THE CANON'S DEATH MADE A WEAPON AGAINST THE REFORM.
(MAY TO JULY 1533.)
Wernli's death was to be fruitful in serious consequences. The priests
were about to show what the violent death of an ecclesiastic might mean,
and the terrible consequences it carries with it. To sacrifice the
liberties of Geneva and the evangelical Reformation on his tomb, was, in
their opinion, the only offering that could appease heaven.
Next morning at sunrise, a few citizens left their houses and proceeded
towards the field of battle. They perceived a man, dressed like a
warrior, lying on the steps of a house; a great sword lay a few
paces off. They approached, stooped down and touched him ... he was stark
dead ... it was the canon, Messire Pierre Wernli. His body had lain all
night in the street, unobserved by every one. As Councillor Chautemps, a
peaceable man, had remained indoors, the body had not been perceived.
The cuirass bore the marks of the blows received by the champion of the
priests. His garments were bloody and his features still wore a fierce
look. Those who gazed upon him were moved. A canon, a chief of the
Church, he who the day before had officiated with so much state at St.
Pierre's, surrounded by all the pomps of the service, had been struck
down by the huguenots ... and there he lay dead. Some ran off to spread
the news: 'Messire Pierre lies bathed in blood near the Molard.' Canons
and priests, monks and mamelukes, and even the huguenots, ran out and
surrounded the dead body. 'All the city was troubled when they found the
corpse.'[729] The devout knelt down, and striking their breasts,
exclaimed with tears: 'O blessed martyr, sacrificed to God!' According
to some good catholics, he took his place in the ranks of the confessors
who, like Thomas à Becket, had been put to death for honouring the holy
Roman Church. This species of canonisation disgusted the huguenots:
'What!' they said, 'a priest fights with the halberd and sheds the blood
of citizens—he turns soldier, and you make him a saint! Rather recognise
in his death the just judgment of God.'[730] At that moment, there came
up a woman of mean appearance, who fell shrieking on the body. She
pressed it in her arms, with many sighs and groans. She was the canon's
housekeeper, they said; but the manuscript which records this incident
gives her a more significant name.[731]
This death was a great event, and the members of the council felt the
liveliest apprehensions. Wernli was not only a canon, but a Friburger,
and belonged to a powerful family. What would not be the wrath of his
fellow-citizens! 'Had we known of this murder last evening,' said the
mamelukes, 'the sword would have taken vengeance on Messire Pierre's
assassins, and the night would have been a night of terror and death.'
Their rage would have been so great that they would have entered every
house and made a general massacre. But the abler men of the party made
less noise, and thought of the advantage they might derive from the
catastrophe. The most extreme measures now became legitimate, and the
canon's death was to result in the triumph of the pope. Even now, a few
catholics assembling round the corpse, traded upon the scene, and
uncovering Wernli's wounds, pointed them out to the people, and thus
sought to arouse their anger. Others succeeded in preventing the gates
from being opened, lest the huguenots who had crossed swords with the
canon should escape. When the reformed learnt that the city was closed,
although it was broad daylight, they asked if it was intended to murder
them, and some immediately armed themselves and went to Baudichon de la
Maisonneuve's house.[732]
[Sidenote: BURYING THE DEAD.]
About nine o'clock the body was lifted up and carried into Chautemp's
house, where it was placed decently on a bed. The cuirass was taken off,
the stains of blood washed away; it was arrayed in the priest's
canonical robes, and the devout folks knelt around it. Every moment
other catholics, men and women, took the places of those who left. The
same day, at five in the afternoon, an immense procession descended from
St. Pierre's to do honour to this 'blessed martyr.' The priests placed
the canon on a showy bier, and when they came out of the house, 'the
people uttered a loud cry.'[733] Some of the reformed joined in the
funeral train; all enmity (they thought) should perish in the presence
of the dead. The body was taken into the cathedral, and buried at the
foot of the great crucifix. The council, wishing to hold the balance
even, imprisoned a few men who passed for the most violent of both
parties.[734]
[Sidenote: WERNLI'S RELATIONS ARRIVE.]
