W A R N I N G ! G R A P H I C C O N T E N T ! PLEASE NOTE: We have placed Foxe's Book of Martyrs among our list of good books to read and study for two reasons: 1) not to cause doubts as to whether you will be able to endure the same persecution, but to show you how God's followers were able to face and endure all kinds of persecution because of their faith in God! Remember, Christ said: "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33. Instead of fear, this brings encouragement to the faint of heart, and as we see what others have endured for the truth of God's word in the past, we know that with and through Christ we can do the same. 2) Lest we forget! "When one
recollects that until the appearance of the Pilgrim's Progress the common people
had almost no other reading matter except the Bible and Fox's Book of Martyrs,
we can understand the deep impression that this book produced; and how it served
to mold the national character. Those who could read for themselves learned the
full details of all the atrocities performed on the Protestant reformers; the
illiterate could see the rude illustrations of the various instruments of
torture, the rack, the gridiron, the boiling oil, and then the holy ones
breathing out their souls amid the flames. Take a people just awakening to a new
intellectual and religious life; let several generations of them, from childhood
to old age, pore over such a book, and its stories become traditions as
individual and almost as potent as songs and customs on a nation's life." -
Douglas Campbell, "The Puritan in Holland, England, and America"
"If we
divest the book of its accidental character of feud between churches, it yet
stands, in the first years of Elizabeth's reign, a monument that marks the
growing strength of a desire for spiritual freedom, defiance of those forms that
seek to stifle conscience and fetter thought." - Henry Morley, "English
Writers"
"After the Bible itself, no book so profoundly influenced early Protestant sentiment as the Book of Martyrs. Even in our time it is still a living force. It is more than a record of persecution. It is an arsenal of controversy, a storehouse of romance, as well as a source of edification." - James Miller Dodds, English Prose. The amount of killings done by the Vatican during this prophesied 1260 year period in history was so intense (400K per year) that Rome invented a fake prophecy claiming the Antichrist will do this during a future "great tribulation" near the end and most churches today preach this false prophecy. Proof? See this. Contents
Chapter
I -- History of Christian Martyrs to the
First General Persecutions Under Nero
Chapter
II -- The Ten Primitive
Persecutions
Chapter
III -- Persecutions of the Christians in
Persia
Chapter
IV -- Papal Persecutions
Chapter
V -- An Account of the
Inquisition
Chapter
VI -- An Account of the Persecutions in
Italy, Under the Papacy
Chapter
VII -- An Account of the Life and
Persecutions of John Wickliffe
Chapter VIII -- An Account of the Persecutions in Bohemia Under the Papacy Chapter
IX -- An Account of the Life and
Persecutions of Martin Luther
Chapter X -- General Persecutions in Germany
Chapter XI -- An Account of the Persecutions in the Netherlands
Chapter XII -- The Life and Story of the True Servant and Martyr of God, William Tyndale
Chapter XIII -- An Account of the Life of John Calvin Chapter
XIV -- Prior to the Reign of Queen Mary
I
Chapter XV -- An Account of the Persecutions in Scotland During the Reign of King Henry VIII Chapter
XVI -- Persecutions in England During the
Reign of Queen Mary
Chapter
XVII -- Rise and Progress of the Protestant
Religion in Ireland; with an Account of the Barbarous
Massacre of 1641
Chapter XVIII -- The Rise, Progress, Persecutions, and Sufferings of the Quakers Chapter
XIX -- An Account of the Life and
Persecutions of John Bunyan
Chapter XX -- An Account of the Life of John Wesley
Chapter XXI -- Persecutions of the French Protestants in the South of France, During the Years 1814 and 1820
Chapter
XXII -- The Beginnings of American Foreign
Missions
SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR
John Fox (or Foxe) was born at Boston, in Lincolnshire, in
1517, where his parents are stated to have lived in respectable circumstances.
He was deprived of his father at an early age; and notwithstanding his mother
soon married again, he still remained under the parental roof. From an early
display of talents and inclination to learning, his friends were induced to send
him to Oxford, in order to cultivate and bring them to maturity.
During his residence at this place, he was distinguished
for the excellence and acuteness of his intellect, which was improved by the
emulation of his fellow collegians, united to an indefatigable zeal and industry
on his part. These qualities soon gained him the admiration of all; and as a
reward for his exertions and amiable conduct, he was chosen fellow of Magdalen
College; which was accounted a great honor in the university, and seldom
bestowed unless in cases of great distinction. It appears that the first display
of his genius was in poetry; and that he composed some Latin comedies, which are
still extant. But he soon directed his thoughts to a more serious subject, the
study of the sacred Scriptures: to divinity, indeed, he applied himself with
more fervency than circumspection, and discovered his partiality to the
Reformation, which had then commenced, before he was known to its supporters, or
to those who protected them; a circumstance which proved to him the source of
his first troubles.
He is said to have often affirmed that the first matter
which occasioned his search into the popish doctrine was that he saw divers
things, most repugnant in their nature to one another, forced upon men at the
same time; upon this foundation his resolution and intended obedience to that
Church were somewhat shaken, and by degrees a dislike to the rest took place.
His first care was to look into both the ancient and modern
history of the Church; to ascertain its beginning and progress; to consider the
causes of all those controversies which in the meantime had sprung up, and
diligently to weigh their effects, solidity, infirmities, etc.
Before he had attained his thirtieth year, he had studied
the Greek and Latin fathers, and other learned authors, the transactions of the
Councils, and decrees of the consistories, and had acquired a very competent
skill in the Hebrew language. In these occupations he frequently spent a
considerable part, or even the whole of the night; and in order to unbend his
mind after such incessant study, he would resort to a grove near the college, a
place much frequented by the students in the evening, on account of its
sequestered gloominess. In these solitary walks he was often heard to ejaculate
heavy sobs and sighs, and with tears to pour forth his prayers to God. These
nightly retirements, in the sequel, gave rise to the first suspicion of his
alienation from the Church of Rome. Being pressed for an explanation of this
alteration in his conduct, he scorned to call in fiction to his excuse; he
stated his opinions; and was, by the sentence of the college convicted,
condemned as a heretic, and expelled.
His friends, upon the report of this circumstance, were
highly offended, when he was thus forsaken by his own friends, a refuge offered
itself in the house of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Warwickshire, by whom he was sent for
to instruct his children. The house is within easy walk of Stratford-on-Avon,
and it was this estate which, a few years later, was the scene of Shakespeare's
traditional boyish poaching expedition. Fox died when Shakespeare was three
years old.
In the Lucy house Fox afterward married. But the fear of
the popish inquisitors hastened his departure thence; as they were not contented
to pursue public offences, but began also to dive into the secrets of private
families. He now began to consider what was best to be done to free himself from
further inconvenience, and resolved either to go to his wife's father or to his
father-in-law.
His wife's father was a citizen of Coventry, whose heart
was not alienated from him, and he was more likely to be well entreated, or his
daughter's sake. He resolved first to go to him; and, in the meanwhile, by
letters, to try whether his father-in-law would receive him or not. This he
accordingly did, and he received for answer, "that it seemed to him a hard
condition to take one into his house whom he knew to be guilty and condemned for
a capital offence; neither was he ignorant what hazard he should undergo in so
doing; he would, however, show himself a kinsman, and neglect his own danger. If
he would alter his mind, he might come, on condition to stay as long as he
himself desired; but if he could not be persuaded to that, he must content
himself with a shorter stay, and not bring him and his mother into danger."
No condition was to be refused; besides, he was secretly
advised by his mother to come, and not to fear his father-in-law's severity;
"for that, perchance, it was needful to write as he did, but when occasion
should be offered, he would make recompense for his words with his actions." In
fact he was better received by both of them than he had hoped for.
By these means he kept himself concealed for some time, and
afterwards made a journey to London, in the latter part of the reign of Henry
VIII. Here, being unknown, he was in much distress, and was even reduced to the
danger of being starved to death, had not Providence interfered in his favor in
the following manner:
One day as Mr. Fox was sitting in St. Paul's Church,
exhausted with long fasting, a stranger took a seat by his side, and courteously
saluted him, thrust a sum of money into his hand, and bade him cheer up his
spirits; at the same time informing him, that in a few days new prospects would
present themselves for his future subsistence. Who this stranger was, he could
never learn; but at the end of three days he received an invitation from the
Duchess of Richmond to undertake the tuition of the children of the Earl of
Surry who, together with his father, the Duke of Norfolk, was imprisoned in the
Tower, by the jealousy and ingratitude of the king. The children thus confided
to his care were, Thomas, who succeeded to the dukedom; Henry, afterwards Earl
of Northampton; and Jane who became Countess of Westmoreland. In the performance
of his duties, he fully satisfied the expectations of the duchess, their aunt.
These halcyon days continued during the latter part of the
reign of Henry VIII and the five years of the reign of Edward VI until Mary came
to the crown, who, soon after her accessiopn, gave all power into the hands of
the papists.
At this time Mr. Fox, who was still under the protection of
his noble pupil, the duke, began to excite the envy and hatred of many,
particularly Dr. Gardiner, then Bishop of Winchester, who in the sequel became
his most violent enemy.
Mr. Fox, aware of this, and seeing the dreadful
persecutions then commencing, began to think of quitting the kingdom. As soon as
the duke knew his intention, he endeavored to persuade him to remain; and his
arguments were so powerful, and given with so much sincerity, that he gave up
the thought of abandoning his asylum for the present.
At that time the Bishop of Winchester was very intimate
with the duke (by the patronage of whose family he had risen to the dignity he
then enjoyed,) and frequently waited on him to present his service when he
several times requested that he might see his old tutor. At first the duke
denied his request, at one time alleging his absence, at another, indisposition.
At length it happened that Mr. Fox, not knowing the bishop was in the house,
entered the room where the duke and he were in discourse; and seeing the bishop,
withdrew. Gardiner asked who that was; the duke answered that he was "his
physician, who was somewhat uncourtly, as being new come from the university."
"I like his countenance and aspect very well," replied the bishop, "and when
occasion offers, I will send for him." The duke understood that speech as the
messenger of some approaching danger; and now himself thought it high time for
Mr. Fox to quit the city, and even the country. He accordingly caused everything
necessary for his flight to be provided in silence, by sending one of his
servants to Ipswich to hire a bark, and prepare all the requisites for his
departure. He also fixed on the house of one of his servants, who was a farmer,
where he might lodge until the wind became favorable; and everything being in
readiness, Mr. Fox took leave of his noble patron, and with his wife, who was
pregnant at the time, secretly departed for the ship.
The vessel was scarcely under sail, when a most violent
storm came on, which lasted all day and night, and the next day drove them back
to the port from which they had departed. During the time that the vessel had
been at sea, an officer, despatched by the bishop of Winchester, had broken open
the house of the farmer with a warrant to apprehend Mr. Fox wherever he might be
found, and bring him back to the city. On hearing this news he hired a horse,
under the pretence of leaving the town immediately; but secretly returned the
same night, and agreed with the captain of the vessel to sail for any place as
soon as the wind should shift, only desired him to proceed, and not to doubt
that God would prosper his undertaking. The mariner suffered himself to be
persuaded, and within two days landed his passengers in safety at Nieuport.
After spending a few days in that place, Mr. Fox set out
for Basle, where he found a number of English refugees, who had quitted their
country to avoid the cruelty of the persecutors, with these he associated, and
began to write his "History of the Acts and Monuments of the Church," which was
first published in Latin at Basle in 1554, and in English in 1563.
In the meantime the reformed religion began again to
flourish in England, and the popish faction much to decline, by the death of
Queen Mary; which induced the greater number of the Protestant exiles to return
to their native country.
Among others, on the accession of Elizabeth to the throne,
Mr. Fox returned to England; where, on his arrival, he found a faithful and
active friend in his late pupil, the Duke of Norfolk, until death deprived him
of his benefactor: after which event, Mr. Fox inherited a pension bequeathed to
him by the duke, and ratified by his son, the Earl of Suffolk.
Nor did the good man's successes stop here. On being
recommended to the queen by her secretary of state, the great Cecil, her majesty
granted him the prebendary of Shipton, in the cathedral of Salisbury, which was
in a manner forced upon him; for it was with difficulty that he could be
persuaded to accept it.
On his resettlement in England, he employed himself in
revising and enlarging his admirable Martyrology. With prodigious pains and
constant study he completed that celebrated work in eleven years. For the sake
of greater correctness, he wrote every line of this vast book with his own hand,
and transcribed all the records and papers himself. But, in consequence of such
excessive toil, leaving no part of his time free from study, nor affording
himself either the repose or recreation which nature required, his health was so
reduced, and his person became so emaciated and altered, that such of his
friends and relations as only conversed with him occasionally, could scarcely
recognize his person. Yet, though he grew daily more exhausted, he proceeded in
his studies as briskly as ever, nor would he be persuaded to diminish his
accustomed labors. The papists, forseeing how detrimental his history of their
errors and cruelties would prove to their cause, had recourse to every artifice
to lessen the reputation of his work; but their malice was of signal service,
both to Mr. Fox himself, and to the Church of God at large, as it eventually
made his book more intrinsically valuable, by inducing him to weigh, with the
most scrupulous attention, the certainty of the facts which he recorded, and the
validity of the authorities from which he drew his information.
But while he was thus indefatigably employed in promoting
the cause of truth, he did not neglect the other duties of his station; he was
charitable, humane, and attentive to the wants, both spiritual and temporal, of
his neighbors. With the view of being more extensively useful, although he had
no desire to cultivate the acquaintance of the rich and great on his own
account, he did not decline the friendship of those in a higher rank who
proffered it, and never failed to employ his influence with them in behalf of
the poor and needy. In consequence of his well-known probity and charity, he was
frequently presented with sums of money by persons possessed of wealth, which he
accepted and distributed among those who were distressed. He would also
occasionally attend the table of his friends, not so much for the sake of
pleasure, as from civility, and to convince them that his absence was not
occasioned by a fear of being exposed to the temptations of the appetite. In
short his character as a man and as a Christian was without reproach.
Although the recent recollection of the persecutions under
Bloody Mary gave bitterness to his pen, it is singular to note that he was
personally the most conciliatory of men, and that while he heartily disowned the
Roman Church in which he was born, he was one of the first to attempt the
concord of the Protestant brethren. In fact, he was a veritable apostle of
toleration.
When the plague or pestilence broke out in England, in
1563, and many forsook their duties, Fox remained at his post, assisting the
friendless and acting as the almsgiver of the rich. It was said of him that he
could never refuse help to any one who asked it in the name of Christ. Tolerant
and large-hearted he exerted his influence with Queen Elizabeth to confirm her
intention to no longer keep up the cruel practice of putting to death those of
opposing religious convictions. The queen held him in respect and referred to
him as "Our Father Foxe."
Mr. Fox had joy in the fruits of his work while he was yet
alive. It passed through four large editions before his decease, and it was
ordered by the bishops to be placed in every cathedral church in England, where
it was often found chained, as the Bible was in those days, to a lectern for the
access of the people.
At length, having long served both the Church and the world
by his ministry, by his pen, and by the unsullied luster of a benevolent,
useful, and holy life, he meekly resigned his soul to Christ, on the eighteenth
of April, 1587, being then in the seventieth year of his age. He was interred in
the chancel of St. Giles', Cripplegate; of which parish he had been, in the
beginning of Elizabeth's reign, for some time vicar.
CHAPTER I
History of Christian Martyrs to the First General
Persecutions Under Nero
Christ our Savior, in the Gospel of St. Matthew, hearing
the confession of Simon Peter, who, first of all other, openly acknowledged Him
to be the Son of God, and perceiving the secret hand of His Father therein,
called him (alluding to his name) a rock, upon which rock He would build His
Church so strong that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. In which
words three things are to be noted: First, that Christ will have a Church in
this world. Secondly, that the same Church should mightily be impugned, not only
by the world, but also by the uttermost strength and powers of all hell. And,
thirdly, that the same Church, notwithstanding the uttermost of the devil and
all his malice, should continue.
Which prophecy of Christ we see wonderfully to be verified,
insomuch that the whole course of the Church to this day may seem nothing else
but a verifying of the said prophecy. First, that Christ hath set up a Church,
needeth no declaration. Secondly, what force of princes, kings, monarchs,
governors, and rulers of this world, with their subjects, publicly and
privately, with all their strength and cunning, have bent themselves against
this Church! And, thirdly, how the said Church, all this notwithstanding, hath
yet endured and holden its own! What storms and tempests it hath overpast,
wondrous it is to behold: for the more evident declaration whereof, I have
addressed this present history, to the end, first, that the wonderful works of
God in His Church might appear to His glory; also that, the continuance and
proceedings of the Church, from time to time, being set forth, more knowledge
and experience may redound thereby, to the profit of the reader and edification
of Christian faith.
As it is not our business to enlarge upon our Savior's
history, either before or after His crucifixion, we shall only find it necessary
to remind our readers of the discomfiture of the Jews by His subsequent
resurrection. Although one apostle had betrayed Him; although another had denied
Him, under the solemn sanction of an oath; and although the rest had forsaken
Him, unless we may except "the disciple who was known unto the high-priest"; the
history of His resurrection gave a new direction to all their hearts, and, after
the mission of the Holy Spirit, imparted new confidence to their minds. The
powers with which they were endued emboldened them to proclaim His name, to the
confusion of the Jewish rulers, and the astonishment of Gentile proselytes.
St. Stephen suffered the next in order. His death was
occasioned by the faithful manner in which he preached the Gospel to the
betrayers and murderers of Christ. To such a degree of madness were they
excited, that they cast him out of the city and stoned him to death. The time
when he suffered is generally supposed to have been at the Passover which
succeeded to that of our Lord's crucifixion, and to the era of his ascension, in
the following spring.
Upon this a great persecution was raised against all who
professed their belief in Christ as the Messiah, or as a prophet. We are
immediately told by St. Luke, that "there was a great persecution against the
church which was at Jerusalem;" and that "they were all scattered abroad
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles."
About two thousand Christians, with Nicanor, one of the
seven deacons, suffered martyrdom during the "persecution that arose about
Stephen."
The next martyr we meet with, according to St. Luke, in the
History of the Apostles' Acts, was James the son of Zebedee, the elder brother
of John, and a relative of our Lord; for his mother Salome was cousin-german to
the Virgin Mary. It was not until ten years after the death of Stephen that the
second martyrdom took place; for no sooner had Herod Agrippa been appointed
governor of Judea, than, with a view to ingratiate himself with them, he raised
a sharp persecution against the Christians, and determined to make an effectual
blow, by striking at their leaders. The account given us by an eminent primitive
writer, Clemens Alexandrinus, ought not to be overlooked; that, as James was led
to the place of martyrdom, his accuser was brought to repent of his conduct by
the apostle's extraordinary courage and undauntedness, and fell down at his feet
to request his pardon, professing himself a Christian, and resolving that James
should not receive the crown of martyrdom alone. Hence they were both beheaded
at the same time. Thus did the first apostolic martyr cheerfully and resolutely
receive that cup, which he had told our Savior he was ready to drink. Timon and
Parmenas suffered martyrdom about the same time; the one at Philippi, and the
other in Macedonia. These events took place A.D. 44.
