Fox's Book of Martyrs
Chapter VI
An Account of the Persecutions in Italy, Under the Papacy
We
shall now enter on an account of the persecutions in Italy, a country which has
been, and still is, 1. The center of
popery.In
the twelfth century, the first persecutions under the papacy began in Italy, at
the time that Adrian, an Englishman, was pope, being
occasioned by the following circumstances:
A
learned man, and an excellent orator of Brescia, named Arnold, came to Rome,
and boldly preached against the corruptions and innovations which had crept
into the Church. His discourses were so clear, consistent, and breathed forth
such a pure spirit of piety, that the senators and many of the people highly approved of, and admired his
doctrines.
This
so greatly enraged Adrian that he commanded Arnold instantly to leave the city,
as a heretic. Arnold, however, did not comply, for the senators and some of the principal people took his part, and resisted the
authority of the pope.
Adrian
now laid the city of Rome under an interdict, which caused the whole body of
clergy to interpose; and, at length he persuaded the senators and people to
give up the point, and suffer Arnold to be banished. This being agreed to,
he received the sentence of exile, and retired to Germany, where he continued
to preach against the pope, and to expose the gross errors of the Church of
Rome.
Adrian,
on this account, thirsted for his blood, and made several
attempts to get him into his hands; but Arnold, for a long time, avoided every
snare laid for him. At length, Frederic Barbarossa arriving at the imperial
dignity, requested that the pope would crown him with his own hand. This Adrian
complied with, and at the same time asked a favor of
the emperor, which was, to put Arnold into his hands. The emperor very readily
delivered up the unfortunate preacher, who soon fell a martyr to Adrian's vengeance,
being hanged, and his body burnt to ashes, at Apulia.
The same fate attended several of his old friends and
companions.
Encenas,
a Spaniard, was sent to Rome, to be
brought up in the Roman Catholic faith; but having conversed with some of the reformed, and having
read several treatises which they put into his hands,
he became a Protestant. This, at length, being known, one of his own relations
informed against him, when he was burnt by order of
the pope, and a conclave of cardinals. The brother of Encenas had been taken up much about the same time, for having a New
Testament in the Spanish language in his possession; but before the time
appointed for his execution, he found means to escape out of prison,
and retired to Germany.
Faninus,
a learned layman, by reading controversial books, became of the reformed
religion. An information being exhibited against him
to the pope, he was apprehended, and cast into prison.
His wife, children, relations, and friends visited him in his confinement, and
so far wrought upon his mind, that he renounced his
faith, and obtained his release. But he was no sooner free from confinement
than his mind felt the heaviest of chains; the weight
of a guilty conscience. His horrors were so great that he found them
insupportable, until he had returned from his apostasy, and declared himself
fully convinced of the errors of the Church of Rome. To make amends for his
falling off, he now openly and strenuously did all he could to make converts to
Protestantism, and was pretty
successful in his endeavors. These proceedings occasioned his second
imprisonment, but he had his life offered him if he would recant again. This proposal he rejected with disdain, saying that he
scorned life upon such terms. Being asked why he would
obstinately persist in his opinions, and leave his wife and children in
distress, he replied, "I shall not leave them in distress;
I
have recommended them to the care of an excellent trustee." "What
trustee?" said the person who had asked the question, with some surprise: to which Faninus answered, "Jesus Christ
is the trustee I mean, and I think I could not commit them to the care of a
better." On the day of execution he appeared
remarkably cheerful, which one observing, said, "It is strange you should
appear so merry upon such an occasion, when Jesus Christ himself, just before
his death, was in such agonies, that he sweated blood and water." To which
Faninus replied: "Christ sustained all manner of pangs and conflicts, with
hell and death, on our accounts; and thus, by his sufferings, freed those who
really believe in him from the fear of them." He was
then strangled, his body was burnt to ashes, and then scattered about by the wind.
Dominicus,
a learned soldier, having read several controversial
writings, became a zealous Protestant, and retiring to
Placentia, he preached the Gospel in its utmost purity, to a very considerable
congregation. One day, at the conclusion of his sermon, he said, "If the
congregation will attend to-morrow, I will give them a description of Antichrist, and paint him out in his proper colors."
A
vast concourse of people attended the next day, but just as Dominicus was
beginning his sermon, a civil magistrate went up to the pulpit,
and took him into custody. He readily submitted; but as he went along
with the magistrate, he made use of this expression: "I wonder
the devil hath let me alone so long." When he was brought to examination, this question was
put to him: "Will you renounce your doctrines?" To which he
replied: "My doctrines! I maintain no doctrines of my own; what I preach
are the doctrines of Christ, and for those I will forfeit my blood, and even
think myself happy to suffer for the sake of my Redeemer." Every method was taken to make him recant for his faith,
and embrace the errors of the Church of Rome; but when persuasions and
menaces were found ineffectual, he was
sentenced to death, and hanged in the market place.
Galeacius,
a Protestant gentleman, who resided near the castle of St.
Angelo, was apprehended on account of his faith. Great endeavors being used by his friends he recanted, and
subscribed to several of the superstitious doctrines
propogated by the Church of Rome. Becoming, however, sensible of his error, he
publicly renounced his recantation. Being apprehended for this, he was
condemned to be burnt, and agreeable to the order was chained to a stake, where
he was left several hours before the fire was put to the fagots, in order that
his wife, relations, and friends, who surrounded him, might induce him to give
up his opinions. Galeacius, however, retained his constancy of mind, and entreated the executioner to put
fire to the wood that was to burn him. This at length he did,
and Galeacius was soon consumed in the flames, which
burnt with amazing rapidity and deprived him of sensation in a
few minutes.
Soon
after this gentleman's death, a great number of
Protestants were put to death in various parts of
Italy, on account of their faith, giving a sure proof of their sincerity in
their martyrdoms.
An Account of the Persecutions of Calabria
The
Calabrian lords were highly pleased with their new subjects and
tenants,
as they were honest, quiet, and industrious; but the
priests of the
country
exhibited several negative complaints against them;
for not being able
to
accuse them of anythying bad which they did do, they founded accusations on
what
they did not do, and charged them,
With
not being Roman Catholics.
With
not making any of their boys priests.
With
not making any of their girls nuns.
With
not going to Mass.
With
not giving wax tapers to their priests as offerings.
With
not going on pilgrimages.
With
not bowing to images.
The
Calabrian lords, however, quieted the priests, by telling them that these
people were extremely harmless; that they gave no offence to the Roman
Catholics, and cheerfully paid the tithes to the priests, whose revenues were
considerably increased by their coming into the country, and who, of
consequence, ought to be the last persons to complain of them.
Things
went on tolerably well after this for a few years,
during which the Waldenses formed themselves into two corporate towns, annexing
several villages to the jurisdiction
of them. At length they sent to Geneva for two clergymen; one to preach in each
town, as they determined to make a public profession
of their faith. Intelligence of this affair being carried
to the pope, Pius the Fourth, he determined to exterminate them from Calabria.
To
this end he sent Cardinal Alexandrino, a man of very violent temper and a
furious bigot, together with two monks, to Calabria, where they were to act as inquisitors. These authorized persons came to St.
Xist, one of the towns built by the Waldenses, and having assembled the people,
told them that they should receive no injury, if they would accept of preachers
appointed by the pope; but if they would not, they should be deprived both of
their properties and lives; and that their intentions might be known, Mass
should be publicly said that afternoon, at which they were ordered to attend.
The
people of St. Xist, instead of attending Mass, fled into the woods, with their
families, and thus disappointed the cardinal and his coadjutors. The cardinal
then proceeded to La Garde, the other town belonging to the Waldenses, where, not to be served as he had
been at St. Xist, he ordered the gates to be locked,
and all avenues guarded. The same proposals were then made
to the inhabitants of La Garde, as had previously been
offered to those of St. Xist, but with this additional piece of
artifice: the cardinal assured them that the inhabitants of St. Xist had
immediately come into his proposals, and agreed that the pope should appoint
them preachers. This falsehood succeeded; for the people of La Garde, thinking
what the cardinal had told them to be the truth, said they would exactly follow
the example of their brethren at St. Xist.
The
cardinal, having gained his point by deluding the people of one town, sent for
troops of soldiers, with a view to murder those of the other. He, accordingly,
despatched the soldiers into the woods, to hunt down the inhabitants of St.
Xist like wild beasts, and gave them strict orders to spare neither age nor
sex, but to kill all they came near. The troops entered the woods, and many fell a prey to their ferocity,
before the Waldenses were properly apprised of their
design. At length, however, they determined to sell their lives as dear as
possible, when several conflicts happened, in which
the half-armed Waldenses performed prodigies of valor, and many
were slain on both sides. The greatest part of the
troops being killed in the different rencontres, the
rest were compelled to retreat, which so enraged the
cardinal that he wrote to the viceroy of Naples for reinforcements.
The
viceroy immediately ordered a proclamation to be made
thorughout all the Neapolitan territories, that all outlaws, deserters, and
other proscribed persons should be surely pardoned for
their respective offences, on condition of making a campaign against the
inhabitants of St. Xist, and continuing under arms
until those people were exterminated.
Many
persons of desperate fortunes came in upon this proclamation, and being formed into light companies, were
sent to scour the woods, and put to death all they could meet with of
the reformed religion. The viceroy himself likewise joined the cardinal, at the
head of a body of regular forces; and, in conjunction, they did all they could
to harass the poor people in the woods. Some they
caught and hanged up upon trees, cut down boughs and burnt them, or ripped them open and left their
bodies to be devoured by wild beasts, or birds of
prey. Many they shot at a distance, but the greatest
number they hunted down by way of sport. A few hid
themselves in caves, but famine destroyed them in their retreat; and thus all these poor people perished, by various means, to
glut the bigoted malice of their merciless persecutors.
The
inhabitants of St. Xist were no sooner exterminated, than those of La Garde
engaged the attention of the cardinal and viceroy.
It
was offered, that if they should embrace the Roman Catholic persuasion,
themselves and families should not be injured, but their houses and properties
should be restored, and none would be permitted to molest them; but, on the
contrary, if they refused this mercy, (as it was termed) the utmost extremities
would be used, and the most cruel deaths the certain consequence of their
noncompliance.
Notwithstanding
the promises on one side, and menaces on the other, these worthy people
unanimously refused to renounce their religion, or
embrace the errors of popery. This exasperated the cardinal and viceroy so much, that thirty of them were ordered
to be put immediately to the
rack, as a terror to the rest.
Those
who were put to the rack were
treated with such severity that several died
under the tortures; one Charlin, in particular, was so
cruelly used that his belly burst, his bowels came out, and he expired in the
greatest agonies. These barbarities, however, did not answer the purposes for
which they were intended; for those who remained alive after the rack, and
those who had not felt the rack, remained equally constant in their faith, and
boldly declared that no tortures of body, or terrors of mind, should ever
induce them to renounce their God, or worship images.
Several
were then, by the cardinal's order, stripped stark naked, and whipped to death
iron rods; and some were hacked
to pieces with large knives; others were thrown down
from the top of a large tower, and many were covered over with pitch, and burnt alive.
One
of the monks who attended the cardinal, being naturally of a savage and cruel
disposition, requested of him that he might shed some of the blood of these
poor people with his own hands; when his request being granted, the barbarous
man took a large sharp knife, and cut the throats of fourscore men, women, and
children, with as little remorse as a butcher would have killed so many sheep.
Every one of these bodies were then ordered to be quartered, the quarters placed upon stakes, and then
fixed in different parts of the country, within a
circuit of thirty miles.
The
four principal men of La Garde were hanged, and the
clergyman was thrown from the top of his church
steeple. He was terribly mangled, but not quite killed
by the fall; at which time the viceroy passing by, said, "Is the dog yet
living? Take him up, and give him to the hogs," when, brutal
as this sentence may appear, it was executed
accordingly.
Sixty
women were racked so violently, that the cords pierced
their arms and legs close to the bone; when, being remanded
to prison, their wounds mortified, and they died in the most miserable manner. Many others were put to death by
various cruel means; and if any Roman Catholic, more compassionate than the
rest, interceded for any of the reformed, he was immediately apprehended, and
shared the same fate as a favorer of heretics.
The
viceroy being obliged to march back to Naples, on some affairs of moment which
required his presence, and the cardinal being recalled to Rome, the marquis of
Butane was ordered to put the finishing stroke to what they had begun; which he
at length effected, by acting with such barbarous rigor, that there was not a
single person of the reformed religion left living in all Calabria.
Thus
were a great number of inoffensive and harmless people deprived of their
possessions, robbed of their property, driven from their homes, and at length
murdered by various means, only because they would not sacrifice their
consciences to the superstitions of others, embrace idolatrous doctrines which
they abhorred, and accept of teachers whom they could not believe.
Tyranny
is of three kinds, viz., that which enslaves the person, that which seizes the
property, and that which prescribes and dictates to the mind. The two first
sorts may be termed civil tyranny,
and have been practiced by arbitrary sovereigns
in all ages, who have delighted in tormenting the
persons, and stealing the properties of their unhappy subjects. But the third
sort, viz., prescribing and dictating to the mind, may be called ecclesiastical
tyranny: and this is the worst kind of tyranny, as it includes the other two
sorts; for the Romish clergy not only do torture the body and seize the effects
of those they persecute, but take the lives, torment the minds, and, if
possible, would tyrannize over the souls of the unhappy victims.
