farel's Vehemence 209
Calvin consents to remain 210
His Code of Laws for Geneva 210
His View of the Functions of the State 210
Heretics to be constrained by the Sword 211
Calvin's View that of the other Reformers 212
And even of Protestant Martyrs 212
Calvin longs for Scholarly Quiet 213
His Mental Constitution 214
Ill-health and Prodigious Labors 214
Friendly and Inimical Estimates 214
Violent Persecutions throughout France 216
Royal Edict of Fontainebleau (June 1, 1540) 218
Increased Severity, and Appeal cut off 218
Exceptional Fairness of President Caillaud 219
Letters-Patent from Lyons (Aug. 30, 1542) 220
The King and the Sacramentarians 221
Ordinance of Paris (July 23, 1543) 221
Heresy to be punished as Sedition 222
Repression proves a Failure 222
The Sorbonne publishes Twenty-five Articles 223
Francis gives them the Force of Law (March 10, 1543) 224
More Systematic Persecution 224
The Inquisitor Mathieu Ory 224
The Nicodemites and Libertines 225
Margaret of Navarre at Bordeaux 226
Francis's Negotiations in Germany 227
Hypocritical Representations made by Charles, Duke of Orleans 228
CHAPTER VII.
1545-1547.
CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE VAUDOIS OF MERINDOL AND CABRIERES, AND
LAST DAYS OF FRANCIS I. 230
The Vaudois of the Durance 230
Their Industry and Thrift 230
Embassy to German and Swiss Reformers 232
Translation of the Bible by Olivetanus 233
Preliminary Persecutions 234
The Parliament of Aix 235
The Atrocious "Arret de Merindol" (Nov. 18, 1540) 236
Condemned by Public Opinion 237
Preparations to carry it into Effect 237
President Chassanee and the Mice of Autun 238
The King instructs Du Bellay to investigate 239
A Favorable Report 240
Francis's Letter of Pardon 241
Parliament's Continued Severity 241
The Vaudois publish a Confession 242
Intercession of the Protestant Princes of Germany 242
The new President of Parliament 243
Sanguinary Royal Order, fraudulently obtained (Jan. 1, 1545) 244
Expedition stealthily organized 245
Villages burned--their Inhabitants murdered 246
Destruction of Merindol 247
Treacherous Capture of Cabrieres 248
Women burned and Men butchered 248
Twenty-two Towns and Villages destroyed 249
A subsequent Investigation 251
"The Fourteen of Meaux" 253
Wider Diffusion of the Reformed Doctrines 256
The Printer Jean Chapot before Parliament 256
CHAPTER VIII.
1547-1559.
HENRY THE SECOND AND THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FRENCH PROTESTANT
CHURCHES 258
Impartial Estimates of Francis the First 258
Henry, as Duke of Orleans 259
His Sluggish Mind 260
His Court 261
Diana of Poitiers 262
The King's Infatuation 262
Constable Anne de Montmorency 263
His Cruelty 264
Disgraced by Francis, but recalled by Henry 265
Duke Claude of Guise, and John, first Cardinal of Lorraine 266
Marriage of James the Fifth of Scotland to Mary of Lorraine 268
Francis the Dauphin affianced to Mary of Scots 268
Francis of Guise and Charles of Lorraine 268
Various Estimates of Cardinal Charles of Lorraine 270
Rapacity of the new Favorites 272
Servility toward Diana of Poitiers 273
Persecution to atone for Moral Blemishes 274
"La Chambre Ardente" 275
Edict of Fontainebleau against Books from Geneva (Dec. 11, 1547) 275
Deceptive Title-pages 275
The Tailor of the Rue St. Antoine 276
Other Victims of Intolerance 278
Severe Edicts and Quarrels with Rome 278
Edict of Chateaubriand (June 27, 1551) 279
The War against Books from Geneva 280
Marshal Vieilleville refuses to profit by Confiscation 282
The "Five Scholars of Lausanne" 283
Interpositions in their Behalf ineffectual 284
Activity of the Canton of Berne 286
Progress of the Reformation in Normandy 287
Attempt to establish the Spanish Inquisition 287
Opposition of Parliament 288
President Seguier's Speech 289
Coligny's Scheme of American Colonization 291
Villegagnon in Brazil 292
He brings Ruin on the Expedition 293
First Protestant Church in Paris 294
The Example followed in the Provinces 296
Henry the Second breaks the Truce 297
Fresh Attempts to introduce the Spanish Inquisition 298
Three Inquisitors-General 299
Judges sympathize with the Victims 300
Edict of Compiegne (July 24, 1557) 301
Defeat of St. Quentin (August 10, 1557) 302
Vengeance wreaked upon the Protestants 302
Affair of the Rue St. Jacques (Sept. 4, 1557) 303
Treatment of the Prisoners 304
Malicious Rumors 305
Trials and Executions 307
Intercession of the Swiss Cantons and Others 308
Constancy of Some and Release of Others 311
Controversial Pamphlets 311
Capture of Calais (January, 1558) 312
Registry of the Inquisition Edict 312
Antoine of Navarre, Conde, and other Princes favor the Protestants 313
Embassy of the Protestant Electors 313
Psalm-singing on the Pre aux Clercs 314
Conference of Cardinals Lorraine and Granvelle 315
D'Andelot's Examination before the King 317
His Constancy in Prison and temporary Weakness 318
Paul IV.'s Indignation at the King's Leniency 320
Anxiety for Peace 321
Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis (April 3, 1559) 322
Sacrifice of French Interests 323
Was there a Secret Treaty for the Extermination of Protestants? 324
The Prince of Orange learns the Designs of Henry and Philip 325
Danger of Geneva 320
Parliament suspected of Heretical Leanings 329
The "Mercuriale" 330
Henry goes in Person to hear the Deliberations (June 10, 1559) 332
Fearlessness of Du Bourg and Others 334
Henry orders their Arrest 335
First National Synod (May 26, 1559) 335
Ecclesiastical Discipline adopted 336
Marriages and Festivities of the Court 338
Henry mortally wounded in the Tournament (June 30, 1559) 339
His Death (July 10, 1559) 340
* * * * *
"La Facon de Geneve"--the Protestant Service 341
Farel's "Maniere et Fasson" (1533) 342
Calvin's Liturgy (1542) 343
CHAPTER IX.
JULY, 1559-MAY, 1560.
FRANCIS THE SECOND AND THE TUMULT OF AMBOISE 346
Epigrams on the Death of Henry 346
The Young King 347
Catharine de' Medici 348
Favors the Family of Guise 350
Who make themselves Masters of the King 351
Constable Montmorency retires 352
Antoine, King of Navarre 354
His Remissness and Pusillanimity 355
The Persecution continues 359
Denunciation and Pillage at Paris 360
The Protestants address Catharine 362
Pretended Orgies in "La Petite Geneve" 365
Cruelty of the Populace 366
Traps for Heretics 367
Trial of Anne du Bourg 368
Intercession of the Elector Palatine 370
Du Bourg's Last Speech 371
His Execution and its Effect 372
Florimond de Raemond's Observations 374
Revulsion against the Tyranny of the Guises 375
Calvin and Beza discountenance Armed Resistance 377
De la Renaudie 379
Assembly of Malcontents at Nantes 380
Plans well devised 381
Betrayed by Des Avenelles 382
The "Tumult of Amboise" 383
Coligny gives Catharine good Counsel 384
The Edict of Amnesty (March, 1560) 385
A Year's Progress 386
Confusion at Court 387
Treacherous Capture of Castelnau 388
Death of La Renaudie 389
Plenary Commission given to the Duke of Guise 389
A Carnival of Blood 391
The Elder D'Aubigne and his Son 393
Francis and the Prince of Conde 393
Conde's Defiance 394
* * * * *
An alleged Admission of Disloyal Intentions by La Renaudie 394
CHAPTER X.
MAY-DECEMBER, 1560.
THE ASSEMBLY OF NOTABLES AT FONTAINEBLEAU, AND THE CLOSE OF
THE REIGN OF FRANCIS THE SECOND 397
Rise of the Name of the Huguenots 397
Their Sudden Growth 399
How to be accounted for 400
Progress of Letters 400
Marot's and Beza's Psalms 402
Morality and Martyrdom 402
Character of the Protestant Ministers 402
Testimony of Bishop Montluc 403
Preaching in the Churches of Valence 404
The Reformation and Morals 406
Francis orders Extermination 406
Large Congregations at Nismes 407
Mouvans in Provence 407
A Popular Awakening 408
Pamphlets against the Guises 409
Catharine consults the Huguenots 409
Edict of Romorantin (May, 1560) 410
No Abatement of Rigorous Persecution 411
Spiritual Jurisdiction differing little from the Inquisition 411
Chancellor Michel de l'Hospital 412
Continued Disquiet--Montbrun 414
Assembly of Notables at Fontainebleau (Aug. 21, 1560) 415
The Chancellor's Address 416
The Finances of France 416
Admiral Coligny presents the Petitions of the Huguenots 416
Bishop Montluc ably advocates Toleration 418
Bishop Marillac's Eloquent Speech 420
Coligny's Suggestions 421
Passionate Rejoinder of the Duke of Guise 422
The Cardinal of Lorraine more calm 423
New Alarms of the Guises 424
The King of Navarre and Conde summoned to Court 425
Advice of Philip of Spain 426
Navarre's Irresolution embarrasses Montbrun and Mouvans 427
The "Fashion of Geneva" embraced by many in Languedoc 428
Elections for the States General 430
The King and Queen of Navarre 431
Beza at the Court of Nerac 432
New Pressure to induce Navarre and Conde to come 433
Navarre Refuses a Huguenot Escort 434
Disregards Warnings 435
Is refused Admission to Poitiers 435
Conde arrested on arriving at Orleans 436
Return of Renee de France 437
Conde's Intrepidity 437
He is Tried and Condemned to Death 439
Antoine of Navarre's Danger 440
Plan for annihilating the Huguenots 441
Sudden Illness and Death of Francis the Second 442
* * * * *
The "Epitre au Tigre de la France" 445
CHAPTER XI.