Was born at Bethsaida, in Galilee and was first called by
the name of "disciple." He labored diligently in Upper Asia, and suffered
martyrdom at Heliopolis, in Phrygia. He was scourged, thrown into prison, and
afterwards crucified, A.D. 54.
Whose occupation was that of a toll-gatherer, was born at
Nazareth. He wrote his gospel in Hebrew, which was afterwards translated into
Greek by James the Less. The scene of his labors was Parthia, and Ethiopia, in
which latter country he suffered martyrdom, being slain with a halberd in the
city of Nadabah, A.D. 60.
Is supposed by some to have been the brother of our Lord,
by a former wife of Joseph. This is very doubtful, and accords too much with the
Catholic superstition, that Mary never had any other children except our Savior.
He was elected to the oversight of the churches of Jerusalem; and was the author
of the Epistle ascribed to James in the sacred canon. At the age of ninety-four
he was beat and stoned by the Jews; and finally had his brains dashed out with a
fuller's club.
Of whom less is known than of most of the other disciples,
was elected to fill the vacant place of Judas. He was stoned at Jerusalem and
then beheaded.
Was the brother of Peter. He preached the gospel to many
Asiatic nations; but on his arrival at Edessa he was taken and crucified on a
cross, the two ends of which were fixed transversely in the ground. Hence the
derivation of the term, St. Andrew's Cross.
Was born of Jewish parents of the tribe of Levi. He is
supposed to have been converted to Christianity by Peter, whom he served as an
amanuensis, and under whose inspection he wrote his Gospel in the Greek
language. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria, at the great
solemnity of Serapis their idol, ending his life under their merciless hands.
Among many other saints, the blessed apostle Peter was
condemned to death, and crucified, as some do write, at Rome; albeit some
others, and not without cause, do doubt thereof. Hegesippus saith that Nero
sought matter against Peter to put him to death; which, when the people
perceived, they entreated Peter with much ado that he would fly the city. Peter,
through their importunity at length persuaded, prepared himself to avoid. But,
coming to the gate, he saw the Lord Christ come to meet him, to whom he,
worshipping, said, "Lord, whither dost Thou go?" To whom He answered and said,
"I am come again to be crucified." By this, Peter, perceiving his suffering to
be understood, returned into the city. Jerome saith that he was crucified, his
head being down and his feet upward, himself so requiring, because he was (he
said) unworthy to be crucified after the same form and manner as the Lord was.
Paul, the apostle, who before was called Saul, after his
great travail and unspeakable labors in promoting the Gospel of Christ, suffered
also in this first persecution under Nero. Abdias, declareth that under his
execution Nero sent two of his esquires, Ferega and Parthemius, to bring him
word of his death. They, coming to Paul instructing the people, desired him to
pray for them, that they might believe; who told them that shortly after they
should believe and be baptized at His sepulcher. This done, the soldiers came
and led him out of the city to the place of execution, where he, after his
prayers made, gave his neck to the sword.
The brother of James, was commonly called Thaddeus. He was
crucified at Edessa, A.D. 72.
Preached in several countries, and having translated the
Gospel of Matthew into the language of India, he propagated it in that country.
He was at length cruelly beaten and then crucified by the impatient idolaters.
Called Didymus, preached the Gospel in Parthia and India,
where exciting the rage of the pagan priests, he was martyred by being thrust
through with a spear.
The evangelist, was the author of the Gospel which goes
under his name. He traveled with Paul through various countries, and is supposed
to have been hanged on an olive tree, by the idolatrous priests of Greece.
Surnamed Zelotes, preached the Gospel in Mauritania,
Africa, and even in Britain, in which latter country he was crucified, A.D. 74.
The "beloved disciple," was brother to James the Great. The
churches of Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, and Thyatira, were
founded by him. From Ephesus he was ordered to be sent to Rome, where it is
affirmed he was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. He escaped by miracle,
without injury. Domitian afterwards banished him to the Isle of Patmos, where he
wrote the Book of Revelation. Nerva, the successor of Domitian, recalled him. He
was the only apostle who escaped a violent death.
Was of Cyprus, but of Jewish descent, his death is supposed
to have taken place about A.D. 73.
And yet, notwithstanding all these continual persecutions
and horrible punishments, the Church daily increased, deeply rooted in the
doctrine of the apostles and of men apostolical, and watered plenteously with
the blood of saints.
CHAPTER II
The Ten Primitive Persecutions
The first persecution of the Church took place in the year
67, under Nero, the sixth emperor of Rome. This monarch reigned for the space of
five years, with tolerable credit to himself, but then gave way to the greatest
extravagancy of temper, and to the most atrocious barbarities. Among other
diabolical whims, he ordered that the city of Rome should be set on fire, which
order was executed by his officers, guards, and servants. While the imperial
city was in flames, he went up to the tower of Macaenas, played upon his harp,
sung the song of the burning of Troy, and openly declared that 'he wished the
ruin of all things before his death.' Besides the noble pile, called the Circus,
many other palaces and houses were consumed; several thousands perished in the
flames, were smothered in the smoke, or buried beneath the ruins.
This dreadful conflagration continued nine days; when Nero,
finding that his conduct was greatly blamed, and a severe odium cast upon him,
determined to lay the whole upon the Christians, at once to excuse himself, and
have an opportunity of glutting his sight with new cruelties. This was the
occasion of the first persecution; and the barbarities exercised on the
Christians were such as even excited the commiseration of the Romans themselves.
Nero even refined upon cruelty, and contrived all manner of punishments for the
Christians that the most infernal imagination could design. In particular, he
had some sewed up in skins of wild beasts, and then worried by dogs until they
expired; and others dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to axletrees,
and set on fire in his gardens, in order to illuminate them. This persecution
was general throughout the whole Roman Empire; but it rather increased than
diminished the spirit of Christianity. In the course of it, St. Paul and St.
Peter were martyred.
To their names may be added, Erastus, chamberlain of
Corinth; Aristarchus, the Macedonian, and Trophimus, an Ephesians, converted by
St. Paul, and fellow-laborer with him, Joseph, commonly called Barsabas, and
Ananias, bishop of Damascus; each of the Seventy.
The emperor Domitian, who was naturally inclined to
cruelty, first slew his brother, and then raised the second persecution against
the Christians. In his rage he put to death some of the Roman senators, some
through malice; and others to confiscate their estates. He then commanded all
the lineage of David be put to death.
Among the numerous martyrs that suffered during this
persecution was Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem, who was crucified; and St. John,
who was boiled in oil, and afterward banished to Patmos. Flavia, the daughter of
a Roman senator, was likewise banished to Pontus; and a law was made, "That no
Christian, once brought before the tribunal, should be exempted from punishment
without renouncing his religion."
A variety of fabricated tales were, during this reign,
composed in order to injure the Christians. Such was the infatuation of the
pagans, that, if famine, pestilence, or earthquakes afflicted any of the Roman
provinces, it was laid upon the Christians. These persecutions among the
Christians increased the number of informers and many, for the sake of gain,
swore away the lives of the innocent.
Another hardship was, that, when any Christians were
brought before the magistrates, a test oath was proposed, when, if they refused
to take it, death was pronounced against them; and if they confessed themselves
Christians, the sentence was the same.
The following were the most remarkable among the numerous
martyrs who suffered during this persecution.
Dionysius, the Areopagite, was an Athenian by birth, and
educated in all the useful and ornamental literature of Greece. He then traveled
to Egypt to study astronomy, and made very particular observations on the great
and supernatural eclipse, which happened at the time of our Savior's
crucifixion.
The sanctity of his conversation and the purity of his
manners recommended him so strongly to the Christians in general, that he was
appointed bishop of Athens.
Nicodemus, a benevolent Christian of some distinction,
suffered at Rome during the rage of Domitian's persecution.
Protasius and Gervasius were martyred at Milan.
Timothy was the celebrated disciple of St. Paul, and bishop
of Ephesus, where he zealously governed the Church until A.D. 97. At this
period, as the pagans were about to celebrate a feast called Catagogion,
Timothy, meeting the procession, severely reproved them for their ridiculous
idolatry, which so exasperated the people that they fell upon him with their
clubs, and beat him in so dreadful a manner that he expired of the bruises two
days later.
In the third persecution Pliny the Second, a man learned
and famous, seeing the lamentable slaughter of Christians, and moved therewith
to pity, wrote to Trajan, certifying him that there were many thousands of them
daily put to death, of which none did any thing contrary to the Roman laws
worthy of persecution. "The whole account they gave of their crime or error
(whichever it is to be called) amounted only to this-viz. that they were
accustomed on a stated day to meet before daylight, and to repeat together a set
form of prayer to Christ as a God, and to bind themselves by an obligation-not
indeed to commit wickedness; but, on the contrary-never to commit theft,
robbery, or adultery, never to falsify their word, never to defraud any man:
after which it was their custom to separate, and reassemble to partake in common
of a harmless meal."
In this persecution suffered the blessed martyr, Ignatius,
who is held in famous reverence among very many. This Ignatius was appointed to
the bishopric of Antioch next after Peter in succession. Some do say, that he,
being sent from Syria to Rome, because he professed Christ, was given to the
wild beasts to be devoured. It is also said of him, that when he passed through
Asia, being under the most strict custody of his keepers, he strengthened and
confirmed the churches through all the cities as he went, both with his
exhortations and preaching of the Word of God. Accordingly, having come to
Smyrna, he wrote to the Church at Rome, exhorting them not to use means for his
deliverance from martyrdom, lest they should deprive him of that which he most
longed and hoped for. "Now I begin to be a disciple. I care for nothing, of
visible or invisible things, so that I may but win Christ. Let fire and the
cross, let the companies of wild beasts, let breaking of bones and tearing of
limbs, let the grinding of the whole body, and all the malice of the devil, come
upon me; be it so, only may I win Christ Jesus!" And even when he was sentenced
to be thrown to the beasts, such as the burning desire that he had to suffer,
that he spake, what time he heard the lions roaring, saying: "I am the wheat of
Christ: I am going to be ground with the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be
found pure bread."
Trajan being succeeded by Adrian, the latter continued this
third persecution with as much severity as his predecessor. About this time
Alexander, bishop of Rome, with his two deacons, were martyred; as were Quirinus
and Hernes, with their families; Zenon, a Roman nobleman, and about ten thousand
other Christians.
In Mount Ararat many were crucified, crowned with thorns,
and spears run into their sides, in imitation of Christ's passion. Eustachius, a
brave and successful Roman commander, was by the emperor ordered to join in an
idolatrous sacrifice to celebrate some of his own victories; but his faith
(being a Christian in his heart) was so much greater than his vanity, that he
nobly refused it. Enraged at the denial, the ungrateful emperor forgot the
service of this skilful commander, and ordered him and his whole family to be
martyred.
At the martyrdom of Faustines and Jovita, brothers and
citizens of Brescia, their torments were so many, and their patience so great,
that Calocerius, a pagan, beholding them, was struck with admiration, and
exclaimed in a kind of ecstasy, "Great is the God of the Christians!" for which
he was apprehended, and suffered a similar fate.
Many other similar cruelties and rigors were exercised
against the Christians, until Quadratus, bishop of Athens, made a learned
apology in their favor before the emperor, who happened to be there and
Aristides, a philosopher of the same city, wrote an elegant epistle, which
caused Adrian to relax in his severities, and relent in their favor.
Adrian dying A.D. 138, was succeeded by Antoninus Pius, one
of the most amiable monarchs that ever reigned, and who stayed the persecutions
against the Christians.
Marcus Aurelius, followed about the year of our Lord 161, a
man of nature more stern and severe; and, although in study of philosophy and in
civil government no less commendable, yet, toward the Christians sharp and
fierce; by whom was moved the fourth persecution.
The cruelties used in this persecution were such that many
of the spectators shuddered with horror at the sight, and were astonished at the
intrepidity of the sufferers. Some of the martyrs were obliged to pass, with
their already wounded feet, over thorns, nails, sharp shells, etc. upon their
points, others were scourged until their sinews and veins lay bare, and after
suffering the most excruciating tortures that could be devised, they were
destroyed by the most terrible deaths.
Germanicus, a young man, but a true Christian, being
delivered to the wild beasts on account of his faith, behaved with such
astonishing courage that several pagans became converts to a faith which
inspired such fortitude.
Polycarp, the venerable bishop of Smyrna, hearing that
persons were seeking for him, escaped, but was discovered by a child. After
feasting the guards who apprehended him, he desired an hour in prayer, which
being allowed, he prayed with such fervency, that his guards repented that they
had been instrumental in taking him. He was, however, carried before the
proconsul, condemned, and burnt in the market place.
The proconsul then urged him, saying, "Swear, and I will
release thee;--reproach Christ." Polycarp answered, "Eighty and six years have I
served him, and he never once wronged me; how then shall I blaspheme my King,
Who hath saved me?" At the stake to which he was only tied, but not nailed as
usual, as he assured them he should stand immovable, the flames, on their
kindling the fagots, encircled his body, like an arch, without touching him; and
the executioner, on seeing this, was ordered to pierce him with a sword, when so
great a quantity of blood flowed out as extinguished the fire. But his body, at
the instigation of the enemies of the Gospel, especially Jews, was ordered to be
consumed in the pile, and the request of his friends, who wished to give it
Christian burial, rejected. They nevertheless collected his bones and as much of
his remains as possible, and caused them to be decently interred.
Metrodorus, a minister, who preached boldly, and Pionius,
who made some excellent apologies for the Christian faith, were likewise burnt.
Carpus and Papilus, two worthy Christians, and Agatonica, a pious woman,
suffered martyrdom at Pergamopolis, in Asia.
Felicitatis, an illustrious Roman lady, of a considerable
family, and the most shining virtues, was a devout Christian. She had seven
sons, whom she had educated with the most exemplary piety.
Januarius, the eldest, was scourged, and pressed to death
with weights; Felix and Philip, the two next had their brains dashed out with
clubs; Silvanus, the fourth, was murdered by being thrown from a precipice; and
the three younger sons, Alexander, Vitalis, and Martial, were beheaded. The
mother was beheaded with the same sword as the three latter.
Justin, the celebrated philosopher, fell a martyr in this
persecution. He was a native of Neapolis, in Samaria, and was born A.D. 103.
Justin was a great lover of truth, and a universal scholar; he investigated the
Stoic and Peripatetic philosophy, and attempted the Pythagorean; but the
behavior of our of its professors disgusting him, he applied himself to the
Platonic, in which he took great delight. About the year 133, when he was thirty
years of age, he became a convert to Christianity, and then, for the first time,
perceived the real nature of truth.
He wrote an elegant epistle to the Gentiles, and employed
his talents in convincing the Jews of the truth of the Christian rites; spending
a great deal of time in traveling, until he took up his abode in Rome, and fixed
his habitation upon the Viminal mount.
He kept a public school, taught many who afterward became
great men, and wrote a treatise to confuse heresies of all kinds. As the pagans
began to treat the Christians with great severity, Justin wrote his first
apology in their favor. This piece displays great learning and genius, and
occasioned the emperor to publish an edict in favor of the Christians.
Soon after, he entered into frequent contests with
Crescens, a person of a vicious life and conversation, but a celebrated cynic
philosopher; and his arguments appeared so powerful, yet disgusting to the
cynic, that he resolved on, and in the sequel accomplished, his destruction.
The second apology of Justin, upon certain severities, gave
Crescens the cynic an opportunity of prejudicing the emperor against the writer
of it; upon which Justin, and six of his companions, were apprehended. Being
commanded to sacrifice to the pagan idols, they refused, and were condemned to
be scourged, and then beheaded; which sentence was executed with all imaginable
severity.
Several were beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to the
image of Jupiter; in particular Concordus, a deacon of the city of Spolito.
Some of the restless northern nations having risen in arms
against Rome, the emperor marched to encounter them. He was, however, drawn into
an ambuscade, and dreaded the loss of his whole army. Enveloped with mountains,
surrounded by enemies, and perishing with thirst, the pagan deities were invoked
in vain; when the men belonging to the militine, or thundering legion, who were
all Christians, were commanded to call upon their God for succor. A miraculous
deliverance immediately ensued; a prodigious quantity of rain fell, which, being
caught by the men, and filling their dykes, afforded a sudden and astonishing
relief. It appears that the storm which miraculously flashed in the face of the
enemy so intimidated them, that part deserted to the Roman army; the rest were
defeated, and the revolted provinces entirely recovered.
This affair occasioned the persecution to subside for some
time, at least in those parts immediately under the inspection of the emperor;
but we find that it soon after raged in France, particularly at Lyons, where the
tortures to which many of the Christians were put, almost exceed the powers of
description.
The principal of these martyrs were Vetius Agathus, a young
man; Blandina, a Christian lady, of a weak constitution; Sanctus, a deacon of
Vienna; red hot plates of brass were placed upon the tenderest parts of his
body; Biblias, a weak woman, once an apostate. Attalus, of Pergamus; and
Pothinus, the venerable bishop of Lyons, who was ninety years of age. Blandina,
on the day when she and the three other champions were first brought into the
amphitheater, she was suspended on a piece of wood fixed in the ground, and
exposed as food for the wild beasts; at which time, by her earnest prayers, she
encouraged others. But none of the wild beasts would touch her, so that she was
remanded to prison. When she was again produced for the third and last time, she
was accompanied by Ponticus, a youth of fifteen, and the constancy of their
faith so enraged the multitude that neither the sex of the one nor the youth of
the other were respected, being exposed to all manner of punishments and
tortures. Being strengthened by Blandina, he persevered unto death; and she,
after enduring all the torments heretofore mentioned, was at length slain with
the sword.
When the Christians, upon these occasions, received
martyrdom, they were ornamented, and crowned with garlands of flowers; for which
they, in heaven, received eternal crowns of glory.
It has been said that the lives of the early Christians
consisted of "persecution above ground and prayer below ground." Their lives are
expressed by the Coliseum and the catacombs. Beneath Rome are the excavations
which we call the catacombs, which were at once temples and tombs. The early
Church of Rome might well be called the Church of the Catacombs. There are some
sixty catacombs near Rome, in which some six hundred miles of galleries have
been traced, and these are not all. These galleries are about eight feet high
and from three to five feet wide, containing on either side several rows of
long, low, horizontal recesses, one above another like berths in a ship. In
these the dead bodies were placed and the front closed, either by a single
marble slab or several great tiles laid in mortar. On these slabs or tiles,
epitaphs or symbols are graved or painted. Both pagans and Christians buried
their dead in these catacombs. When the Christian graves have been opened the
skeletons tell their own terrible tale. Heads are found severed from the body,
ribs and shoulder blades are broken, bones are often calcined from fire. But
despite the awful story of persecution that we may read here, the inscriptions
breathe forth peace and joy and triumph. Here are a few:
"Here lies Marcia, put to rest in a dream of peace."
"Lawrence to his sweetest son, borne away of
angels."
"Victorious in peace and in Christ."
"Being called away, he went in peace."