Five days later, a herald from Friburg and many of Wernli's relatives
appeared in deep mourning, and demanded that the body should be given up
to them; they also called for signal reparation. At five o'clock the
same day, the body was exhumed in the presence of an immense crowd, and,
wonder unheard-of! the canon stood upright, and the blood flowed from
his wound as fresh as if he had been alive. 'Of a truth,' said those in
the cathedral, 'this is a miracle, a testimony borne to the holy Roman
faith, for the maintenance of which his body was mangled. His blood
cries for revenge.'[735]
But the reformed said that popery is full of such cheats (_piperies_)
and idle dreams, opposed to common sense, by means of which impostors
deceive the simple. They believed that when the Son of God became man,
many signs of divine power had accompanied that great miracle; and that
if the sun acts upon the earth, and transforms a poor grain of wheat
into a magnificent ear of corn, it is very reasonable to admit that he
who created the sun exercises his sovereign action here whenever he
wills it, and effects transformations still more marvellous; but they
would not suffer the tricks of men to be placed in the same rank with
the interventions of the supreme power of the Creator. The miracle
having been confirmed by _eight hundred witnesses_, says Sister Jeanne,
the body was laid in a coffin and carried to the lake, all the priests
singing, while the women and some of the devout made the air re-echo
with their cries and groans. The coffin was placed in a boat and taken
to Friburg.[736]
[Sidenote: THE REFORM MUST BE CRUSHED.]
The priests thought the moment had now come for getting rid of the
evangelicals for ever. At first, the reform had been a mere thread of
water, but the thread had suddenly increased, and become like an Alpine
torrent, which, if it were not checked, would overthrow the altars and
sweep away crosses, images and holy water, priests and prelates. Had not
an illustrious canon been attacked and carried away by this devastating
flood? 'Now,' said the priests, 'must be accomplished what our Lord told
the apostles: He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy
one. If we do not crush these accursed Lutherans now, they will never
cease to trouble the churches, to plunder, beat and kill.... Let us sell
everything, even our wallets, to procure spears and swords.'[737] They
set the example; they never went out except well supplied with arms
under their frocks. The sisters of St. Claire and all the devout women
of Geneva exclaimed with delight on seeing the clergy so resolved: 'Ah,
if the clerks were not so stout-hearted, these ravening wolves would
exterminate us.'[738] But the more reasonable of the men saw that the
clubs of the priests would not suffice alone. 'The hour is come,' said
they at Geneva and Friburg, at Chambery, and wherever Rome had faithful
followers; 'the bishop must return to Geneva, and resume his former
authority.' A deputation started from Friburg for Arbois to entreat
Pierre de la Baume to return to his episcopal city.
[Sidenote: THE BISHOP AT ARBOIS.]
Since the death of Besançon Hugues, the bishop had taken no steps to
recover his power. Wounded by what had occurred in his principality, he
kept his vexation to himself, made up his mind to remain quiet, and
sought consolation at Arbois in good living. 'I have received your
capons,' he wrote, 'send me some fish. I have been enjoying myself, and
am much better supplied with provisions here than at Geneva.' He was at
heart neither wicked nor cruel; he had taste, education, and talent, and
his conversation abounded in wit. But he had two passions—the table and
money, besides a weak and selfish temper which made him incline one time
to the duke, another to Geneva, and appear servile or tyrannical
according as he hoped to obtain anything by baseness or by despotism.
The Genevans, and particularly the huguenots, knew him well. 'He wants
to ride _one_ and lead the _other_,' said Robert Vandel, 'and does
nothing except for his own advantage.'
When the Friburgers arrived at Arbois, they drew him from his stupid
tranquillity, disturbed his feasting, and firmly represented to him that
they wanted to know whether he desired to maintain catholicism in
Geneva, or to let it perish. They even attacked him with personal
arguments, which they knew must have great force for him. 'Return to
your city, my lord,' they said, 'to recover your lost authority, and
protect your threatened rents.' But La Baume was too timid, and would
willingly have lived anywhere except in his own diocese and
principality. He defended his absenteeism in a singular manner. 'Many of
these heretics have uttered great threats against me,' he said; 'they
will kill me like poor Wernli.'[739] A mightier voice than that of
Friburg now made itself heard.
The condition of Geneva was known in all catholic countries. Men were
uneasy everywhere; even Pope Clement VII. felt anxious. He did not
admire those ecclesiastics who, following the example of Leo X.,
neglected business for pleasure. In some places the catholics imagined
that if the Reform were crushed in Geneva, the recoil would act on the
Reformation in general; that the other protestant nations would feel its
effects, and that such a defeat would be the beginning of the end.
Representations to this effect reached the pope from every side, and he,
being a skilful politician and having the saving of the Roman court at
heart, wrote to the bishop: 'I command you to proceed to Geneva
immediately you receive this bull, under pain of excommunication. Is it
not singular that you pass your life in a foreign province as if you
were not the pastor of that city? You, by your absence, are the cause of
all the misfortunes with which it is afflicted.... Go, speak, act ...
defend the flock which Jesus Christ and the holy see have entrusted to
you, and rescue your sheep from the ravening wolf that is preparing to
devour them.'[740]
The poor bishop, when he read the bull, was seized with the most violent
emotion. He saw himself between two dangers almost equally great: the
pope who threatened him with excommunication, and the huguenots who
threatened him with death. What was to be done? He was urged on both
sides. At last he formed an heroic decision and determined to obey the
pope. He will leave Arbois and the pleasant life he had led there, with
all its earthly advantages, and go to that terrible city which appears
to him inhabited by wild beasts thirsting for his blood. 'Only you must
obtain a safe-conduct for me from Messieurs of Geneva,' he said to the
Friburg ambassadors, who were greatly surprised at having to ask a
safe-conduct for a prince who desired to visit his principality, for a
bishop who desired to enter his diocese. However, they promised
everything.