DECEMBER, 1560-SEPTEMBER, 1561.
THE REIGN OF CHARLES THE NINTH, TO THE PRELIMINARIES OF
THE COLLOQUY OF POISSY 449
Sudden Change in the Political Situation 449
The Enemy of the Huguenots buried as a Huguenot 450
Antoine of Navarre's Opportunity 451
Adroitness of Catharine de' Medici 452
Financial Embarrassments 453
Catharine's Neutrality 453
Opening of the States General of Orleans 454
Address of Chancellor L'Hospital 455
Cardinal Lorraine's Effrontery 457
De Rochefort, Orator for the Noblesse 457
L'Ange for the Tiers Etat 458
Arrogant Speech of Quintin for the Clergy 458
A Word for the poor, down-trodden People 459
Coligny presents a Huguenot Petition 461
The States prorogued 461
Meanwhile Prosecutions for Religion to cease 462
Return of Fugitives 463
Charles writes to stop Ministers from Geneva 463
Reply of the Genevese 464
Conde cleared and reconciled with Guise 465
Humiliation of Navarre 466
The Boldness of the Particular Estates of Paris 467
Secures Antoine more Consideration 467
Intrigue of Artus Desire 468
General Curiosity to hear Huguenot Preaching 468
Constable Montmorency's Disgust 469
The "Triumvirate" formed 471
A Spurious Statement 471
Massacres of Protestants in Holy Week 474
The Affair at Beauvais 474
Assault on the House of M. de Longjumeau 476
New and Tolerant Royal Order 476
Opposition of the Parisian Parliament 477
Popular Cry for Pastors 479
Moderation of the Huguenot Ministers 479
Judicial Perplexity 481
The "Mercuriale" of 1561 481
The "Edict of July" 483
Its Severity creates extreme Disappointment 484
Iconoclasm at Montauban 485
Impatience with Public "Idols" 487
Calvin endeavors to repress it 487
Re-assembling of the States at Pontoise 488
Able Harangue of the "Vierg" of Autun 489
Written Demands of the Tiers Etat 490
A Representative Government demanded 492
The French Prelates at Poissy 493
Beza and Peter Martyr invited to France 494
Urgency of the Parisian Huguenots 496
Beza comes to St. Germain 497
His previous History 497
Wrangling of the Prelates 498
Cardinal Chatillon communes "under both Forms" 499
Catharine and L'Hospital zealous for a Settlement of Religious
Questions 499
A Remarkable Letter to the Pope 500
Beza's flattering Reception 502
He meets the Cardinal of Lorraine 503
Petition of the Huguenots respecting the Colloquy 505
Informally granted 507
Last Efforts of the Sorbonne to prevent the Colloquy 508
CHAPTER XII.
SEPTEMBER, 1561-JANUARY, 1562.
THE COLLOQUY OF POISSY AND THE EDICT OF JANUARY 509
The Huguenot Ministers and Delegates 509
Assembled Princes in the Nuns' Refectory 510
The Prelates 511
Diffidence of Theodore Beza 512
Opening Speech of Chancellor L'Hospital 512
The Huguenots summoned 513
Beza's Prayer and Address 514
His Declaration as to the Body of Christ 519
Outcry of the Theologians of the Sorbonne 519
Beza's Peroration 520
Cardinal Tournon would cut short the Conference 521
Catharine de' Medici is decided 522
Advantages gained 522
The Impression made by Beza 522
His Frankness justified 524
The Prelates' Notion of a Conference 526
Peter Martyr arrives 527
Cardinal Lorraine replies to Beza 528
Cardinal Tournon's new Demand 529
Advancing Shadows of Civil War 530
Another Session reluctantly conceded 531
Beza's Reply to Cardinal Lorraine 532
Claude d'Espense and Claude de Sainctes 532
Lorraine demands Subscription to the Augsburg Confession 533
Beza's Home Thrust 534
Peter Martyr and Lainez the Jesuit 536
Close of the Colloquy of Poissy 537
A Private Conference at St. Germain 538
A Discussion of Words 540
Catharine's Premature Delight 541
The Article agreed upon Rejected by the Prelates 541
Catharine's Financial Success 543
Order for the Restitution of Churches 544
Arrival of Five German Delegates 544
Why the Colloquy proved a Failure 546
Catharine's Crude Notion of a Conference 547
Character of the Prelates 547
Influence of the Papal Legate, the Cardinal of Ferrara 548
Anxiety of Pius the Fourth 548
The Nuncio Santa Croce 549
Master Renard turned Monk 551
Opposition of People and Chancellor 551
The Legate's Intrigues 552
His Influence upon Antoine of Navarre 554
Contradictory Counsels 555
The Triumvirate leave in Disgust 556
Hopes entertained by the Huguenots respecting Charles 557
Beza is begged to remain 559
A Spanish Plot to kidnap the Duke of Orleans 559
The Number of Huguenot Churches 560
Beza secures a favorable Royal order 560
Rapid Growth of the Reformation 561
Immense Assemblages from far and near 562
The Huguenots at Montpellier 563
The Rein and not the Spur needed 565
Marriages and Baptisms at Court "after the Geneva Fashion" 565
Tanquerel's Seditious Declaration 566
Jean de Hans 567
Philip threatens Interference in French Affairs 567
"A True Defender of the Faith" 568
Roman Catholic Complaints of Huguenot Boldness 570
The "Tumult of Saint Medard" 571
Assembly of Notables at St. Germain 574
Diversity of Sentiments 575
The "Edict of January" 576
The Huguenots no longer Outlaws 577
BOOK FIRST.
_FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH REFORMATION TO THE EDICT OF JANUARY
(1562)._
CHAPTER I.
FRANCE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
[Sidenote: Extent of France at the accession of Francis the First.]
When, on the first day of the year 1515, the young Count of Angouleme
succeeded to the throne left vacant by the death of his kinsman and
father-in-law, Louis the Twelfth, the country of which he became monarch
was already an extensive, flourishing, and well-consolidated kingdom.
The territorial development of France was, it is true, far from
complete. On the north, the whole province of Hainault belonged to the
Spanish Netherlands, whose boundary line was less than one hundred miles
distant from Paris. Alsace and Lorraine had not yet been wrested from
the German Empire. The "Duchy" of Burgundy, seized by Louis the Eleventh
immediately after the death of Charles the Bold, had, indeed, been
incorporated into the French realm; but the "Free County" of
Burgundy--_la Franche Comte_, as it was briefly designated--had been
imprudently suffered to fall into other hands, and Besancon was the
residence of a governor appointed by princes of the House of Hapsburg.
Lyons was a frontier town; for the little districts of Bresse and Bugey,
lying between the Saone and Rhone, belonged to the Dukes of Savoy.
Further to the south, two fragments of foreign territory were completely
enveloped by the domain of the French king. The first was the sovereign
principality of Orange, which, after having been for over a century in
the possession of the noble House of Chalons, was shortly to pass into
that of Nassau, and to furnish the title of William the Silent, the
future deliverer of Holland. The other and larger one was the Comtat
Venaissin, a fief directly dependent upon the Pope. Of irregular shape,
and touching the Rhone both above and below Orange, the Comtat Venaissin
nearly enclosed the diminutive principality in its folds. Its capital,
Avignon, having forfeited the distinction enjoyed in the fourteenth
century as the residence of the Roman Pontiffs, still boasted the
presence of a Legate of the Papal See, a poor compensation for the loss
of its past splendor. On the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, the
Spanish dominions still extended north of the principal chain of the
Pyrenees, and included the former County of Roussillon.
[Sidenote: Territorial development.]
But, although its area was somewhat smaller than that of the modern
republic, France in the sixteenth century had nearly attained the
general dimensions marked out for it by great natural boundaries. Four
hundred years had been engrossed in the pursuit of territorial
enlargement. At the close of the tenth century the Carlovingian dynasty,
essentially foreign in tastes and language, was supplanted by a dynasty
of native character and capable of gathering to its support all those
elements of strength which had been misunderstood or neglected by the
feeble descendants of Charlemagne. But it found the royal authority
reduced to insignificance and treated with open contempt. By permitting
those dignities which had once been conferred as a reward for
pre-eminent personal merit to become hereditary in certain families, the
crown had laid the foundation of the feudal system; while, by neglecting
to enforce its sovereign claims, it had enabled the great feudatories to
make themselves princes independent in reality, if not in name. So low
had the consideration of the throne fallen, that when Hugh Capet, Count
of Paris, in 987 assumed the title of king of France, basing his act
partly on an election by nobles, partly on force of arms, the
transaction elicited little opposition from the rival lords who might
have been expected to resent his usurpation.
[Sidenote: Excessive subdivision in the tenth century.]
France contained at this time six principal fiefs--four in the north and
two in the south--each nearly or fully as powerful as the hereditary
dominions of Hugh, while probably more than one excelled them in extent.
These limited dominions, on the resources of which the new dynasty was
wholly dependent in the struggle for supremacy, embraced the important
cities of Paris and Orleans, but barely stretched from the Somme to the
Loire, and were excluded from the ocean by the broad possessions of the
dukes of Normandy on both sides of the lower Seine. The great fiefs had
each in turn yielded to the same irresistible tendency to subdivision.
The great feudatory was himself the superior of the tenants of several
subordinate, yet considerable, fiefs. The possessors of these again
ranked above the viscounts of cities and the provincial barons. A long
series of gradations in dignity ended at the simple owners of castles,
with their subject peasants or serfs. In no country of Europe had the
feudal system borne a more abundant harvest of disintegration and
consequent loss of power.[3]
[Sidenote: Decline of the feudal system.]
