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THE VAUDOIS OF PIEDMONT.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE VALLEYS OF PIEDMONT
_STANFORD'S GEOGL. ESTABT. LONDON._]
THE
VAUDOIS OF PIEDMONT:
A Visit to their Valleys,
WITH A SKETCH OF THEIR REMARKABLE HISTORY AS
A CHURCH AND PEOPLE
TO THE PRESENT DATE.
With Map of the Valleys.
BY
REV. J. N. WORSFOLD, M.A.,
_Vicar of Christ Church, Somers Town, London._
_"TRITUNTUR MALLEI REMANET INCUS."_
LONDON:
J. F. SHAW & CO., 48, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1873.
PREFACE.
An eminent living scholar, Dr. Tischendorf, has remarked, that in these
days there is need of "little books on great subjects." It was something of
that feeling which led me to the idea of supplementing the large and
learned works of Muston, Monastier, Gilly, and others, by a pocket volume,
so small that the tourist might not feel it an incumbrance, and yet so
comprehensive, that those who have not the leisure for larger works, might
obtain useful knowledge of the Waldenses.
Whether I shall have succeeded in this aim the public must judge.
I may, however, add that the absorbing nature of my parochial work has
prevented my doing justice to the subject, from a literary point of view,
and, therefore, I must ask my readers to kindly think of it merely as an
earnest desire to diminish somewhat of the lack of information which I have
discovered even among educated and benevolent persons, with regard to the
history and ecclesiastical character of the Vaudois.
And, secondly, to evoke help towards their work generally, but especially
to call out contributions, by means of which a MEMORIAL CHURCH may be
erected near the site of the ancient college of the Vaudois, at Pra del
Tor, Val Angrogna, and so still further illustrate the accuracy of the
ancient motto of the Vaudois, "The hammers are broken, the anvil remains."
"TRITUNTUR MALLEI REMANET INCUS."
_13, Oakley Square, N.W., July, 1873._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Page
THE JOURNEY AND ITS MOTIVE 1-5
CHAPTER II.
THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE VALLEYS, AND TOPOGRAPHICAL
FEATURES 6-8
CHAPTER III.
ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY OF THE WALDENSES AS A DISTINCT
COMMUNITY 9-13
CHAPTER IV.
CREED AND ORGANIZATION OF THE WALDENSIAN CHURCH 14-22
CHAPTER V.
THE BEGINNING OF PAPAL PERSECUTIONS 23-27
CHAPTER VI.
THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE WALDENSES FROM THE
RISE OF THE ROMAN INQUISITION TO THAT OF THE PROTESTANT
REFORMATION 28-37
CHAPTER VII.
PEACE BETWEEN FRANCE AND SPAIN INITIATES THE SECOND
GREAT PERSECUTION OF THE VAUDOIS.--THEIR LOYALTY
AND THEIR CONDITION DOWN TO A.D. 1655 38-44
CHAPTER VIII.
"THE BLOODY PASCHA"--LOYALTY EVEN BEYOND THE POWER
OF PERFIDY AND PERSECUTION TO QUENCH.--REVOCATION
OF THE EDICT OF NANTES.--THE CRIMES OF
LOUIS XIV. INVOLVES THE VALLEYS IN TROUBLE, EVEN
GREATER THAN BEFORE.--TREACHERY OF GABRIEL OF
SAVOY.--EXILE 45-51
CHAPTER IX.
RORA AND JANAVELLO 52-62
CHAPTER X.
THE VALLEYS REGAINED UNDER HENRI ARNAUD 63-89
CHAPTER XI.
THE VAUDOIS FROM THEIR RETURN TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION,
AND THE RESTORATION OF THE HOUSE OF SAVOY
TO THEIR DOMINIONS 90-95
CHAPTER XII.
THE VAUDOIS FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE EDICT OF
EMANCIPATION 96-103
CHAPTER XIII.
THE WALDENSIAN CHURCH, FROM THE GENERAL PEACE TO
THE DATE OF VISITS FROM DR. GILLY AND GENERAL
BECKWITH 104-113
CHAPTER XIV.
WALDENSIAN CHURCH PROGRESS IN ITS OWN VALLEYS, FROM
1827 TO 1848 114-119
CHAPTER XV.
THE CHURCH OF THE VALLEYS AS THE EVANGELIST OF
ITALY.--ITS HOME CLAIMS AND NEEDS 120-130
THE VAUDOIS OF PIEDMONT.
CHAPTER I.
Early on the morning of Easter Monday, 1871, in company with a devoted
Italian pastor, I left my temporary home in the comfortable "Grand Hotel,"
in the little town of Pallanza, to gratify a long-felt desire of visiting
that part of Europe made sacred by ages of heroic suffering and courageous
endurance for faith and fatherland--the valleys of Piedmont. As we steamed
up the lake Maggiore the thin mist of early morn cleared off, and by the
time we had passed the far-famed Borromean Islands the eye was ravished
with the scenes of beauty on every side. Trees and flowers bloomed forth in
the lovely vesture of an Italian spring, and the hills, villas, and gardens
on the shores of the lake were imaged forth as in a mirror on its own fair
bosom.