Remember when reading these inscriptions the story the
skeletons tell of persecution, of torture, and of fire. But the full force of
these epitaphs is seen when we contrast them with the pagan epitaphs, such as:
"Live for the present hour, since we are sure of nothing
else."
"I lift my hands against the gods who took me away at
the age of twenty though I had done no harm."
"Once I was not. Now I am not. I know nothing about it,
and it is no concern of mine."
"Traveler, curse me not as you pass, for I am in
darkness and cannot answer."
The most frequent Christian symbols on the walls of the
catacombs, are, the good shepherd with the lamb on his shoulder, a ship under
full sail, harps, anchors, crowns, vines, and above all the fish.
Severus, having been recovered from a severe fit of
sickness by a Christian, became a great favorer of the Christians in general;
but the prejudice and fury of the ignorant multitude prevailing, obsolete laws
were put in execution against the Christians. The progress of Christianity
alarmed the pagans, and they revived the stale calumny of placing accidental
misfortunes to the account of its professors, A.D. 192.
But, though persecuting malice raged, yet the Gospel shone
with resplendent brightness; and, firm as an impregnable rock, withstood the
attacks of its boisterous enemies with success. Tertullian, who lived in this
age, informs us that if the Christians had collectively withdrawn themselves
from the Roman territories, the empire would have been greatly depopulated.
Victor, bishop of Rome, suffered martyrdom in the first
year of the third century, A.D. 201. Leonidus, the father of the celebrated
Origen, was beheaded for being a Christian. Many of Origen's hearers likewise
suffered martyrdom; particularly two brothers, named Plutarchus and Serenus;
another Serenus, Heron, and Heraclides, were beheaded. Rhais had boiled pitch
poured upon her head, and was then burnt, as was Marcella her mother.
Potainiena, the sister of Rhais, was executed in the same manner as Rhais had
been; but Basilides, an officer belonging to the army, and ordered to attend her
execution, became her convert.
Basilides being, as an officer, required to take a certain
oath, refused, saying, that he could not swear by the Roman idols, as he was a
Christian. Struck with surprise, the people could not, at first, believe what
they heard; but he had no sooner confirmed the same, than he was dragged before
the judge, committed to prison, and speedily afterward beheaded.
Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, was born in Greece, and received
both a polite and a Christian education. It is generally supposed that the
account of the persecutions at Lyons was written by himself. He succeeded the
martyr Pothinus as bishop of Lyons, and ruled his diocese with great propriety;
he was a zealous opposer of heresies in general, and, about A.D. 187, he wrote a
celebrated tract against heresy. Victor, the bishop of Rome, wanting to impose
the keeping of Easter there, in preference to other places, it occasioned some
disorders among the Christians. In particular, Irenaeus wrote him a synodical
epistle, in the name of the Gallic churches. This zeal, in favor of
Christianity, pointed him out as an object of resentment to the emperor; and in
A.D. 202, he was beheaded.
The persecutions now extending to Africa, many were
martyred in that quarter of the globe; the most particular of whom we shall
mention.
Perpetua, a married lady, of about twenty-two years. Those
who suffered with her were, Felicitas, a married lady, big with child at the
time of her being apprehended, and Revocatus, catechumen of Carthage, and a
slave. The names of the other prisoners, destined to suffer upon this occasion,
were Saturninus, Secundulus, and Satur. On the day appointed for their
execution, they were led to the amphitheater. Satur, Saturninus, and Revocatus
were ordered to run the gauntlet between the hunters, or such as had the care of
the wild beasts. The hunters being drawn up in two ranks, they ran between, and
were severely lashed as they passed. Felicitas and Perpetua were stripped, in
order to be thrown to a mad bull, which made his first attack upon Perpetua, and
stunned her; he then darted at Felicitas, and gored her dreadfully; but not
killing them, the executioner did that office with a sword. Revocatus and Satur
were destroyed by wild beasts; Saturninus was beheaded; and Secundulus died in
prison. These executions were in the 205, on the eighth day of March.
Speratus and twelve others were likewise beheaded; as was
Andocles in France. Asclepiades, bishop of Antioch, suffered many tortures, but
his life was spared.
Cecilia, a young lady of good family in Rome, was married
to a gentleman named Valerian. She converted her husband and brother, who were
beheaded; and the maximus, or officer, who led them to execution, becoming their
convert, suffered the same fate. The lady was placed naked in a scalding bath,
and having continued there a considerable time, her head was struck off with a
sword, A.D. 222.
Calistus, bishop of Rome, was martyred, A.D. 224; but the
manner of his death is not recorded; and Urban, bishop of Rome, met the same
fate A.D. 232.
A.D. 235, was in the time of Maximinus. In Cappadocia, the
president, Seremianus, did all he could to exterminate the Christians from that
province.
The principal persons who perished under this reign were
Pontianus, bishop of Rome; Anteros, a Grecian, his successor, who gave offence
to the government by collecting the acts of the martyrs, Pammachius and
Quiritus, Roman senators, with all their families, and many other Christians;
Simplicius, senator;
Calepodius, a Christian minister, thrown into the Tyber;
Martina, a noble and beautiful virgin; and Hippolitus, a Christian prelate, tied
to a wild horse, and dragged until he expired.
During this persecution, raised by Maximinus, numberless
Christians were slain without trial, and buried indiscriminately in heaps,
sometimes fifty or sixty being cast into a pit together, without the least
decency.
The tyrant Maximinus dying, A.D. 238, was succeeded by
Gordian, during whose reign, and that of his successor Philip, the Church was
free from persecution for the space of more than ten years; but in A.D. 249, a
violent persecution broke out in Alexandria, at the instigation of a pagan
priest, without the knowledge of the emperor.
This was occasioned partly by the hatred he bore to his
predecessor Philip, who was deemed a Christian and was partly by his jealousy
concerning the amazing increase of Christianity; for the heathen temples began
to be forsaken, and the Christian churches thronged.
These reasons stimulated Decius to attempt the very
extirpation of the name of Christian; and it was unfortunate for the Gospel,
that many errors had, about this time, crept into the Church: the Christians
were at variance with each other; self-interest divided those whom social love
ought to have united; and the virulence of pride occasioned a variety of
factions.
The heathens in general were ambitious to enforce the
imperial decrees upon this occasion, and looked upon the murder of a Christian
as a merit to themselves. The martyrs, upon this occasion, were innumerable; but
the principal we shall give some account of.
Fabian, the bishop of Rome, was the first person of
eminence who felt the severity of this persecution. The deceased emperor,
Philip, had, on account of his integrity, committed his treasure to the care of
this good man. But Decius, not finding as much as his avarice made him expect,
determined to wreak his vengeance on the good prelate. He was accordingly
seized; and on January 20, A.D. 250, he suffered decapitation.
Julian, a native of Cilicia, as we are informed by St.
Chrysostom, was seized upon for being a Christian. He was put into a leather
bag, together with a number of serpents and scorpions, and in that condition
thrown into the sea.
Peter, a young man, amiable for the superior qualities of
his body and mind, was beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to Venus. He said, "I
am astonished you should sacrifice to an infamous woman, whose debaucheries even
your own historians record, and whose life consisted of such actions as your
laws would punish. No, I shall offer the true God the acceptable sacrifice of
praises and prayers." Optimus, the proconsul of Asia, on hearing this, ordered
the prisoner to be stretched upon a wheel, by which all his bones were broken,
and then he was sent to be beheaded.
Nichomachus, being brought before the proconsul as a
Christian, was ordered to sacrifice to the pagan idols. Nichomachus replied, "I
cannot pay that respect to devils, which is only due to the Almighty." This
speech so much enraged the proconsul that Nichomachus was put to the rack. After
enduring the torments for a time, he recanted; but scarcely had he given this
proof of his frailty, than he fell into the greatest agonies, dropped down on
the ground, and expired immediately.
Denisa, a young woman of only sixteen years of age, who
beheld this terrible judgment, suddenly exclaimed, "O unhappy wretch, why would
you buy a moment's ease at the expense of a miserable eternity!" Optimus,
hearing this, called to her, and Denisa avowing herself to be a Christian, she
was beheaded, by his order, soon after.
Andrew and Paul, two companions of Nichomachus, the martyr,
A.D. 251, suffered martyrdom by stoning, and expired, calling on their blessed
Redeemer.
Alexander and Epimachus, of Alexandria, were apprehended
for being Christians: and, confessing the accusation, were beat with staves,
torn with hooks, and at length burnt in the fire; and we are informed, in a
fragment preserved by Eusebius, that four female martyrs suffered on the same
day, and at the same place, but not in the same manner; for these were beheaded.
Lucian and Marcian, two wicked pagans, though skilful
magicians, becoming converts to Christianity, to make amends for their former
errors, lived the lives of hermits, and subsisted upon bread and water only.
After some time spent in this manner, they became zealous preachers, and made
many converts. The persecution, however, raging at this time, they were seized
upon, and carried before Sabinus, the governor of Bithynia. On being asked by
what authority they took upon themselves to preach, Lucian answered, 'That the
laws of charity and humanity obliged all men to endeavor the conversion of their
neighbors, and to do everything in their power to rescue them from the snares of
the devil.'
Lucian having answered in this manner, Marcian said, "Their
conversion was by the same grace which was given to St. Paul, who, from a
zealous persecutor of the Church, became a preacher of the Gospel."
The proconsul, finding that he could not prevail with them
to renounce their faith, condemned them to be burnt alive, which sentence was
soon after executed.
Trypho and Respicius, two eminent men, were seized as
Christians, and imprisoned at Nice. Their feet were pierced with nails; they
were dragged through the streets, scourged, torn with iron hooks, scorched with
lighted torches, and at length beheaded, February 1, A.D. 251.
Agatha, a Sicilian lady, was not more remarkable for her
personal and acquired endowments, than her piety; her beauty was such, that
Quintian, governor of Sicily, became enamored of her, and made many attempts
upon her chastity without success. In order to gratify his passions with the
greater conveniency, he put the virtuous lady into the hands of Aphrodica, a
very infamous and licentious woman. This wretch tried every artifice to win her
to the desired prostitution; but found all her efforts were vain; for her
chastity was impregnable, and she well knew that virtue alone could procure true
happiness. Aphrodica acquainted Quintian with the inefficacy of her endeavors,
who, enraged to be foiled in his designs, changed his lust into resentment. On
her confessing that she was a Christian, he determined to gratify his revenge,
as he could not his passion. Pursuant to his orders, she was scourged, burnt
with red-hot irons, and torn with sharp hooks. Having borne these torments with
admirable fortitude, she was next laid naked upon live coals, intermingled with
glass, and then being carried back to prison, she there expired on February 5,
251.
Cyril, bishop of Gortyna, was seized by order of Lucius,
the governor of that place, who, nevertheless, exhorted him to obey the imperial
mandate, perform the sacrifices, and save his venerable person from destruction;
for he was now eighty-four years of age. The good prelate replied that as he had
long taught others to save their souls, he should only think now of his own
salvation. The worthy prelate heard his fiery sentence without emotion, walked
cheerfully to the place of execution, and underwent his martyrdom with great
fortitude.
The persecution raged in no place more than the Island of
Crete; for the governor, being exceedingly active in executing the imperial
decrees, that place streamed with pious blood.
Babylas, a Christian of a liberal education, became bishop
of Antioch, A.D. 237, on the demise of Zebinus. He acted with inimitable zeal,
and governed the Church with admirable prudence during the most tempestuous
times.
The first misfortune that happened to Antioch during his
mission, was the siege of it by Sapor, king of Persia; who, having overrun all
Syria, took and plundered this city among others, and used the Christian
inhabitants with greater severity than the rest, but was soon totally defeated
by Gordian.
After Gordian's death, in the reign of Decius, that emperor
came to Antioch, where, having a desire to visit an assembly of Christians,
Babylas opposed him, and absolutely refused to let him come in. The emperor
dissembled his anger at that time; but soon sending for the bishop, he sharply
reproved him for his insolence, and then ordered him to sacrifice to the pagan
deities as an expiation for his offence. This being refused, he was committed to
prison, loaded with chains, treated with great severities, and then beheaded,
together with three young men who had been his pupils. A.D. 251.
Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, about this time was cast
into prison on account of his religion, where he died through the severity of
his confinement.
Julianus, an old man, lame with the gout, and Cronion,
another Christian, were bound on the backs of camels, severely scourged, and
then thrown into a fire and consumed. Also forty virgins, at Antioch, after
being imprisoned, and scourged, were burnt.
In the year of our Lord 251, the emperor Decius having
erected a pagan temple at Ephesus, he commanded all who were in that city to
sacrifice to the idols. This order was nobly refused by seven of his own
soldiers, viz. Maximianus, Martianus, Joannes, Malchus, Dionysius, Seraion, and
Constantinus. The emperor wishing to win these soldiers to renounce their faith
by his entreaties and lenity, gave them a considerable respite until he returned
from an expedition. During the emperor's absence, they escaped, and hid
themselves in a cavern; which the emperor being informed of at his return, the
mouth of the cave was closed up, and they all perished with hunger.
Theodora, a beautiful young lady of Antioch, on refusing to
sacrifice to the Roman idols, was condemned to the stews, that her virtue might
be sacrificed to the brutality of lust. Didymus, a Christian, disguised himself
in the habit of a Roman soldier, went to the house, informed Theodora who he
was, and advised her to make her escape in his clothes. This being effected, and
a man found in the brothel instead of a beautiful lady, Didymus was taken before
the president, to whom confessing the truth, and owning that he was a Christian
the sentence of death was immediately pronounced against him. Theodora, hearing
that her deliverer was likely to suffer, came to the judge, threw herself at his
feet, and begged that the sentence might fall on her as the guilty person; but,
deaf to the cries of the innocent, and insensible to the calls of justice, the
inflexible judge condemned both; when they were executed accordingly, being
first beheaded, and their bodies afterward burnt.
Secundianus, having been accused as a Christian, was
conveyed to prison by some soldiers. On the way, Verianus and Marcellinus said,
"Where are you carrying the innocent?" This interrogatory occasioned them to be
seized, and all three, after having been tortured, were hanged and decapitated.
Origen, the celebrated presbyter and catechist of
Alexandria, at the age of sixty-four, was seized, thrown into a loathsome
prison, laden with fetters, his feet placed in the stocks, and his legs extended
to the utmost for several successive days. He was threatened with fire, and
tormented by every lingering means the most infernal imaginations could suggest.
During this cruel temporizing, the emperor Decius died, and Gallus, who
succeeded him, engaging in a war with the Goths, the Christians met with a
respite. In this interim, Origen obtained his enlargement, and, retiring to
Tyre, he there remained until his death, which happened when he was in the
sixty-ninth year of his age.
Gallus, the emperor, having concluded his wars, a plague
broke out in the empire: sacrifices to the pagan deities were ordered by the
emperor, and persecutions spread from the interior to the extreme parts of the
empire, and many fell martyrs to the impetuosity of the rabble, as well as the
prejudice of the magistrates. Among these were Cornelius, the Christian bishop
of Rome, and Lucius, his successor, in 253.
Most of the errors which crept into the Church at this time
arose from placing human reason in competition with revelation; but the fallacy
of such arguments being proved by the most able divines, the opinions they had
created vanished away like the stars before the sun.
Began under Valerian, in the month of April, 257, and
continued for three years and six months. The martyrs that fell in this
persecution were innumerable, and their tortures and deaths as various and
painful. The most eminent martyrs were the following, though neither rank, sex,
nor age were regarded.
Rufina and Secunda were two beautiful and accomplished
ladies, daughters of Asterius, a gentleman of eminence in Rome. Rufina, the
elder, was designed in marriage for Armentarius, a young nobleman; Secunda, the
younger, for Verinus, a person of rank and opulence. The suitors, at the time of
the persecution's commencing, were both Christians; but when danger appeared, to
save their fortunes, they renounced their faith. They took great pains to
persuade the ladies to do the same, but, disappointed in their purpose, the
lovers were base enough to inform against the ladies, who, being apprehended as
Christians, were brought before Junius Donatus, governor of Rome, where, A.D.
257, they sealed their martyrdom with their blood.
Stephen, bishop of Rome, was beheaded in the same year, and
about that time Saturninus, the pious orthodox bishop of Toulouse, refusing to
sacrifice to idols, was treated with all the barbarous indignities imaginable,
and fastened by the feet to the tail of a bull. Upon a signal given, the enraged
animal was driven down the steps of the temple, by which the worthy martyr's
brains were dashed out.
Sextus succeeded Stephen as bishop of Rome. He is supposed
to have been a Greek by birth or by extraction, and had for some time served in
the capacity of a deacon under Stephen. His great fidelity, singular wisdom, and
uncommon courage distinguished him upon many occasions; and the happy conclusion
of a controversy with some heretics is generally ascribed to his piety and
prudence. In the year 258, Marcianus, who had the management of the Roman
government, procured an order from the emperor Valerian, to put to death all the
Christian clergy in Rome, and hence the bishop with six of his deacons, suffered
martyrdom in 258.
Let us draw near to the fire of martyred Lawrence, that our
cold hearts may be warmed thereby. The merciless tyrant, understanding him to be
not only a minister of the sacraments, but a distributor also of the Church
riches, promised to himself a double prey, by the apprehension of one soul.
First, with the rake of avarice to scrape to himself the treasure of poor
Christians; then with the fiery fork of tyranny, so to toss and turmoil them,
that they should wax weary of their profession. With furious face and cruel
countenance, the greedy wolf demanded where this Lawrence had bestowed the
substance of the Church: who, craving three days' respite, promised to declare
where the treasure might be had. In the meantime, he caused a good number of
poor Christians to be congregated. So, when the day of his answer was come, the
persecutor strictly charged him to stand to his promise. Then valiant Lawrence,
stretching out his arms over the poor, said: "These are the precious treasure of
the Church; these are the treasure indeed, in whom the faith of Christ reigneth,
in whom Jesus Christ hath His mansion-place. What more precious jewels can
Christ have, than those in whom He hath promised to dwell? For so it is written,
'I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I
was a stranger, and ye took me in.' And again, 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' What greater
riches can Christ our Master possess, than the poor people in whom He loveth to
be seen?"
O, what tongue is able to express the fury and madness of
the tyrant's heart! Now he stamped, he stared, he ramped, he fared as one out of
his wits: his eyes like fire glowed, his mouth like a boar formed, his teeth
like a hellhound grinned. Now, not a reasonable man, but a roaring lion, he
might be called.
"Kindle the fire (he cried)--of wood make no spare. Hath
this villain deluded the emperor? Away with him, away with him: whip him with
scourges, jerk him with rods, buffet him with fists, brain him with clubs.
Jesteth the traitor with the emperor? Pinch him with fiery tongs, gird him with
burning plates, bring out the strongest chains, and the fire-forks, and the
grated bed of iron: on the fire with it; bind the rebel hand and foot; and when
the bed is fire-hot, on with him: roast him, broil him, toss him, turn him: on
pain of our high displeasure do every man his office, O ye tormentors."
The word was no sooner spoken, but all was done. After many
cruel handlings, this meek lamb was laid, I will not say on his fiery bed of
iron, but on his soft bed of down. So mightily God wrought with his martyr
Lawrence, so miraculously God tempered His element the fire; that it became not
a bed of consuming pain, but a pallet of nourishing rest.