The reduction of the insubordinate nobles on the patrimonial estates of
the crown was the first problem engaging the attention of the early
Capetian kings. When this had at length been solved, with the assistance
of the scanty forces lent by the cities--never amounting, it is said, to
more than five hundred men-at-arms[4]--Louis the Fat, a prince of
resplendent ability, early in the twelfth century addressed himself to
the task of making good the royal title to supremacy over the
neighboring provinces. Before death compelled him to forego the
prosecution of his ambitious designs, the influence of the monarchy had
been extended over eastern and central France--from Flanders, on the
north, to the volcanic mountains of Auvergne, on the south. Meanwhile
the oppressed subjects of the petty tyrants, whether within or around
his domains, had learned to look for redress to the sovereign lord who
prided himself upon his ability and readiness to succor the defenceless.
His grandson, the more illustrious Philip Augustus (1180-1223), by
marriage, inheritance, and conquest added to previous acquisitions
several extensive provinces, of which Normandy, Maine, and Poitou had
been subject to English rule, while Vermandois and Yalois had enjoyed a
form of approximate independence under collateral branches of the
Capetian family.
The conquests of Louis the Fat and of Philip Augustus were consolidated
by Louis the Ninth--Saint Louis, as succeeding generations were wont to
style him--an upright monarch, who scrupled to accept new territory
without remunerating the former owners, and even alienated the affection
of provinces which he might with apparent justice have retained, by
ceding them to the English, in the vain hope of cementing a lasting
peace between the rival states.[5]
[Sidenote: France the foremost kingdom of Christendom.]
The same pursuit of territorial aggrandizement under successive kings
extended the domain of the crown, in spite of disaster and temporary
losses, until in the sixteenth century France was second to no other
country in Europe for power and material resources. United under a
single head, and no longer disturbed by the insubordination of the
turbulent nobles, lately humbled by the craft of Louis the Eleventh,
this kingdom awakened the warm admiration of political judges so shrewd
as the diplomatic envoys of the Venetian Republic. "All these
provinces," exclaimed one of these agents, in a report made to the Doge
and Senate soon after his return, "are so well situated, so liberally
provided with river-courses, harbors, and mountain ranges, that it may
with safety be asserted that this realm is not only the most noble in
Christendom, rivalling in antiquity our own most illustrious
commonwealth, but excels all other states in natural advantages and
security."[6] Another of the same distinguished school of statesmen,
taking a more deliberate survey of the country, gives utterance to the
universal estimate of his age, when averring that France is to be
regarded as the foremost kingdom of Christendom, whether viewed in
respect to its dignity and power, or the rank of the prince who governs
it.[7] In proof of the first of these claims he alleges the fact that,
whereas England had once been, and Naples was at that moment dependent
upon the Church, and Bohemia and Poland sustained similar relations to
the Empire, France had always been a sovereign state. "It is also the
oldest of European kingdoms, and the first that was converted to
Christianity," remarks the same writer; adding, with a touch of
patriotic pride, the proviso, "if we except the Pope, who is the
universal head of religion, and the State of Venice, which, as it first
sprang into existence a Christian commonwealth, has always continued
such."[8]
[Sidenote: France contrasted with England.]
Other diplomatists took the same view of the power and resources of this
favored country. "The kingdom of France," said Chancellor Bacon, in a
speech against the policy of rendering open aid to Scotland, and thus
becoming involved in a war with the French, "is four times as large as
the realm of England, the men four times as many, and the revenue four
times as much, and it has better credit. France is full of expert
captains and old soldiers, and besides its own troops it may entertain
as many Almains as it is able to hire."[9]
[Sidenote: Assimilation of language and manners.]
Meantime France was fast becoming more homogeneous than it had ever been
since the fall of the Roman power. As often as the lines of the great
feudal families became extinct, or these families were induced or
compelled to renounce their pretensions, their fiefs were given in
appanage to younger branches of the royal house, or were more closely
united to the domains of the crown, and entrusted to governors of the
king's appointment.[10] In either case the actual control of affairs was
placed in the hands of officers whose highest ambition was to reproduce
in the provincial capital the growing elegance of the great city on the
Seine where the royal court had fixed its ordinary abode. The provinces,
consequently, began to assimilate more and more to Paris, and this not
merely in manners, but in forms of speech and even in pronunciation. The
rude _patois_, since it grated upon the cultivated ear, was banished
from polite society, and, if not consigned to oblivion, was relegated to
the more ignorant and remoter districts. Learning held its seat in
Paris, and the scholars who returned to their homes after a sojourn in
its academic halls were careful to avoid creating doubts respecting the
thoroughness of their training by the use of any dialect but that spoken
in the neighborhood of the university. As the idiom of Paris asserted
its supremacy over the rest of France, a new tie was constituted,
binding together provinces diverse in origin and history.
[Sidenote: The nobles flock to Paris.]
The spirit of obedience pervading all classes of the population
contributed much to the national strength. The great nobles had lost
their excessive privileges. They no longer attempted, in the seclusion
of their ancestral estates, to rival the magnificence or defy the
authority of the king. They began to prefer the capital to the freer
retreat of their castles. During the reign of Francis the First, and
still more during the reign of his immediate successors, costly palaces
for the accommodation of princely and ducal families were reared in the
neighborhood of the Louvre.[11] It was currently reported that more than
one fortune had been squandered in the hazardous experiment of
maintaining a pomp befitting the courtier. Ultimately the poorer
grandees were driven to the adoption of the wise precaution of spending
only a quarter of the year in the enticing but dangerous vicinity of the
throne.[12]
[Sidenote: The cities.]
The cities, also, whose extensive privileges had constituted one of the
most striking features of the political system of mediaeval Europe, had
been shorn of their exorbitant claims founded upon royal charters or
prescriptive usage. The kings of France, in particular, had favored the
growth of the municipalities, in order to secure their assistance in the
reduction of refractory vassals. Flourishing trading communities had
sprung up on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and of the ocean, and
on the banks of the navigable rivers emptying into them. These
corporations had secured a degree of independence proportioned, for the
most part, to the weakness of their neighbors. The policy of the crown
had been, while generously conferring privileges of great importance
upon the cities lying within the royal domain, to make still more lavish
concessions in favor of the municipalities upon or contiguous to the
lands of the great feudatories.[13]
[Sidenote: The capital.]
No sooner, however, did the humiliation of the landed nobility render it
superfluous to conciliate the good-will of the proud and opulent
citizens, than the readiest means were sought for reducing them to the
level of ordinary subjects. Paris especially, once almost a republic,
had of late learned submission and docility.[14] By the change, however,
the capital had lost neither wealth nor inhabitants, being described as
very rich and populous, covering a vast area, and wholly given up to
trade.[15] In the absence of an accurate census, the number of its
inhabitants was variously stated at from 300,000 souls to nearly thrice
as many; but all accounts agreed in placing Paris among the foremost
cities of the civilized world.[16]
[Sidenote: Military resources.]
With the military resources at his command, the king had the means of
rendering himself formidable abroad and secure at home. The French
cavalry, consisting of gentlemen whose duty and honorable distinction it
was to follow the monarch in every expedition, still sustained the
reputation for the impetuous ardor and the irresistible weight of its
charges which it had won during the Middle Ages. If it had encountered
unexpected rebuffs on the fields of Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt, the
chivalry of France had been too successful in other engagements to lose
courage and enthusiasm. The nobles, both old and young, were still ready
at any time to flock to their prince's standard when unfurled for an
incursion into Naples or the Milanese. Never had they displayed more
alacrity or self-sacrificing devotion than when young Francis the First
set out upon his campaigns in Italy.[17] The French infantry was less
trustworthy. The troops raised in Normandy, Brittany, and Languedoc were
reported to be but poorly trained to military exercises; but the
foot-soldiers supplied by some of the frontier provinces were sturdy and
efficient, and the gallant conduct of the Gascons at the disastrous
battle of St. Quentin was the subject of universal admiration.[18]
[Sidenote: Foreign mercenary troops.]
What France lacked in cavalry was customarily supplied by the Reiters,
whose services were easily purchased in Germany. The same country stood
ready to furnish an abundance of Lansquenets (Lanzknechten), or pikemen,
who, together with the Swiss, in a great measure replaced the native
infantry. A Venetian envoy reported, in 1535, that the French king
could, in six weeks at longest, set on foot a force of forty-eight
thousand men, of whom twenty-one thousand, or nearly one-half, would be
foreign mercenaries. His navy, besides his great ship of sixty guns
lying in the harbor of Havre, numbered thirty galleys, and a few other
vessels of no great importance.[19]
[Sidenote: The rights of the people overlooked.]
[Sidenote: The States General an object of suspicion.]
The power gained by the crown through the consolidation of the monarchy
had been acquired at the expense of the popular liberties. In the
prolonged struggle between the king, as lord paramount, and his
insubordinate vassals, the rights of inferior subjects had received
little consideration. From the strife the former issued triumphant, with
an asserted claim to unlimited power. The voice of the masses was but
feebly heard in the States General--a convocation of all three orders
called at irregular intervals. Upon the ordinary policy of government,
this, the only representative body, exercised no permanent control. If,
in its occasional sessions, the deputies of the _Tiers Etat_ exhibited a
disposition to intermeddle in those political concerns which the crown
claimed as its exclusive prerogative, the king and his advisers found in
their audacity an additional motive for postponing as long as possible a
resort to an expedient so disagreeable as the assembling of the States
General. Already had monarchs begun to look with suspicion upon the
growing intelligence of untitled subjects, who might sooner or later
come to demand a share in the public administration.
[Sidenote: And rarely convoked.]
[Sidenote: A long break in the history of representative government.]
[Sidenote: Compensating advantages.]