In this reverie of delight our boat landed us at Arona, where we
disembarked and entered the train for Turin. We reached the latter city in
about three hours, and after a short delay at the refreshment-room, called
upon the Vaudois pastor, the Rev. J. P. Meille, who received us most
kindly, and showed us over the stately temple belonging to his church,
situated in one of the best streets (the Corso del Re), and which, by its
imposing character, as compared with the general simplicity of the Vaudois
ecclesiastical buildings, fitly illustrates their altered circumstances as
a Church and a community--no longer persecuted, plundered, proscribed, and
down-trodden!
The erection of this building was indeed the first public and palpable
evidence that the era of political and religious liberty for the Waldenses,
inaugurated by the edict of emancipation, dated February 17th, 1848, was
really to be enjoyed by them. Its foundations were laid on the 29th
October, 1851, by a solemn ceremonial. Delegates from the table of the
Vaudois Church, the consistory of Turin, and all the representatives of
Protestant states, together with a numerous concourse of sympathizers and
lookers-on, were present. This great innovation upon the long reign of
intolerance was not accomplished without considerable effort. In the first
place, it was necessary to obtain the authorization of the government, and
this was the more difficult from the circumstance that liberty of
conscience and public worship were not _formally_ inscribed on the
"_Statuto_," so that the government might have refused the authorization,
and yet not have violated the strict letter of the law. Happily, however,
the president of the council of ministers at that time was the Count
Cavour, whose influence procured the necessary permission. Many attempts,
however, were made to undo this concession, and even when the royal
sanction had been obtained these efforts were so numerous and influential
that nothing but the proverbial justice of the sovereign, and the
constancy of his minister, availed to secure success. The last piece of
opposition to the desire of the Vaudois and their friends was made by a man
whose name remained as the living incarnation of the former regime, the
Count Solaro Margherita, who, during the long years under the reign of
Charles Albert, had held the helm of the state, and was completely in
bondage to the Jesuits. Though infirm in body, he betook himself to the
presence of the successor of his ancient master, and falling on his knees,
said to him, "Sire, do not refuse one of the most faithful servants of your
dynasty the last favour that he will ask of you before he quits this earth,
viz., that you do not allow the good and loyal city of Turin to have the
grief and shame of seeing erected within its walls an edifice set apart for
the preaching of heresy." (See MEILLE'S _Life of Gen. Beckwith_.) The king
referred the suppliant to his ministers, who never dreamt of recalling
their decision, and the good work proceeded. So that within a little over
two years from its commencement the dedication of the temple took place, on
the 15th of December, 1853. There was a great gathering of all ranks of
society, including the greater portion of the diplomatique body resident in
Turin, the senators, the deputies, a delegation from the national guard of
the city with their officers at their head. This last circumstance seems to
have given special umbrage to the more bigoted Romanists, inasmuch as their
organ, _L'Armonia_, wrote as follows:--"The 15th of December will be
written among the most disgraceful in the annals of Piedmont--_the Eighth
Anniversary of the Immaculate Conception_, and the Valdesi have appointed
it as the day for the solemn opening of the Protestant temple." And it
goes on to say, those who have ordered the national guard to take part in
the ceremony "have attempted to dishonour the city militia."
But gratifying as it was to me to contemplate this sacred edifice, yet we
were anxious not to lose time in reaching the valleys, so we left by the
afternoon train for Pinerolo, a town of ominous memories as regards its
past connection with its Protestant neighbours. Missionaries, monks, and
soldiers have often started forth from this point to molest or destroy
those whose virtues they should rather have endeavoured to imitate. The
last enterprise of this kind was brought about by the instigation of
Archbishop Charvaz of Pinerolo, during the years 1840-1844.
From the railway station at Pinerolo we changed our conveyance, and took a
seat on the outside of the diligence for La Torre. On our way we passed the
small towns of San Secondo, celebrated as the place where a Christian
martyr suffered in the third century, Bricherasio, where deeds of violence
were perpetrated against those whose forefathers owned the soil from which
their children have been long excluded. Although the shades of evening were
closing over us ere we finished our journey, yet we could not fail to be
impressed with the nature of the territory to which we were drawing nigh.
Monte Viso reared its snow-crested cone with a seeming sense of its
majesty. It has been beautifully described as looking like a pyramid
starting out of a sea of mountain ridges, and from certain points of view
to surpass even Mont Blanc in grandeur, inasmuch as it stands out in larger
space, and so makes a more powerful impression on the senses. Although but
12,000 feet high, no one has been able to scale the summit of its gigantic
rocks. "Free from the tread of human foot, it is the Jungfrau of the South,
the powerful spirit which watches over our valleys; for in the shade of its
granite sides the torch of the gospel found refuge for its light." Full of
grand emotions as we neared the spot, our diligence brought us to the
little capital, La Torre Pelice, where, under the hospitable roof of the
Bear Hotel, we rest for the night.