In Africa the persecution raged with peculiar violence;
many thousands received the crown of martyrdom, among whom the following were
the most distinguished characters:
Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, an eminent prelate, and a
pious ornament of the Church. The brightness of his genius was tempered by the
solidity of his judgment; and with all the accomplishments of the gentleman, he
blended the virtues of a Christian. His doctrines were orthodox and pure; his
language easy and elegant; and his manners graceful and winning: in fine, he was
both the pious and polite preacher. In his youth he was educated in the
principles of Gentilism, and having a considerable fortune, he lived in the very
extravagance of splendor, and all the dignity of pomp.
About the year 246, Coecilius, a Christian minister of
Carthage, became the happy instrument of Cyprian's conversion: on which account,
and for the great love that he always afterward bore for the author of his
conversion, he was termed Coecilius Cyprian. Previous to his baptism, he studied
the Scriptures with care and being struck with the beauties of the truths they
contained, he determined to practice the virtues therein recommended. Subsequent
to his baptism, he sold his estate, distributed the money among the poor,
dressed himself in plain attire, and commenced a life of austerity. He was soon
after made a presbyter; and, being greatly admired for his virtues and works, on
the death of Donatus, in A.D. 248, he was almost unanimously elected bishop of
Carthage.
Cyprian's care not only extended over Carthage, but to
Numidia and Mauritania. In all his transactions he took great care to ask the
advice of his clergy, knowing that unanimity alone could be of service to the
Church, this being one of his maxims, "That the bishop was in the church, and
the church in the bishop; so that unity can only be preserved by a close
connection between the pastor and his flock."
In A.D. 250, Cyprian was publicly proscribed by the emperor
Decius, under the appellation of Coecilius Cyprian, bishop of the Christians;
and the universal cry of the pagans was, "Cyprian to the lions, Cyprian to the
beasts." The bishop, however, withdrew from the rage of the populace, and his
effects were immediately confiscated. During his retirement, he wrote thirty
pious and elegant letters to his flock; but several schisms that then crept into
the Church, gave him great uneasiness. The rigor of the persecution abating, he
returned to Carthage, and did everything in his power to expunge erroneous
opinions. A terrible plague breaking out in Carthage, it was as usual, laid to
the charge of the Christians; and the magistrates began to persecute
accordingly, which occasioned an epistle from them to Cyprian, in answer to
which he vindicates the cause of Christianity. A.D. 257, Cyprian was brought
before the proconsul Aspasius Paturnus, who exiled him to a little city on the
Lybian sea. On the death of this proconsul, he returned to Carthage, but was
soon after seized, and carried before the new governor, who condemned him to be
beheaded; which sentence was executed on the fourteenth of September, A.D. 258.
The disciples of Cyprian, martyred in this persecution,
were Lucius, Flavian, Victoricus, Remus, Montanus, Julian, Primelus, and
Donatian.
At Utica, a most terrible tragedy was exhibited: three
hundred Christians were, by the orders of the proconsul, placed round a burning
limekiln. A pan of coals and incense being prepared, they were commanded either
to sacrifice to Jupiter, or to be thrown into the kiln. Unanimously refusing,
they bravely jumped into the pit, and were immediately suffocated.
Fructuosus, bishop of Tarragon, in Spain, and his two
deacons, Augurius and Eulogius, were burnt for being Christians.
Alexander, Malchus, and Priscus, three Christians of
Palestine, with a woman of the same place, voluntarily accused themselves of
being Christians; on which account they were sentenced to be devoured by tigers,
which sentence was executed accordingly.
Maxima, Donatilla, and Secunda, three virgins of Tuburga,
had gall and vinegar given them to drink, were then severely scourged, tormented
on a gibbet, rubbed with lime, scorched on a gridiron, worried by wild beasts,
and at length beheaded.
It is here proper to take notice of the singular but
miserable fate of the emperor Valerian, who had so long and so terribly
persecuted the Christians. This tyrant, by a stratagem, was taken prisoner by
Sapor, emperor of Persia, who carried him into his own country, and there
treated him with the most unexampled indignity, making him kneel down as the
meanest slave, and treading upon him as a footstool when he mounted his horse.
After having kept him for the space of seven years in this abject state of
slavery, he caused his eyes to be put out, though he was then eighty-three years
of age. This not satiating his desire of revenge, he soon after ordered his body
to be flayed alive, and rubbed with salt, under which torments he expired; and
thus fell one of the most tyrannical emperors of Rome, and one of the greatest
persecutors of the Christians.
A.D. 260, Gallienus, the son of Valerian, succeeded him,
and during his reign (a few martyrs excepted) the Church enjoyed peace for some
years.
The principal sufferers were: Felix, bishop of Rome. This
prelate was advanced to the Roman see in 274. He was the first martyr to
Aurelian's petulancy, being beheaded on the twenty-second of December, in the
same year.
Agapetus, a young gentleman, who sold his estate, and gave
the money to the poor, was seized as a Christian, tortured, and then beheaded at
Praeneste, a city within a day's journey of Rome.
These are the only martyrs left upon record during this
reign, as it was soon put to a stop by the emperor's being murdered by his own
domestics, at Byzantium.
Aurelian was succeeded by Tacitus, who was followed by
Probus, as the latter was by Carus: this emperor being killed by a thunder
storm, his sons, Carnious and Numerian, succeeded him, and during all these
reigns the Church had peace.
Diocletian mounted the imperial throne, A.D. 284; at first
he showed great favor to the Christians. In the year 286, he associated Maximian
with him in the empire; and some Christians were put to death before any general
persecution broke out. Among these were Felician and Primus, two brothers.
Marcus and Marcellianus were twins, natives of Rome, and of
noble descent. Their parents were heathens, but the tutors, to whom the
education of the children was entrusted, brought them up as Christians. Their
constancy at length subdued those who wished them to become pagans, and their
parents and whole family became converts to a faith they had before reprobated.
They were martyred by being tied to posts, and having their feet pierced with
nails. After remaining in this situation for a day and a night, their sufferings
were put an end to by thrusting lances through their bodies.
Zoe, the wife of the jailer, who had the care of the
before-mentioned martyrs, was also converted by them, and hung upon a tree, with
a fire of straw lighted under her. When her body was taken down, it was thrown
into a river, with a large stone tied to it, in order to sink it.
In the year of Christ 286, a most remarkable affair
occurred; a legion of soldiers, consisting of six thousand six hundred and
sixty-six men, contained none but Christians. This legion was called the Theban
Legion, because the men had been raised in Thebias: they were quartered in the
east until the emperor Maximian ordered them to march to Gaul, to assist him
against the rebels of Burgundy. They passed the Alps into Gaul, under the
command of Mauritius, Candidus, and Exupernis, their worthy commanders, and at
length joined the emperor. Maximian, about this time, ordered a general
sacrifice, at which the whole army was to assist; and likewise he commanded that
they should take the oath of allegiance and swear, at the same time, to assist
in the extirpation of Christianity in Gaul. Alarmed at these orders, each
individual of the Theban Legion absolutely refused either to sacrifice or take
the oaths prescribed. This so greatly enraged Maximian, that he ordered the
legion to be decimated, that is, every tenth man to be selected from the rest,
and put to the sword. This bloody order having been put in execution, those who
remained alive were still inflexible, when a second decimation took place, and
every tenth man of those living was put to death. This second severity made no
more impression than the first had done; the soldiers preserved their fortitude
and their principles, but by the advice of their officers they drew up a loyal
remonstrance to the emperor. This, it might have been presumed, would have
softened the emperor, but it had a contrary effect: for, enraged at their
perseverance and unanimity, he commanded that the whole legion should be put to
death, which was accordingly executed by the other troops, who cut them to
pieces with their swords, September 22, 286.
Alban, from whom St. Alban's, in Hertfordshire, received
its name, was the first British martyr. Great Britain had received the Gospel of
Christ from Lucius, the first Christian king, but did not suffer from the rage
of persecution for many years after. He was originally a pagan, but converted by
a Christian ecclesiastic, named Amphibalus, whom he sheltered on account of his
religion. The enemies of Amphibalus, having intelligence of the place where he
was secreted, came to the house of Alban; in order to facilitate his escape,
when the soldiers came, he offered himself up as the person they were seeking
for. The deceit being detected, the governor ordered him to be scourged, and
then he was sentenced to be beheaded, June 22, A.D. 287.
The venerable Bede assures us, that, upon this occasion,
the executioner suddenly became a convert to Christianity, and entreated
permission to die for Alban, or with him. Obtaining the latter request, they
were beheaded by a soldier, who voluntarily undertook the task of executioner.
This happened on the twenty-second of June, A.D. 287, at Verulam, now St.
Alban's, in Hertfordshire, where a magnificent church was erected to his memory
about the time of Constantine the Great. The edifice, being destroyed in the
Saxon wars, was rebuilt by Offa, king of Mercia, and a monastery erected
adjoining to it, some remains of which are still visible, and the church is a
noble Gothic structure.
Faith, a Christian female, of Acquitain, in France, was
ordered to be broiled upon a gridiron, and then beheaded; A.D. 287.
Quintin was a Christian, and a native of Rome, but
determined to attempt the propagation of the Gospel in Gaul, with one Lucian,
they preached together in Amiens; after which Lucian went to Beaumaris, where he
was martyred. Quintin remained in Picardy, and was very zealous in his ministry.
Being seized upon as a Christian, he was stretched with pulleys until his joints
were dislocated; his body was then torn with wire scourges, and boiling oil and
pitch poured on his naked flesh; lighted torches were applied to his sides and
armpits; and after he had been thus tortured, he was remanded back to prison,
and died of the barbarities he had suffered, October 31, A.D. 287. His body was
sunk in the Somme.
Under the Roman emperors, commonly called the Era of the
Martyrs, was occasioned partly by the increasing number and luxury of the
Christians, and the hatred of Galerius, the adopted son of Diocletian, who,
being stimulated by his mother, a bigoted pagan, never ceased persuading the
emperor to enter upon the persecution, until he had accomplished his purpose.
The fatal day fixed upon to commence the bloody work, was
the twenty-third of February, A.D. 303, that being the day in which the
Terminalia were celebrated, and on which, as the cruel pagans boasted, they
hoped to put a termination to Christianity. On the appointed day, the
persecution began in Nicomedia, on the morning of which the prefect of that city
repaired, with a great number of officers and assistants, to the church of the
Christians, where, having forced open the doors, they seized upon all the sacred
books, and committed them to the flames.
The whole of this transaction was in the presence of
Diocletian and Galerius, who, not contented with burning the books, had the
church leveled with the ground. This was followed by a severe edict, commanding
the destruction of all other Christian churches and books; and an order soon
succeeded, to render Christians of all denomination outlaws.
The publication of this edict occasioned an immediate
martyrdom, for a bold Christian not only tore it down from the place to which it
was affixed, but execrated the name of the emperor for his injustice. A
provocation like this was sufficient to call down pagan vengeance upon his head;
he was accordingly seized, severely tortured, and then burned alive.
All the Christians were apprehended and imprisoned; and
Galerius privately ordered the imperial palace to be set on fire, that the
Christians might be charged as the incendiaries, and a plausible pretence given
for carrying on the persecution with the greater severities. A general sacrifice
was commenced, which occasioned various martyrdoms. No distinction was made of
age or sex; the name of Christian was so obnoxious to the pagans that all
indiscriminately fell sacrifices to their opinions. Many houses were set on
fire, and whole Christian families perished in the flames; and others had stones
fastened about their necks, and being tied together were driven into the sea.
The persecution became general in all the Roman provinces, but more particularly
in the east; and as it lasted ten years, it is impossible to ascertain the
numbers martyred, or to enumerate the various modes of martyrdom.
Racks, scourges, swords, daggers, crosses, poison, and
famine, were made use of in various parts to dispatch the Christians; and
invention was exhausted to devise tortures against such as had no crime, but
thinking differently from the votaries of superstition.
A city of Phrygia, consisting entirely of Christians, was
burnt, and all the inhabitants perished in the flames.
Tired with slaughter, at length, several governors of
provinces represented to the imperial court, the impropriety of such conduct.
Hence many were respited from execution, but, though they were not put to death,
as much as possible was done to render their lives miserable, many of them
having their ears cut off, their noses slit, their right eyes put out, their
limbs rendered useless by dreadful dislocations, and their flesh seared in
conspicuous places with red-hot irons.
It is necessary now to particularize the most conspicious
persons who laid down their lives in martyrdom in this bloody persecution.
Sebastian, a celebrated martyr, was born at Narbonne, in
Gaul, instructed in the principles of Christianity at Milan, and afterward
became an officer of the emperor's guard at Rome. He remained a true Christian
in the midst of idolatry; unallured by the splendors of a court, untainted by
evil examples, and uncontaminated by the hopes of preferment. Refusing to be a
pagan, the emperor ordered him to be taken to a field near the city, termed the
Campus Martius, and there to be shot to death with arrows; which sentence was
executed accordingly. Some pious Christians coming to the place of execution, in
order to give his body burial, perceived signs of life in him, and immediately
moving him to a place of security, they, in a short time effected his recovery,
and prepared him for a second martyrdom; for, as soon as he was able to go out,
he placed himself intentionally in the emperor's way as he was going to the
temple, and reprehended him for his various cruelties and unreasonable
prejudices against Christianity. As soon as Diocletian had overcome his
surprise, he ordered Sebastian to be seized, and carried to a place near the
palace, and beaten to death; and, that the Christians should not either use
means again to recover or bury his body, he ordered that it should be thrown
into the common sewer. Nevertheless, a Christian lady named Lucina, found means
to remove it from the sewer, and bury it in the catacombs, or repositories of
the dead.
The Christians, about this time, upon mature consideration,
thought it unlawful to bear arms under a heathen emperor. Maximilian, the son of
Fabius Victor, was the first beheaded under this regulation.
Vitus, a Sicilian of considerable family, was brought up a
Christian; when his virtues increased with his years, his constancy supported
him under all afflictions, and his faith was superior to the most dangerous
perils. His father, Hylas, who was a pagan, finding that he had been instructed
in the principles of Christianity by the nurse who brought him up, used all his
endeavors to bring him back to paganism, and at length sacrificed his son to the
idols, June 14, A.D. 303.
Victor was a Christian of a good family at Marseilles, in
France; he spent a great part of the night in visiting the afflicted, and
confirming the weak; which pious work he could not, consistently with his own
safety, perform in the daytime; and his fortune he spent in relieving the
distresses of poor Christians. He was at length, however, seized by the emperor
Maximian's decree, who ordered him to be bound, and dragged through the streets.
During the execution of this order, he was treated with all manner of cruelties
and indignities by the enraged populace. Remaining still inflexible, his courage
was deemed obstinacy. Being by order stretched upon the rack, he turned his eyes
toward heaven, and prayed to God to endue him with patience, after which he
underwent the tortures with most admirable fortitude. After the executioners
were tired with inflicting torments on him, he was conveyed to a dungeon. In his
confinement, he converted his jailers, named Alexander, Felician, and Longinus.
This affair coming to the ears of the emperor, he ordered them immediately to be
put to death, and the jailers were accordingly beheaded. Victor was then again
put to the rack, unmercifully beaten with batons, and again sent to prison.
Being a third time examined concerning his religion, he persevered in his
principles; a small altar was then brought, and he was commanded to offer
incense upon it immediately. Fired with indignation at the request, he boldly
stepped forward, and with his foot overthrew both altar and idol. This so
enraged the emperor Maximian, who was present, that he ordered the foot with
which he had kicked the altar to be immediately cut off; and Victor was thrown
into a mill, and crushed to pieces with the stones, A.D. 303.
Maximus, governor of Cilicia, being at Tarsus, three
Christians were brought before him; their names were Tarachus, an aged man,
Probus, and Andronicus. After repeated tortures and exhortations to recant,
they, at length, were ordered for execution.
Being brought to the amphitheater, several beasts were let
loose upon them; but none of the animals, though hungry, would touch them. The
keeper then brought out a large bear, that had that very day destroyed three
men; but this voracious creature and a fierce lioness both refused to touch the
prisoners. Finding the design of destroying them by the means of wild beasts
ineffectual, Maximus ordered them to be slain by the sword, on October 11, A.D.
303.
Romanus, a native of Palestine, was deacon of the church of
Caesarea at the time of the commencement of Diocletian's persecution. Being
condemned for his faith at Antioch, he was scourged, put to the rack, his body
torn with hooks, his flesh cut with knives, his face scarified, his teeth beaten
from their sockets, and his hair plucked up by the roots. Soon after he was
ordered to be strangled, November 17, A.D. 303.
Susanna, the niece of Caius, bishop of Rome, was pressed by
the emperor Diocletian to marry a noble pagan, who was nearly related to him.
Refusing the honor intended her, she was beheaded by the emperor's order.
Dorotheus, the high chamberlain of the household to
Diocletian, was a Christian, and took great pains to make converts. In his
religious labors, he was joined by Gorgonius, another Christian, and one
belonging to the palace. They were first tortured and then strangled.
Peter, a eunuch belonging to the emperor, was a Christian
of singular modesty and humility. He was laid on a gridiron, and broiled over a
slow fire until he expired.
Cyprian, known by the title of the magician, to distinguish
him from Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, was a native of Natioch. He received a
liberal education in his youth, and particularly applied himself to astrology;
after which he traveled for improvement through Greece, Egypt, India, etc. In
the course of time he became acquainted with Justina, a young lady of Antioch,
whose birth, beauty, and accomplishments, rendered her the admiration of all who
knew her. A pagan gentleman applied to Cyprian, to promote his suit with the
beautiful Justina; this he undertook, but soon himself became converted, burnt
his books of astrology and magic, received baptism, and felt animated with a
powerful spirit of grace. The conversion of Cyprian had a great effect on the
pagan gentleman who paid his addresses to Justina, and he in a short time
embraced Christianity. During the persecutions of Diocletian, Cyprian and
Justina were seized upon as Christians, the former was torn with pincers, and
the latter chastised; and, after suffering other torments, both were beheaded.
Eulalia, a Spanish lady of a Christian family, was
remarkable in her youth for sweetness of temper, and solidity of understanding
seldom found in the capriciousness of juvenile years. Being apprehended as a
Christian, the magistrate attempted by the mildest means, to bring her over to
paganism, but she ridiculed the pagan deities with such asperity, that the
judge, incensed at her behavior, ordered her to be tortured. Her sides were
accordingly torn by hooks, and her breasts burnt in the most shocking manner,
until she expired by the violence of the flames, December, A.D. 303.
In the year 304, when the persecution reached Spain,
Dacian, the governor of Terragona, ordered Valerius the bishop, and Vincent the
deacon, to be seized, loaded with irons, and imprisoned. The prisoners being
firm in their resolution, Valerius was banished, and Vincent was racked, his
limbs dislocated, his flesh torn with hooks, and he was laid on a gridiron,
which had not only a fire placed under it, but spikes at the top, which ran into
his flesh. These torments neither destroying him, nor changing his resolutions,
he was remanded to prison, and confined in a small, loathsome, dark dungeon,
strewed with sharp flints, and pieces of broken glass, where he died, January
22, 304. His body was thrown into the river.