It was, therefore, only when the succession to the throne was contested,
or when the perils attending the minority of the prince demanded the
popular sanction of the choice of a regent, or when the flames of civil
war seemed about to burst forth and involve the whole country in one
general conflagration, that the royal consent could be obtained for
convening the States General. During the first half of the sixteenth
century the States General were not once summoned, unless the
designation of States be accorded to one or two convocations partaking
rather of the character of "Assemblies of Notables," and intended merely
to assist in extricating the monarch from temporary embarrassment.[20]
The repeated wars of Louis the Twelfth, of Francis the First, and of
Henry the Second were waged without any reference of the questions of
their expediency and of the mode of conducting them to the tribunal of
popular opinion. Thousands of brave Frenchmen found bloody graves beyond
the Alps; Francis the First fell into the hands of his enemies, and
after a weary captivity with difficulty regained his freedom; a new
faith arose in France, threatening to subvert existing ecclesiastical
institutions; yet in the midst of all this bloodshed, confusion and
perplexity the people were left unconsulted.[21] From the accession of
Charles the Eighth, in 1483, to that of Charles the Ninth, in 1560, the
history of representative government in France is almost a complete
blank. So long was the period during which the States General were
suspended, that, when at length it was deemed advisable to convene them
again, the chancellor, in his opening address, felt compelled to enter
into explanations respecting the nature and functions of a body which
perhaps not a man living remembered to have seen in session.[22] Yet,
while the desuetude into which had fallen the laudable custom of holding
the States every year, or, at least, on occasion of any important matter
for deliberation, might properly be traced to the flood of ambition and
pride which had inundated the world, and to the inordinate covetousness
of kings,[23] there were not wanting considerations to mitigate the
disappointment of the people. Chief among them, doubtless, in the view
of shrewd observers, was the fact that the assembling of the States was
the invariable prelude to an increase of taxation, and that never had
they met without benefiting the king's exchequer at the expense of the
purses of his subjects.[24]
[Sidenote: The endurance of the Tiers Etat.]
[Sidenote: Absolutism of the crown.]
Meanwhile the nation bore with exemplary patience the accumulated
burdens under which it staggered. Natives and foreigners alike were lost
in admiration of its wonderful powers of endurance. No one suspected
that a terrible retribution for this same people's wrongs might one day
overtake the successor of a long line of kings, each of whom had added
his portion to the crushing load. The Emperor Maximilian was accustomed
to divert himself at the expense of the French people. "The king of
France," said he, "_is a king of asses_; there is no weight that can be
laid upon his subjects which they will not bear without a murmur."[25]
The warrior and historian Rabutin congratulated the monarchs of France
upon God's having given them, in obedience, the best and most faithful
people in the whole world.[26] The Venetian, Matteo Dandolo, declared to
the Doge and Senate that the king might with propriety regard as his own
all the money in France, for, such was _the incomparable kindness of the
people_, that whatever he might ask for in his need was very gladly
brought to him.[27] It was not strange, perhaps, that the ruler of
subjects so exemplary in their eagerness to replenish his treasury as
soon as it gave evidence of being exhausted, came to take about the same
view of the matter. Accordingly, it is related of Francis the First
that, being asked by his guest, Charles the Fifth, when the latter was
crossing France on his way to suppress the insurrection of Ghent, what
revenue he derived from certain cities he had passed through, the king
promptly, replied: "_Ce que je veux_"--"_What I please._"[28]
[Sidenote: Fruits of the abasement of the people.]
Yet it must be noted, in passing, that the studied abasement of the
_Tiers Etat_ had already begun to bear some fruit that should have
alarmed every patriotic heart. It was, as we have seen, impossible to
obtain good French infantry except from Gascony and some other border
provinces. The place that should have been held by natives was filled by
Germans and Swiss. What was the reason? Simply that the common people
had lost the consciousness of their manhood, in consequence of the
degraded position into which the king, and the privileged classes,
imitating his example, had forced them. "Because of their desire to rule
the people with a rod of iron," says Dandolo, "the gentry of the kingdom
have deprived them of arms. They dare not even carry a stick, and _are
more submissive to their superiors than dogs_!"[29] No wonder that all
efforts of Francis to imitate the armies of free states, by instituting
legions of arquebusiers, proved fruitless.[30] Add to this that trade
was held in supreme contempt,[31] and the picture is certainly
sufficiently dark.
[Sidenote: Checks upon the king's authority.]
Yet, while, through the absence of any effectual barrier to the exercise
of his good pleasure, the king's authority was ultimately unrestricted,
it must be confessed that there existed, in point of fact, some powerful
checks, rendering the abuse of the royal prerogative, for the most part,
neither easy nor expedient. Parliament, the municipal corporations, the
university, and the clergy, weak as they often proved in a direct
struggle with the crown, nevertheless exerted an influence that ought
not to be overlooked. The most headstrong prince hesitated to disregard
the remonstrances of any one of these bodies, and their united protest
sometimes led to the abandonment of schemes of great promise for the
royal treasury. It is true that parliament, university, and chartered
borough owed their existence and privileges to the royal will, and that
the power that created could also destroy. But time had invested with a
species of sanctity the venerable institutions established by monarchs
long since dead, and the utmost stretch of royal displeasure went not in
its manifestation further than the mere threat to strip parliament or
university of its privileges, or, at most, the arrest and temporary
imprisonment of the more obnoxious judges or scholars.
[Sidenote: The Parliament of Paris]
The Parliament of Paris was the legitimate successor of that assembly in
which, in the earlier stage of the national existence, the great vassals
came together to render homage to the lord paramount and aid him by
their deliberations. This _feudal_ parliament was transformed into a
_judicial_ parliament toward the end of the thirteenth century. With the
change of functions, the chief crown officers were admitted to seats in
the court. Next, the introduction of a written procedure, and the
establishment of a more complicated legislation, compelled the
illiterate barons and the prelates to call in the assistance of
graduates of the university, acquainted with the art of writing and
skilled in law. These were appointed by the king to the office of
counsellors.[32] In 1302, parliament, hitherto migratory, following the
king in his journeys, was made stationary at Paris. Its sessions were
fixed at two in each year, held at Easter and All Saints respectively.
The judicial body was subdivided into several "chambers," according to
the nature of the cases upon which it was called to act.
[Sidenote: Becomes the supreme court.]
From this time the Parliament of Paris assumed appellate jurisdiction
over all France, and became the supreme court of justice. But the burden
of prolonged sessions, and the necessity now imposed upon the members of
residing at least four months out of every year in the capital, proved
an irksome restraint both to prelates and to noblemen. Their attendance,
therefore, began now to be less constant. As early as in 1320 the
bishops and other ecclesiastical officers were excused, on the ground
that their duty to their dioceses and sacred functions demanded their
presence elsewhere. From the general exemption the Bishop of Paris and
the Abbot of St. Denis alone were excluded, on account of their
proximity to the seat of the court. About the beginning of the fifteenth
century, the members, taking advantage of the weak reign of Charles the
Sixth, made good their claim to a life-tenure in their offices.[33]
[Sidenote: Provincial parliaments.]
The rapid increase of cases claiming the attention of the Parliament of
Paris suggested the erection of similar tribunals in the chief cities of
the provinces added to the original estates of the crown. Before the
accession of Francis the First a provincial parliament had been
instituted at Toulouse, with jurisdiction over the extensive domain once
subject to the illustrious counts of that city; a second, at Grenoble,
for Dauphiny; a third, at Bordeaux, for the province of Guyenne
recovered from the English; a fourth, at Dijon, for the newly acquired
Duchy of Burgundy; a fifth, at Rouen, to take the place of the inferior
"exchequer" which had long had its seat there; and a sixth, at
Aix-en-Provence, for the southeast of France.[34]
[Sidenote: Claim to the right of remonstrance.]
To their judicial functions, the Parliament of Paris, and to a minor
degree the provincial parliaments, had insensibly added other functions
purely political. In order to secure publicity for their edicts, and
equally with the view of establishing the authenticity of documents
purporting to emanate from the crown, the kings of France had early
desired the insertion of all important decrees in the parliamentary
records. The registry was made on each occasion by express order of the
judges, but with no idea on their part that this form was essential to
the validity of a royal ordinance. Presently, however, the novel theory
was advanced that parliament had the right of refusing to record an
obnoxious law, and that, without the formal recognition of parliament,
no edict could be allowed to affect the decisions of the supreme or of
any inferior tribunal.
[Sidenote: Indulgence of the crown.]
[Sidenote: The Chancellor's oath.]
In the exercise or this assumed prerogative, the judges undertook to
send a remonstrance to the king, setting forth the pernicious
consequences that might be expected to flow from the proposed measure if
put into execution. However unfounded in history, the claim of the
Parliament of Paris appears to have been viewed with indulgence by
monarchs most of whom were not indisposed to defer to the legal
knowledge of the counsellors, nor unwilling to enhance the consideration
of the venerable and ancient body to which the latter belonged. In all
cases, however, the final responsibility devolved upon the sovereign.
Whenever the arguments and advice of parliament failed to convince him,
the king proceeded in person to the audience-chamber of the refractory
court, and there, holding a _lit-de-justice_, insisted upon the
immediate registration, or else sent his express command by one of his
most trusty servants. The judges, in either case, were forced to
succumb--often, it must be admitted, with a very bad grace--and admit
the law to their records. We shall soon have occasion to note one of the
most striking instances of this unequal contest between king and
parliament, in which power rather than right or learning won the day. In
spite, however, of occasional checks, parliament manfully and
successfully maintained its right to throw obstacles in the way of hasty
or inconsiderate legislation. In this it was often efficiently assisted
by the Chancellor of France, the highest judicial officer of the crown,
to whom, on his assuming office, an oath was administered containing a
very explicit promise to exercise the right of remonstrance with the
king before affixing the great seal of state to any unjust or
unreasonable royal ordinance.[35]
[Sidenote: Abuses in the administration of justice.]