Account of the Persecutions in the Valleys of Piedmont
Though
they were harmless in their behavior, inoffensive in their conversation, and
paid tithes to the Roman clergy, yet the latter could not be
contented, but wished to give them some
distrubance: they, accordingly, complained to the archbishop of Turin that the
Waldenses of the valleys of Piedmont were heretics, for these reasons:
Upon
these charges the archbishop ordered a persecution to be
commenced, and many fell martyrs to the
superstitious rage of the priests and monks.
At
Turin, one of the reformed had his bowels torn out, and put in a basin before
his face, where they remained in his view until he expired. At Revel, Catelin
Girard being at the stake, desired the executioner to give him a stone; which
he refused, thinking that he meant to throw it at somebody; but Girard assuring
him that he had no such design, the executioner complied, when Girard, looking
earnestly at the stone, said, "When it is in the power of a man to eat and
digest this solid stone, the religion for which I am about to suffer shall have
an end, and not before." He then threw the stone on the ground,
and submitted cheerfully to the flames. A great many
more of the reformed were oppressed, or put to death,
by various means, until the patience of the Waldenses being
tired out, they flew to arms in their own defence, and
formed themselves into regular bodies.
Exasperated
at this, the bishop of Turin procured a number of troops, and sent against
them; but in most of the skirmishes and engagements the Waldenses were
successful, which partly arose from their being better acquainted with the
passes of the valleys of Piedmont than their adversaries, and partly from the
desperation with which they fought; for they well knew, if they were taken,
they should not be considered as prisoners of war, but tortured to death as
heretics.
At
length, Philip VII, duke of Savoy, and supreme lord of Piedmont, determined to
interpose his authority, and stop these bloody wars, which so greatly disturbed
his dominions. He was not willing to disoblige the pope, or affront the
archbishop of Turin; nevertheless, he sent them both messages, importing that
he could not any longer tamely see his dominions overrun with troops, who were
directed by priests instead of officers, and commanded by prelates instead of
generals; nor would he suffer his country to be depopulated, while he himself
had not been even consulted upon the occasion.
The
priests, finding the resolution of the duke, did all they could to prejudice
his mind against the Waldenses; but the duke told them, that though he was
unacquainted with the religious tenets of these people, yet he had always found
them quiet, faithful, and obedient, and therefore he determined they should be
no longer persecuted.
The
priests now had recourse to the most palpable and absurd falsehoods:
they
assured the duke that he was mistaken in the Waldenses for they were a wicked
set of people, and highly addicted to intemperance, uncleanness, blasphemy,
adultery, incest, and many other abominable crimes; and that they were even
monsters in nature, for their children were born with black throats, with four
rows of teeth, and bodies all over hairy.
The
duke was not so devoid of common sense as to give credit to what the priests
said, though they affirmed in the most solemn manner the truth of their
assertions. He, however, sent twelve very learned and sensible gentlemen into
the Piedmontese valleys, to examine into the real
character of the inhabitants.
These
gentlemen, after travelling through all their towns and villages, and
conversing with people of every rank among the Waldenses returned to the duke,
and gave him the most favorable account of these people; affirming, before the
faces of the priests who vilified them, that they were harmless, inoffensive,
loyal, friendly, industrious, and pious: that they abhorred the crimes of which
they were accused; and that, should an individual, through his depravity, fall
into any of those crimes, he would, by their laws, be punished in the most
exemplary manner. "With respect to the children," the gentlemen said,
"the priests had told the most gross and ridiculous falsities, for they
were neither born with black throats, teeth in their mouths, nor hair on their
bodies, but were as fine children as could be seen. And to convince your
highness of what we have said, (continued one of the gentlemen) we have brought
twelve of the principal male inhabitants, who are come to ask pardon in the
name of the rest, for having taken up arms without your leave, though even in
their own defence, and to preserve their lives from their merciless enemies.
And we have likewise brought several women, with children of various ages, that
your highness may have an opportunity of personally examining them as much as
you please."
The
duke, after accepting the apology of the twelve delegates, conversing with the
women, and examining the children, graciously dismissed them. He then commanded
the priests, who had attempted to mislead him, immediately to leave the court;
and gave strict orders, that the persecution should cease throughout his
dominions.
The
Waldenses had enjoyed peace many years, when Philip,
the seventh duke of Savoy, died, and his successor happened to be a very
bigoted papist. About the same time, some of the
principal Waldenses proposed that their clergy should preach in public, that
every one might know the purity of their doctrines: for hitherto they had
preached only in private, and to such congregations as they well knew to
consist of none but persons of the reformed religion.
On
hearing these proceedings, the new duke was greatly exasperated,
and sent a considerable body of troops into the valleys, swearing that
if the people would not change their religion, he would have them flayed alive. The commander of the troops soon found the
impracticability of conquering them with the number of men he had with him, he,
therefore, sent word to the duke that the idea of subjugating the Waldenses,
with so small a force, was ridiculous; that those people were better acquainted
with the country than any that were with him; that they had secured all the
passes, were well armed, and resolutely determined to defend themselves; and,
with respect to flaying them alive, he said, that every skin belonging to those
people would cost him the lives of a dozen of his subjects.
Terrified
at this information, the duke withdrew the troops, determining to act not by
force, but by stratagem. He therefore ordered rewards for the taking of any of
the Waldenses, who might be found straying from their
places of security; and these, when taken, were either flayed alive, or burnt.
The
Waldenses had hitherto only had the New Testament and a few
books of the Old, in the Waldensian tongue; but they determined now to have the
sacred writings complete in their own language. They, therefore, employed a
Swiss printer to furnish them with a complete edition of the Old and New
Testaments in the Waldensian tongue, which he did for the consideration of
fifteen hundred crowns of gold, paid him by those pious people.
Pope
Paul the third, a bigoted papist, ascending the pontifical chair, immediately
solicited the parliament of Turin to persecute the Waldenses, as the most
pernicious of all heretics.
The
parliament readily agreed, when several
were suddenly apprehended and burnt by their order.
Among these was Bartholomew Hector, a bookseller and stationer of Turin, who
was brought up a Roman Catholic, but having read some treatises written by the
reformed clergy, was fully convinced of the errors of the Church of Rome; yet
his mind was, for some time, wavering, and he hardly knew what persuasion to
embrace.
At
length, however, he fully embraced the reformed religion, and was apprehended, as we have already mentioned, and burnt by
order of the parliament of Turin.
A
consultation was now held by the parliament of Turin,
in which it was agreed to send deputies to the valleys
of Piedmont, with the following propositions:
1. That if the Waldenses would come to the
bosom of the Church of Rome, and embrace the Roman Catholic religion, they
should enjoy their houses, properties, and lands, and live with their families,
without the least molestation.
To
each of these propositions the Waldenses nobly replied in the following manner,
answering them respectively:
1. That no considerations whatever should
make them renounce their religion.
These
pointed and spirited replies greatly exasperated the
parliament of Turin; they continued, with more avidity than ever, to kidnap
such Waldenses as did not act with proper precaution, who were sure to suffer
the most cruel deaths. Among these, it unfortunately happened, that they got hold of Jeffery Varnagle, minister
of Angrogne, whom they committed to the flames as a heretic.
They
then solicited a considerable body of troops of the king of France, in order to
exterminate the reformed entirely from the valleys of Piedmont; but just as the
troops were going to march, the Protestant princes of Germany interposed, and
threatened to send troops to assist the Waldenses, if they should be attacked.
The king of France, not caring to enter into a war,
remanded the troops, and sent word to the parliament of Turin that he could not
spare any troops at present to act in Piedmont. The members of the parliament
were greatly vexed at this disappointment, and the persecution gradually
ceased, for as they could only put to death such of the reformed as they caught
by chance, and as the Waldenses daily grew more cautious, their cruelty was
obliged to subside, for want of objects on whom to exercise it.
After
the Waldenses had enjoyed a few years tranquillity, they were again disturbed
by the following means: the pope's nuncio coming to Turin to the duke of Savoy
upon business, told that prince he was astonished he had not yet either rooted
out the Waldenses from the valleys of Piedmont entirely, or compelled them to
enter into the bosom of the Church of Rome. That he could not help looking upon
such conduct with a suspicious eye, and that he really thought him a favorer of
those heretics, and should report the affair
accordingly to his holiness the pope.
Stung
by this reflection, and unwilling to be misrepresented
to the pope, the duke determined to act with the greatest severity, in order to show his zeal, and to make amends for former
neglect by future cruelty. He, accordingly, issued express orders for all the
Waldenses to attend Mass regularly on pain of death. This they absolutely
refused to do, on which he entered the Piedmontese valleys, with a formidable
body of troops, and began a most furious persecution, in which great numbers
were hanged, drowned, ripped open, tied to trees, and pierced with prongs,
thrown from precipices, burnt, stabbed, racked to death, crucified with their
heads downwards, worried by dogs, etc.
Those
who fled had their goods plundered, and their houses burnt to the ground: they
were particularly cruel when they caught a minister or a schoolmaster, whom
they put to such exquisite tortures, as are almost incredible to conceive. If
any whom they took seemed wavering in their faith, they did not put them to
death, but sent them to the galleys, to be made
converts by dint of hardships.
The most cruel persecutors, upon this occasion, that attended the duke, were three in number, viz. 1. Thomas Incomel, an apostate, for he was
brought up in the reformed religion, but renounced his faith, embraced
the errors of popery, and turned monk. He was a great libertine, given to
unnatural crimes, and sordidly solicitous for plunder of
the Waldenses. 2. Corbis, a man of a very ferocious and cruel nature, whose
business was to examine the prisoners. 3. The provost of justice, who was very
anxious for the execution of the Waldenses, as every execution put money in his
pocket.
These
three persons were unmerciful to the last degree; and wherever they came, the
blood of the innocent was sure to flow. Exclusive of the cruelties exercised by
the duke, by these three persons, and the army, in their different marches, many local barbarities were committed. At Pignerol, a town
in the valleys, was a monastery, the monks of which, finding they might injure
the reformed with impunity, began to plunder the houses and pull down the
churches of the Waldenses. Not meeting with any opposition, they seized upon
the persons of those unhappy people, murdering the men, confining the women,
and putting the children to Roman Catholic nurses.
The
Roman Catholic inhabitants of the valley of St. Martin, likewise, did all they
could to torment the neighboring Waldenses: they destroyed their churches,
burnt their houses, seized their properties, stole their cattle, converted
their lands to their own use, committed their ministers to the flames, and
drove the Waldenses to the woods, where they had nothing to subsist on but wild
fruits, roots, the bark of trees, etc.
Some
Roman Catholic ruffians having seized a minister as he was going to preach,
determined to take him to a convenient place, and burn him. His parishioners
having intelligence of this affair, the men armed themselves, pursued the
ruffians, and seemed determined to rescue their minister;
which the ruffians no sooner perceived than they stabbed the poor gentleman,
and leaving him weltering in his blood, made a precipitate retreat. The
astonished parishioners did all they could to recover him, but in vain: for the
weapon had touched the vital parts, and he expired as they were carrying him
home.
The
monks of Pignerol having a great inclination to get the minister of a town in
the valleys, called St. Germain, into their power, hired a band of ruffians for
the purpose of apprehending him. These fellows were conducted
by a treacherous person, who had formerly been a servant to the clergyman, and
who perfectly well knew a secret way to the house, by which he could lead them
without alarming the neighborhood. The guide knocked at the door, and being asked who was there, answered in
his own name. The clergyman, not expecting any injury from a person on whom he
had heaped favors, immediately opened the door; but perceiving the ruffians, he
started back, and fled to a back door; but they rushed in, followed, and seized
him. Having murdered all his family, they made him proceed towards Pignerol,
goading him all the way with pikes, lances, swords, etc.
He was kept a considerable time in prison, and then fastened to the stake to be
burnt; when two women of the Waldenses, who had renounced their religion to
save their lives, were ordered to carry fagots to the stake to burn him; and as
they laid them down, to say, "Take these, thou wicked heretic, in
recompense for the pernicious doctrines thou hast taught us." These words
they both repeated to him; to which he calmly replied, "I formerly taught
you well, but you have since learned ill." The fire was
then put to the fagots, and he was speedily consumed,
calling upon the name of the Lord as long as his voice
permitted.
As
the troops of ruffians, belonging to the monks, did great mischief about the
town of St. Germain, murdering and plundering many of
the inhabitants, the reformed of Lucerne and Angrogne, sent some
bands of armed men to the assistance of their brethren of St. Germain. These
bodies of armed men frequently attacked the ruffians, and often put them to the
rout, which so terrified the monks, that they left the monastery of Pignerol
for some time, until they could procure a body of
regular troops to guard them.
The
duke not thinking himself so successful as he at first imagined he should be,
greatly augmented his forces; he ordered the bands of ruffians, belonging to
the monks, to join him, and commanded that a general jail-delivery should take
place, provided the persons released would bear arms, and form themselves into
light companies, to assist in the extermination of the Waldenses.