The persecution of Diocletian began particularly to rage in
A.D. 304, when many Christians were put to cruel tortures and the most painful
and ignominious deaths; the most eminent and particular of whom we shall
enumerate.
Saturninus, a priest of Albitina, a town of Africa, after
being tortured, was remanded to prison, and there starved to death. His four
children, after being variously tormented, shared the same fate with their
father.
Dativas, a noble Roman senator; Thelico, a pious Christian;
Victoria, a young lady of considerable family and fortune, with some others of
less consideration, all auditors of Saturninus, were tortured in a similar
manner, and perished by the same means.
Agrape, Chionia, and Irene, three sisters, were seized upon
at Thessalonica, when Diocletian's persecution reached Greece. They were burnt,
and received the crown of martyrdom in the flames, March 25, A.D. 304. The
governor, finding that he could make no impression on Irene, ordered her to be
exposed naked in the streets, which shameful order having been executed, a fire
was kindled near the city wall, amidst whose flames her spirit ascended beyond
the reach of man's cruelty.
Agatho, a man of a pious turn of mind, with Cassice,
Philippa, and Eutychia, were martyred about the same time; but the particulars
have not been transmitted to us.
Marcellinus, bishop of Rome, who succeeded Caius in that
see, having strongly opposed paying divine honors to Diocletian, suffered
martyrdom, by a variety of tortures, in the year 324, comforting his soul until
he expired with the prospect of these glorious rewards it would receive by the
tortures suffered in the body.
Victorius, Carpophorus, Severus, and Severianus, were
brothers, and all four employed in places of great trust and honor in the city
of Rome. Having exclaimed against the worship of idols, they were apprehended,
and scourged, with the plumbetae, or scourges, to the ends of which were
fastened leaden balls. This punishment was exercised with such excess of cruelty
that the pious brothers fell martyrs to its severity.
Timothy, a deacon of Mauritania, and Maura his wife, had
not been united together by the bands of wedlock above three weeks, when they
were separated from each other by the persecution. Timothy, being apprehended,
as a Christian, was carried before Arrianus, the governor of Thebais, who,
knowing that he had the keeping of the Holy Scriptures, commanded him to deliver
them up to be burnt; to which he answered, "Had I children, I would sooner
deliver them up to be sacrificed, than part with the Word of God." The governor
being much incensed at this reply, ordered his eyes to be put out, with red-hot
irons, saying, "The books shall at least be useless to you, for you shall not
see to read them." His patience under the operation was so great that the
governor grew more exasperated; he, therefore, in order, if possible, to
overcome his fortitude, ordered him to be hung up by the feet, with a weight
tied about his neck, and a gag in his mouth. In this state, Maura his wife,
tenderly urged him for her sake to recant; but, when the gag was taken out of
his mouth, instead of consenting to his wife's entreaties, he greatly blamed her
mistaken love, and declared his resolution of dying for the faith. The
consequence was, that Maura resolved to imitate his courage and fidelity and
either to accompany or follow him to glory. The governor, after trying in vain
to alter her resolution, ordered her to be tortured, which was executed with
great severity. After this, Timothy and Maura were crucified near each other,
A.D. 304.
Sabinus, bishop of Assisium, refusing to sacrifice to
Jupiter, and pushing the idol from him, had his hand cut off by the order of the
governor of Tuscany. While in prison, he converted the governor and his family,
all of whom suffered martyrdom for the faith. Soon after their execution,
Sabinus himself was scourged to death, December, A.D. 304.
Tired with the farce of state and public business, the
emperor Diocletian resigned the imperial diadem, and was succeeded by
Constantius and Galerius; the former a prince of the most mild and humane
disposition and the latter equally remarkable for his cruelty and tyranny. These
divided the empire into two equal governments, Galerius ruling in the east, and
Constantius in the west; and the people in the two governments felt the effects
of the dispositions of the two emperors; for those in the west were governed in
the mildest manner, but such as resided in the east felt all the miseries of
oppression and lengthened tortures.
Among the many martyred by the order of Galerius, we shall
enumerate the most eminent.
Amphianus was a gentleman of eminence in Lucia, and a
scholar of Eusebius; Julitta, a Lycaonian of royal descent, but more celebrated
for her virtues than noble blood. While on the rack, her child was killed before
her face. Julitta, of Cappadocia, was a lady of distinguished capacity, great
virtue, and uncommon courage. To complete the execution, Julitta had boiling
pitch poured on her feet, her sides torn with hooks, and received the conclusion
of her martyrdom, by being beheaded, April 16, A.D. 305.
Hermolaus, a venerable and pious Christian, or a great age,
and an intimate acquaintance of Panteleon's, suffered martyrdom for the faith on
the same day, and in the same manner as Panteleon.
Eustratius, secretary to the governor of Armina, was thrown
into a fiery furnace for exhorting some Christians who had been apprehended, to
persevere in their faith.
Nicander and Marcian, two eminent Roman military officers,
were apprehended on account of their faith. As they were both men of great
abilities in their profession, the utmost means were used to induce them to
renounce Christianity; but these endeavors being found ineffectual, they were
beheaded.
In the kingdom of Naples, several martyrdoms took place, in
particular, Januaries, bishop of Beneventum; Sosius, deacon of Misene; Proculus,
another deacon; Eutyches and Acutius, two laymen; Festus, a deacon; and
Desiderius, a reader; all, on account of being Christians, were condemned by the
governor of Campania to be devoured by the wild beasts. The savage animals,
however, would not touch them, and so they were beheaded.
Quirinus, bishop of Siscia, being carried before Matenius,
the governor, was ordered to sacrifice to the pagan deities, agreeably to the
edicts of various Roman emperors. The governor, perceiving his constancy, sent
him to jail, and ordered him to be heavily ironed; flattering himself, that the
hardships of a jail, some occasional tortures and the weight of chains, might
overcome his resolution. Being decided in his principles, he was sent to
Amantius, the principal governor of Pannonia, now Hungary, who loaded him with
chains, and carried him through the principal towns of the Danube, exposing him
to ridicule wherever he went. Arriving at length at Sabaria, and finding that
Quirinus would not renounce his faith, he ordered him to be cast into a river,
with a stone fastened about his neck. This sentence being put into execution,
Quirinus floated about for some time, and, exhorting the people in the most
pious terms, concluded his admonitions with this prayer: "It is no new thing, O
all-powerful Jesus, for Thee to stop the course of rivers, or to cause a man to
walk upon the water, as Thou didst Thy servant Peter; the people have already
seen the proof of Thy power in me; grant me now to lay down my life for Thy
sake, O my God." On pronouncing the last words he immediately sank, and died,
June 4, A.D. 308. His body was afterwards taken up, and buried by some pious
Christians.
Pamphilus, a native of Phoenicia, of a considerable family,
was a man of such extensive learning that he was called a second Origen. He was
received into the body of the clergy at Caesarea, where he established a public
library and spent his time in the practice of every Christian virtue. He copied
the greatest part of the works of Origen with his own hand, and, assisted by
Eusebius, gave a correct copy of the Old Testament, which had suffered greatly
by the ignorance or negligence of former transcribers. In the year 307, he was
apprehended, and suffered torture and martyrdom.
Marcellus, bishop of Rome, being banished on account of his
faith, fell a martyr to the miseries he suffered in exile, January 16, A.D. 310.
Peter, the sixteenth bishop of Alexandria, was martyred
November 25, A.D. 311, by order of Maximus Caesar, who reigned in the east.
Agnes, a virgin of only thirteen years of age, was beheaded
for being a Christian; as was Serene, the empress of Diocletian. Valentine, a
priest, suffered the same fate at Rome; and Erasmus, a bishop, was martyred in
Campania.
Soon after this the persecution abated in the middle parts
of the empire, as well as in the west; and Providence at length began to
manifest vengeance on the persecutors. Maximian endeavored to corrupt his
daughter Fausta to murder Constantine her husband; which she discovered, and
Constantine forced him to choose his own death, when he preferred the
ignominious death of hanging after being an emperor near twenty years.
Constantine was the good and virtuous child of a good and
virtuous father, born in Britain. His mother was named Helena, daughter of King
Coilus. He was a most bountiful and gracious prince, having a desire to nourish
learning and good arts, and did oftentimes use to read, write, and study
himself. He had marvelous good success and prosperous achieving of all things he
took in hand, which then was (and truly) supposed to proceed of this, for that
he was so great a favorer of the Christian faith. Which faith when he had once
embraced, he did ever after most devoutly and religiously reverence.
Thus Constantine, sufficiently appointed with strength of
men but especially with strength of God, entered his journey coming towards
Italy, which was about the last year of the persecution, A.D. 313. Maxentius,
understanding of the coming of Constantine, and trusting more to his devilish
art of magic than to the good will of his subjects, which he little deserved,
durst not show himself out of the city, nor encounter him in the open field, but
with privy garrisons laid wait for him by the way in sundry straits, as he
should come; with whom Constantine had divers skirmishes, and by the power of
the Lord did ever vanquish them and put them to flight.
Notwithstanding, Constantine yet was in no great comfort,
but in great care and dread in his mind (approaching now near unto Rome) for the
magical charms and sorceries of Maxentius, wherewith he had vanquished before
Severus, sent by Galerius against him. Wherefore, being in great doubt and
perplexity in himself, and revolving many things in his mind, what help he might
have against the operations of his charming, Constantine, in his journey drawing
toward the city, and casting up his eyes many times to heaven, in the south
part, about the going down of the sun, saw a great brightness in heaven,
appearing in the similitude of a cross, giving this inscription, In hoc vince,
that is, "In this overcome."
Eusebius Pamphilus doth witness that he had heard the said
Constantine himself oftentimes report, and also to swear this to be true and
certain, which he did see with his own eyes in heaven, and also his soldiers
about him. At the sight whereof when he was greatly astonished, and consulting
with his men upon the meaning thereof, behold, in the night season in his sleep,
Christ appeared to him with the sign of the same cross which he had seen before,
bidding him to make the figuration thereof, and to carry it in his wars before
him, and so should we have the victory.
Constantine so established the peace of the Church that for
the space of a thousand years we read of no set persecution against the
Christians, unto the time of John Wickliffe.
So happy, so glorious was this victory of Constantine,
surnamed the Great! For the joy and gladness whereof, the citizens who had sent
for him before, with exceeding triumph brought him into the city of Rome, where
he was most honorably received, and celebrated the space of seven days together;
having, moreover, in the market place, his image set up, holding in his right
hand the sign of the cross, with this inscription:
"With this wholesome sign, the true token of fortitude, I
have rescued and delivered our city from the yoke of the tyrant."
We shall conclude our account of the tenth and last general
persecution with the death of St. George, the titular saint and patron of
England. St. George was born in Cappadocia, of Christian parents; and giving
proofs of his courage, was promoted in the army of the emperor Diocletian.
During the persecution, St. George threw up his command, went boldly to the
senate house, and avowed his being a Christian, taking occasion at the same time
to remonstrate against paganism, and point out the absurdity of worshipping
idols. This freedom so greatly provoked the senate that St. George was ordered
to be tortured, and by the emperor's orders was dragged through the streets, and
beheaded the next day.
The legend of the dragon, which is associated with this
martyr, is usually illustrated by representing St. George seated upon a charging
horse and transfixing the monster with his spear. This fiery dragon symbolizes
the devil, who was vanquished by St. George's steadfast faith in Christ, which
remained unshaken in spite of torture and death.
CHAPTER III
Persecutions of the Christians in Persia
The Gospel having spread itself into Persia, the pagan
priests, who worshipped the sun, were greatly alarmed, and dreaded the loss of
that influence they had hitherto maintained over the people's minds and
properties. Hence they thought it expedient to complain to the emperor that the
Christians were enemies to the state, and held a treasonable correspondence with
the Romans, the great enemies of Persia.
The emperor Sapores, being naturally averse to
Christianity, easily believed what was said against the Christians, and gave
orders to persecute them in all parts of his empire. On account of this mandate,
many eminent persons in the church and state fell martyrs to the ignorance and
ferocity of the pagans.
Constantine the Great being informed of the persecutions in
Persia, wrote a long letter to the Persian monarch, in which he recounts the
vengeance that had fallen on persecutors, and the great success that had
attended those who had refrained from persecuting the Christians.
Speaking of his victories over rival emperors of his own
time, he said, "I subdued these solely by faith in Christ; for which God was my
helper, who gave me victory in battle, and made me triumph over my enemies. He
hath likewise so enlarged to me the bounds of the Roman Empire, that it extends
from the Western Ocean almost to the uttermost parts of the East: for this
domain I neither offered sacrifices to the ancient deities, nor made use of
charm or divination; but only offered up prayers to the Almighty God, and
followed the cross of Christ. Rejoiced should I be if the throne of Persia found
glory also, by embracing the Christians: that so you with me, and they with you,
may enjoy all happiness.
In consequence of this appeal, the persecution ended for
the time, but it was renewed in later years when another king succeeded to the
throne of Persia.
The author of the Arian heresy was Arius, a native of
Lybia, and a priest of Alexandria, who, in A.D. 318, began to publish his
errors. He was condemned by a council of Lybian and Egyptian bishops, and that
sentence was confirmed by the Council of Nice, A.D. 325. After the death of
Constantine the Great, the Arians found means to ingratiate themselves into the
favor of the emperor Constantinus, his son and successor in the east; and hence
a persecution was raised against the orthodox bishops and clergy. The celebrated
Athanasius, and other bishops, were banished, and their sees filled with Arians.
In Egypt and Lybia, thirty bishops were martyred, and many
other Christians cruelly tormented; and, A.D. 386, George, the Arian bishop of
Alexandria, under the authority of the emperor, began a persecution in that city
and its environs, and carried it on with the most infernal severity. He was
assisted in his diabolical malice by Catophonius, governor of Egypt; Sebastian,
general of the Egyptian forces; Faustinus, the treasurer; and Heraclius, a Roman
officer.
The persecutions now raged in such a manner that the clergy
were driven from Alexandria, their churches were shut, and the severities
practiced by the Arian heretics were as great as those that had been practiced
by the pagan idolaters. If a man, accused of being a Christian, made his escape,
then his whole family were massacred, and his effects confiscated.
This emperor was the son of Julius Constantius, and the
nephew of Constantine the Great. He studied the rudiments of grammar under the
inspection of Mardonius, a eunuch, and a heathen of Constantinople. His father
sent him some time after to Nicomedia, to be instructed in the Christian
religion, by the bishop of Eusebius, his kinsman, but his principles were
corrupted by the pernicious doctrines of Ecebolius the rhetorician, and Maximus
the magician.
Constantius, dying the year 361, Julian succeeded him, and
had no sooner attained the imperial dignity than he renounced Christianity and
embraced paganism, which had for some years fallen into great disrepute. Though
he restored the idolatrous worship, he made no public edicts against
Christianity. He recalled all banished pagans, allowed the free exercise of
religion to every sect, but deprived all Christians of offices at court, in the
magistracy, or in the army. He was chaste, temperate, vigilant, laborious, and
pious; yet he prohibited any Christian from keeping a school or public seminary
of learning, and deprived all the Christian clergy of the privileges granted
them by Constantine the Great.
Bishop Basil made himself first famous by his opposition to
Arianism, which brought upon him the vengeance of the Arian bishop of
Constantinople; he equally opposed paganism. The emperor's agents in vain
tampered with Basil by means of promises, threats, and racks, he was firm in the
faith, and remained in prison to undergo some other sufferings, when the emperor
came accidentally to Ancyra. Julian determined to examine Basil himself, when
that holy man being brought before him, the emperor did every thing in his power
to dissuade him from persevering in the faith. Basil not only continued as firm
as ever, but, with a prophetic spirit foretold the death of the emperor, and
that he should be tormented in the other life. Enraged at what he heard, Julian
commanded that the body of Basil should be torn every day in seven different
parts, until his skin and flesh were entirely mangled. This inhuman sentence was
executed with rigor, and the martyr expired under its severities, on June 28,
A.D. 362.
Donatus, bishop of Arezzo, and Hilarinus, a hermit,
suffered about the same time; also Gordian, a Roman magistrate. Artemius,
commander in chief of the Roman forces in Egypt, being a Christian, was deprived
of his commission, then of his estate, and lastly of his head.
The persecution raged dreadfully about the latter end of
the year 363; but, as many of the particulars have not been handed down to us,
it is necessary to remark in general, that in Palestine many were burnt alive,
others were dragged by their feet through the streets naked until they expired;
some were scalded to death, many stoned, and great numbers had their brains
beaten out with clubs. In Alexandria, innumerable were the martyrs who suffered
by the sword, burning, crucifixion and stoning. In Arethusa, several were ripped
open, and corn being put into their bellies, swine were brought to feed therein,
which, in devouring the grain, likewise devoured the entrails of the martyrs,
and in Thrace, Emilianus was burnt at a stake; and Domitius murdered in a cave,
whither he had fled for refuge.
The emperor, Julian the apostate, died of a wound which he
received in his Persian expedition, A.D. 363, and even while expiring, uttered
the most horrid blasphemies. He was succeeded by Jovian, who restored peace to
the Church.
After the decease of Jovian, Valentinian succeeded to the
empire, and associated to himself Valens, who had the command in the east, and
was an Arian and of an unrelenting and persecuting disposition.
Many Scythian Goths having embraced Christianity about the
time of Constantine the Great, the light of the Gospel spread itself
considerably in Scythia, though the two kings who ruled that country, and the
majority of the people continued pagans. Fritegern, king of the West Goths, was
an ally to the Romans, but Athanarich, king of the East Goths, was at war with
them. The Christians, in the dominions of the former, lived unmolested, but the
latter, having been defeated by the Romans, wreaked his vengeance on his
Christian subjects, commencing his pagan injunctions in the year 370.
In religion the Goths were Arians, and called themselves
Christians; therefore they destroyed all the statues and temples of the heathen
gods, but did no harm to the orthodox Christian churches. Alaric had all the
qualities of a great general. To the wild bravery of the Gothic barbarian he
added the courage and skill of the Roman soldier. He led his forces across the
Alps into Italy, and although driven back for the time, returned afterward with
an irresistible force.
After this fortunate victory over the Goths a "triumph," as
it was called, was celebrated at Rome. For hundreds of years successful generals
had been awarded this great honor on their return from a victorious campaign.
Upon such occasions the city was given up for days to the marching of troops
laden with spoils, and who dragged after them prisoners of war, among whom were
often captive kings and conquered generals. This was to be the last Roman
triumph, for it celebrated the last Roman victory. Although it had been won by
Stilicho, the general, it was the boy emperor, Honorius, who took the credit,
entering Rome in the car of victory, and driving to the Capitol amid the shouts
of the populace. Afterward, as was customary on such occasions, there were
bloody combats in the Colosseum, where gladiators, armed with swords and spears,
fought as furiously as if they were on the field of battle.