Not that either the Parliament of Paris or the provincial parliaments
were free of grave defects deserving the severe animadversion of
impartial observers. It was probably no worse with the Parliament of
Bordeaux than with its sister courts;[36] yet, when Charles the Ninth
visited that city in 1564, honest Chancellor L'Hospital seized the
opportunity to tell the judges some of their failings. The royal
ordinances were not observed. Parliamentary decisions ranked above
commands of the king. There were divisions and violence. In the civil
war some judges had made themselves captains. Many of them were
avaricious, timid, lazy and inattentive to their duties. Their behavior
and their dress were "dissolute." They had become negligent in judging,
and had thrown the burden of prosecuting offences upon the shoulders of
the king's attorney, originally appointed merely to look after the royal
domain. They had become the servants of the nobility for hire. _There
was not a lord within the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Bordeaux but
had his own chancellor in the court to look after his interests_.[37] It
was sufficiently characteristic that the same judicial body of which
such things were said to its face (and which neither denied their truth
nor grew indignant), should have been so solicitous for its dignity as
to send the monarch, upon his approach to the city, an earnest petition
that its members _should not be constrained to kneel_ when his Majesty
entered their court-room! To which the latter dryly responded, "their
genuflexion would not make him any less a king than he already
was."[38]
[Sidenote: The University of Paris.]
Among the forces that tended to limit the arbitrary exercise of the
royal authority, the influence of the University of Paris is entitled to
a prominent place. Nothing had added more lustre to the rising glory of
the capital than the possession of the magnificent institution of
learning, the foundation of which was lost in the mist of remote
antiquity. Older than the race of kings who had for centuries held the
French sceptre, the university owed its origin, if we are to believe the
testimony of its own annals, to the munificent hand of Charlemagne, in
the beginning of the ninth century. Careful historical criticism must
hesitate to accept as conclusive the slender proof offered in support of
the story.[39] It is, perhaps, safer to regard one of the simple schools
instituted at an early period in connection with cathedrals and
monasteries as having contained the humble germ from which the proud
university was slowly developed. But, by the side of this original
foundation there had doubtless grown up the schools of private
instructors, and these had acquired a certain prominence before the
confluence of scholars to Paris from all quarters rendered necessary an
attempt to introduce order into the complicated system, by the formation
of that union of all the teachers and scholars to which the name of
_universitas_ was ultimately given.
If the origin of the University of Paris, like that of the greater
number of human institutions, was insignificant when viewed in the light
of its subsequent growth, the meagreness of the early course of
instruction was almost incredible to those who, in an age of richer
mental acquisitions, listened to the prelections of its numerous and
learned doctors. The _Trivium_ and the _Quadrivium_ constituted the
whole cycle of human knowledge. Grammar, logic, and rhetoric were
embraced in the one; music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy in the
other. He was indeed a prodigy of erudition whose comprehensive
intellect had mastered the details of these, the seven liberal arts, or,
to use a familiar line of the period,
Qui tria, qui septem, qui omne scibile novit.
But the ignorant pedagogues of the eleventh century gave place, in the
early part of the twelfth, to instructors of real merit--to Peter
Abelard, among others, and to his pupil Peter Lombard, the fame of whose
lectures attracted to Paris great crowds of youth eager to become
proficient in philosophy and
[Sidenote: The four nations.]
Hitherto there had been but one faculty--the Faculty of Arts; but among
the students a distribution into four "nations" had been effected. The
_Nation of France_ embraced the students coming from the royal
dominions, which then comprised a limited territory, with Paris as its
capital, together with the students of Italy, Spain, and the east. The
_Nation of Picardy_ consisted of students from the province of that name
and from the neighboring County of Flanders. The _Nation of Normandy_
received youths belonging to the rich provinces of Normandy and
Brittany, and to the west. The _Nation of England_ gathered those who
came from the British Isles, as well as from the extensive territories
in southwestern France long held by the kings of England. After the
reconquest of Guyenne, however, the German students became the
controlling element in the fourth nation, and the designation was
changed to the _Nation of Germany_. The _Rector_ of the university and
the four _Procurators_ of the nations were entrusted with the
administration of the general interests of the vast scholastic
community.
[Sidenote: The faculties.]
[Sidenote: Chancellor and rector.]
With the rise of new branches of science to contest the supremacy of the
old, the institution of other faculties was called for. The demand was
not conceded without a determined struggle of so serious a character as
to require the intervention of two popes for its settlement.
Nevertheless, before the end of the thirteenth century, the three new
faculties of theology, medicine, and law had assumed their places by the
side of the four original nations. The faculties were represented in the
rector's council by three _Deans_, invested with power equal to that
enjoyed by the procurators of the nations. While the rector, always
chosen from the faculty of arts, was the real head of this republic of
letters in all that concerned its inner life and management, the
honorable privilege of conferring the degrees that gave the right to
teach belonged to the chancellor of the university.[40] The former,
elected every three months, began and ended his office with solemn
processions, the first to invoke the blessing of heaven upon his labors,
the second to render thanks for their successful termination. The
chancellor, holding office for life, was an ecclesiastic of the church
of Paris, originally the bishop or some one appointed by him, who, if he
enjoyed less direct control over the scholars in their studies, was yet
the chief censor of their morals,[41] and the representative of the
university in its dealings with foreign bodies, and especially with the
Roman See.[42]
[Sidenote: The Sorbonne.]
No other mediaeval seat of learning attained so enviable a reputation as
Paris for completeness of theological training. From all parts of
Christendom students resorted to it as to the most abundant and the
purest fountain of sound learning. In 1250, Robert de Sorbonne, the
private confessor of Louis the Ninth, emulating the munificence of
previous patrons of letters, founded a college intended to facilitate
the education of secular students of theology. The college took the
name of its author, and, becoming famous for the ability of its
instructors, the Sorbonne soon engrossed within its walls almost the
entire course of theological teaching given in the University of Paris.
Although the students in the colleges of Navarre and Plessis devoted
themselves to the acquisition of the same science, they had little
public instruction save that for which they resorted to the Sorbonne. By
reason of the prominence thus gained as the seat of the principal
instruction in theology, the Sorbonne became synonymous with the
theological faculty itself.[43]
[Sidenote: Its great authority.]
A body of theologians of admitted eminence necessarily spoke with
authority. In France the decisions of the Sorbonne were accepted as
final upon almost all questions affecting the doctrine and practice of
the Church. Abroad its opinions were esteemed of little less weight than
the deliberate judgments of synods. Difficulties in church and state
were referred to it for solution. In the age of the reformation the
Sorbonne was invited to pronounce upon the truth or falsity of the
propositions maintained by Martin Luther, and, a few years later, upon
the validity of the grounds of the divorce sought by Henry the Eighth of
England. But, unhappily, the reputation of the faculty was tarnished by
scholastic bigotry. Slavish attachment to the past had destroyed freedom
of thought. With a species of inconsistency not altogether without a
parallel in history, the very body which had been active in the
promotion of science during the Middle Ages assumed the posture of
resistance the moment that the advocates of substantial reform urged the
necessity of immediate action. Abuses which had provoked the indignation
of Gerson, once Chancellor of the University of Paris, and employed the
skilful pen of the bold Rector Nicholas de Clemangis, met with no word
of condemnation from the new generation of theologians.
Such was the Sorbonne of the beginning of the sixteenth century, when
intriguing doctors, such as Beda and Quercu, ruled in its deliberations.
An enemy of liberal studies as well as of the "new doctrines," the
faculty of theology was as ready to attack Erasmus for his devotion to
ancient literature, or Jacques Lefevre for establishing the existence of
the "three Marys," as to denounce the Bishop of Meaux for favoring
"Lutheran" preachers in his diocese. Against all innovators in church or
state, the sentiments of the Sorbonne, which it took no pains to
conceal, were that "their impious and shameless arrogance must be
restrained by chains, by censures--nay, by fire and flame--rather than
vanquished by argument!"[44]
[Sidenote: Number of students.]
Meanwhile, in the external marks of prosperity the University of Paris
was still in its prime at the period of which I speak. The colleges,
clustered together in the southern quarter of the city--the present
_Quartier Latin_--were so numerous and populous that this portion
continued for many years after to be distinguished as _l'
Universite_.[45] The number of students, it is true, had visibly
diminished since one hundred years before. The crowd of youth in
attendance was no longer so great as in 1409, when, according to a
contemporary, the head of a scholastic procession to the Church of Saint
Denis had already reached the sacred shrine before the rector had left
the Church of the _Mathurins_ in the Rue Saint Jacques, a point full six
miles distant.[46] Yet the report of Giustiniano, in 1535, stated it as
the current belief that the university still had twenty-five thousand
students in attendance, although this seemed to be an exaggerated
estimate. "For the most part," he added, "they are young, for everybody,
however poor he may be, learns to read and write."[47] Another
ambassador, writing eleven years later, represents the students, now
numbering sixteen or twenty thousand, as extremely poor. Their
instructors, he tells us, received very modest salaries; yet, so great
was the honor attaching to the post of teacher within the university
walls, that the competition for professorial chairs was marvellously
active.[48]
The influence of the clergy fell little short of that of the university
in moderating the arbitrary impulses of the monarch.
[Sidenote: The Gallican liberties.]
The Gallican Church had for many centuries been distinguished for a
manly defence of its liberties against the encroachments of the Papal
court. Tenacious of the maintenance of doctrinal unity with the See of
Rome, the French prelates early met the growing assumption of the Popes
with determined courage. At the suggestion of the clergy, and with their
full concurrence, more than one French king adopted stringent
regulations intended to protect the kingdom from becoming the prey of
foreigners. Church and State were equally interested in the successful
prosecution of a warfare carried on, so far as the French were
concerned, in a strictly defensive manner. The Papal treasury, under
guise of _annats_, laid claim to the entire income of the bishopric or
other benefice for the first year after each new appointment. It seized
upon the revenues of vacant ecclesiastical offices, which the king
specially affected. Every bull or brief needed to secure induction into
office--and the number of these articles was almost unlimited--was
procured at a heavy expense. Further sums were exacted for pronouncing a
dispensation in favor of those appointees whom youth or some other
canonical impediment incapacitated for the acceptance and discharge of
the requisite functions.
[Sidenote: Objects of the Gallican party.]