The
Waldenses, being informed of the proceedings, secured as much of their
properties as they could, and quitted the valleys, retired to the rocks and
caves among the Alps; for it is to be understood that the valleys of Piedmont
are situated at the foot of those prodigious mountains called the Alps, or the
Alpine hills.
The
army now began to plunder and burn the towns and villages wherever they came;
but the troops could not force the passes to the Alps, which were gallantly
defended by the Waldenses, who always repulsed their enemies: but if any fell
into the hands of the troops, they were sure to be treated with the most
barbarous severity.
A
soldier having caught one of the Waldenses, bit his right ear off, saying,
"I will carry this member of that wicked heretic with me into my own
country, and preserve it as a rarity." He then stabbed the man and threw
him into a ditch.
A
party of the troops found a venerable man, upwards of a hundred years of age,
together with his granddaughter, a maiden, of about eighteen, in a cave. They
butchered the poor old man in the most inhuman manner, and then attempted to
ravish the girl, when she started away and fled from them; but they pursuing her, she threw herself from a precipice and
perished.
The
Waldenses, in order the more effectually to be able to repel force by force, entered into a league with the Protestant powers of Germany,
and with the reformed of Dauphiny and Pragela. These were respectively to
furnish bodies of troops; and the Waldenses determined, when thus reinforced,
to quit the mountains of the Alps, (where they must soon have perished, as the
winter was coming on,) and to force the duke's army to
evacuate their native valleys.
The
duke of Savoy was now tired of the war; it had cost him great fatigue and
anxiety of mind, a vast number of men, and very considerable sums of money. It
had been much more tedious and bloody than he expected, as well as more
expensive than he could at first have imagined, for he thought the plunder
would have dischanged the expenses of the expedition; but in this he was
mistaken, for the pope's nuncio, the bishops, monks, and other ecclesiastics,
who attended the army and encouraged the war, sunk the greatest part of the
wealth that was taken under various pretences. For these reasons, and the death
of his duchess, of which he had just received intelligence, and fearing that
the Waldenses, by the treaties they had entered into,
would become more powerful than ever, he determined to return to Turin with his
army, and to make peace with the Waldenses.
This
resolution he executed, though greatly against the will of the ecclesiastics,
who were the chief gainers, and the best pleased with revenge. Before the
articles of peace could be ratified, the duke himself
died, soon after his return to Turin; but on his deathbed he strictly enjoined
his son to perform what he intended, and to be as favorable as possible to the
Waldenses.
The
duke's son, Charles Emmanuel, succeeded to the
dominions of Savoy, and gave a full ratification of peace to the Waldenses,
according to the last injunctions of his father, though the ecclesiastics did
all they could to persuade him to the contrary.
An Account of the Persecutions in Venice
While
the state of Venice was free from inquisitors, a great number
of Protestants fixed their residence there, and many
converts were made by the purity of the doctrines they
professed, and the inoffensiveness of the conversation they used.The
pope being informed of the great increase of
Protestantism, in the year 1542 sent inquisitors to Venice to make an inquiry
into the matter, and apprehend such as they might deem
obnoxious persons. Hence a severe persecution began, and many
worthy persons were martyred for serving God with purity, and scorning the trappings of idolatry.
Various
were the modes by which the Protestants were deprived
of life; but one particular method, which was first invented upon this occasion, we shall describe; as
soon as sentence was passed, the prisoner had an iron
chain which ran through a great stone fastened to his body. He was then laid flat upon a plank, with his face upwards, and
rowed between two boats to a certain distance at sea, when the two boats
separated, and he was sunk to the bottom by the weight
of the stone.
If
any denied the jurisdiction of the inquisitors at
Venice, they were sent to Rome, where, being committed
purposely to damp prisons, and never called to a hearing, their flesh
mortified, and they died miserably in jail.
A
citizen of Venice, Anthony Ricetti, being apprehended
as a Protestant, was sentenced to be
drowned in the manner we have already described. A few
days previous to the time appointed for his execution,
his son went to see him, and begged him to recant,
that his life might be saved, and himself not left
fatherless. To which the father replied, "A good Christian is bound to
relinquish not only goods and children, but life itself, for the glory of his
Redeemer: therefore I am resolved to sacrifice every thing in this transitory world, for the sake of
salvation in a world that will last to eternity."
The
lords of Venice likewise sent him word, that if he would embrace the Roman
Catholic religion, they would not only give him his life, but redeem a
considerable estate which he had mortgaged, and freely present him with it.
This, however, he absolutely refused to comply with, sending word to the nobles
that he valued his soul beyond all other considerations; and being told that a
fellow-prisoner, named Francis Sega, had recanted, he answered, "If he has
forsaken God, I pity him; but I shall continue steadfast in my duty."
Finding all endeavors to persuade him to renounce his faith ineffectual, he was executed according to his sentence, dying cheerfully,
and recommending his soul fervently to the Almighty.
What
Ricetti had been told concerning the apostasy of
Francis Sega, was absolutely false,
for he had never offered to recant, but steadfastly persisted in his faith, and
was executed, a few days
after Ricetti, in the very same manner.
Francis
Spinola, a Protestant gentleman of very great learning, being
apprehended by order of the inquisitors, was carried
before their tribunal. A treatise on the Lord's Supper was
then put into his hands and he was asked if he
knew the author of it. To which he replied, "I confess myself to be the
author of it, and at the same time solemnly affirm, that there is not a line in
it but what is authorized by, and consonant to, the holy Scriptures." On
this confession he was committed close prisoner to a dungeon for several days.
Being
brought to a second examination, he charged the pope's legate, and the
inquisitors, with being merciless barbarians, and then represented the
superstitions and idolatries practised by the Church of Rome in so glaring a
light, that not being able to refute his arguments, they sent him back to his
dungeon, to make him repent of what he had said.
On
his third examination, they asked him if he would recant his error. To which he
answered that the doctrines he maintained were not erroneous, being purely the
same as those which Christ and his apostles had taught, and which were handed
down to us in the sacred writings. The inquisitors then sentenced him to be drowned, which was executed in
the manner already described. He went to meet death with the utmost serenity,
seemed to wish for dissolution, and declaring that the prolongation of his life
did but tend to retard that real happiness which could only be
expected in the world to come.
An Account of Several Remarkable
Individuals, Who Were Martyred in Different of Italy, on
Account of Their Religion
John
Mollius was born at Rome, of reputable parents. At
twelve years of age they placed him in the monastery
of Gray Friars, where he made such a rapid progress in arts, sciences, and
languages that at eighteen years of age he was permitted
to take priest's orders.He was then sent to Ferrara, where, after pursuing his studies
six years longer, he was made theological reader in
the university of that city. He now, unhappily, exerted his great talents to
disguise the Gospel truths, and to varnish over the error of the Church of
Rome. After some years
residence in Ferrara, he removed to the university of
Behonia, where he became a professor. Having read some
treatises written by ministers of the reformed religion, he grew fully sensible
of the errors of popery, and soon became a zealous
Protestant in his heart.
He
now determined to expound, accordingly to the purity of the Gospel, St.
Paul's
Epistle to the Romans, in a regular course of sermons. The concourse of people
that continually attended his preaching was surprising, but when the priests
found the tenor of his doctrines, they despatched an account of the affair to
Rome; when the pope sent a monk, named Cornelius, to Bononia, to expound the
same epistle, according to the tenets of the Church of Rome. The people,
however, found such a disparity between the two preachers that the audience of
Mollius increased, and Cornelius was forced to preach
to empty benches.
Cornelius
wrote an account of his bad success to the pope, who immediately sent an order
to apprehend Mollius, who was seized upon accordingly,
and kept in close confinement. The bishop of Bononia sent him word that he must
recant, or be burnt; but he
appealed to Rome, and was removed thither.
At
Rome he begged to have a public trial, but that the pope absolutely denied him,
and commanded him to give an account of his opinions, in writing, which he did
under the following heads:
Original
sin. Free-will. The infallibility of the church of Rome. The infallibility of
the pope. Justification by faith. Purgatory. Transubstantiation. Mass.
Auricular confession. Prayers for the dead. The host. Prayers for saints. Going
on pilgrimages. Extreme unction. Performing services in an unknown tongue, etc., etc.
All
these he confirmed from Scripture authority. The pope, upon this occasion, for
political reasons, spared him for the present, but soon after had him
apprehended, and put to death, he being first hanged,
and his body burnt to ashes, A.D. 1553.
The
year after, Francis Gamba, a Lombard, of the Protestant persuasion, was apprehended, and condemned to death by the senate of
Milan. At the place of execution, a monk presented a cross to him, to whom he
said, "My mind is so full of the real merits and goodness of Christ that I
want not a piece of senseless stick to put me in mind of Him." For this expression his tongue was bored
through, and he was afterward burnt.
A.D.
1555, Algerius, a student in the university of Padua, and a man of great
learning, having embraced the reformed religion, did all he could to convert
others. For these proceedings he was accused of heresy
to the pope, and being apprehended, was committed to
the prison at Venice.
The
pope, being informed of Algerius's great learning, and
surprising natural abilities, thought it would be of infinite service to the
Church of Rome if he could induce him to forsake the Protestant cause. He,
therefore, sent for him to Rome, and tried, by the
most profane promises, to win him to his purpose. But finding his endeavors
ineffectual, he ordered him to be burnt, which
sentence was executed accordingly.
A.D.
1559, John Alloysius, being sent from Geneva to preach
in Calabria, was there apprehended as a Protestant,
carried to Rome, and burnt by order of the pope; and James Bovelius, for the
same reason, was burnt at Messina.
A.D.
1560, Pope Pius the Fourth, ordered all the Protestants to be
severely persecuted throughout the Italian states, when great numbers of every age, sex, and condition, suffered
martyrdom. Concerning the cruelties practiced upon this occasion, a learned and
humane Roman Catholic thus spoke of them, in a letter to a noble lord:
"I
cannot, my lord, forbear disclosing my sentiments, with respect to the
persecution now carrying on: I think it cruel and unnecessary; I tremble at the
manner of putting to death, as it resembles more the slaughter of calves and
sheep, than the execution of human beings. I will relate to your lordship a
dreadful scene, of which I was myself an eye witness: seventy Protestants were
cooped up in one filthy dungeon together; the executioner went in among them,
picked out one from among the rest, blindfolded him, led him out to an open
place before the prison, and cut his throat with the greatest composure. He
then calmly walked into the prison again, bloody as he was, and with the knife
in his hand selected another, and despatched him in the same manner; and this,
my lord, he repeated until the whole number were put
to death. I leave it to your lordship's feelings to judge of
my sensations upon this occasion; my tears now wash the paper upon which I give
you the recital. Another thing I must mention-the patience with which they met
death: they seemed all resignation and piety, fervently praying to God, and
cheerfully encountering their fate. I cannot reflect without shuddering, how
the executioner held the bloody knife between his teeth; what a dreadful figure
he appeared, all covered with blood, and with what unconcern he executed his
barbarous office."
A
young Englishman who happened to be at Rome, was one
day passing by a church, when the procession of the host was just coming out. A
bishop carried the host, which the young man perceiving, he snatched it from
him, threw it upon the ground, and trampled it under his feet, crying out,
"Ye wretched idolaters, who neglect the true God, to adore a morsel of
bread." This action so provoked the people that they would have torn him
to pieces on the spot; but the priests persuaded them to let him abide by the
sentence of the pope.
When
the affair was represented to the pope, he was so greatly exasperated that he
ordered the prisoner to be burnt immediately; but a cardinal dissuaded him from
this hasty sentence, saying that it was better to punish him by slow degrees,
and to torture him, that they might find out if he had been instigated by any
particular person to commit so atrocious an act.
This
being approved, he was tortured
with the most exemplary severity, notwithstanding which they could only get
these words from him, "It was the will of God that I should do as I
did."
The
pope then passed this sentence upon him.
1. That he should be led
by the executioner, naked to the middle, through the streets of Rome.
When
he heard this sentence pronounced, he implored God to give him strength and
fortitude to go through it. As he passed through the streets he was greatly derided by the people, to whom he said some severe things respecting the Romish superstition. But a
cardinal, who attended the procession, overhearing him, ordered him to be gagged.
When
he came to the church door, where he trampled on the host, the hangman cut off
his right hand, and fixed it on a pole. Then two
tormentors, with flaming torches, scorched and burnt his flesh all the rest of
the way. At the place of execution he kissed the
chains that were to bind him to the stake. A monk
presenting the figure of a saint to him, he struck it aside, and then being chained to the stake, fire was put
to the fagots, and he was soon burnt to ashes.
A
little after the last-mentioned execution, a venerable old man, who had long
been a prisoner in the Inquisition, was condemned to be burnt, and brought out for execution. When he was fastened to the stake, a priest held a crucifix to him,
on which he said, "If you do not take that idol from my sight, you will
constrain me to spit upon it." The priest rebuked him for this with great
severity; but he bade him remember the First and Second Commandments, and
refrain from idolatry, as God himself had commanded. He was
then gagged, that he should not speak any more, and fire being put to the fagots, he suffered martyrdom in the
flames.