The first part of the bloody entertainment was finished;
the bodies of the dead were dragged off with hooks, and the reddened sand
covered with a fresh, clean layer. After this had been done the gates in the
wall of the arena were thrown open, and a number of tall, well-formed men in the
prime of youth and strength came forward. Some carried swords, others
three-pronged spears and nets. They marched once around the walls, and stopping
before the emperor, held up their weapons at arm's length, and with one voice
sounded out their greeting, Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant! "Hail, Caesar,
those about to die salute thee!"
The combats now began again; the gladiators with nets tried
to entangle those with swords, and when they succeeded mercilessly stabbed their
antagonists to death with the three-pronged spear. When a gladiator had wounded
his adversary, and had him lying helpless at his feet, he looked up at the eager
faces of the spectators, and cried out, Hoc habet! "He has it!" and awaited the
pleasure of the audience to kill or spare.
If the spectators held out their hands toward him, with
thumbs upward, the defeated man was taken away, to recover if possible from his
wounds. But if the fatal signal of "thumbs down" was given, the conquered was to
be slain; and if he showed any reluctance to present his neck for the death
blow, there was a scornful shout from the galleries, Recipe ferrum! "Receive the
steel!" Privileged persons among the audience would even descend into the arena,
to better witness the death agonies of some unusually brave victim, before his
corpse was dragged out at the death gate.
The show went on; many had been slain, and the people,
madly excited by the desperate bravery of those who continued to fight, shouted
their applause. But suddenly there was an interruption. A rudely clad, robed
figure appeared for a moment among the audience, and then boldly leaped down
into the arena. He was seen to be a man of rough but imposing presence,
bareheaded and with sun-browned face. Without hesitating an instant he advanced
upon two gladiators engaged in a life-and-death struggle, and laying his hand
upon one of them sternly reproved him for shedding innocent blood, and then,
turning toward the thousands of angry faces ranged around him, called upon them
in a solemn, deep-toned voice which resounded through the deep enclosure. These
were his words: "Do not requite God's mercy in turning away the swords of your
enemies by murdering each other!"
Angry shouts and cries at once drowned his voice: "This is
no place for preaching!--the old customs of Rome must be observed!--On,
gladiators!" Thrusting aside the stranger, the gladiators would have again
attacked each other, but the man stood between, holding them apart, and trying
in vain to be heard. "Sedition! sedition! down with him!" was then the cry; and
the gladiators, enraged at the interference of an outsider with their chosen
vocation, at once stabbed him to death. Stones, or whatever missiles came to
hand, also rained down upon him from the furious people, and thus he perished,
in the midst of the arena.
His dress showed him to be one of the hermits who vowed
themselves to a holy life of prayer and self-denial, and who were reverenced by
even the thoughtless and combat-loving Romans. The few who knew him told how he
had come from the wilds of Asia on a pilgrimage, to visit the churches and keep
his Christmas at Rome; they knew he was a holy man, and that his name was
Telemachus-no more. His spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands
flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted zeal he had
tried to convince them of the cruelty and wickedness of their conduct. He had
died, but not in vain. His work was accomplished at the moment he was struck
down, for the shock of such a death before their eyes turned the hearts of the
people: they saw the hideous aspects of the favorite vice to which they had
blindly surrendered themselves; and from the day Telemachus fell dead in the
Colosseum, no other fight of gladiators was ever held there.
Proterius was made a priest by Cyril, bishop of Alexandria,
who was well acquainted with his virtues, before he appointed him to preach. On
the death of Cyril, the see of Alexandria was filled by Discorus, an inveterate
enemy to the memory and family of his predecessor. Being condemned by the
council of Chalcedon for having embraced the errors of Eutyches, he was deposed,
and Proterius chosen to fill the vacant see, who was approved of by the emperor.
This occasioned a dangerous insurrection, for the city of Alexandria was divided
into two factions; the one to espouse the cause of the old, and the other of the
new prelate. In one of the commotions, the Eutychians determined to wreak their
vengeance on Proterius, who fled to the church for sanctuary: but on Good
Friday, A.D. 457, a large body of them rushed into the church, and barbarously
murdered the prelate; after which they dragged the body through the streets,
insulted it, cut it to pieces, burnt it, and scattered the ashes in the air.
Hermenigildus, a Gothic prince, was the eldest son of
Leovigildus, a king of the Goths, in Spain. This prince, who was originally an
Arian, became a convert to the orthodox faith, by means of his wife Ingonda.
When the king heard that his son had changed his religious sentiments, he
stripped him of the command at Seville, where he was governor, and threatened to
put him to death unless he renounced the faith he had newly embraced. The
prince, in order to prevent the execution of his father's menaces, began to put
himself into a posture of defense; and many of the orthodox persuasion in Spain
declared for him. The king, exasperated at this act of rebellion, began to
punish all the orthodox Christians who could be seized by his troops, and thus a
very severe persecution commenced: he likewise marched against his son at the
head of a very powerful army. The prince took refuge in Seville, from which he
fled, and was at length besieged and taken at Asieta. Loaded with chains, he was
sent to Seville, and at the feast of Easter refusing to receive the Eucharist
from an Arian bishop, the enraged king ordered his guards to cut the prince to
pieces, which they punctually performed, April 13, A.D. 586.
Martin, bishop of Rome, was born at Todi, in Italy. He was
naturally inclined to virtue, and his parents bestowed on him an admirable
education. He opposed the heretics called Monothelites, who were patronized by
the emperor Heraclius. Martin was condemned at Constantinople, where he was
exposed in the most public places to the ridicule of the people, divested of all
episcopal marks of distinction, and treated with the greatest scorn and
severity. After lying some months in prison, Martin was sent to an island at
some distance, and there cut to pieces, A.D. 655.
John, bishop of Bergamo, in Lombardy, was a learned man,
and a good Christian. He did his utmost endeavors to clear the Church from the
errors of Arianism, and joining in this holy work with John, bishop of Milan, he
was very successful against the heretics, on which account he was assassinated
on July 11, A.D. 683.
Killien was born in Ireland, and received from his parents
a pious and Christian education. He obtained the Roman pontiff's license to
preach to the pagans in Franconia, in Germany. At Wurtzburg he converted
Gozbert, the governor, whose example was followed by the greater part of the
people in two years after. Persuading Gozbert that his marriage with his
brother's widow was sinful, the latter had him beheaded, A.D. 689.
Boniface, archbishop of Mentz, and father of the German
church, was an Englishman, and is, in ecclesiastical history, looked upon as one
of the brightest ornaments of this nation. Originally his name was Winfred, or
Winfrith, and he was born at Kirton, in Devonshire, then part of the West-Saxon
kingdom. When he was only about six years of age, he began to discover a
propensity to reflection, and seemed solicitous to gain information on religious
subjects. Wolfrad, the abbot, finding that he possessed a bright genius, as well
as a strong inclination to study, had him removed to Nutscelle, a seminary of
learning in the diocese of Winchester, where he would have a much greater
opportunity of attaining improvements than at Exeter.
After due study, the abbot seeing him qualified for the
priesthood, obliged him to receive that holy order when he was about thirty
years old. From which time he began to preach and labor for the salvation of his
fellow creatures; he was released to attend a synod of bishops in the kingdom of
West-Saxons. He afterwards, in 719, went to Rome, where Gregory II who then sat
in Peter's chair, received him with great friendship, and finding him full of
all virtues that compose the character of an apostolic missionary, dismissed him
without commission at large to preach the Gospel to the pagans wherever he found
them. Passing through Lombardy and Bavaria, he came to Thuringia, which country
had before received the light of the Gospel, he next visited Utrecht, and then
proceeded to Saxony, where he converted some thousands to Christianity.
During the ministry of this meek prelate, Pepin was
declared king of France. It was that prince's ambition to be crowned by the most
holy prelate he could find, and Boniface was pitched on to perform that
ceremony, which he did at Soissons, in 752. The next year, his great age and
many infirmities lay so heavy on him, that, with the consent of the new king,
and the bishops of his diocese, he consecrated Lullus, his countryman, and
faithful disciple, and placed him in the see of Mentz. When he had thus eased
himself of his charge, he recommended the church of Mentz to the care of the new
bishop in very strong terms, desired he would finish the church at Fuld, and see
him buried in it, for his end was near. Having left these orders, he took boat
to the Rhine, and went to Friesland, where he converted and baptized several
thousands of barbarous natives, demolished the temples, and raised churches on
the ruins of those superstitious structures. A day being appointed for
confirming a great number of new converts, he ordered them to assemble in a new
open plain, near the river Bourde. Thither he repaired the day before; and,
pitching a tent, determined to remain on the spot all night, in order to be
ready early in the morning. Some pagans, who were his inveterate enemies, having
intelligence of this, poured down upon him and the companions of his mission in
the night, and killed him and fifty-two of his companions and attendants on June
5, A.D. 755. Thus fell the great father of the Germanic Church, the honor of
England, and the glory of the age in which he lived.
Forty-two persons of Armorian in Upper Phyrgia, were
martyred in the year 845, by the Saracens, the circumstances of which
transactions are as follows:
In the reign of Theophilus, the Saracens ravaged many parts
of the eastern empire, gained several considerable advantages over the
Christians, took the city of Armorian, and numbers suffered martyrdom.
Flora and Mary, two ladies of distinction, suffered
martyrdom at the same time.
Perfectus was born at Corduba, in Spain, and brought up in
the Christian faith. Having a quick genius, he made himself master of all the
useful and polite literature of that age; and at the same time was not more
celebrated for his abilities than admired for his piety. At length he took
priest's orders, and performed the duties of his office with great assiduity and
punctuality. Publicly declaring Mahomet an impostor, he was sentenced to be
beheaded, and was accordingly executed, A.D. 850; after which his body was
honorably interred by the Christians.
Adalbert, bishop of Prague, a Bohemian by birth, after
being involved in many troubles, began to direct his thoughts to the conversion
of the infidels, to which end he repaired to Dantzic, where he converted and
baptized many, which so enraged the pagan priests, that they fell upon him, and
dispatched him with darts, on April 23, A.D. 997.
Alphage, archbishop of Canterbury, was descended from a
considerable family in Gloucestershire, and received an education suitable to
his illustrious birth. His parents were worthy Christians, and Alphage seemed to
inherit their virtues.
The see of Winchester being vacant by the death of
Ethelwold, Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury, as primate of all England,
consecrated Alphage to the vacant bishopric, to the general satisfaction of all
concerned in the diocese.
Dustain had an extraordinary veneration for Alphage, and,
when at the point of death, made it his ardent request to God that he might
succeed him in the see of Canterbury; which accordingly happened, though not
until about eighteen years after Dunstan's death in 1006.
After Alphage had governed the see of Canterbury about four
years, with great reputation to himself, and benefit to his people, the Danes
made an incursion into England, and laid siege to Canterbury. When the design of
attacking this city was known, many of the principal people made a flight from
it, and would have persuaded Alphage to follow their example. But he, like a
good pastor, would not listen to such a proposal. While he was employed in
assisting and encouraging the people, Canterbury was taken by storm; the enemy
poured into the town, and destroyed all that came in their way by fire and
sword. He had the courage to address the enemy, and offer himself to their
swords, as more worthy of their rage than the people: he begged they might be
saved, and that they would discharge their whole fury upon him. They accordingly
seized him, tied his hands, insulted and abused him in a rude and barbarous
manner, and obliged him to remain on the spot until his church was burnt, and
the monks massacred. They then decimated all the inhabitants, both ecclesiastics
and laymen, leaving only every tenth person alive; so that they put 7236 persons
to death, and left only four monks and 800 laymen alive, after which they
confined the archbishop in a dungeon, where they kept him close prisoner for
several months.
During his confinement they proposed to him to redeem his
liberty with the sum of 3000 pounds, and to persuade the king to purchase their
departure out of the kingdom, with a further sum of 10,000 pounds. As Alphage's
circumstances would not allow him to satisfy the exorbitant demand, they bound
him, and put him to severe torments, to oblige him to discover the treasure of
the church; upon which they assured him of his life and liberty, but the prelate
piously persisted in refusing to give the pagans any account of it. They
remanded him to prison again, confined him six days longer, and then, taking him
prisoner with them to Greenwich, brought him to trial there. He still remained
inflexible with respect to the church treasure; but exhorted them to forsake
their idolatry, and embrace Christianity. This so greatly incensed the Danes,
that the soldiers dragged him out of the camp and beat him unmercifully. One of
the soldiers, who had been converted by him, knowing that his pains would be
lingering, as his death was determined on, actuated by a kind of barbarous
compassion, cut off his head, and thus put the finishing stroke to his
martyrdom, April 19, A.D. 1012. This transaction happened on the very spot where
the church at Greenwich, which is dedicated to him, now stands. After his death
his body was thrown into the Thames, but being found the next day, it was buried
in the cathedral of St. Paul's by the bishops of London and Lincoln; from whence
it was, in 1023, removed to Canterbury by Ethelmoth, the archbishop of that
province.
Gerard, a Venetian, devoted himself to the service of God
from his tender years: entered into a religious house for some time, and then
determined to visit the Holy Land. Going into Hungary, he became acquainted with
Stephen, the king of that country, who made him bishop of Chonad.
Ouvo and Peter, successors of Stephen, being deposed,
Andrew, son of Ladislaus, cousin-german to Stephen, had then a tender of the
crown made him upon condition that he would employ his authority in extirpating
the Christian religion out of Hungary. The ambitious prince came into the
proposal, but Gerard being informed of his impious bargain, thought it his duty
to remonstrate against the enormity of Andrew's crime, and persuade him to
withdraw his promise. In this view he undertook to go to that prince, attended
by three prelates, full of like zeal for religion. The new king was at Alba
Regalis, but, as the four bishops were going to cross the Danube, they were
stopped by a party of soldiers posted there. They bore an attack of a shower of
stones patiently, when the soldiers beat them unmercifully, and at length
dispatched them with lances. Their martyrdoms happened in the year 1045.
Stanislaus, bishop of Cracow, was descended from an
illustrious Polish family. The piety of his parents was equal to their opulence,
and the latter they rendered subservient to all the purposes of charity and
benevolence. Stanislaus remained for some time undetermined whether he should
embrace a monastic life, or engage among the secular clergy. He was at length
persuaded to the latter by Lambert Zula, bishop of Cracow, who gave him holy
orders, and made him a canon of his cathedral. Lambert died on November 25,
1071, when all concerned in the choice of a successor declared for Stanislaus,
and he succeeded to the prelacy.
Bolislaus, the second king of Poland, had, by nature, many
good qualities, but giving away to his passions, he ran into many enormities,
and at length had the appellation of Cruel bestowed upon him. Stanislaus alone
had the courage to tell him of his faults, when, taking a private opportunity,
he freely displayed to him the enormities of his crimes. The king, greatly
exasperated at his repeated freedoms, at length determined, at any rate, to get
the better of a prelate who was so extremely faithful. Hearing one day that the
bishop was by himself, in the chapel of St. Michael, at a small distance from
the town, he dispatched some soldiers to murder him. The soldiers readily
undertook the bloody task; but, when they came into the presence of Stanislaus,
the venerable aspect of the prelate struck them with such awe that they could
not perform what they had promised. On their return, the king, finding that they
had not obeyed his orders, stormed at them violently, snatched a dagger from one
of them, and ran furiously to the chapel, where, finding Stanislaus at the
altar, he plunged the weapon into his heart. The prelate immediately expired on
May 8, A.D. 1079.
CHAPTER IV
Papal Persecutions
Thus far our history of persecution has been confined
principally to the pagan world. We come now to a period when persecution, under
the guise of Christianity, committed more enormities than ever disgraced the
annals of paganism. Disregarding the maxims and the spirit of the Gospel, the
papal Church, arming herself with the power of the sword, vexed the Church of
God and wasted it for several centuries, a period most appropriately termed in
history, the "dark ages." The kings of the earth, gave their power to the
"Beast," and submitted to be trodden on by the miserable vermin that often
filled the papal chair, as in the case of Henry, emperor of Germany. The storm
of papal persecution first burst upon the Waldenses in France.
Popery having brought various innovations into the Church,
and overspread the Christian world with darkness and superstition, some few, who
plainly perceived the pernicious tendency of such errors, determined to show the
light of the Gospel in its real purity, and to disperse those clouds which
artful priests had raised about it, in order to blind the people, and obscure
its real brightness.
The principal among these was Berengarius, who, about the
year 1000, boldly preached Gospel truths, according to their primitive purity.
Many, from conviction, assented to his doctrine, and were, on that account,
called Berengarians. To Berengarius succeeded Peer Bruis, who preached at
Toulouse, under the protection of an earl, named Hildephonsus; and the whole
tenets of the reformers, with the reasons of their separation from the Church of
Rome, were published in a book written by Bruis, under the title of
"Antichrist."
By the year of Christ 1140, the number of the reformed was
very great, and the probability of its increasing alarmed the pope, who wrote to
several princes to banish them from their dominions, and employed many learned
men to write against their doctrines.
In A.D. 1147, because of Henry of Toulouse, deemed their
most eminent preacher, they were called Henericians; and as they would not admit
of any proofs relative to religion, but what could be deduced from the
Scriptures themselves, the popish party gave them the name of apostolics. At
length, Peter Waldo, or Valdo, a native of Lyons, eminent for his piety and
learning, became a strenuous opposer of popery; and from him the reformed, at
that time, received the appellation of Waldenses or Waldoys.
Pope Alexander III being informed by the bishop of Lyons of
these transactions, excommunicated Waldo and his adherents, and commanded the
bishop to exterminate them, if possible, from the face of the earth; hence began
the papal persecutions against the Waldenses.
The proceedings of Waldo and the reformed, occasioned the
first rise of the inquisitors; for Pope Innocent III authorized certain monks as
inquisitors, to inquire for, and deliver over, the reformed to the secular
power. The process was short, as an accusation was deemed adequate to guilt, and
a candid trial was never granted to the accused.
The pope, finding that these cruel means had not the
intended effect, sent several learned monks to preach among the Waldenses, and
to endeavor to argue them out of their opinions. Among these monks was one
Dominic, who appeared extremely zealous in the cause of popery. This Dominic
instituted an order, which, from him, was called the order of Dominican friars;
and the members of this order have ever since been the principal inquisitors in
the various inquisitions in the world. The power of the inquisitors was
unlimited; they proceeded against whom they pleased, without any consideration
of age, sex, or rank. Let the accusers be ever so infamous, the accusation was
deemed valid; and even anonymous informations, sent by letter, were thought
sufficient evidence. To be rich was a crime equal to heresy; therefore many who
had money were accused of heresy, or of being favorers of heretics, that they
might be obliged to pay for their opinions. The dearest friends or nearest
kindred could not, without danger, serve any one who was imprisoned on account
of religion. To convey to those who were confined, a little straw, or give them
a cup of water, was called favoring of the heretics, and they were prosecuted
accordingly. No lawyer dared to plead for his own brother, and their malice even
extended beyond the grave; hence the bones of many were dug up and burnt, as
examples to the living. If a man on his deathbed was accused of being a follower
of Waldo, his estates were confiscated, and the heir to them defrauded of his
inheritance; and some were sent to the Holy Land, while the Dominicans took
possession of their houses and properties, and, when the owners returned, would
often pretend not to know them. These persecutions were continued for several
centuries under different popes and other great dignitaries of the Catholic
Church.