The main objects of both crown and clergy were, consequently, to secure
the kingdom from the disastrous results of the interference of Italians
in the domestic affairs of France; to preserve the treasure of the realm
from exhaustion resulting from the levy of arbitrary imposts fixed by
irresponsible aliens, and exacted through the terrors of ecclesiastical
penalties; to prevent the right of election to lucrative livings from
falling into the hands of those who would use the privilege only as a
means of acquiring riches; and to rescue clergymen themselves from
being hurried away for trial beyond the confines of their native land,
and possibly from suffering hopeless confinement in Roman dungeons. In a
word, it was the aim of the Gallican party to prove that "the government
of the church is not a despotism."[49]
[Sidenote: Pragmatic Sanction of St. Louis.]
It is a somewhat anomalous circumstance that the first decided step in
repressing the arrogant claims of the Papal See was taken by a monarch
whose singular merits have been deemed worthy of canonization by the
Roman Church. Louis the Ninth had witnessed with alarm the rapid strides
of the Papacy toward universal dominion. His pride was offended by the
pretension of the Pontiff to absolute superiority; his sovereign rights
were assailed when taxes were levied in France at the pleasure of a
foreign priest and prince. He foresaw that this abuse was likely to take
deep root unless promptly met by a formal declaration placing the rights
of the French monarch and nation in their true light. For this reason he
issued in 1268 a solemn edict, which, as emanating from the
unconstrained will of the king, took the name of the "_Pragmatic
Sanction_ of Saint Louis."
The preamble of this famous ordinance, upon the authenticity of which
doubts have been unnecessarily cast,[50] declares the object of the king
to be to secure the safety and tranquillity of the church of his realm,
the advancement of divine worship, the salvation of the souls of
Christ's faithful people, and the attainment of the favor and help of
Almighty God. To his sole jurisdiction and protection had France ever
been subject, and so did Louis desire it to remain. The provisions of
the Pragmatic Sanction were directed chiefly to guarding the freedom of
election and of collation to benefices, and to prohibiting the
imposition of any form of taxes by the Pope upon ecclesiastical
property in France, save by previous consent of the prince and
clergy.[51]
In this brief document had been laid the foundation of the liberties of
the Gallican Church, not under the form of novel legislation, but of a
summary of previous usage.
[Sidenote: Philip the Fair and Boniface.]
Political reasons, not long after the death of Louis, gave new vigor to
the policy of opposition to which this king had pledged France. His
grandson, the resolute Philip the Fair, found fresh incitement in the
extravagant conduct of a contemporary Pope, Boniface the Eighth. The
bold ideas advanced by Hildebrand in the eleventh, and carried into
execution by Innocent the Third in the thirteenth century, were wrought
into the very texture of the soul of Boniface, and could not be
concealed, in spite of the altered condition of mediaeval society.
Intolerant, headstrong, and despotic, he undertook to exercise a
theocratic rule, and commanded contending monarchs to lay down their
arms, and submit their disputes to his arbitrament. To such a summons
Philip was not inclined to submit. The crafty and unscrupulous prince,
whose contempt for divine law was evidenced by his shameless practice of
injustice, whose coffers were filled indifferently by the confiscation
of the rich spoils of the commanderies of the Templars, and by
recklessly debasing the national currency, did not hesitate to engage in
a contest with the most presumptuous of Popes. He appealed to the States
General, and all three orders indignantly repudiated the suggestion that
their country had ever stood to the Papacy in the relation of a fief.
The disastrous example of the English John Lackland had found no
imitator on the southern side of the channel. The Pope was declared a
heretic. Emissaries of Louis seized him in his native city of Anagni,
within the very bounds of the "Patrimony of St. Peter," and the rough
usage to which he was then subjected hastened his death. His successors
on the pontifical throne proved somewhat more tractable.
[Sidenote: The Popes at Avignon.]
During his short and unimportant pontificate, Benedict the Eleventh
restored to the chapters of cathedrals the right of electing their own
bishops. Upon his death, Philip secured the elevation to the pontifical
dignity of an ecclesiastic wholly devoted to French interests, the
facile Clement the Fifth, who, in return for the honor conferred upon
him, removed the seat of the Papacy to Avignon. Here for the seventy
years of the so-called "Babylonish Captivity," the Popes continued to
reside, too completely subject to the influence of the French monarchs
to dream of resuming their tone of defiance, but scarcely less exacting
than before of homage from other rulers. In fact, the burden of the
pecuniary exactions of the Popes rather grew than diminished with the
change from Rome to Avignon, and with the institution of rival claimants
to the tiara, each requiring an equal sum to support the pomp of his
court, but recognized as legitimate by only a portion of Christendom.
The devices for drawing tribute from all quarters were multiplied to an
almost insupportable extent. So effectual did they prove, that no
pontiff, perhaps, ever left at his death a more enormous accumulation of
treasure than one of the Popes of Avignon, John the Twenty-second. Much
of this wealth was derived from the rich provinces of France.
[Sidenote: The Schism.]
Close upon the "Captivity" followed the "Schism," during which the
generally acknowledged Popes, who had returned to Rome, were opposed by
pretenders at Avignon and elsewhere. A double incentive was now given to
the monarchs of Europe for setting bounds to the ambition of the Papacy.
For while the Popes, through the loss of a great part of their authority
and prestige, had become less formidable antagonists, their financial
extortions had waxed so intolerable as to suggest the strongest
arguments appealing to the self-interest of kings. Hence the frequency
with which the demand for "a reformation in the head and the members"
resounded from all parts of the Western Church. And hence, too, those
memorable councils of Pisa, Constance, and Basle, which, coming in rapid
succession at the commencement of the fifteenth century, bade fair to
prove the forerunners of a radical reformation. It does not belong here
to discuss the causes of their failure to answer this reasonable
expectation. Yet with one of these assemblages is closely connected a
very important incident in the history of the Gallican Church.
[Sidenote: The Council of Bourges.]
The Council of Basle had not yet concluded its protracted sessions when
Charles the Seventh summoned the clergy of France to meet him in the
city of Bourges. The times were troublous. The kingdom was rent with
intestine division. A war was still raging, during the progress of which
the victorious arms of the English had driven the king from his capital
and deprived him of more than one-half of his dominions. The work of
reinstating the royal authority, though well begun by the wonderful
interposition of the Maid of Orleans, was as yet by no means complete.
Undaunted, however, by the unsettled aspect of his affairs, Charles--the
"King of Bourges," as he was contemptuously styled by his
opponents--made his appearance in the national council convened in his
temporary capital. He was attended by the dauphin, the Dukes of Burgundy
and Brittany, the Count of Maine, and many other noblemen, as well as by
a goodly train of doctors of civil and canon law. Awaiting his arrival
were five archbishops, twenty-five bishops, and a host of abbots and
deputies of universities and chapters of cathedrals. In the presence of
this august convocation, in which all that was most prominent in church
and state was represented, Charles published, on the seventh of July,
1438, an ordinance which has become celebrated under the name of the
"Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges"--by far the more important of the two
documents of similar nature emanating from the French throne.[52]
[Sidenote: The Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges.]
The Pragmatic Sanction, as it is often called by way of pre-eminence, is
the magna charta of the liberties of the Gallican Church. Founded upon
the results of the discussions of the Council of Basle, it probably
embodies all the reformatory measures which the hierarchy of France was
desirous of effecting or willing to accept. How far these were from
administering the needed antidote to the poison which was at work and
threatened to destroy all true religious life--if, indeed, that life was
not already too near extinction--may readily be understood when it is
discovered that, with the exception of a few paragraphs relating to
ecclesiastical discipline and worship, the following comprise all the
important provisions:
The Pragmatic Sanction establishes the obligation of the Pope to convene
a general council of the church at least every ten years. The decisions
of the Council of Basle are declared to be of perpetual force. Far from
deriving its authority from the Holy See, the Oecumenical Council, it
is affirmed, depends immediately upon Christ, and the Pope is no less
bound than all other Christians to render due obedience to its
decisions. The right of appeal from the Pope to the future council--a
claim obnoxious in the last degree to the advocates of papal
supremacy--is distinctly asserted. The Pope is declared incapable of
appointing to any high ecclesiastical dignities, save in a few specified
cases; in all others recourse is to be had to election. The pontiff's
pretensions to confer minor benefices are equally rejected. No abuse is
more sharply rebuked and forbidden than that of _expectatives_--a
species of appointment in high favor with the papal chancery, whereby a
successor to ecclesiastical dignities was nominated during the lifetime
of the incumbent, and in view of his decease.
The Pragmatic Sanction restricts the troublesome and costly appeals to
Rome to cases of great importance, when the parties in interest reside
at a distance of more than four days' journey from that city. At the
same time it prescribes that no one shall be vexed by such appeals after
having enjoyed actual possession of his rank for three years. Going
beyond the limits of the kingdom, it enters into the constitution of the
"Sacred College," and fixes the number of the cardinals at twenty-four,
while placing the minimum age of candidates for the hat at thirty
years. The exaction of the _annats_ is stigmatized as simony. Priests
living in concubinage are to be punished by the forfeiture of one-fourth
of their annual stipend. Finally the principle is sanctioned that no
interdict can be made to include in its operation the innocent with the
guilty.[53]
So thorough a vindication of the rights of the Gallican Church had never
before been undertaken. The axe was laid at the root of formidable
abuses; freedom of election was restored; the kingdom was relieved of a
crushing burden of tribute; foreigners were precluded from interfering
with the systematic administration of the laws. The clergy, both regular
and secular, received the greatest benefits, for, while they could no
longer be plundered of so large a part of their incomes, their persons
were protected from arbitrary arrest and hopeless exile beyond the Alps.
The council had not adjourned when the tidings of the transactions at
Bourges reached the city of Basle. The members were overjoyed, and
testified their approval in a grateful letter to the Archbishop of
Lyons. But their exultation was more than equalled by the disgust of
Pope Eugenius the Third. Indeed, the pontificates of this pope and his
immediate successors were filled with fruitless attempts to effect the
repeal of the Pragmatic Sanction. A threat was made to place France
under an interdict; but this was of no avail, being answered by the
counter-threat of the king's representative, who proposed to make a
practical application of the instrument, by appealing from his Holiness
to a future general council. So the Pope, having a vivid recollection of
the perils attending a contest with the French crown, wisely avoided the
hazardous venture.[54]
[Sidenote: Louis XI. consents to its abrogation.]