[Sidenote: THE BISHOP INVITED TO RETURN.]
Wernli's death had not only enraged the enemies of the Reformation, but
had weakened its friends and occasioned a reaction in Geneva favourable
to catholicism. The syndics and council now leant decidedly that way,
and the return of the bishop seemed to them the only means of restoring
order. 'The bishop does not need a safe-conduct,' they said; 'only let
him come. If anybody threatens him, we will punish him so severely, that
Monseigneur shall have cause to be satisfied.'—'Let him come back, let
him come back,' was the general cry except among the pious evangelicals
and the proud huguenots. The emancipation had hardly begun, when a
strong counter-revolution threatened to stifle it. On the 26th May the
council elected Domaine Franc, Stephen d'Adda, and Bon Officher to go
and humbly urge their bishop and prince to return. Thus Geneva herself
was preparing to bury its Reformation and its liberty.
Other Genevans had arrived at Arbois before the deputies from the
council. The principal mameluke chiefs, whether banished or emigrant,
who found the bread of exile bitter, had started for Arbois as soon as
they had heard of the canon's death. Full of that exasperation and
agitated by those dreams which self-exiled and banished men ordinarily
have, they endeavoured to make the bishop share their hopes and hatred.
'Nothing is juster and easier,' they said, 'than to put the leading
huguenots into prison, on suspicion of being concerned in the attack
upon Wernli. They will be executed, or if the people oppose, they can be
transported suddenly to some castle in Savoy, as Lévrier was formerly,
and then we can do our pleasure on them. After that nothing will be able
to disturb the holy union of Geneva with Savoy and the pope.' But Pierre
de la Baume had already recovered a little from the heroic resolution he
had formed after reading the papal brief. The violent language of the
mamelukes aroused all his terrors. 'The Genevans,' he said, 'are proud,
independent, and fond of tumult; at the least word that displeases them,
they fly to arms. No ... afraid as I am, I dare not go to Geneva.' 'Do
not fear, we will accompany you,' answered the mamelukes. 'The
Friburgers on their part will provide you with a guard; the Genevan
catholics, who are ten to one, will do the same; the duke is resolved to
support you.... It is impossible that we should not crush the rebels.'
The calculation was correct and the argument unanswerable. Pierre de la
Baume, finding himself summoned by the pope, and surrounded with spears
and spearmen, horses and chariots, again resumed an heroic courage, and
almost made up his mind to appear in the city of the huguenots.
Just at this moment the Genevan deputies arrived, and the bishop-prince
showed at first a very courteous humour, and replied with an amiable air
that he would return to Geneva _in a month_. Always uneasy, he still
tried to procrastinate. So many things may happen in a month—perhaps,
finally, he may never return to his episcopal city. 'I regard you as my
well-beloved subjects,' he said, 'and desire to appear as your true and
good prince.' Stephen d'Adda, a decided member of the opposition, placed
but little trust in these fine words. In reality they were playing a
little comedy at the priory of Arbois: the bishop was afraid to go, and
one or two of the deputies preferred that he should not come.[741]
[Sidenote: A COUP D'ÉTAT NECESSARY.]
Will he go or not? No one could tell. There were certain moments when La
Baume felt inclined to cross the Jura, and then all of a sudden he felt
as if _nailed_ to his priory of Arbois. Never was it more difficult to
arrive at a decision—it was like a nightmare. His friends began to
deliberate; they quite agreed with him that if he desired simply to
re-establish his residence in the episcopal city, it would be better for
him not to go there at all. He would always have to begin again with the
independence of the huguenots and the heresy of the reformed, with
alarms and riots. The evil would even be worse than before, for the
cause of liberty and reform had made great progress since the bishop had
left Geneva. He is compelled, therefore, to gain two victories if he
returns: first, he must trample under foot the franchises of the people
and get rid of the huguenots; and, second, he must silence the
evangelical teaching and expel the reformers and their adherents. The
prince-bishop and his imprudent advisers were convinced that a _coup
d'état_, and (if we may use the term) a _coup d'église_, were the only
remedies for the critical and almost desperate position of affairs.