The Albigenses were a people of the reformed religion, who
inhabited the country of Albi. They were condemned on the score of religion in
the Council of Lateran, by order of Pope Alexander III. Nevertheless, they
increased so prodigiously, that many cities were inhabited by persons only of
their persuasion, and several eminent noblemen embraced their doctrines. Among
the latter were Raymond, earl of Toulouse, Raymond, earl of Foix, the earl of
Beziers, etc.
A friar, named Peter, having been murdered in the dominions
of the earl of Toulouse, the pope made the murder a pretense to persecute that
nobleman and his subjects. To effect this, he sent persons throughout all
Europe, in order to raise forces to act coercively against the Albigenses, and
promised paradise to all that would come to this war, which he termed a Holy
War, and bear arms for forty days. The same indulgences were likewise held out
to all who entered themselves for the purpose as to such as engaged in crusades
to the Holy Land. The brave earl defended Toulouse and other places with the
most heroic bravery and various success against the pope's legates and Simon,
earl of Montfort, a bigoted Catholic nobleman. Unable to subdue the earl of
Toulouse openly, the king of France, and the queen mother, and three archbishops
raised another formidable army, and had the art to persuade the earl of Toulouse
to come to a conference, when he was treacherously seized upon, made a prisoner,
forced to appear barefooted and bareheaded before his enemies, and compelled to
subscribe an abject recantation. This was followed by a severe persecution
against the Albigenses; and express orders that the laity should not be
permitted to read the sacred Scriptures. In the year 1620 also, the persecution
against the Albigenses was very severe. In 1648 a heavy persecution raged
throughout Lithuania and Poland. The cruelty of the Cossacks was so excessive
that the Tartars themselves were ashamed of their barbarities. Among others who
suffered was the Rev. Adrian Chalinski, who was roasted alive by a slow fire,
and whose sufferings and mode of death may depict the horrors which the
professors of Christianity have endured from the enemies of the Redeemer.
The reformation of papistical error very early was
projected in France; for in the third century a learned man, named Almericus,
and six of his disciples, were ordered to be burnt at Paris for asserting that
God was no otherwise present in the sacramental bread than in any other bread;
that it was idolatry to build altars or shrines to saints and that it was
ridiculous to offer incense to them.
The martyrdom of Almericus and his pupils did not, however,
prevent many from acknowledging the justness of his notions, and seeing the
purity of the reformed religion, so that the faith of Christ continually
increased, and in time not only spread itself over many parts of France, but
diffused the light of the Gospel over various other countries.
In the year 1524, at a town in France, called Melden, one
John Clark set up a bill on the church door, wherein he called the pope
Antichrist. For this offence he was repeatedly whipped, and then branded on the
forehead. Going afterward to Mentz, in Lorraine, he demolished some images, for
which he had his right hand and nose cut off, and his arms and breast torn with
pincers. He sustained these cruelties with amazing fortitude, and was even
sufficiently cool to sing the One hundredth and fifteenth Psalm, which expressly
forbids idolatry; after which he was thrown into the fire, and burnt to ashes.
Many persons of the reformed persuasion were, about this
time, beaten, racked, scourged, and burnt to death, in several parts of France,
but more particularly at Paris, Malda, and Limosin.
A native of Malda was burnt by a slow fire, for saying that
Mass was a plain denial of the death and passion of Christ. At Limosin, John de
Cadurco, a clergyman of the reformed religion, was apprehended and ordered to be
burnt.
Francis Bribard, secretary to cardinal de Pellay, for
speaking in favor of the reformed, had his tongue cut out, and was then burnt,
A.D. 1545. James Cobard, a schoolmaster in the city of St. Michael, was burnt,
A.D. 1545, for saying 'That Mass was useless and absurd'; and about the same
time, fourteen men were burnt at Malda, their wives being compelled to stand by
and behold the execution.
A.D. 1546, Peter Chapot brought a number of Bibles in the
French tongue to France, and publicly sold them there; for which he was brought
to trial, sentenced, and executed a few days afterward. Soon after, a cripple of
Meaux, a schoolmaster of Fera, named Stephen Poliot, and a man named John
English, were burnt for the faith.
Monsieur Blondel, a rich jeweler, was, in A.D. 1548,
apprehended at Lyons, and sent to Paris; there he was burnt for the faith by
order of the court, A.D. 1549. Herbert, a youth of nineteen years of age, was
committed to the flames at Dijon; as was also Florent Venote in the same year.
In the year 1554, two men of the reformed religion, with
the son and daughter of one of them, were apprehended and committed to the
castle of Niverne. On examination, they confessed their faith, and were ordered
to execution; being smeared with grease, brimstone, and gunpowder, they cried,
"Salt on, salt on this sinful and rotten flesh." Their tongues were then cut
out, and they were afterward committed to the flames, which soon consumed them,
by means of the combustible matter with which they were besmeared.
On the twenty second day of August, 1572, commenced this
diabolical act of sanguinary brutality. It was intended to destroy at one stroke
the root of the Protestant tree, which had only before partially suffered in its
branches. The king of France had artfully proposed a marriage, between his
sister and the prince of Navarre, the captain and prince of the Protestants.
This imprudent marriage was publicly celebrated at Paris, August 18, by the
cardinal of Bourbon, upon a high stage erected for the purpose. They dined in
great pomp with the bishop, and supped with the king at Paris. Four days after
this, the prince (Coligny), as he was coming from the Council, was shot in both
arms; he then said to Maure, his deceased mother's minister, "O my brother, I do
now perceive that I am indeed beloved of my God, since for His most holy sake I
am wounded." Although the Vidam advised him to fly, yet he abode in Paris, and
was soon after slain by Bemjus; who afterward declared he never saw a man meet
death more valiantly than the admiral.
The soldiers were appointed at a certain signal to burst
out instantly to the slaughter in all parts of the city. When they had killed
the admiral, they threw him out at a window into the street, where his head was
cut off, and sent to the pope. The savage papists, still raging against him, cut
off his arms and private members, and, after dragging him three days through the
streets, hung him by the heels without the city. After him they slew many great
and honorable persons who were Protestants; as Count Rochfoucault, Telinius, the
admiral's son-in-law, Antonius, Clarimontus, marquis of Ravely, Lewes Bussius,
Bandineus, Pluvialius, Burneius, etc., and falling upon the common people, they
continued the slaughter for many days; in the three first they slew of all ranks
and conditions to the number of ten thousand. The bodies were thrown into the
rivers, and blood ran through the streets with a strong current, and the river
appeared presently like a stream of blood. So furious was their hellish rage,
that they slew all papists whom they suspected to be not very staunch to their
diabolical religion. From Paris the destruction spread to all quarters of the
realm.
At Orleans, a thousand were slain of men, women, and
children, and six thousand at Rouen.
At Meldith, two hundred were put into prison, and later
brought out by units, and cruelly murdered.
At Lyons, eight hundred were massacred. Here children
hanging about their parents, and parents affectionately embracing their
children, were pleasant food for the swords and bloodthirsty minds of those who
call themselves the Catholic Church. Here three hundred were slain in the
bishop's house; and the impious monks would suffer none to be buried.
At Augustobona, on the people hearing of the massacre at
Paris, they shut their gates that no Protestants might escape, and searching
diligently for every individual of the reformed Church, imprisoned and then
barbarously murdered them. The same cruelty they practiced at Avaricum, at
Troys, at Toulouse, Rouen and many other places, running from city to city,
towns, and villages, through the kingdom.
As a corroboration of this horrid carnage, the following
interesting narrative, written by a sensible and learned Roman Catholic, appears
in this place, with peculiar propriety.
"The nuptials (says he) of the young king of Navarre with
the French king's sister, was solemnized with pomp; and all the endearments, all
the assurances of friendship, all the oaths sacred among men, were profusely
lavished by Catharine, the queen-mother, and by the king; during which, the rest
of the court thought of nothing but festivities, plays, and masquerades. At
last, at twelve o'clock at night, on the eve of St. Bartholomew, the signal was
given. Immediately all the houses of the Protestants were forced open at once.
Admiral Coligny, alarmed by the uproar jumped out of bed, when a company of
assassins rushed in his chamber. They were headed by one Besme, who had been
bred up as a domestic in the family of the Guises. This wretch thrust his sword
into the admiral's breast, and also cut him in the face. Besme was a German, and
being afterwards taken by the Protestants, the Rochellers would have brought
him, in order to hang and quarter him; but he was killed by one Bretanville.
Henry, the young duke of Guise, who afterwards framed the Catholic league, and
was murdered at Blois, standing at the door until the horrid butchery should be
completed, called aloud, 'Besme! is it done?' Immediately after this, the
ruffians threw the body out of the window, and Coligny expired at Guise's feet.
"Count de Teligny also fell a sacrifice. He had married,
about ten months before, Coligny's daughter. His countenance was so engaging,
that the ruffians, when they advanced in order to kill him, were struck with
compassion; but others, more barbarous, rushing forward, murdered him.
"In the meantime, all the friends of Coligny were
assassinated throughout Paris; men, women, and children were promiscuously
slaughtered and every street was strewed with expiring bodies. Some priests,
holding up a crucifix in one hand, and a dagger in the other, ran to the chiefs
of the murderers, and strongly exhorted them to spare neither relations nor
friends.
"Tavannes, marshal of France, an ignorant, superstitious
soldier, who joined the fury of religion to the rage of party, rode on horseback
through the streets of Paris, crying to his men, 'Let blood! let blood! bleeding
is as wholesome in August as in May.' In the memories of the life of this
enthusiastic, written by his son, we are told that the father, being on his
deathbed, and making a general confession of his actions, the priest said to
him, with surprise, 'What! no mention of St. Bartholomew's massacre?' to which
Tavannes replied, 'I consider it as a meritorious action, that will wash away
all my sins.' Such horrid sentiments can a false spirit of religion inspire!
"The king's palace was one of the chief scenes of the
butchery; the king of Navarre had his lodgings in the Louvre, and all his
domestics were Protestants. Many of these were killed in bed with their wives;
others, running away naked, were pursued by the soldiers through the several
rooms of the palace, even to the king's antichamber. The young wife of Henry of
Navarre, awaked by the dreadful uproar, being afraid for her consort, and for
her own life, seized with horror, and half dead, flew from her bed, in order to
throw herself at the feet of the king her brother. But scarce had she opened her
chamber door, when some of her Protestant domestics rushed in for refuge. The
soldiers immediately followed, pursued them in sight of the princess, and killed
one who crept under her bed. Two others, being wounded with halberds, fell at
the queen's feet, so that she was covered with blood.
"Count de la Rochefoucault, a young nobleman, greatly in
the king's favor for his comely air, his politeness, and a certain peculiar
happiness in the turn of his conversation, had spent the evening until eleven
o'clock with the monarch, in pleasant familiarity; and had given a loose, with
the utmost mirth, to the sallies of his imagination. The monarch felt some
remorse, and being touched with a kind of compassion, bid him, two or three
times, not to go home, but lie in the Louvre. The count said he must go to his
wife; upon which the king pressed him no farther, but said, 'Let him go! I see
God has decreed his death.' And in two hours after he was murdered.
"Very few of the Protestants escaped the fury of their
enthusiastic persecutors. Among these was young La Force (afterwards the famous
Marshal de la Force) a child about ten years of age, whose deliverance was
exceedingly remarkable. His father, his elder brother, and he himself were
seized together by the Duke of Anjou's soldier. These murderers flew at all
three, and struck them at random, when they all fell, and lay one upon another.
The youngest did not receive a single blow, but appearing as if he was dead,
escaped the next day; and his life, thus wonderfully preserved, lasted four
score and five years.
"Many of the wretched victims fled to the water side, and
some swam over the Seine to the suburbs of St. Germaine. The king saw them from
his window, which looked upon the river, and fired upon them with a carbine that
had been loaded for that purpose by one of his pages; while the queen-mother,
undisturbed and serene in the midst of slaughter, looking down from a balcony,
encouraged the murderers and laughed at the dying groans of the slaughtered.
This barbarous queen was fired with a restless ambition, and she perpetually
shifted her party in order to satiate it.
"Some days after this horrid transaction, the French court
endeavored to palliate it by forms of law. They pretended to justify the
massacre by a calumny, and accused the admiral of a conspiracy, which no one
believed. The parliament was commended to proceed against the memory of Coligny;
and his dead body was hanged in chains on Montfaucon gallows. The king himself
went to view this shocking spectacle. So one of his courtiers advised him to
retire, and complaining of the stench of the corpse, he replied, 'A dead enemy
smells well.' The massacres on St. Bartholomew's day are painted in the royal
saloon of the Vatican at Rome, with the following inscription: Pontifex, Coligny
necem probat, i.e., 'The pope approves of Coligny's death.'
"The young king of Navarre was spared through policy,
rather than from the pity of the queen-mother, she keeping him prisoner until
the king's death, in order that he might be as a security and pledge for the
submission of such Protestants as might effect their escape.
"This horrid butchery was not confined merely to the city
of Paris. The like orders were issued from court to the governors of all the
provinces in France; so that, in a week's time, about one hundred thousand
Protestants were cut to pieces in different parts of the kingdom! Two or three
governors only refused to obey the king's orders. One of these, named
Montmorrin, governor of Auvergne, wrote the king the following letter, which
deserves to be transmitted to the latest posterity.
"SIRE: I have received an order, under your majesty's seal,
to put to death all the Protestants in my province. I have too much respect for
your majesty, not to believe the letter a forgery; but if (which God forbid) the
order should be genuine, I have too much respect for your majesty to obey it."
At Rome the horrid joy was so great, that they appointed a
day of high festival, and a jubilee, with great indulgence to all who kept it
and showed every expression of gladness they could devise! and the man who first
carried the news received 1000 crowns of the cardinal of Lorraine for his
ungodly message. The king also commanded the day to be kept with every
demonstration of joy, concluding now that the whole race of Huguenots was
extinct.
Many who gave great sums of money for their ransom were
immediately after slain; and several towns, which were under the king's promise
of protection and safety, were cut off as soon as they delivered themselves up,
on those promises, to his generals or captains.
At Bordeaux, at the instigation of a villainous monk, who
used to urge the papists to slaughter in his sermons, two hundred and sixty-four
were cruelly murdered; some of them senators. Another of the same pious
fraternity produced a similar slaughter at Agendicum, in Maine, where the
populace at the holy inquisitors' satanical suggestion, ran upon the
Protestants, slew them, plundered their houses, and pulled down their church.
The duke of Guise, entering into Blois, suffered his
soldiers to fly upon the spoil, and slay or drown all the Protestants they could
find. In this they spared neither age nor sex; defiling the women, and then
murdering them; from whence he went to Mere, and committed the same outrages for
many days together. Here they found a minister named Cassebonius, and threw him
into the river.
At Anjou, they slew Albiacus, a minister; and many women
were defiled and murdered there; among whom were two sisters, abused before
their father, whom the assassins bound to a wall to see them, and then slew them
and him.
The president of Turin, after giving a large sum for his
life, was cruelly beaten with clubs, stripped of his clothes, and hung feet
upwards, with his head and breast in the river: before he was dead, they opened
his belly, plucked out his entrails, and threw them into the river; and then
carried his heart about the city upon a spear.
At Barre great cruelty was used, even to young children,
whom they cut open, pulled out their entrails, which through very rage they
gnawed with their teeth. Those who had fled to the castle, when they yielded,
were almost hanged. Thus they did at the city of Matiscon; counting it sport to
cut off their arms and legs and afterward kill them; and for the entertainment
of their visitors, they often threw the Protestants from a high bridge into the
river, saying, "Did you ever see men leap so well?"
At Penna, after promising them safety, three hundred were
inhumanly butchered; and five and forty at Albia, on the Lord's Day. At Nonne,
though it yielded on conditions of safeguard, the most horrid spectacles were
exhibited. Persons of both sexes and conditions were indiscriminately murdered;
the streets ringing with doleful cries, and flowing with blood; and the houses
flaming with fire, which the abandoned soldiers had thrown in. One woman, being
dragged from her hiding place with her husband, was first abused by the brutal
soldiers, and then with a sword which they commanded her to draw, they forced it
while in her hands into the bowels of her husband.
At Samarobridge, they murdered above one hundred
Protestants, after promising them peace; and at Antsidor, one hundred were
killed, and cast part into a jakes, and part into a river. One hundred put into
a prison at Orleans, were destroyed by the furious multitude.
The Protestants at Rochelle, who were such as had
miraculously escaped the rage of hell, and fled there, seeing how ill they fared
who submitted to those holy devils, stood for their lives; and some other
cities, encouraged thereby, did the like. Against Rochelle, the king sent almost
the whole power of France, which besieged it seven months; though by their
assaults, they did very little execution on the inhabitants, yet by famine, they
destroyed eighteen thousand out of two and twenty. The dead, being too numerous
for the living to bury, became food for vermin and carnivorous birds. Many took
their coffins into the church yard, laid down in them, and breathed their last.
Their diet had long been what the minds of those in plenty shudder at; even
human flesh, entrails, dung, and the most loathsome things, became at last the
only food of those champions for that truth and liberty, of which the world was
not worthy. At every attack, the besiegers met with such an intrepid reception,
that they left one hundred and thirty-two captains, with a proportionate number
of men, dead in the field. The siege at last was broken up at the request of the
duke of Anjou, the king's brother, who was proclaimed king of Poland, and the
king, being wearied out, easily complied, whereupon honorable conditions were
granted them.
It is a remarkable interference of Providence, that, in all
this dreadful massacre, not more than two ministers of the Gospel were involved
in it.
The tragical sufferings of the Protestants are too numerous
to detail; but the treatment of Philip de Deux will give an idea of the rest.
After the miscreants had slain this martyr in his bed, they went to his wife,
who was then attended by the midwife, expecting every moment to be delivered.
The midwife entreated them to stay the murder, at least till the child, which
was the twentieth, should be born. Notwithstanding this, they thrust a dagger up
to the hilt into the poor woman. Anxious to be delivered, she ran into a corn
loft; but hither they pursued her, stabbed her in the belly, and then threw her
into the street. By the fall, the child came from the dying mother, and being
caught up by one of the Catholic ruffians, he stabbed the infant, and then threw
it into the river.
The persecutions occasioned by the revocation of the edict
of Nantes took place under Louis XIV. This edict was made by Henry the Great of
France in 1598, and secured to the Protestants an equal right in every respect,
whether civil or religious, with the other subjects of the realm. All those
privileges Louis the XIV confirmed to the Protestants by another statute, called
the edict of Nismes, and kept them inviolably to the end of his reign. On the
accession of Louis XIV the kingdom was almost ruined by civil wars.