An Account of the Persecutions in the Marquisate of Saluces
The
Marquisate of Saluces, on the south side of the valleys of Piedmont, was in
A.D. 1561, principally inhabited by Protestants, when the marquis, who was
proprietor of it, began a persecution against them at the instigation of the
pope. He began by banishing the ministers, and if any of them refused to leave
their flocks, they were sure to be imprisoned, and
severely tortured; however, he did not proceed so far as
to put any to death.Soon
after the marquisate fell into the possession of the
duke of Savoy, who sent circular letters to all the towns and villages, that he expected the people
should all conform to go to Mass. The
inhabitants of Saluces, upon receiving this letter, returned a general epistle,
in answer.
The
duke, after reading the letter, did not interrupt the Protestants for some time; but, at length, he sent them word that they must
either conform to the Mass, or leave his dominions in fifteen days. The
Protestants, upon this unexpected edict, sent a deputy to the duke to obtain
its revocation, or at least to have it moderated. But their remonstrances were
in vain, and they were given to understand that the
edict was absolute.
Some
were weak enough to go to Mass, in order to avoid
banishment, and preserve their property; others removed, with all their
effects, to different countries; and many neglected
the time so long that they were obliged to abandon all
they were worth, and leave the marquisate in haste.
Those, who unhappily stayed bheind, were seized,
plundered, and put to death.
An Account of the Persecutions in the Valleys of Piedmont, in
the Seventeenth
Pope
Clement the Eighth, sent missionaries into the valleys of Piedmont, to induce
the Protestants to renounce their religion; and these missionaries having
erected monasteries in several parts of the valleys, became exceedingly
troublesome to those of the reformed, where the monasteries appeared, not only
as fortresses to curb, but as sanctuaries for all such to fly to, as had any
ways injured them.The
Protestants petitioned the duke of Savoy against these missionaries, whose
insolence and ill-usage were become intolerable; but instead of getting any
redress, the interest of the missionaries so far prevailed, that the duke
published a decree, in which he declared, that one witness should be sufficient
in a court of law against a Protestant, and that any witness, who convicted a
Protestant of any crime whatever, should be entitled to one hundred crowns.
It
may be easily imagined, upon the publication of a
decree of this nature, that many Protestants fell
martyrs to perjury and avarice; for several
villainous papists would swear any thing against the
Protestants for the sake of the reward, and then fly
to their own priests for absolution from their false oaths. If any Roman
Catholic, of more conscience than the rest, blamed these fellows for their
atrocious crimes, they themselves were in danger of being
informed against and punished as favorers of heretics.
The
missionaries did all they could to get the books of the Protestants into their
hands, in order to burn them; when the Protestants doing their utmost endeavors
to conceal their books, the missionaries wrote to the duke of Savoy, who, for
the heinous crime of not surrendering their Bibles, prayer books, and religious
treatises, sent a number of troops to be quartered on them. These military
gentry did great mischief in the houses of the Protestants, and destroyed such
quantities of provisions, that many families were thereby ruined.
To
encourage, as much as possible, the apostasy of the Protestants, the duke of
Savoy published a proclamation wherein he said, "To encourage the heretics
to turn Catholics, it is our will and pleasure, and we do hereby expressly
command, that all such as shall embrace the holy Roman Catholic faith, shall
enjoy an exemption, from all and every tax for the space of five years,
commencing from the day of their conversion." The duke of Savoy, likewise established a court, called the council for
extirpating the heretics. This court was to enter into
inquiries concerning the ancient privileges of the Protestant churches, and the
decrees which had been, from time to time, made in favor of the Protestants.
But the investigation of these things was carried on
with the most manifest partiality; old charters were wrested
to a wrong sense, and sophistry was used to pervert
the meaning of everything, which tended to favor the reformed.
As
if these severities were not sufficient, the duke, soon after, published
another edict, in which he strictly commanded, that no Protestant should act as
a schoolmaster, or tutor, either in public or private, or dare to teach any
art, science, or language, directly or indirectly, to persons of any persuasion
whatever.
This
edict was immediately followed by another, which decreed that no Protestant
should hold any place of profit, trust, or honor; and to wind up the whole, the
certain token of an approaching persecution came forth in a final edict, by
which it was positively ordered, that all Protestants
should diligently attend Mass.
The
publication of an edict, containing such an injunction, may be
compared to unfurling the bloody flag; for murder and rapine were sure
to follow. One of the first objects that attracted the notice of the papists
was Mr. Sebastian Basan, a zealous Protestant, who was seized
by the missionaries, confined, tormented for fifteen months, and then burnt.
Previous
to the persecution, the missionaries employed kidnappers to
steal away the Protestants' children, that they might privately be brought up Roman Catholics; but now they took away the
children by open force, and if they met with any resistance, they murdered the
parents.
To
give greater vigor to the persecution, the duke of Savoy called a general
assembly of the Roman Catholic nobility and gentry when a solemn edict was published against the reformed, containing many heads, and including several
reasons for extirpating the Protestants, among which were the following:
1. For the preservation of the papal
authority.
Rome.
This
severe edict was followed by a most cruel order,
published on January 25, A.D. 1655, under the duke's sanction, by Andrew
Gastaldo, doctor of civil laws. This order set forth,
"That every head of a family, with the individuals of that family, of the
reformed religion, of what rank, degree, or condition soever, none excepted
inhabiting and possessing estates in Lucerne, St. Giovanni, Bibiana, Campiglione,
St. Secondo, Lucernetta, La Torre, Fenile, and Bricherassio, should, within
three days after the publication thereof, withdraw and depart, and be withdrawn
out of the said places, and translated into the places and limits tolerated by
his highness during his pleasure; particularly Bobbio, Angrogne, Vilario,
Rorata, and the county of Bonetti.
"And
all this to be done on pain of death, and confiscation of house and goods,
unless within the limited time they turned Roman Catholics."
A
flight with such speed, in the midst
of winter, may be conceived as no agreeable
task, especially in a country almost surrounded by mountains. The sudden order
affected all, and things, which would have been scarcely
noticed at another time, now appeared in the most conspicuous light.
Women with child, or women just lain-in, were not
objects of pity on this order for sudden removal, for all were
included in the command; and it unfortunately happened, that the winter
was remarkably severe and rigorous.
The
papists, however, drove the people from their habitations at the time
appointed, without even suffering them to have sufficient clothes to cover
them; and many perished in the mountains through the
severity of the weather, or for want of food. Some,
however, who remained behind after the decree was published,
met with the severest treatment, being murdered by the
popish inhabitants, or shot by the troops who were quartered
in the valleys. A particular description of these cruelties is
given in a letter, written by a Protestant, who was upon the spot, and
who happily escaped the carnage. "The army (says he) having got footing,
became very numerous, by the addition of a multitude of the neighboring popish
inhabitants, who finding we were the destined prey of the plunderers, fell upon
us with an impetuous fury. Exclusive of the duke of Savoy's troops, and the
popish inhabitants, there were several regiments of French auxiliaries, some
companies belonging to the Irish brigades, and several bands formed of outlaws,
smugglers, and prisoners, who had been promised pardon and liberty in this
world, and absolution in the next, for assisting to exterminate the Protestants
from Piedmont.
"This
armed multitude being encouraged by the Roman Catholic bishops and monks fell
upon the Protestants in a most furious manner. Nothing now was to be seen but the face of horror and despair, blood stained
the floors of the houses, dead bodies bestrewed the streets, groans and cries were heard from all parts. Some
armed themselves, and skirmished with the troops; and many, with their families, fled to the mountains. In one
village they cruelly tormented one hundred and fifty women and children after
the men were fled, beheading the women, and dashing
out the brains of the children. In the towns of Vilario and Bobbio, most of
those who refused to go to Mass, who were upwards of fifteen years of age, they crucified with their heads downwards; and the
greatest number of those who were under that age were strangled."
Sarah
Ratignole des Vignes, a woman of sixty years of age, being
seized by some soldiers, they ordered her to
say a prayer to some saints, which she refusing, they thrust a sickle into her belly, ripped her
up, and then cut off her head.
Martha
Constantine, a handsome young woman, was treated with
great indecency and cruelty by several of the troops,
who first ravished, and then killed her by cutting off her breasts. These they
fried, and set before some of
their comrades, who ate them without knowing what they were. When they had done
eating, the others told them what they had made a meal of, in consequence of
which a quarrel ensued, swords were drawn, and a
battle took place. Several were
killed in the fray, the greater part of whom were those concerned in the
horrid massacre of the woman, and who had practiced such an inhuman deception
on their companions.
Some
of the soldiers seized a man of Thrassiniere,
and ran the points of their swords through his ears, and through his
feet. They then tore off the nails of his fingers and toes with red-hot
pincers, tied him to the tail of an ass, and dragged him about the streets;
they finally fastened a cord around his head, which they twisted with a stick
in so violent a manner as to wring it from his body.
Peter
Symonds, a Protestant, of about eighty years of age, was tied
neck and heels, and then thrown down a precipice. In the fall the branch of a
tree caught hold of the ropes that fastened him, and suspended him in the midway, so that he languished for several days, and at length miserably perished of hunger.
Esay
Garcino, refusing to renounce his religion, was cut
into small pieces; the soldiers, in ridicule, saying,
they had minced him. A woman, named Armand, had every limb separated from each
other, and then the respective parts were hung upon a
hedge. Two old women were ripped open, and then left
in the fields upon the snow, where they perished; and a very
old woman, who was deformed, had her nose and
hands cut off, and was left, to bleed to death in that
manner.
A
great number of men, women, and children, were flung
from the rocks, and dashed to pieces. Magdalen Bertino, a Protestant woman of
La Torre, was stripped stark naked, her head tied
between her legs, and thrown down one of the
precipices; and Mary Raymondet, of the same town, had the flesh sliced from her
bones until she expired.
Magdalen
Pilot, of Vilario, was cut to pieces in the cave of Castolus; Ann Charboniere
had one end of a stake thrust up her body; and the other being fixed in the
ground, she was left in that manner to perish, and Jacob Perrin the elder, of
the church of Vilario, and David, his brother, were flayed alive.
An
inhabitant of La Torre, named Giovanni Andrea Michialm, was
apprehended, with four of his children, three of them were
hacked to pieces before him, the soldiers asking him, at the death of
every child, if he would renounce his religion; this he constantly refused. One
of the soldiers then took up the last and youngest by
the legs, and putting the same question to the father, he replied as before,
when the inhuman brute dashed out the child's brains. The father, however, at the same moment started from them, and fled; the soldiers
fired after him, but missed him; and he, by the
swiftness of his heels, escaped, and hid himself in the Alps.
Further Persecutions in the Valleys of Piedmont, in the
Seventeenth Century
Giovanni
Pelanchion, for refusing to turn papist, was tied by one leg to the tail of a
mule, and dragged through the streets of Lucerne, amidst the acclamations of an
inhuman mob, who kept stoning him, and crying out, "He is possessed with
the devil, so that, neither stoning, nor dragging him through the streets, will
kill him, for the devil keeps him alive." They then took him to the river
side, chopped off his head, and left that and his body unburied, upon the bank
of the stream.Magdalen,
the daughter of Peter Fontaine, a beautiful child of ten years of age, was ravished and murdered by the soldiers. Another girl of
about the same age, they roasted alive at Villa Nova; and a poor woman, hearing
that the soldiers were coming toward her house, snatched up the cradle in which
her infant son was asleep, and fled toward the woods. The soldiers, however,
saw and pursued her; when she lightened herself by putting down the cradle and
child, which the soldiers no sooner came to, than they murdered the infant, and
continuing the pursuit, found the mother in a cave, where they first ravished,
and then cut her to pieces.
Jacob
Michelino, chief elder of the church of Bobbio, and several
other Protestants, were hung up by means of hooks
fixed in their bellies, and left to expire in the most
excruciating tortures.
Giovanni
Rostagnal, a venerable Protestant, upwards of fourscore years of age, had his
nose and ears cut off, and slices cut from the fleshy parts of his body, until
he bled to death.
Seven
persons, viz. Daniel Seleagio and his wife, Giovanni Durant, Lodwich Durant,
Bartholomew Durant, Daniel Revel, and Paul Reynaud, had their mouths stuffed
with gunpowder, which being set fire to, their heads were
blown to pieces.
Jacob
Birone, a schoolmaster of Rorata, for refusing to change his religion, was stripped quite naked; and after having been very
indecently exposed, had the nails of his toes and fingers torn off with red-hot
pincers, and holes bored through his hands with the point of a dagger. He then
had a cord tied round his middle, and was led through the streets with a soldier on each side of
him. At every turning the soldier on his right hand side cut a gash in his
flesh, and the soldier on his left hand side struck him with a bludgeon, both
saying, at the same instant, "Will you go to Mass? will you go to
Mass?" He still replied in the negative to these interrogatories, and
being at length taken to the bridge, they cut off his head on the balustrades, and threw both that and his body into the
river.
Paul
Garnier, a very pious Protestant, had his eyes put out, was
then flayed alive, and being divided into four
parts, his quarters were placed on four of the
principal houses of Lucerne. He bore all his sufferings with the most exemplary
patience, praised God as long as he could speak, and
plainly evinced, what confidence and resignation a good conscience can inspire.