Geneva was to go back to the superstitions and servility of the middle
ages. It was necessary to extinguish the double torch of political
independence and christian truth which a divine hand had kindled, and so
put Christendom beyond the reach of these treacherous lights. But the
timid La Baume shrank with alarm from such a herculean task; he knew his
own weakness, and felt the enterprise would be too arduous for him.
Meantime the Friburg ambassadors in Geneva were preparing the way for
him. They demanded aloud, what he proposed to do in secret. Being
admitted to the Council on the 23rd May, they said: 'We accuse all who
were in the Molard at the time of Wernli's death, including the syndic
of the guard and the commander of the cavalry.' They spoke haughtily,
and required immediate satisfaction. A whole section of the
population—the most innocent in this affair, even the party which had
been attacked—was to be criminally prosecuted! It was a monstrous
demand. However, the Friburgers spoke loud, and many of the huguenots
were dejected. The Council, being divided and intimidated, made answer
at last that they would authorise the lieutenant and the
procurator-fiscal 'to arrest all whom Messieurs of Friburg accused.'
Thus the plot was in a fair way: liberty and Reform had, however, a
moment's respite.[742]
[Sidenote: DECLARATION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.]
Two ambassadors from Berne, Councillor Sebastian de Diesbach and
Banneret John de Weingarten, arrived at Geneva, and had conferences with
the men of both parties. Their ideas gradually became clearer, and truth
sprang out of the conflict of opinions. They saw that this position of
affairs, which seemed an inextricable chaos, had one possible solution,
namely, liberty. 'We have seen and heard everything,' said Diesbach;
'the only means of enjoying peace is to _permit every one to follow the
movements of his conscience, so that no one be constrained_.[743] Let
the mass and feast-days and images remain for those who like them; but
let the preaching of the Gospel be granted to those who desire it, and
let one of the seven parish churches be assigned them for that purpose.
Let no one be ridiculed for going to mass. _Let every one abide in his
own free-will and choice._[744]... Moreover, as the Old and New
Testaments are the foundation of our faith, and as those who follow the
Gospel cannot exist without reading them, let the booksellers be
permitted to sell publicly the Holy Scriptures and any other books of
piety.' Thus 'liberty for all' was the great salutary principle then
proclaimed in Geneva. This theory, which gives honour to God and
independence to man, was not generally admitted until two or three
hundred years later. But we take note of the epoch when the right was
first proclaimed. It is sometimes asserted that the idea of liberty for
all only appeared in the 18th century, and that it was put forward for
the first time by the free-thinkers of England, France, and Holland. It
is not so: religious as well as political liberty asserted their just
and holy claims at Geneva more than three centuries ago. Switzerland and
the Reform are the first in the field. These principles were so simple
and so true that the Council was convinced; in the face, however, of
formidable adversaries, they feared their own weakness. The syndics
replied to the Messieurs of Berne: 'Stay with us to help us!' The 27th
of May, 1533, deserves a mark of honour in the annals of religious
liberty.
[729] Council Registers of 4th and 25th May.
[730] 'Justa Nemesi gloriosus ille miles fœdo ictu,' &c.—Spanheim,
_Geneva restituta_, p. 60.
[731] La Sœur J. de Jussie, _Le Levain du Calvinisme_, p.
63.—Council Registers of 4th and 5th May.—Roset MS. _Chron._
[732] Council Registers of 4th and 5th May, 1533.—La Sœur J. de Jussie,
_Le Levain du Calvinisme_, pp. 63-64.—Gautier MS.
[733] La Sœur J. de Jussie, _Le Levain du Calvinisme_, p. 64.
[734] Ibid.—Council Registers of 2nd July, 1533.—Froment, _Gestes de
Genève_, p. 59.
[735] La Sœur J. de Jussie, p. 65.
[736] Council Registers of 9th May.—La Sœur J. de Jussie, _Le Levain
du Calvinisme_, pp. 64-66.—Gautier MS.—Froment, _Gestes de
Genève_, p. 59.
[737] _Le Levain du Calvinisme_, p. 66.
[738] _Le Levain du Calvinisme_, p. 66.
[739] Sordet, _Mémoires d'Archéologie_, ii. p. 19.—Council Registers,
May 19.—Gautier MS.
[740] _Mémoires pour les Diocèses de Genève_, &c. par le curé
Besson, p. 62.
[741] Council Registers of 21st May, 2nd and 22nd June.—Froment,
_Gestes de Genève_, p. 62.—Gautier MS.
[742] Council Registers of 22nd May, 1533.
[743] 'Permettre à chacun de suivre les mouvements de sa conscience, en
telle sorte que personne ne soit contraint.'—Council Registers, 27th
May.
[744] 'Que chacun demeure en sa volonté et en son franc
arbitre.'—Council Registers, 27th May.