In Louis the Eleventh the papal court seemed to have found a more
promising prince to deal with. Animated by hatred of his father, and
disposed to oppose whatever had met his father's approval, Louis had,
while yet dauphin, given the Pope's agents flattering assurances of his
good intentions.[55] On ascending the throne, he permitted his father's
memory to be treated with disrespect, by suffering a nuncio to pronounce
absolution over the corpse for the heinous sin of originating the
Pragmatic Sanction. Later, on receiving the assurance of the Pope's
support for the house of Anjou in Naples, he consented to repeal the
hateful ordinance. A royal declaration for this purpose was published in
1461, contrary to the advice of the king's council.[56] It met with
universal reprobation. The Parliament of Toulouse would register the
document only with an accompanying note stating that this had been done
"by the most express command of the king." The Parliament of Paris
absolutely declined to admit it in its records, and sent a deputation to
Louis to set forth the pernicious results that were to be expected from
the overthrow of his father's wise regulations.[57] The University made
bold to appeal to a general council of the Church.
[Sidenote: But subsequently re-enacts it.]
Meanwhile it happened that Louis made the unwelcome discovery that his
Italian friends had deceived him, and that the prospect was very remote
of obtaining the advantages by which he had been allured. It was not
very difficult, therefore, to persuade him to renounce his project. Not
content with this, three years after his formal revocation of the entire
Pragmatic Sanction, he even re-enacted some of the clauses of the
document respecting "expectatives" and "provisions."
[Sidenote: Parliament protests against the repeal.]
But a few years later, in 1467, Louis again conceived it to be for his
interest to abrogate the Pragmatic Sanction. At the suggestion of
Cardinal Balue, the recent enactment against "expectatives" was
repealed. The Parliament of Paris, however, refused to record the
letters patent. Among other powerful arguments adduced was the fact that
a recent investigation had proved that, in the three years of the
pontificate of Pius the Second during which the Pragmatic Sanction had
been virtually set aside (1461-1464), Rome drew from the kingdom not
less than 240,000 crowns in payment of bulls for archbishoprics,
bishoprics, and abbeys falling vacant within this term; 100,000 for
priories and deaneries; and the enormous sum of 2,500,000 crowns for
"expectatives" and "dispensations."[58] This startling financial exhibit
was accompanied by statements of the indirect injury received by the
community from the great number of candidates thrown on the tender
mercies of relations and friends, whom they thus beggared while awaiting
a long deferred preferment.[59] Even when successful, "they received
only lead for gold." Frequently, when they were about to clutch the
coveted prize, a rival stepped in armed with documents annulling those
previously given. Cases had, indeed, been known in which ten or twelve
contestants presented themselves, all basing their claims upon the
pontifical warrant.[60]
[Sidenote: Fall of Cardinal Balue.]
Cardinal Balue was not slow in finding means to remove from office the
intrepid _Procureur-general_, who had been prominent in urging
parliament to resist the measure of repeal. But Saint-Romain's bold
stand had confirmed both parliament and university, and neither body
would acquiesce in the papal demands. Louis, however, was reconciled to
a second abandonment of the scheme by the opportune discovery of the
cardinal's treachery. The unhappy prelate met with deserved retribution,
for his purple did not save him from enduring his own favorite mode of
punishment, and being shut up in a great iron cage. The new Perillus was
thus enabled--to the intense satisfaction of many whom he had
wronged--to test in his own person the merits of a contrivance which he
was reputed himself to have invented.[61]
A concordat subsequently agreed upon by Louis and the Pope fared no
better than the previous compacts. Parliament and university were
resolute, and the king, having no further advantage to gain by keeping
his word, was as careless in its fulfilment as was his wont. The
Pragmatic Sanction was still observed as the law of the land. The
highest civil courts, ignoring the alleged repeal, conformed their
decisions to its letter and spirit, while the theologians of the
Sorbonne taught it as the foundation of the ecclesiastical constitution
of France. Yet, public confidence in its validity having been shaken, it
was desirable to set all doubts at rest by a formal re-enactment. This
was proposed by the Dean of St. Martin of Tours, in the States General
held during the minority of Charles the Eighth; but, notwithstanding the
well-known opinion of all the orders, this reign passed without the
adoption of any decided action.
[Sidenote: Action of Louis XII.]
[Sidenote: His motto.]
It was reserved for Louis the Twelfth to take the desired step. In 1499
he published the Pragmatic Sanction anew, and ordered the exclusion from
office of all that had obtained benefices from Rome. In vain did the
Pope rave. In vain did he summon all upholders of the ordinance to
appear before the Fifth Lateran Council. The sturdy prince--the "Father
of his people"--who had chosen for his motto the device, "_Perdam
Babylonis nomen_," made little account of the menaces of Julius the
Second, whom death overtook, it is said, while about to fulminate a bull
transferring the title of "Very Christian King" from Louis the Twelfth
of France to Henry the Eighth of England.[62]
[Sidenote: Concordat of Leo X. and Francis I.]
Thirsting for military distinction, Francis the First had no sooner
obtained the throne than he entered upon the career of arms in northern
Italy, and the signal victory of Marignano, won less than ten months
after his accession (September 13, 1515), closed his first campaign.
This success was productive of more lasting results than merely the
temporary possession of the Milanese. It led to a reconciliation with
the Pope, and to a stately interview in the city of Bologna. All that
was magnificent and captivating to the senses had been studied to dazzle
the eyes of a young and imaginative prince; for Leo the Tenth, patron of
the arts and of artists, was an adept in scenic effects. Certainly never
did pomp and ceremony more easily effect the object for which they were
employed. The interview of Bologna paved the way for a concordat, in
which the rights of the Gallican Church were sacrificed, and the spoils
divided between king and pontiff.[63] Three cardinals took part in the
elaboration of the details of the instrument--two on the pontifical, the
third on the royal side. The last was the notorious Cardinal Duprat,
elevated by Francis to the office of chancellor--a minister of religion
who was soon to introduce venality into every department of government.
The source of the concordat determined tolerably well its character.
Appreciating the strength of the opposition its pretensions had always
encountered in France, the papal court had resolved to renounce a
portion of its claims in favor of the king, in order to retain the rest
more securely. Under the pretext that the right of election vested in
the chapters had been abused, partly by the choice of illiterate and
improper men, partly through the practice of simony, the selection of
archbishops and bishops was taken from them and confided to the king. He
was empowered to choose a doctor or licentiate of theology or law, not
less than twenty-seven years of age, within six months after the see
became vacant. The name of the candidate was to be submitted to the Pope
for approval, and, if this first nomination was rejected, a second was
to be made by the king. Similar regulations were made respecting abbeys
and monastic institutions in general, a few exceptions being allowed in
favor of those patrons and bodies to whom special privileges had been
accorded. The issue of "expectatives" was prohibited; but, as no mention
was made of the "annats," it followed, of course, that this rich source
of gain to the papal treasury was to lie open, in spite of the
provisions of the Pragmatic Sanction to the contrary.[64]
Such were some of the leading features of the concordat between Leo the
Tenth and Francis the First--a document introducing changes so violent
as to amount almost to a complete revolution in the ecclesiastical
constitution of the land.
[Sidenote: Dissatisfaction of the French.]
After receiving the unqualified approval of the Lateran Council, in a
session at which few prelates were present from outside of Italy, the
concordat, engrossed on white damask, and accompanied by a revocation of
the Pragmatic Sanction on cloth of gold, was forwarded to Francis, who
had now returned to his kingdom. The latter, not ignorant of the
discontent already engendered by the mere rumor of the transaction,
first submitted the concordat alone to a mixed assembly composed of
prelates and canons, of presidents and counsellors of parliament,
doctors of the university, and other prominent personages. But the
king's caution failed of accomplishing what had been intended. The
general dissatisfaction found expression in the speech of Cardinal
Boissy, demanding that the clergy be consulted by itself on a matter so
vitally affecting its interests, and suggesting the necessity of a
national council for that purpose. Francis angrily retorted that the
clergy _must obey_, or he would send its bishops to Rome to discuss with
the Pope.
[Sidenote: Struggle with the parliaments.]
Failing in the attempt to forestall the expression of disapprobation of
the judiciary by securing the favorable verdict of a picked assembly of
influential persons, the king, nevertheless, proceeded to carry into
execution that clause of the concordat which enjoined ratification by
the parliaments. Letters patent were first dispatched commanding all
judges to conform to its provisions, and these were followed shortly by
copies of the instrument itself and of the revocation of the Pragmatic
Sanction, for registry. At this point properly began one of the most
notable contests between the crown and parliaments of France. The
Parliament of Paris, taking the ground that so fundamental a change in
the national customs demanded mature consideration, deferred action.
With the view of exercising a pressure on its deliberations, Francis now
commissioned his uncle, the Bastard of Savoy, to be present at the
sessions. Against this unprecedented breach of privilege parliament sent
a deputation humbly to remonstrate; but all to no purpose. The irritated
prince, who entertained the most extravagant views of the royal
prerogative, declared his intention to satisfy himself concerning the
real disposition of his judges, and assured the deputies that he had
firmly resolved to despatch the disobedient to the inferior parliaments
of Bordeaux and Toulouse, and fill their places with "men of worth." "I
am your king," was his constant exclamation, and this passed with him
for an unanswerable argument in support of his views. But the members of
parliament were not easily moved. Undoubtedly the success attending
their previous resistance to the repeal of the Pragmatic Sanction, on
at least three occasions in the reign of Louis the Eleventh, emboldened
them in the present instance. Unawed by the presence of the Bastard of
Savoy, they refused to concede the registration of the concordat, and
declared that they must continue to observe the Pragmatic Sanction,
endorsed, as that ordinance had been, by the representatives of the
entire nation. Not only did they protest against suffering the Sanction
to be annulled, but they insisted upon the convocation of the clergy in
a body similar to that assembled by Charles the Seventh, as an
indispensable preliminary to the investigation of the matter.