Daniel
Cardon, of Rocappiata, being apprehended by some soldiers, they cut his head off, and having fried his
brains, ate them. Two poor old blind women, of St.
Giovanni, were burnt alive; and a widow of La Torre,
with her daughter, were driven into the river, and
there stoned to death.
Paul
Giles, on attempting to run away from some soldiers, was shot in the
neck: they then slit his nose, sliced his chin, stabbed him, and gave his
carcass to the dogs.
Some
of the Irish troops having taken eleven men of Garcigliana
prisoners, they made a furnace red hot, and forced
them to push each other in until they came to the last man, whom they pushed in
themselves.
Michael
Gonet, a man of ninety, was burnt to death; Baptista
Oudri, another old man, was stabbed; and Bartholomew
Frasche had holes made in his heels, through which ropes were
put; then he was dragged by them to the jail,
where his wounds mortified and killed him.
Magdalene
de la Piere being pursued by some of
the soldiers, and taken, was thrown down a precipice,
and dashed to pieces. Margaret Revella, and Mary Pravillerin, two very old women, were burnt alive;
and Michael Bellino, with Ann Bochardno, were beheaded.
The
son and the daughter of a counsellor of Giovanni were rolled
down a steep hill together, and suffered to perish in
a deep pit at the bottom. A tradesman's family, viz.: himself, his wife, and an
infant in her arms, were cast from a rock, and dashed
to pieces; and Joseph Chairet and Paul Carniero were flayed
alive.
Cypriania
Bustia, being asked if he would renounce his religion
and turn Roman Catholic, replied, "I would rather renounce life, or turn
dog"; to which a priest answered, "For that expression you shall both
renounce life, and be given to the dogs." They, accordingly, dragged him
to prison, where he continued a considerable time
without food, until he was famished; after which they
threw his corpse into the street before the prison, and it was
devoured by dogs in the most shocking manner.
Margaret
Saretta was stoned to death, and then thrown into the river;
Antonio
Bartina had his head cleft asunder; and Joseph Pont was cut
through the middle of his body.
Daniel
Maria, and his whole family, being ill of a fever, several
papist ruffians broke into his house, telling him they were practical
physicians, and would give them all present ease, which they did by knocking
the whole family on the head.
Three
infant children of a Protestant, named Peter Fine, were
covered with snow, and stifled; an elderly widow, named Judith, was beheaded, and a beautiful young woman was
stripped naked, and had a stake driven through her body, of which she
expired.
Lucy,
the wife of Peter Besson, a woman far gone in her pregnancy, who lived in one
of the villages of the Piedmontese valleys, determined, if possible, to escape
from such dreadful scenes as everywhere surrounded her: she, accordingly took
two young children, one in each hand, and set off towards the Alps. But on the
third day of the journey she was taken in labor among the mountains, and
delivered of an infant, who perished through the extreme inclemency of the
weather, as did the two other children; for all three were found dead by her,
and herself just expiring, by the person to whom she related the above
particulars.
Francis
Gros, the son of a clergyman, had his flesh slowly cut from his body into small
pieces, and put into a dish before him; two of his children were minced before
his sight; and his wife was fastened to a post, that she might behold all these
cruelties practiced on her husband and offspring. The tormentors at length
being tired of exercising their cruelties, cut off the heads of both husband
and wife, and then gave the flesh of the whole family to the dogs.
The
sieur Thomas Margher fled to a cave, when the soldiers shut up the mouth, and
he perished with famine. Judith Revelin, and seven children, were
barbarously murdered in their beds; and a widow of near fourscore years
of age, was hewn to pieces by soldiers.
Jacob
Roseno was ordered to pray to the saints, which he
absolutely refused to do: some of
the soldiers beat him violently with bludgeons to make him comply, but he still
refusing, several of them
fired at him, and lodged a great many balls in his
body. As he was almost expiring, they cried to him, "Will you call upon
the saints? Will you pray to the saints?" To which he answered "No!
No! No!" when one of the soldiers, with a broadsword, clove his head
asunder, and put an end to his sufferings in this world; for which undoubtedly,
he is gloriously rewarded in the next.
A
soldier, attempting to ravish a young woman, named Susanna Gacquin, she made a
stout resistance, and in the struggle pushed him over a precipice, when he was dashed to pieces by the fall. His comrades, instead of
admiring the virtue of the young woman, and applauding her for so nobly
defending her chastity, fell upon her with their swords, and cut her to pieces.
Giovanni
Pulhus, a poor peasant of La Torre, being apprehended
as a Protestant by the soldiers, was ordered, by the
marquis of Pianesta, to be executed in a place near
the convent. When he came to the gallows, several
monks attended, and did all they could to persuade him
to renounce his religion. But he told them he never would embrace idolatry, and
that he was happy at being thought worthy to suffer
for the name of Christ. They then put him in mind of what his wife and
children, who depended upon his labor, would suffer after his decease; to which
he replied, "I would have my wife and children, as well as myself, to
consider their souls more than their bodies, and the next world before this;
and with respect to the distress I may leave them in, God is merciful, and will
provide for them while they are worthy of his protection." Finding the
inflexibility of this poor man, the monks cried, "Turn him off! turn him
off!" which the executioner did almost immediately, and the body being afterward cut down, was flung
into the river.
Paul
Clement, an elder of the church of Rossana, being apprehended
by the monks of a neighboring monastery, was carried
to the market place of that town, where some
Protestants had just been executed by the soldiers. He
was shown the dead bodies, in order that the sight
might intimidate him. On beholding the shocking subjects, he said, calmly,
"You may kill the body, but you cannot prejudice the soul of a true
believer; but with respect to the dreadful spectacles which you have here shown
me, you may rest assured, that God's vengeance will overtake the murderers of
those poor people, and punish them for the innocent blood they have
spilt." The monks were so exasperated at this
reply that they ordered him to be hanged directly; and
while he was hanging, the soldiers amused themselves in standing at a distance, and shooting at the body as at a mark.
Daniel
Rambaut, of Vilario, the father of a numerous family, was apprehended, and, with several
others, committed to prison, in the jail of Paysana. Here he was visited by
several priests, who with continual importunities did all they could to
persuade him to renounce the Protestant religion and turn papist; but this he
peremptorily refused, and the priests finding his resolution, pretended to pity
his numerous family, and told him that he might yet have his life, if he would
subscribe to the belief of the following articles:
1. The real presence of the host.
M.
Rambaut told the priests that neither his religion, his understanding, nor his
conscience, would suffer him to subscribe to any of the articles, for the
following reasons:
1. That to believe the real presence in the
host, is a shocking union of both blasphemy and idolatry.3. That the doctrine of purgatory was more
inconsistent and absurd than a fairy tale.
The
priests were so highly offended at M. Rambaut's answers to the articles to
which they would have had him subscribe, that they determined to shake his
resolution by the most cruel method imaginable: they ordered one joint of his
finger to be cut off every day until all his fingers were gone: they then
proceeded in the same manner with his toes; afterward they alternately cut off,
daily, a hand and a foot; but finding that he bore his sufferings with the most
admirable patience, increased both in fortitude and resignation, and maintained
his faith with steadfast resolution and unshaken constancy they stabbed him to
the heart, and then gave his body to be devoured by the dogs.
Peter
Gabriola, a Protestant gentleman of considerable eminence, being
seized by a troop of soldiers, and refusing to renounce his religion,
they hung a great number of little bags of gunpowder
about his body, and then setting fire to them, blew him up.
Anthony,
the son of Samuel Catieris, a poor dumb lad who was extremely inoffensive, was
cut to pieces by a party of the troops; and soon after the same ruffians
entered the house of Peter Moniriat, and cut off the legs of the whole family,
leaving them to bleed to death, as they were unable to assist themselves, or to
help each other.
Daniel
Benech being apprehended, had
his nose slit, his ears cut off, and was then divided
into quarters, each quarter being hung upon a tree,
and Mary Monino had her jaw bones broke and was then left to anguish till she was
famished.
Mary
Pelanchion, a handsome widow, belonging to the town of Vilario, was seized by a
party of the Irish brigades, who having beat her cruelly, and ravished her,
dragged her to a high bridge which crossed the river, and stripped her naked in
a most indecent manner, hung her by the legs to the bridge, with her head
downwards towards the water, and then going into boats, they fired at her until
she expired.
Mary
Nigrino, and her daughter who was an idiot, were cut to pieces in the woods,
and their bodies left to be devoured by wild beasts: Susanna Bales, a widow of
Vilario, was immured until she perished through hunger; and Susanna Calvio
running away from some soldiers and hiding herself in a barn, they set fire to
the straw and burnt her.
Paul
Armand was hacked to pieces; a child named Daniel
Bertino was burnt;
Daniel
Michialino had his tongue plucked out, and was left to perish in that condition; and Andreo Bertino, a very old man, who was lame, was mangled
in a most shocking manner, and at length had his belly ripped open, and his
bowels carried about on the point of a halbert.
Constantia
Bellione, a Protestant lady, being apprehended on account of her faith, was
asked by a priest if she would renounce the devil and go to Mass; to which she
replied, "I was brought up in a religion by which I was always taught to
renounce the devil; but should I comply with your desire, and go to Mass, I
should be sure to meet him there in a variety of shapes." The priest was
highly incensed at what she said, and told her to recant, or she would suffer
cruelly. The lady, however, boldly answered that she valued not any sufferings
he could inflict, and in spite of all the torments he
could invent, she would keep her conscience pure and her faith inviolate. The
priest then ordered slices of her flesh to be cut off
from several parts of her body, which cruelty she bore
with the most singular patience, only saying to the priest, "What horrid
and lasting torments will you suffer in hell, for the trifling and temporary
pains which I now endure." Exasperated at this expression, and willing to
stop her tongue, the priest ordered a file of musqueteers to draw up and fire
upon her, by which she was soon despatched, and sealed her martyrdom with her
blood.
A
young woman named Judith Mandon, for refusing to change her religion and
embrace popery, was fastened to a stake, and sticks
thrown at her from a distance, in the very same manner as that barbarous custom
which was formerly practiced on Shrove-Tuesday, of
shying at rocks, as it was termed. By this inhuman
proceeding, the poor creature's limbs were beat and mangled in a terrible
manner, and her brains were at last dashed out by one of the bludgeons.
David
Paglia and Paul Genre, attempting to escape to the Alps, with each his son, were pursued and overtaken by the soldiers in a large plain.
Here they hunted them for their diversion, goading them with their swords, and
making them run about until they dropped down with fatigue. When they found
that their spirits were quite exhausted, and that they could not afford them any more barbarous sport by running, the
soldiers hacked them to pieces, and left their mangled
bodies on the spot.
A
young man of Bobbio, named Michael Greve, was apprehended
in the town of La Torre, and being led to the bridge, was thrown over into the river. As he could swim very well,
he swam down the stream, thinking to escape, but the
soldiers and the mob followed on both sides of the river, and kept stoning him,
until receiving a blow on one of his temples, he was stunned,
and consequently sunk and was drowned.
David
Armand was ordered to lay his head down on a block,
when a soldier, with a large hammer, beat out his brains. David Baridona being
apprehended at Vilario, was carried to La Torre, where, refusing to renounce
his religion, he was tormented by means of brimstone matches being tied between
his fingers and toes, and set fire to; and afterward, by having his flesh
plucked off with red-hot pincers, until he expired; and Giovanni Barolina, with
his wife, were thrown into a pool of stagnant water, and compelled, by means of
pitchforks and stones, to duck down their heads until they were suffocated.
A
number of soldiers went to the house of Joseph Garniero, and before
they entered, fired in at the window, to give notice of their approach. A
musket ball entered one of Mrs. Garniero's breasts, as she was suckling an
infant with the other. On finding their intentions, she begged hard that they
would spare the life of the infant, which they promised to do, and sent it
immediately to a Roman Catholic nurse. They then took the husband and hanged him at his own door, and having shot the wife through the head, they left her body weltering in its blood,
and her husband hanging on the gallows.
Isaiah
Mondon, an elderly man, and a pious Protestant, fled from the merciless
persecutors to a cleft in a rock, where he suffered the most dreadful
hardships; for, in the midst of the winter he was forced to lie on the bare
stone, without any covering; his food was the roots he could scratch up near
his miserable habitation; and the only way by which he could procure drink, was
to put snow in his mouth until it melted. Here, however, some
of the inhuman soldiers found him, and after having beaten him unmercifully,
they drove him towards Lucerne, goading him with the points of their swords. Being exceedingly weakened by his manner of living, and his
spirits exhausted by the blows he had received, he fell down
in the road. They again beat him to make him proceed: when on his knees, he
implored them to put him out of his misery, by despatching him. This they at last agreed to do; and one of them stepping up
to him shot him through the head with a pistol, saying, "There, heretic,
take thy request."
Mary
Revol, a worthy Protestant, received a shot in her back, as she was walking
along the street. She dropped down with the wound, but recovering sufficient
strength, she raised herself upon her knees, and lifting her hands towards
heaven, prayed in a most fervent manner to the Almighty, when a number of
soldiers, who were near at hand, fired a whole volley of shot at her, many of
which took effect, and put an end to her miseries in an instant.
Several
men, women, and children secreted themselves in a large cave, where they
continued for some weeks in safety. It was the custom
for two of the men to go when it was necessary, and by stealth, procure
provisions. These were, however, one day watched, by which the cave was discovered, and soon after, a troop of Roman Catholics
appeared before it. The papists that assembled upon this occasion were
neighbors and intimate acquaintances of the Protestants in the cave; and some were even related to each other. The Protestants,
therefore, came out, and implored them, by the ties of hospitality, by the ties
of blood, and as old acquaintances and neighbors, not to murder them. But
superstition overcomes every sensation of nature and humanity; so that the papists,
blinded by bigotry, told them they could not show any mercy to heretics, and,
therefore, bade them prepare to die. Hearing this, and knowing the fatal
obstinacy of the Roman Catholics, the Protestants all fell prostate, lifted
their hands and hearts to heaven, prayed with great sincerity and fervency, and
then bowing down, put their faces close to the ground, and patiently waited
their fate, which was soon decided, for the papists fell upon them with
unremitting fury, and having cut them to pieces, left the mangled bodies and
limbs in the cave.
Giovanni
Salvagiot, passing by a Roman Catholic church, and not taking off his hat, was
followed by some of the congregation, who fell upon and murdered him; and Jacob
Barrel and his wife, having been taken prisoners by the earl of St. Secondo,
one of the duke of Savoy's officers, he delivered them up to the soldiery, who
cut off the woman's breasts, and the man's nose, and then shot them both
through the head.
Anthony
Guigo, a Protestant, of a wavering disposition, went to Periero, with an intent
to renounce his religion and embrace popery. This design he communicated to some priests, who highly commended it, and a day was fixed upon for his public recantation. In the meantime,
Anthony grew fully sensible of his perfidy, and his
conscience tormented him so much night and day that he determined not to
recant, but to make his escape. This he effected, but being soon missed and pursued, he was
taken. The troops on the way did all they could to bring him back to his
design of recantation; but finding their endeavors ineffectual, they beat him
violently on the road. When coming near a precipice, he took an opportunity of
leaping down it and was dashed to pieces.
A
Protestant gentleman, of considerable fortune, at Bobbio, being nightly
provoked by the insolence of a priest, retorted with great severity; and among
other things, said, that the pope was Antichrist, Mass idolatry, purgatory a
farce, and absolution a cheat. To be revenged, the
priest hired five desperate ruffians, who, the same evening, broke into the
gentleman's house, and seized upon him in a violent manner. The gentleman was
terribly frightened, fell on his knees, and implored mercy; but the desperate
ruffians despatched him without the least hesitation.
A Narrative of the Piedmontese War
The
massacres and murders already mentioned to have been
committed in the valleys of Piedmont, nearly
depopulated most of the towns and villages. One place
only had not been assaulted, and that was owing to the
difficulty of approaching it; this was the little commonalty of Roras, which
was situated upon a rock.As
the work of blood grew slack in other places, the earl of Christople, one of
the duke of Savoy's officers, determined, if possible, to make himself master
of it; and, with that view, detached three hundred men to surprise it secretly.
The
inhabitants of Roras, however, had intelligence of the approach of these
troops, when captain Joshua Gianavel, a brave Protestant officer, put himself
at the head of a small body of the citizens, and waited in ambush to attack the
enemy in a small defile.
When
the troops appeared, and had entered the defile, which was the only place by
which the town could be approached, the Protestants
kept up a smart and well-directed fire against them, and
still kept themselves concealed behind bushes from the sight of the enemy. A great number of the soldiers were killed,
and the remainder receiving a continued fire, and not seeing any to whom they
might return it, thought proper to retreat.
The
members of this little community then sent a memorial to the marquis of
Pianessa, one of the duke's general officers, setting forth, 'That they were
sorry, upon any occasion, to be under the necessity of taking up arms; but that
the secret approach of a body of troops, without any reason assigned, or any
previous notice sent of the purpose of their coming, had greatly alarmed them;
that as it was their custom never to suffer any of the military to enter their
little community, they had repelled force by force, and should do so again; but
in all other respects, they professed themselves dutiful, obedient, and loyal
subjects to their sovereign, the duke of Savoy.'
The
marquis of Pianessa, that he might have the better opportunity of deluding and
surprising the Protestants of Roras, sent them word in answer, 'That he was
perfectly satisfied with their behavior, for they had done right, and even
rendered a service to their country, as the men who had attempted to pass the
defile were not his troops, or sent by him, but a band of desperate robbers,
who had, for some time, infested those parts, and been a terror to the
neighboring country.' To give a greater color to his treachery, he then
published an ambiguous proclamation seemingly favorable
to the inhabitants.
Yet,
the very day after this plausible proclamation, and specious conduct, the
marquis sent five hundred men to possess themselves of Roras, while the people
as he thought, were lulled into perfect security by
his specious behavior.
Captain
Gianavel, however, was not to be deceived so easily: he, therefore, laid an
ambuscade for this body of troops, as he had for the former, and compelled them
to retire with very considerable loss.
Though
foiled in these two attempts, the marquis of Pianessa determined on a third,
which should be still more formidable; but first he imprudently published
another proclamation, disowning any knowledge of the second attempt.
Soon
after, seven hundred chosen men were sent upon the
expedition, who, in spite of the fire from the
Protestants, forced the defile, entered Roras, and began to murder every person
they met with, without distinction of age or sex. The Protestant captain
Gianavel, at the head of a small body, though he had lost the defile,
determined to dispute their passage through a fortified pass that led to the
richest and best part of the town. Here he was successful, by keeping up a
continual fire, and by means of his men being all complete marksmen. The Roman
Catholic commander was greatly staggered at this
opposition, as he imagined that he had surmounted all difficulties. He,
however, did his endeavors to force the pass, but being able to bring up only
twelve men in front at a time, and the Protestants being
secured by a breastwork, he found he should be baffled
by the handful of men who opposed him.
Enraged
at the loss of so many of his troops, and fearful of disgrace if he persisted
in attempting what appeared so impracticable, he thought it the wisest thing to
retreat. Unwilling, however, to withdraw his men by the defile at which he had
entered, on account of the difficulty and danger of the enterprise, he
determined to retreat towards Vilario, by another pass called Piampra, which
though hard of access, was easy of descent. But in this he met with
disappointment, for Captain Gianavel having posted his little band here, greatly annoyed the troops as they passed, and even pursued
their rear until they entered the open country.
The
marquis of Pianessa, finding that all his attempts were frustrated, and that
every artifice he used was only an alarm signal to the inhabitants of Roras,
determined to act openly, and therefore proclaimed that ample rewards should be
given to any one who would bear arms against the
obstinate heretics of Roras, as he called them; and that any officer who would
exterminate them should be rewarded in a princely manner.
This
engaged Captain Mario, a bigoted Roman Catholic, and a desperate ruffian, to
undertake the enterprise. He, therefore, obtained leave to raise a regiment in
the following six towns: Lucerne, Borges, Famolas, Bobbio, Begnal, and Cavos.
Having
completed his regiment, which consisted of one thousand men, he laid his plan
not to go by the defiles or the passes, but to attempt gaining the summit of a
rock, whence he imagined he could pour his troops into the town without much difficulty or opposition.
The
Protestants suffered the Roman Catholic troops to gain almost the summit of the
rock, without giving them any opposition, or ever appearing in their sight: but
when they had almost reached the top they made a most furious attack upon them;
one party keeping up a well-directed and constant fire, and another party
rolling down huge stones.
This
stopped the career of the papist troops: many were killed by the musketry, and more by the stones, which
beat them down the precipices. Several fell sacrifices
to their hurry, for by attempting a precipitate retreat they fell
down, and were dashed to pieces; and Captain
Mario himself narrowly escaped with his life, for he fell from a craggy place
into a river which washed the foot of the rock. He was taken
up senseless, but afterwards recovered, though he was ill of the bruises for a
long time; and, at length he fell into a decline at Lucerne, where he died.
Another
body of troops was ordered from the camp at Vilario,
to make an attempt upon Roras; but these were likewise defeated, by means of the Protestants' ambush
fighting, and compelled to retreat again to the camp at Vilario.
After
each of these signal victories, Captain Gianavel made a suitable discourse to
his men, causing them to kneel down, and return thanks
to the Almighty for his providential protection; and usually concluded with the
Eleventh Psalm, where the subject is placing confidence in God.
The
marquis of Pianessa was greatly enraged at being so
much baffled by the few inhabitants of Roras: he, therefore, determined to
attempt their expulsion in such a manner as could hardly fail
of success.
With
this view he ordered all the Roman Catholic militia of Piedmont to be raised and disciplined. When these orders were completed,
he joined to the militia eight thousand regular troops, and dividing the whole
into three distinct bodies, he designed that three formidable attacks should be
made at the same time, unless the people of Roras, to whom he sent an account
of his great preparations, would comply with the following conditions:
1. To ask pardon for taking up arms. 2. To
pay the expenses of all the expeditions sent against them. 3. To acknowledge
the infallibility of the pope.
The
inhabitants of Roras, on being acquainted with these conditions, were filled with an honest
indignation, and, in answer, sent word to the marquis that sooner than comply
with them they would suffer three things, which, of all others, were the most
obnoxious to mankind, viz.
1. Their estates to be
seized. 2. Their houses to be burned. 3.
Themselves to be murdered.Exasperated at this message, the marquis
sent them this laconic epistle:
To the Obstinate Heretics Inhabiting Roras
You
shall have your request, for the troops sent against you have strict
injunctions to plunder, burn, and kill. PIANESSA.The
three armies were then put in motion, and the attacks
ordered to be made thus: the first by the rocks of
Vilario; the second by the pass of Bagnol; and the
third by the defile of Lucerne.
The
troops forced their way by the superiority of numbers, and having gained the
rocks, pass, and defile, began to make the most horrid depradations,
and exercise the greatest cruelties. Men they hanged, burned, racked to death,
or cut to pieces; women they ripped open, crucified, drowned, or threw from the
precipices; and children they tossed upon spears, minced, cut their throats, or
dashed out their brains. One hundred and twenty-six suffered in this manner on
the first day of their gaining the town.
Agreeable
to the marquis of Pianessa's orders, they likewise
plundered the estates, and burned the houses of the
people. Several Protestants, however, made their
escape, under the conduct of Captain Gianavel, whose wife and children were unfortunately made prisoners and sent under a strong
guard to Turin.
The
marquis of Pianessa wrote a letter to Captain Gianavel, and
released a Protestant prisoner that he might carry it him. The contents were,
that if the captain would embrace the Roman Catholic religion, he should be
indemnified for all his losses since the commencement of the war; his wife and
children should be immediately released, and himself honorably promoted in the
duke of Savoy's army; but if he refused to accede to the proposals made him,
his wife and children should be put to death; and so large a reward should be
given to take him, dead or alive, that even some of his own confidential
friends should be tempted to betray him, from the greatness of the sum.
To
this epistle, the brave Gianavel sent the following answer.
My
Lord Marquis,
With
respect to my wife and children, my lord, nothing can be more afflicting to me
than the thought of their confinement, or more dreadful to my imagination, than
their suffering a violent and cruel death. I keenly feel all the tender
sensations of husband and parent; my heart is replete with every sentiment of
humanity; I would suffer any torment to rescue them from danger; I would die to
preserve them.
But
having said thus much, my lord, I assure you that the purchase of their lives
must not be the price of my salvation. You have them in your power
it is true; but my consolation is that your power is only a temporary authority
over their bodies: you may destroy the mortal part, but their immortal souls
are out of your reach, and will live hereafter to bear
testimony against you for your cruelties. I therefore recommend them and myself
to God, and pray for a reformation in your heart. --
JOSHUA GIANAVEL.
This
brave Protestant officer, after writing the above letter, retired to the Alps,
with his followers; and being joined by a great number of other fugitive Protestants, he harassed
the enemy by continual skirmishes.
Meeting
one day with a body of papist troops near Bibiana, he, though inferior in
numbers, attacked them with great fury, and put them to the rout without the
loss of a man, though himself was shot through the leg in the engagement, by a
soldier who had hid himself behind a tree; but Gianavel perceiving whence the
shot came, pointed his gun to the place, and despatched the person who had
wounded him.
Captain
Gianavel hearing that a Captain Jahier had collected together
a considerable body of Protestants, wrote him a letter, proposing a junction of
their forces. Captain Jahier immediately agreed to the proposal,
and marched directly to meet Gianavel.
The
junction being formed, it was
proposed to attack a town, (inhabited by Roman Catholics) called
Garcigliana. The assault was given with great spirit,
but a reinforcement of horse and foot having lately entered the town, which the
Protestants knew nothing of, they were repulsed; yet
made a masterly retreat, and only lost one man in the
action.
The
next attempt of the Protestant forces was upon St. Secondo, which they attacked
with great vigor, but met with a strong resistance from the Roman Catholic
troops, who had fortified the streets and planted themselves in the houses,
from whence they poured musket balls in prodigious
numbers. The Protestants, however, advanced, under cover of a
great number of planks, which some held over
their heads, to secure them from the shots of the enemy from the houses, while
others kept up a well-directed fire; so that the houses and entrenchments were soon forced, and the town taken.