[Sidenote: Haughty demeanor of the king.]
Francis, who happened to be at his castle of Amboise, on the Loire, now
sent word that parliament should appoint a deputation to convey to him
the reasons of its refusal. But when the delegates reached the
castle-gate, an entire month elapsed before Francis would condescend to
grant them audience. They were at length admitted, only to be treated
with studied contempt. "There can be but one king in France," was the
arrogant language of the young prince to the judges who had grown gray
in the service of Charles the Eighth and the good King Louis. "You speak
as if you were not my subjects, and as if I dared not try you and
sentence you to lose your heads." And when the indignity of his words
awakened the spirited remonstrance of the deputies, Francis rejoined: "I
am king: I can dispose of my parliament at my pleasure. Begone, and
return to Paris at break of day."
A formal command was now addressed to the Parliament of Paris, and the
bearer, La Tremouille, informed that body, as it listened to the
message, that Francis had repeated to him more than ten times within a
quarter of an hour, "that he would not for half his kingdom fail of his
word to the Pope, and that if parliament rebelled, he would find means
to make it repent of its obstinacy." Under these circumstances, further
resistance from a body so completely dependent on the sovereign was not
to be thought of. Yet, even when compelled to yield, parliament, at the
suggestion of the _gens du roi_, coupled the registry of the concordat
with a declaration that it was made at the express command of the king
several times reiterated, that parliament disapproved of the revocation
of the Pragmatic Sanction; and that, in the adjudication of causes, it
would continue to follow the ordinance of Charles the Seventh, while
appealing to the Pope under better advisement, and to a future council
of the church. Thus the concordat, projected at Bologna in 1515, and
signed at Rome on the sixteenth of August, 1516, was registered by the
Parliament of Paris _de expressissimo mandato regis_, on the
twenty-second of March, 1518.[65]
[Sidenote: The university remonstrates.]
Even now Francis had not quite silenced all opposition. The rector of
the University of Paris, not content with entering a formal
remonstrance,[66] took a bolder step. Making use of a prerogative long
since conceded to the university, of exercising a censure over the
press, he posted a notice to all printers and publishers forbidding the
reproduction of the concordat on pain of loss of their privileges. The
dean and canons of the cathedral church of Paris also handed in a
protest. The preachers of several churches rivalled the rector in
audacity, by publicly inveighing against the dangers of the
ecclesiastical innovations introduced by the king. It is not surprising
that a prince impatient even of wholesome rebuke was enraged at this
monkish tirade. Parliament was ordered to bring the culprits to justice;
but, strange to say, none could be discovered--a circumstance certainly
attributable rather to the supineness of the judges than to any lack of
witnesses. To the university Francis wrote in a haughty vein,
threatening the severe punishment of any of its doctors that dared
preach against the government; while, by an edict from Amboise, he
forbade the rector and his associates from assembling for the discussion
of political questions.
These were the closing scenes of the exciting drama. The king had
triumphed, but not without encountering a spirited opposition from
parliament, university, and clergy. If these had succumbed, it had only
been before superior strength, and each of the bodies reserved to itself
the right of treating the concordat as a nullity and the Pragmatic
Sanction as still the ecclesiastical constitution of the land.
[Sidenote: The resistance not altogether fruitless.]
Nor was this altogether an empty claim. Some of the provisions of the
concordat were never enforced, and that was a solid advantage gained
through the opposition. The parliaments persisted in rendering judgment,
in such cases as came before them, in conformity with the Pragmatic
Sanction. The Bishop of Albi, chosen by the canons, was confirmed in his
see, notwithstanding the pretensions of a nominee of the crown. And yet
the concordat was not merely maintained by the Pope and the king, but, a
few years later, its provisions were extended to monastic foundations
previously possessed of an undisputed title to elect. This was done to
gratify Francis on the marriage of his second son Henry to Catharine de'
Medici, niece of Clement, the reigning pontiff. The somewhat suspicious
story is told, that, to aid in carrying out this new act of injustice,
Cardinal Duprat, having ordered all ecclesiastical bodies to send him
the original documents attesting their right of election, at once
consigned the parchments to the fire, in order to destroy all memory of
these troublesome claims. If the tale be apocryphal, it at least
indicates sufficiently well the estimation in which the prelate's
character was held by his contemporaries.
[Sidenote: Advantages gained by the crown.]
The clergy reluctantly admitted the concordat into their books after the
lapse of two centuries, but solely, as they declared, for convenience of
reference. The restoration of the Pragmatic Sanction continued to be
demanded by one or all the orders of the States General, during the
reigns of Francis the Second, Charles the Ninth, and their successors,
not least on the ground that the day that witnessed its repeal also
beheld the introduction of the "heresy" that had since attained such
formidable proportions.[67] But, if opposed and denounced, the concordat
was carried into execution, so far as most of its provisions were
concerned, until the French revolution. The advantages gained by the
crown were too palpable to be voluntarily relinquished. Almost the
entire patronage of the church was thrown into the hands of the king,
who, in the reign of Louis the Fifteenth, held at his disposal eighteen
archbishoprics, 112 bishoprics, 1,666 abbeys for men, and 317 abbeys and
priories for women.[68] It must not be forgotten that the _annats_, or
first-fruits of benefices, now regularly falling into the pontifical
treasury, made the concordat scarcely less valuable to the Papal
See.[69]
[Sidenote: Era of the Renaissance.]
The most enviable distinction of the reign of Francis the First
consisted in the fact that it was the era of that extraordinary
development of the fine arts and of literature known as the
_Renaissance_. Illustrious during the Middle Ages, and foremost in the
pursuit of scholastic learning, France had unfortunately lost that proud
eminence when the revival of letters enkindled elsewhere a new passion
for discovery. Her adventurous sons had taken the lead in the crusades
of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, but three hundred years later no
expeditions were fitted out in her ports to explore and appropriate the
virgin territories beyond the western sea. The art of printing and the
impulse given to astronomical research originated abroad. The famous
mediaeval seat of learning seemed to have been suddenly visited with a
premature decay. Even the exiled scholars of the East, fleeing before
Turkish barbarism, disdained to settle in a country where the treasures
of ancient science which they had brought with them from Mount Athos and
Constantinople were so inadequately appreciated.[70]
[Sidenote: Francis's attainments overrated.]
[Sidenote: A munificent patron of art.]
The reign of Francis the First, however, was destined to remove much of
the reproach which had been incurred by reason of this singular
tardiness in entering the path of improvement. Born of parents possessed
of unusual intelligence and yet rarer education, and stimulated by the
companionship of an elder sister whose extensive acquirements furnished
the theme of countless panegyrics, Francis early conceived the design of
making his court illustrious for the generous patronage extended to the
disciples of the liberal arts. His own attainments have been overrated,
and posterity has too credulously believed all that admiring and
interested courtiers chose to invent in his praise. But, if he was
himself ignorant of anything beyond the mere rudiments even of Latin,
the universal language of science, he possessed at least one signal
merit: he was a munificent friend of those whom poverty would otherwise
have precluded from cultivating their resplendent abilities. I shall not
repeat the familiar names of the eminent painters and sculptors whom he
encouraged and enriched, nor give a list of the skilful architects
employed in the construction of his magnificent palaces of St. Germain
and Fontainebleau, of Chambord and Chenonceaux. Poetry, not less than
painting and architecture, witnessed his liberality. Clement Marot,
whose name has been regarded as marking the first truly remarkable epoch
in the history of this department of French art,[71] was a favorite at
the court of Francis and Margaret of Angouleme, and repaid their gifts
with unbounded eulogy. The more solid studies of the philosopher and the
linguist were fostered with equal care. Vatable, Melchior Wolmar, and
other scholars of note were invited to France, to give instruction in
Greek and Hebrew. Erasmus himself might have been induced to yield to
the king's importunate messages, could he have been able to divest
himself of the apprehension of annoyance from the bigoted "Sorbonnists;"
while even Melanchthon was, at a later period, on the point of accepting
a pressing summons to visit the French court on a mission of
reconciliation.
[Sidenote: Foundation of the College Royal.]
Among the most notable achievements of this prince was the foundation of
a school of learning intended to supply the deficiencies of the
instruction given by the university. In the "College Royal" Francis
desired to leave a lasting token of his devotion to letters. Here he
founded chairs of three languages--of Greek and Hebrew at first, and
afterward of Latin--whence was derived the name of _Trilingue_, under
which the college was celebrated in the writings of the day. The
monarch's plan encountered the obstacles which prejudice always knows
how to set in the way of improvement. The university doctors, fearing
that their own prelections would be forsaken for the more brilliant
lectures of the salaried professors of the royal school, demanded that
the latter should submit to an examination before the more ancient body
of instructors; but parliament wisely rejected their pretensions.
Liberal men throughout the world rejoiced at the defeat of the Sorbonne
and its representative, Beda,[72] while Marot, alluding to the quarrel
in a poetical epistle to the king, poured out in verse his contempt for
the "Theologasters" of Paris:
"L'ignorante Sorbonne;
Bien ignorante elle est d'estre ennemie
De la _Trilingue_ et noble Academie
Qu'as erigee....
O povres gens de savoir tout ethiques!
Bien faites vray ce proverbe courant:
'_Science n'ha hayneux que l'ignorant!_'"
It would be unfair to French scholarship to omit all notice of the fact
that there were not wanting natives of France itself whose sound
learning entitled them to rank with the most conscientious of German
humanists; such men as Lefevre d'Etaples, a prodigy of almost universal
acquirements; or Louis de Berquin, who furnishes a signal instance of a
nobleman of high position that did not shun the toil and danger of a
more than ordinarily profound investigation of theological truth. Both
will claim our attention again.
[Sidenote: An age of blood.]