In
the town they found a prodigious quantity of plunder,
which had been taken from Protestants at various
times, and different places, and which were stored up in the warehouses, churches, dwelling houses,
etc. This they removed to a place of safety, to be distributed, with as much
justice as possible, among the sufferers.
This
successful attack was made with such skill and spirit
that it cost very little to the conquering party, the
Protestants having only seventeen killed, and twenty-six wounded; while the
papists suffered a loss of no less than four hundred and fifty killed, and five
hundred and eleven wounded.
Five
Protestant officers, viz., Gianavel, Jahier, Laurentio, Genolet
and Benet, laid a plan to surprise Biqueras. To this
end they marched in five respective bodies, and by agreement were to make the
attack at the same time. The captains, Jahier and Laurentio, passed through two
defiles in the woods, and came to the place in safety, under covert;
but the other three bodies made their approaches through an open country, and,
consequently, were more exposed to an attack.
The
Roman Catholics taking the alarm, a great number of
troops were sent to relieve Biqueras
from Cavors, Bibiana, Feline, Campiglione, and some other neighboring places. When these were united, they
determined to attack the three Protestant parties, that were marching through
the open country.
The
Protestant officers perceiving the intent of the enemy, and not being at a
great distance from each other, joined forces with the utmost expedition, and
formed themselves in order of battle.
In
the meantime, the captains, Jahier and Laurentio, had assaulted the town of Biqueras, and burnt all the out houses, to make their
approaches with the greater ease; but not being supported as they expected by
the other three Protestant captains, they sent a messenger, on a swift horse,
towards the open country, to inquire the reason.
The
messenger soon returned and informed them that it was not in the power of the
three Protestant captains to support their proceedings, as they were themselves
attacked by a very superior force in the plain, and could scarce sustain the
unequal conflict.
The
captains, Jahier and Laurentio, on receiving this
intelligence, determined to discontinue the assault on Biqueras,
and to proceed, with all possible expedition, to the
relief of their friends on the plain. This design proved to be of the most
essential service, for just as they arrived at the spot where the two armies
were engaged, the papist troops began to prevail, and
were on the point of flanking the left wing, commanded by Captain Gianavel. The
arrival of these troops turned the scale in favor of the Protestants: and the
papist forces, though they fought with the most obstinate intrepidity, were totally defeated. A great number
were killed and wounded, on both sides, and the
baggage, military stores, etc., taken by the
Protestants were very considerable.
Captain
Gianavel, having information that three hundred of the enemy were to convoy a great quantity of stores, provisions, etc., from La Torre to the castle of Mirabac,
determined to attack them on the way. He, accordingly, began the assault at
Malbec, though with a very inadequate force. The contest was long and bloody,
but the Protestants at length were obliged to yield to
the superiority of numbers, and compelled to make a retreat, which they did
with great regularity, and but little loss.
Captain
Gianavel advanced to an advantageous post, situated near the town of Vilario,
and then sent the following information and commands to the inhabitants.
1. That he should attack the town in
twenty-four hours.
The
Protestants, in general immediately left the town, and joined Captain Gianavel
with great satisfaction, and the few, who through weakness or fear, had abjured
their faith, recanted their abjuration and were received into the bosom of the Church. As the marquis
of Pianessa had removed the army, and encamped in
quite a different part of the country, the Roman Catholics of Vilario thought
it would be folly to attempt to defend the place with the small force they had.
They, therefore, fled with the utmost precipitation, leaving the town and most of their property to the discretion of the Protestants.
The
Protestant commanders having called a council of war, resolved to make an attempt upon the town of La Torre.
The
papists being apprised of the design, detached some troops to defend a defile, through which the
Protestants must make their approach; but these were defeated,
compelled to abandon the pass, and forced to retreat to La Torre.
The
Protestants proceeded on their march, and the troops of La Torre, on their
approach, made a furious sally, but were repulsed with
great loss, and compelled to seek shelter in the town. The governor now only
thought of defending the place, which the Protestants began to attack in form;
but after many brave attempts, and furious assaults, the commanders determined
to abandon the enterprise for several reasons, particularly, because they found
the place itself too strong, their own number too weak, and their cannon not
adequate to the task of battering down the walls.
This
resolution taken, the Protestant commanders began a masterly retreat,
and conducted it with such regularity that the enemy did not choose to
pursue them, or molest their rear, which they might have done, as they passed
the defiles.
The
next day they mustered, reviewed the army, and found the whole to amount to
four hundred and ninety-five men. They then held a council of war, and planned an easier enterprise: this was to make an
attack on the commonalty of Crusol, a place inhabited
by a number of the most bigoted Roman Catholics, and
who had exercised, during the persecutions, the most unheard-of cruelties on
the Protestants.
The
people of Crusol, hearing of the design against them,
fled to a neighboring fortress, situated on a rock, where the Protestants could
not come to them, for a very few men could render it inaccessible to a numerous army. Thus they secured
their persons, but were in too much hurry to secure their property, the
principal part of which, indeed, had been plundered
from the Protestants, and now luckily fell again to the possession of the right
owners. It consisted of many rich and valuable
articles, and what, at that time, was of much more
consequence, viz., a great quantity of military stores.
The
day after the Protestants were gone with their booty, eight hundred troops
arrived to the assistance of the people of Crusol,
having been despatched from Lucerne, Biqueras, Cavors, etc. But finding
themselves too late, and that pursuit would be vain, not to return empty
handed, they began to plunder the neighboring villages, though what they took
was from their friends. After collecting a tolerable booty, they began to
divide it, but disagreeing about the different shares, they fell from words to
blows, did a great deal of mischief, and then plundered each other.
On
the very same day in which the Protestants were so successful at Crusol, some papists marched with
a design to plunder and burn the little Protestant village of Rocappiatta, but by the way they met with the Protestant
forces belonging to the captains, Jahier and
Laurentio, who were posted on the hill of Angrogne. A
trivial engagement ensued, for the Roman Catholics, on the very first attack,
retreated in great confusion, and were pursued with much slaughter. After the pursuit was over, some straggling papist troops meeting with a poor peasant,
who was a Protestant, tied a cord round his head, and strained it until his
skull was quite crushed.
Captain
Gianavel and Captain Jahier concerted a design together to make an attack upon
Lucerne; but Captain Jahier, not bringing up his forces at the time appointed,
Captain Gianavel determined to attempt the enterprise himself.
He,
therefore, by a forced march, proceeded towards that place during the whole,
and was close to it by break of day. His first care was to cut the pipes that
conveyed water into the town, and then to break down the bridge, by which alone
provisions from the country could enter.
He
then assaulted the place, and speedily possessed
himself of two of the outposts; but finding he could not make himself master of
the place, he prudently retreated with very little
loss, blaming, however, Captain Jahier, for the failure of the enterprise.
The
papists being informed that Captain Gianavel was at
Angrogne with only his own company, determined if possible
to surprise him. With this view, a great number of
troops were detached from La Torre and other places:
one party of these got on top of a mountain, beneath which he was posted; and the other party intended to possess
themselves of the gate of St. Bartholomew.
The
papists thought themselves sure of taking Captain Gianavel and every one of his
men, as they consisted but of three hundred, and their own force was two
thousand five hundred. Their design, however, was providentially frustrated,
for one of the popish soldiers imprudently blowing a trumpet before the signal
for attack was given, Captain Gianavel took the alarm, and posted his little
company so advantageously at the gate of St. Bartholomew and at the defile by
which the enemy must descend from the mountains, that the Roman Catholic troops
failed in both attacks, and were repulsed with very considerable loss.
Soon
after, Captain Jahier came to Angrogne, and joined his forces to those of Captain Gianavel, giving sufficient reasons to
excuse his before-mentioned failure. Captain Jahier now made several
secret excursions with great success, always selecting
the most active troops, belonging both to Gianavel and himself. One day he had
put himself at the head of forty-four men, to proceed upon an expedition, when
entering a plain near Ossac, he was
suddenly surrounded by a large body of horse. Captain Jahier and his men
fought desperately, though oppressed by odds, and killed the
commander-in-chief, three captains, and fifty-seven private men, of the enemy.
But Captain Jahier himself being killed, with
thirty-five of his men, the rest surrendered. One of the soldiers cut off
Captain Jahier's head, and carrying it to Turin, presented it to the duke of
Savoy, who rewarded him with six hundred ducatoons.
The
death of this gentleman was a signal loss to the Protestants, as he was a real
friend to, and companion of, the reformed Church. He possessed a most undaunted
spirit, so that no difficulties could deter him from undertaking an enterprise,
or dangers terrify him in its execution. He was pious without affectation, and
humane without weakness; bold in a field, meek in a
domestic life, of a penetrating genius, active in spirit, and resolute in all
his undertakings.
To
add to the affliction of the Protestants, Captain Gianavel was, soon after,
wounded in such a manner that he was obliged to keep
his bed. They, however, took new courage from misfortunes, and determining not
to let their spirits droop attacked a body of popish troops with great
intrepidity; the Protestants were much inferior in
numbers, but fought with more resolution than the papists, and at length routed
them with considerable slaughter. During the action, a sergeant named Michael
Bertino was killed; when his son, who was close behind
him, leaped into his place, and said, "I have lost my father; but courage,
fellow soldiers, God is a father to us all."
Several
skirmishes likewise happened between the troops of La Torre and Tagliaretto, and the Protestant forces, which in general
terminated in favor of the latter.
A
Protestant gentleman, named Andrion, raised a regiment of horse, and took the
command of it himself. The sieur John Leger persuaded a great
number of Protestants to form themselves into volunteer companies; and
an excellent officer, named Michelin, instituted several
bands of light troops. These being all joined to the remains of the veteran
Protestant troops, (for great numbers had been lost in the various battles, skirmishes, sieges, etc.) composed a respectable army, which the officers
thought proper to encamp near St. Giovanni.
The
Roman Catholic commanders, alarmed at the formidable appearance and increased
strength of the Protestant forces, determined, if possible, to dislodge them
from their encampment. With this view they collected together
a large force, consisting of the principal part of the garrisons of the Roman
Catholic towns, the draft from the Irish brigades, a great
number of regulars sent by the marquis of Pianessa, the auxiliary
troops, and the independent companies.
These,
having formed a junction, encamped near the Protestants, and spent several days in calling councils of war, and disputing on
the most proper mode of proceeding. Some were for
plundering the country, in order to draw the
Protestants from their camp; others were for patiently waiting till they were attacked; and a third party were for assaulting the
Protestant camp, and trying to make themselves master
of everything in it.
The
last of them prevailed, and the morning after the resolution had been taken was appointed to put it
into execution. The Roman Catholic troops were accordingly
separated into four divisions, three of which were to make an attack in different places; and the fourth to remain as a body of
reserve to act as occasion might require.
One
of the Roman Catholic officers, previous to the
attack, thus haranged his men:
"Fellow-soldiers,
you are now going to enter upon a great action, which will bring you fame and
riches. The motives of your acting with spirit are likewise of the most
important nature; namely, the honor of showing your loyalty to your sovereign,
the pleasure of spilling heretic blood, and the prospect of plundering the
Protestant camp. So, my brave fellows, fall on, give no quarter, kill all you
meet, and take all you come near."
After
this inhuman speech the engagement began, and the
Protestant camp was attacked in three places with
inconceivable fury. The fight was maintained with
great obstinacy and perseverance on both sides, continuing without intermission
for the space of four hours: for the several companies
on both sides relieved each other alternately, and by that means kept up a
continual fire during the whole action.
During
the engagement of the main armies, a detachment was sent from the body of
reserve to attack the post of Castelas, which, if the
papists had carried, it would have given them the command of the valleys of Perosa, St. Martino, and Lucerne; but they were repulsed
with great loss, and compelled to return to the body of reserve, from whence
they had been detached.
Soon
after the return of this detachment, the Roman Catholic troops, being hard
pressed in the main battle, sent for the body of reserve to come to their
support. These immediately marched to their assistance, and for some time longer held the event doubtful, but at length the
valor of the Protestants prevailed, and the papists were
totally defeated, with the loss of upwards of three hundred men killed,
and many more wounded.
When
the Syndic of Lucerne, who was indeed a papist, but not a bigoted one, saw the great number of wounded men brought into that city, he
exclaimed, "Ah! I thought the wolves used to devour the heretics, but now
I see the heretics eat the wolves." This expression being
reported to M. Marolles, the Roman Catholic
commander-in-chief at Lucerne, he sent a very severe and threatening letter to
the Syndic, who was so terrified, that the fright threw him into a fever, and
he died in a few days.
This
great battle was fought just before the harvest was got in, when the papists, exasperated at their disgrace,
and resolved on any kind of revenge, spread themselves by night in detached
parties over the finest corn fields of the Protestants, and set them on fire in
sundry places. Some of these straggling parties,
however, suffered for their conduct; for the Protestants, being
alarmed in the night by the blazing of the fire among the corn, pursued
the fugitives early in the morning, and overtaking many,
put them to death. The Protestant captain Bellin, likewise, by way of
retaliation, went with a body of light troops, and burnt the suburbs of La
Torre, making his retreat afterward with very little
loss.
A
few days later, Captain Bellin, with a much stronger body of
troops, attacked the town of La Torre itself, and making a breach in the wall
of the convent, his men entered, driving the garrison into the citadel and
burning both town and convent. After having effected
this, they made a regular retreat, as they could not reduce the citadel for
want of cannon.
An Account of the Persecutions of Michael de Molinos, a
Native of Spain
Michael
de Molinos, a Spaniard of a rich and honorable family, entered, when young,
into priest's orders, but would not accept of any preferment in the Church. He
possessed great natural abilities, which he dedicated to the service of his
fellow creatures, without any view of emolument to himself. His course of life
was pious and uniform; nor did he exercise those austerities which are common
among the religious orders of the Church of Rome.Being
of a contemplative turn of mind, he pursued the track of the mystical divines,
and having acquired great reputation in Spain, and being desirous of
propagating his sublime mode of devotion, he left his own country,
and settled at Rome. Here he soon connected himself with some of the
most distinguished among the literati, who so approved of his religious maxims,
that they concurred in assisting him to propagate them; and, in a short time,
he obtained a great number of followers, who, from the sublime mode of their
religion, were distinguished by the name of Quietists.
In
1675, Molinos published a book entitled "Il
Guida Spirituale," to which were
subjoined recommendatory letters from several
great personages. One of these was by the archbishop of Reggio; a second by the
general of the Franciscans; and a third by Father Martin de Esparsa, a Jesuit,
who had been divinity-professor both at Salamanca and Rome.
No
sooner was the book published than it was greatly read,
and highly esteemed, both in Italy and Spain; and this so raised the reputation
of the author that his acquaintance was coveted by the
most respectable characters. Letters were written to
him from numbers of people, so that a correspondence was settled between him, and those who approved of his
method in different parts of Europe. Some secular priests, both at Rome and Naples, declared
themselves openly for it, and consulted him, as a sort of oracle, on many occasions. But those who attached themselves to him
with the greatest sincerity were some of the fathers
of the Oratory; in particular three of the most
eminent, namely, Caloredi, Ciceri,
and Petrucci. Many of the cardinals also courted his acquaintance, and thought themselves happy in being reckoned among the number of his friends. The most
distinguished of them was the Cardinal d'Estrees, a
man of very great learmning, who so highly approved
of Molinos' maxims that he entered
into a close connection with him. They conversed together daily, and
notwithstanding the distrust a Spaniard has naturally of a Frenchman, yet Molinos, who was sincere in his principles, opened his mind
without reserve to the cardinal; and by this means a
correspondence was settled between Molinos
and some distinguished characters in France.
Whilst
Molinos was thus laboring to propagate his religious
mode, Father Petrucci wrote several treatises relative
to a contemplative life; but he mixed in them so many rules for the devotions
of the Romish Church, as mitigated that censure he might have otherwise
incurred. They were written chiefly for the use of the
nuns, and therefore the sense was expressed in the
most easy and familiar style.
Molinos had
now acquired such reputation, that the Jesuits and Dominicans began to be greatly alarmed, and determined to put a stop to the
progress of this method. To do this, it was necessary to decry the author of
it; and as heresy is an imputation that makes the strongest impression at Rome, Molinos and his followers
were given out to be heretics. Books were also written by some of the
Jesuits against Molinos and his method; but they were
all answered with spirit by Molinos.
These
disputes occasioned such disturbance in Rome that the
whole affair was taken notice of by the Inquisition. Molinos and his book, and Father Petrucci, with his
treatises and letters, were brought under a severe
examination; and the Jesuits were considered as the
accusers. One of the society had, indeed, approved of Molinos' book, but the rest took care he should not be again seen at Rome. In the course of the examination both Molinos
and Petrucci acquitted themselves so well, that their
books were again approved, and the answers which the
Jesuits had written were censured as scandalous.
Petrucci's
conduct on this occasion was so highly approved that it not only raised the
credit of the cause, but his own emolument; for he was soon after made bishop
of Jesis, which was a new declaration made by the
pope in their favor. Their books were now esteemed
more than ever, their method was more followed, and the novelty of it, with the
new approbation given after so vigorous an accusation by the Jesuits, all
contributed to raise the credit, and increase the number of the party.
The
behavior of Father Petrucci in his new dignity greatly
contributed to increase his reputation, so that his enemies were
unwilling to give him any further disturbance; and, indeed, there was less
occasion given for censure by his writings than those of Molinos.
Some passages in the latter were not
so cautiously expressed, but there was room to make exceptions to them;
while, on the other hand Petrucci so fully explained himself, as easily to remove the objections made to some
parts of his letter.
The
great reputation acquired by Molinos and Petrucci
occasioned a daily increase of the Quietists. All who were thought sincerely devout, or at least affected the reputation of it, were
reckoned among the number. If these persons were
observed to become more strict in their lives
and mental devotions, yet there appeared less zeal in their whole deportment at
the exterior parts of the Church ceremonies. They were not so assiduous at
Mass, nor so earnest to procure Masses to be said for
their friends; nor were they so frequently either at confession, or in
processions.
Though
the new approbation given to Molinos' book by the
Inquisition had checked the proceedings of his enemies; yet they were still
inveterate against him in their hearts, and determined if possible
to ruin him. They insinuated that he had ill designs, and was, in his heart, an
enemy to the Christian religion: that under pretence
of raising men to a sublime strain of devotion, he intended to erase from their
minds a sense of the mysteries of Christianity. And because he was a Spaniard,
they gave out that he was descended from a Jewish or
Mahometan race, and that he might carry in his blood, or in his first
education, some seeds of those religions which he had
since cultivated with no less art than zeal. This last calumny gained but
little credit at Rome, though it was said an order was sent to examine the registers of the place where Molinos was baptized.
Molinos
finding himself attacked with great vigor, and the most unrelenting malice,
took every necessary precaution to prevent these imputations being
credited. He wrote a treatise, entitled "Frequent and Daily
Communion," which was likewise approved by some of the most learned of the Romish clergy. This was printed with his Spiritual Guide, in the year 1675; and
in the preface to it he declared that he had not written it with any design to
engage himself in matters of controversy, but that it was
drawn from him by the earnest solicitations of many
pious people.
The
Jesuits, failing in their attempts of crushing Molinos' power in Rome, applied
to the court of France, when, in a short time, they so
far succeeded that an order was sent to Cardinal d'Estrees, commanding him to prosecute Molinos
with all possible rigor. The cardinal, though so
strongly attached to Molinos, resolved to sacrifice
all that is sacred in friendship to the will of his master. Finding, however,
there was not sufficient matter for an accusation against him, he determined to
supply that defect himself. He therefore went to the inquisitors, and informed
them of several particulars,
not only relative to Molinos, but also Petrucci, both
of whom, together with several of their friends, were put into the Inquisition.
When
they were brought before the inquisitors, (which was the beginning of the year
1684) Petrucci answered the respective questions put to him with so much
judgment and temper that he was soon dismissed; and though Molinos'
examination was much longer, it was generally expected he would have been
likewise discharged: but this was not the case. Though the inquisitors had not any just accusation against him, yet they strained every
nerve to find him guilty of heresy. They first objected to his holding a correspondence in different parts
of Europe; but of this he was
acquitted, as the matter of that correspondence could not be made criminal. They then directed their attention to some suspicious papers found in his chamber; but Molinos so clearly explained their meaning that nothing
could be made of them to his prejudice. At length,
Cardinal d'Estrees, after producing the order sent
him by the king of France for prosecuting Molinos,
said he could prove against him more than was necessary to convince them he was
guilty of heresy. To do this he perverted the meaning of some
passages in Molinos' books and papers,
and related many false and aggravating
circumstances relative to the prisoner. He acknowledged he had lived with him
under the appearance of friendship, but that it was only to discover his
principles and intentions: that he had found them to be of a bad nature, and
that dangerous consequences werre likely to ensue;
but in order to make a full discovery, he had assented to several things,
which, in his heart, he detested; and that, by these means, he saw into the
secrets of Molinos, but determined not to take any
notice, until a proper opportunity should offer of crushing him and his
followers.
In
consequence of d'Estree's evidence, Molinos was closely confined by
the Inquisition, where he continued for some time,
during which period all was quiet, and his followers prosecuted their mode
without interruption. But on a sudden the Jesuits determined to extirpate them,
and the storm broke out with the most inveterate vehemence.
The
Count Vespiniani and his lady, Don Paulo
Rocchi, confessor to the prince Borghese, and some of
his family, with several others, (in all seventy
persons) were put into the Inquisition, among whom many were highly esteemed for their learning and piety. The
accusation laid against the clergy was their neglecting to say the breviary;
and the rest were accused of going to the Communion
without first attending confession. In a word, it was said,
they neglected all the exterior parts of religion, and gave themselves up wholly to solitude and inward prayer.
The
Countess Vespiniani exerted herself in a very
particular manner on her examination before the inquisitors. She said she had
never revealed her method of devotion to any mortal but her confessor, and that
it was impossible they should know it without his discovering the secret; that,
therefore it was time to give over going to confession, if priests made this
use of it, to discover the most secret thoughts intrusted
to them; and that, for the future, she would only make her confession to God.
From
this spirited speech, and the great noise made in consequence of the countess's
situation, the inquisitors thought it most prudent to dismiss both her and her
husband, lest the people might be incensed, and what
she said might lessen the credit of confession. They were, therefore, both
discharged, but bound to appear whenever they should be
called upon.
Besides
those already mentioned, such was the inveteracy of the Jesuits against the
Quietists, that, within the space of a month, upwards of two hundred persons
were put into the Inquisition; and that method of devotion which had passed in
Italy as the most elevated to which mortals could aspire, was deemed heretical,
and the chief promoters of it confined in a wretched dungeon.
In
order, if possible, to extirpate Quietism, the inquisitors sent a circular
letter to Cardinal Cibo, as the chief minister, to disperse it through Italy.
It was addressed to all prelates, informed them, that whereas many schools and
fraternities were established in several parts of Italy, in which some persons,
under the pretence of leading people into the ways of
the Spirit, and to the prayer of quietness, instilled into them many abominable
heresies, therefore a strict charge was given to dissolve all those societies,
and to oblige the spiritual guide to tread in the known paths; and, in
particular, to take care that none of that sort should be suffered to have the
direction of the nunneries. Orders were likewise given
to proceed, in the way of justice, against those who should be
found guilty of these abominable errors.
After
this a strict inquiry was made into all the nunneries
of Rome, when most of their directors and confessors were discovered to be engaged in this new method. It was
found that the Carmelites, the nuns of the Conception, and those of several
other convents, were wholly given up to prayer and contemplation, and that,
instead of their beads, and the other devotions to saints, or images, they were
much alone, and often in the exercise of mental prayer; that when they were
asked why they had laid aside the use of their beads and their ancient forms,
their answer was that their directors had advised them so to do. Information of
this being given to the Inquisition, they sent orders
that all books written in the same strain with those
of Molinos and Petrucci should be
taken from them, and that they should be compelled
to return to their original form of devotion.
The
circular letter sent to Cardinal Cibo, produced but little
effect, for most of the Italian bishops were
inclined to Molinos' method. It was
intended that this, as well as all other orders from the inquisitors,
should be kept secret; but notwithstanding all their
care, copies of it were printed, and dispersed in most of the principal towns in Italy. This gave great
uneasiness to the inquisitors, who used every method they could to conceal
their proceedings from the knowledge of the world. They blamed the cardinal, and accused him of being the cause of it; but he
retorted on them, and his secretary laid the fault on
both.
During
these transactions, Molinos suffered great
indignities from the officers of the Inquisition; and the only comfort he
received was from being sometimes visited by Father
Petrucci.
Though
he had lived in the highest reputation in Rome for some
years, he was now as much despised as he had been admired, being generally considered
as one of the worst of heretics.
The
greater part of Molinos' followers, who had been placed in the Inquisition, having abjured his mode, were dismissed; but a harder fate awaited Molinos, their
leader.
After
lying a considerable time in prison, he was at length
brought again before the inquisitors to answer to a number of articles exhibited against him from his
writings. As soon as he appeared in court, a chain was put
round his body, and a wax light in his hand, when two friars read aloud the
articles of accusation. Molinos answered each with
great steadiness and resolution; and notwithstanding his arguments totally
defeated the force of all, yet he was found guilty of heresy, and condemned to imprisonment for life.
When
he left the court he was attended
by a priest, who had borne him the greatest respect. On his arrival at the
prison he entered the cell allotted for his confinement with great
tranquillity; and on taking leave of the priest, thus addressed him:
"Adieu, father, we shall meet again at the Day of Judgment, and then it
will appear on which side the truth is, whether on my side, or on yours."
During
his confinement, he was several times tortured in the most cruel manner, until, at length, the severity of the
punishments overpowered his strength, and finished his
existence.
The
death of Molinos struck such an impression on his
followers that the greater part of them soon abjured his mode; and by the
assiduity of the Jesuits, Quietism was totally extirpated
throughout the country.
Chapter 7 - Life and Persecutions of John Wycliffe