At this critical juncture, the Protestants, heedless of our
Lord's admonition, "They that take the sword shall perish with the sword," took
such an active part in favor of the king, that he was constrained to acknowledge
himself indebted to their arms for his establishment on the throne. Instead of
cherishing and rewarding that party who had fought for him, he reasoned that the
same power which had protected could overturn him, and, listening to the popish
machinations, he began to issue out proscriptions and restrictions, indicative
of his final determination. Rochelle was presently fettered with an incredible
number of denunciations. Montauban and Millau were sacked by soldiers. Popish
commissioners were appointed to preside over the affairs of the Protestants, and
there was no appeal from their ordinance, except to the king's council. This
struck at the root of their civil and religious exercises, and prevented them,
being Protestants, from suing a Catholic in any court of law. This was followed
by another injunction, to make an inquiry in all parishes into whatever the
Protestants had said or done for twenty years past. This filled the prisons with
innocent victims, and condemned others to the galleys or banishment.
Protestants were expelled from all offices, trades,
privileges, and employs; thereby depriving them of the means of getting their
bread: and they proceeded to such excess in this brutality, that they would not
suffer even the midwives to officiate, but compelled their women to submit
themselves in that crisis of nature to their enemies, the brutal Catholics.
Their children were taken from them to be educated by the Catholics, and at
seven years of age, made to embrace popery. The reformed were prohibited from
relieving their own sick or poor, from all private worship, and divine service
was to be performed in the presence of a popish priest. To prevent the
unfortunate victims from leaving the kingdom, all the passages on the frontiers
were strictly guarded; yet, by the good hand of God, about 150,000 escaped their
vigilance, and emigrated to different countries to relate the dismal narrative.
All that has been related hitherto were only infringements
on their established charter, the edict of Nantes. At length the diabolical
revocation of that edict passed on the eighteenth of October, 1685, and was
registered the twenty-second, contrary to all form of law. Instantly the
dragoons were quartered upon the Protestants throughout the realm, and filled
all France with the like news, that the king would no longer suffer any
Huguenots in his kingdom, and therefore they must resolve to change their
religion. Hereupon the attendants in every parish (which were popish governors
and spies set over the Protestants) assembled the reformed inhabitants, and told
them they must, without delay, turn Catholics, either freely or by force. The
Protestants replied, that they 'were ready to sacrifice their lives and estates
to the king, but their consciences being God's they could not so dispose of
them.'
Instantly the troops seized the gates and avenues of the
cities, and placing guards in all the passages, entered with sword in hand,
crying, "Die, or be Catholics!" In short, they practiced every wickedness and
horror they could devise to force them to change their religion.
They hanged both men and women by their hair or their feet,
and smoked them with hay until they were nearly dead; and if they still refused
to sign a recantation, they hung them up again and repeated their barbarities,
until, wearied out with torments without death, they forced many to yield to
them.
Others, they plucked off all the hair of their heads and
beards with pincers. Others they threw on great fires, and pulled them out
again, repeating it until they extorted a promise to recant.
Some they stripped naked, and after offering them the most
infamous insults, they stuck them with pins from head to foot, and lanced them
with penknives; and sometimes with red-hot pincers they dragged them by the nose
until they promised to turn. Sometimes they tied fathers and husbands, while
they ravished their wives and daughters before their eyes. Multitudes they
imprisoned in the most noisome dungeons, where they practiced all sorts of
torments in secret. Their wives and children they shut up in monasteries.
Such as endeavored to escape by flight were pursued in the
woods, and hunted in the fields, and shot at like wild beasts; nor did any
condition or quality screen them from the ferocity of these infernal dragoons:
even the members of parliament and military officers, though on actual service,
were ordered to quit their posts, and repair directly to their houses to suffer
the like storm. Such as complained to the king were sent to the Bastile, where
they drank the same cup. The bishops and the attendants marched at the head of
the dragoons, with a troop of missionaries, monks, and other ecclesiastics to
animate the soldiers to an execution so agreeable to their Holy Church, and so
glorious to their demon god and their tyrant king.
In forming the edict to repeal the edict of Nantes, the
council were divided; some would have all the ministers detained and forced into
popery as well as the laity; others were for banishing them, because their
presence would strengthen the Protestants in perseverance: and if they were
forced to turn, they would ever be secret and powerful enemies in the bosom of
the Church, by their great knowledge and experience in controversial matters.
This reason prevailing, they were sentenced to banishment, and only fifteen days
allowed them to depart the kingdom.
On the same day that the edict for revoking the
Protestants' charter was published, they demolished their churches and banished
their ministers, whom they allowed but twenty-four hours to leave Paris. The
papists would not suffer them to dispose of their effects, and threw every
obstacle in their way to delay their escape until the limited time was expired
which subjected them to condemnation for life to the galleys. The guards were
doubled at the seaports, and the prisons were filled with the victims, who
endured torments and wants at which human nature must shudder.
The sufferings of the ministers and others, who were sent
to the galleys, seemed to exceed all. Chained to the oar, they were exposed to
the open air night and day, at all seasons, and in all weathers; and when
through weakness of body they fainted under the oar, instead of a cordial to
revive them, or viands to refresh them, they received only the lashes of a
scourge, or the blows of a cane or rope's end. For the want of sufficient
clothing and necessary cleanliness, they were most grievously tormented with
vermin, and cruelly pinched with the cold, which removed by night the
executioners who beat and tormented them by day. Instead of a bed, they were
allowed sick or well, only a hard board, eighteen inches broad, to sleep on,
without any covering but their wretched apparel; which was a shirt of the
coarsest canvas, a little jerkin of red serge, slit on each side up to the
armholes, with open sleeves that reached not to the elbow; and once in three
years they had a coarse frock, and a little cap to cover their heads, which were
always kept close shaved as a mark of their infamy. The allowance of provision
was as narrow as the sentiments of those who condemned them to such miseries,
and their treatment when sick is too shocking to relate; doomed to die upon the
boards of a dark hold, covered with vermin, and without the least convenience
for the calls of nature. Nor was it among the least of the horrors they endured,
that, as ministers of Christ, and honest men, they were chained side by side to
felons and the most execrable villains, whose blasphemous tongues were never
idle. If they refused to hear Mass, they were sentenced to the bastinado, of
which dreadful punishment the following is a description. Preparatory to it, the
chains are taken off, and the victims delivered into the hands of the Turks that
preside at the oars, who strip them quite naked, and stretching them upon a
great gun, they are held so that they cannot stir; during which there reigns an
awful silence throughout the galley. The Turk who is appointed the executioner,
and who thinks the sacrifice acceptable to his prophet Mahomet, most cruelly
beats the wretched victim with a rough cudgel, or knotty rope's end, until the
skin is flayed off his bones, and he is near the point of expiring; then they
apply a most tormenting mixture of vinegar and salt, and consign him to that
most intolerable hospital where thousands under their cruelties have expired.
We pass over many other individual martyrdoms to insert
that of John Calas, which took place as recently as 1761, and is an indubitable
proof of the bigotry of popery, and shows that neither experience nor
improvement can root out the inveterate prejudices of the Roman Catholics, or
render them less cruel or inexorable to Protestants.
John Calas was a merchant of the city of Toulouse, where he
had been settled, and lived in good repute, and had married an English woman of
French extraction. Calas and his wife were Protestants, and had five sons, whom
they educated in the same religion; but Lewis, one of the sons, became a Roman
Catholic, having been converted by a maidservant, who had lived in the family
about thirty years. The father, however, did not express any resentment or
ill-will upon the occasion, but kept the maid in the family and settled an
annuity upon the son. In October, 1761, the family consisted of John Calas and
his wife, one woman servant, Mark Antony Calas, the eldest son, and Peter Calas,
the second son. Mark Antony was bred to the law, but could not be admitted to
practice, on account of his being a Protestant; hence he grew melancholy, read
all the books he could procure relative to suicide, and seemed determined to
destroy himself. To this may be added that he led a dissipated life, was greatly
addicted to gaming, and did all which could constitute the character of a
libertine; on which account his father frequently reprehended him and sometimes
in terms of severity, which considerably added to the gloom that seemed to
oppress him.
On the thirteenth of October, 1761, Mr. Gober la Vaisse, a
young gentleman about 19 years of age, the son of La Vaisse, a celebrated
advocate of Toulouse, about five o'clock in the evening, was met by John Calas,
the father, and the eldest son Mark Antony, who was his friend. Calas, the
father, invited him to supper, and the family and their guest sat down in a room
up one pair of stairs; the whole company, consisting of Calas the father, and
his wife, Antony and Peter Calas, the sons, and La Vaisse the guest, no other
person being in the house, except the maidservant who has been already
mentioned.
It was now about seven o'clock. The supper was not long;
but before it was over, Antony left the table, and went into the kitchen, which
was on the same floor, as he was accustomed to do. The maid asked him if he was
cold? He answered, "Quite the contrary, I burn"; and then left her. In the
meantime his friend and family left the room they had supped in, and went into a
bed-chamber; the father and La Vaisse sat down together on a sofa; the younger
son Peter in an elbow chair; and the mother in another chair; and, without
making any inquiry after Antony, continued in conversation together until
between nine and ten o'clock, when La Vaisse took his leave, and Peter, who had
fallen asleep, was awakened to attend him with a light.
On the ground floor of Calas's house was a shop and a
warehouse, the latter of which was divided from the shop by a pair of folding
doors. When Peter Calas and La Vaisse came downstairs into the shop, they were
extremely shocked to see Antony hanging in his shirt, from a bar which he had
laid across the top of the two folding doors, having half opened them for that
purpose. On discovery of this horrid spectacle, they shrieked out, which brought
down Calas the father, the mother being seized with such terror as kept her
trembling in the passage above. When the maid discovered what had happened, she
continued below, either because she feared to carry an account of it to her
mistress, or because she busied herself in doing some good office to her master,
who was embracing the body of his son, and bathing it in his tears. The mother,
therefore, being thus left alone, went down and mixed in the scene that has been
already described, with such emotions as it must naturally produce. In the
meantime Peter had been sent for La Moire, a surgeon in the neighborhood. La
Moire was not at home, but his apprentice, Mr. Grosle, came instantly. Upon
examination, he found the body quite dead; and by this time a papistical crowd
of people were gathered about the house, and, having by some means heard that
Antony Calas was suddenly dead, and that the surgeon who had examined the body,
declared that he had been strangled, they took it into their heads he had been
murdered; and as the family was Protestant, they presently supposed that the
young man was about to change his religion, and had been put to death for that
reason.
The poor father, overwhelmed with grief for the loss of his
child, was advised by his friends to send for the officers of justice to prevent
his being torn to pieces by the Catholic multitude, who supposed he had murdered
his son. This was accordingly done and David, the chief magistrate, or capitol,
took the father, Peter the son, the mother, La Vaisse, and the maid, all into
custody, and set a guard over them. He sent for M. de la Tour, a physician, and
MM. la Marque and Perronet, surgeons, who examined the body for marks of
violence, but found none except the mark of the ligature on the neck; they found
also the hair of the deceased done up in the usual manner, perfectly smooth, and
without the least disorder: his clothes were also regularly folded up, and laid
upon the counter, nor was his shirt either torn or unbuttoned.
Notwithstanding these innocent appearances, the capitol
thought proper to agree with the opinion of the mob, and took it into his head
that old Calas had sent for La Vaisse, telling him that he had a son to be
hanged; that La Vaisse had come to perform the office of executioner; and that
he had received assistance from the father and brother.
As no proof of the supposed fact could be procured, the
capitol had recourse to a monitory, or general information, in which the crime
was taken for granted, and persons were required to give such testimony against
it as they were able. This recites that La Vaisse was commissioned by the
Protestants to be their executioner in ordinary, when any of their children were
to be hanged for changing their religion: it recites also, that, when the
Protestants thus hang their children, they compel them to kneel, and one of the
interrogatories was, whether any person had seen Antony Calas kneel before his
father when he strangled him: it recites likewise, that Antony died a Roman
Catholic, and requires evidence of his catholicism.
But before this monitory was published, the mob had got a
notion that Antony Calas was the next day to have entered into the fraternity of
the White Penitents. The capitol therefore caused his body to be buried in the
middle of St. Stephen's Church. A few days after the interment of the deceased,
the White Penitents performed a solemn service for him in their chapel; the
church was hung with white, and a tomb was raised in the middle of it, on the
top of which was placed a human skeleton, holding in one hand a paper, on which
was written "Abjuration of heresy," and in the other a palm, the emblem of
martyrdom. The next day the Franciscans performed a service of the same kind for
him.
The capitol continued the persecution with unrelenting
severity, and, without the least proof coming in, thought fit to condemn the
unhappy father, mother, brother, friend, and servant, to the torture, and put
them all into irons on the eighteenth of November.
From these dreadful proceedings the sufferers appealed to
the parliament, which immediately took cognizance of the affair, and annulled
the sentence of the capitol as irregular, but they continued the prosecution,
and, upon the hangman deposing it was impossible Antony should hang himself as
was pretended, the majority of the parliament were of the opinion, that the
prisoners were guilty, and therefore ordered them to be tried by the criminal
court of Toulouse. One voted him innocent, but after long debates the majority
was for the torture and wheel, and probably condemned the father by way of
experiment, whether he was guilty or not, hoping he would, in the agony, confess
the crime, and accuse the other prisoners, whose fate, therefore, they
suspended.
Poor Calas, however, an old man of sixty-eight, was
condemned to this dreadful punishment alone. He suffered the torture with great
constancy, and was led to execution in a frame of mind which excited the
admiration of all that saw him, and particularly of the two Dominicans (Father
Bourges and Father Coldagues) who attended him in his last moments, and declared
that they thought him not only innocent of the crime laid to his charge, but
also an exemplary instance of true Christian patience, fortitude, and charity.
When he saw the executioner prepared to give him the last stroke, he made a
fresh declaration to Father Bourges, but while the words were still in his
mouth, the capitol, the author of this catastrophe, who came upon the scaffold
merely to gratify his desire of being a witness of his punishment and death, ran
up to him, and bawled out, "Wretch, there are fagots which are to reduce your
body to ashes! speak the truth." M. Calas made no reply, but turned his head a
little aside; and that moment the executioner did his office.
The popular outcry against this family was so violent in
Languedoc, that every body expected to see the children of Calas broke upon the
wheel, and the mother burnt alive.
Young Donat Calas was advised to fly into Switzerland: he
went, and found a gentleman who, at first, could only pity and relieve him,
without daring to judge of the rigor exercised against the father, mother, and
brothers. Soon after, one of the brothers, who was only banished, likewise threw
himself into the arms of the same person, who, for more than a month, took every
possible precaution to be assured of the innocence of the family. Once
convinced, he thought himself, obliged, in conscience, to employ his friends,
his purse, his pen, and his credit, to repair the fatal mistake of the seven
judges of Toulouse, and to have the proceedings revised by the king's council.
This revision lasted three years, and it is well known what honor Messrs. de
Grosne and Bacquancourt acquired by investigating this memorable cause. Fifty
masters of the Court of Requests unanimously declared the whole family of Calas
innocent, and recommended them to the benevolent justice of his majesty. The
Duke de Choiseul, who never let slip an opportunity of signalizing the greatness
of his character, not only assisted this unfortunate family with money, but
obtained for them a gratuity of 36,000 livres from the king.
On the ninth of March, 1765, the arret was signed which
justified the family of Calas, and changed their fate. The ninth of March, 1762,
was the very day on which the innocent and virtuous father of that family had
been executed. All Paris ran in crowds to see them come out of prison, and
clapped their hands for joy, while the tears streamed from their eyes.
This dreadful example of bigotry employed the pen of
Voltaire in deprecation of the horrors of superstition; and though an infidel
himself, his essay on toleration does honor to his pen, and has been a blessed
means of abating the rigor of persecution in most European states. Gospel purity
will equally shun superstition and cruelty, as the mildness of Christ's tenets
teaches only to comfort in this world, and to procure salvation in the next. To
persecute for being of a different opinion is as absurd as to persecute for
having a different countenance: if we honor God, keep sacred the pure doctrines
of Christ, put a full confidence in the promises contained in the Holy
Scriptures, and obey the political laws of the state in which we reside, we have
an undoubted right to protection instead of persecution, and to serve heaven as
our consciences, regulated by the Gospel rules, may direct.
CHAPTER V
An Account of the Inquisition
When the reformed religion began to diffuse the Gospel
light throughout Europe, Pope Innocent III entertained great fear for the Romish
Church. He accordingly instituted a number of inquisitors, or persons who were
to make inquiry after, apprehend, and punish, heretics, as the reformed were
called by the papists.
At the head of these inquisitors was one Dominic, who had
been canonized by the pope, in order to render his authority the more
respectable. Dominic, and the other inquisitors, spread themselves into various
Roman Catholic countries, and treated the Protestants with the utmost severity.
In process of time, the pope, not finding these roving inquisitors so useful as
he had imagined, resolved upon the establishment of fixed and regular courts of
Inquisition. After the order for these regular courts, the first office of
Inquisition was established in the city of Toulouse, and Dominic became the
first regular inquisitor, as he had before been the first roving inquisitor.
Courts of Inquisition were now erected in several
countries; but the Spanish Inquisition became the most powerful, and the most
dreaded of any. Even the kings of Spain themselves, though arbitrary in all
other respects, were taught to dread the power of the lords of the Inquisition;
and the horrid cruelties they exercised compelled multitudes, who differed in
opinion from the Roman Catholics, carefully to conceal their sentiments.
The most zealous of all the popish monks, and those who
most implicitly obeyed the Church of Rome, were the Dominicans and Franciscans:
these, therefore, the pope thought proper to invest with an exclusive right of
presiding over the different courts of Inquisition, and gave them the most
unlimited powers, as judges delegated by him, and immediately representing his
person: they were permitted to excommunicate, or sentence to death whom they
thought proper, upon the most slight information of heresy. They were allowed to
publish crusades against all whom they deemed heretics, and enter into leagues
with sovereign princes, to join their crusades with their forces.
In 1244, their power was further increased by the emperor
Frederic II, who declared himself the protector and friend of all the
inquisitors, and published the cruel edicts, viz., 1. That all heretics who
continue obstinate, should be burnt. 2. That all heretics who repented, should
be imprisoned for life.
This zeal in the emperor, for the inquisitors of the Roman
Catholic persuasion, arose from a report which had been propagated throughout
Europe, that he intended to renounce Christianity, and turn Mahometan; the
emperor therefore, attempted, by the height of bigotry, to contradict the
report, and to show his attachment to popery by cruelty.
The officers of the Inquisition are three inquisitors, or
judges, a fiscal proctor, two secretaries, a magistrate, a messenger, a
receiver, a jailer, an agent of confiscated possessions; several assessors,
counsellors, executioners, physicians, surgeons, doorkeepers, familiars, and
visitors, who are sworn to secrecy.
The principal accusation against those who are subject to
this tribunal is heresy, which comprises all that is spoken, or written, against
any of the articles of the creed, or the traditions of the Roman Church. The
inquisition likewise takes cognizance of such as are accused of being magicians,
and of such who read the Bible in the common language, the Talmud of the Jews,
or the Alcoran of the Mahometans.
Upon all occasions the inquisitors carry on their processes
with the utmost severity, and punish those who offend them with the most
unparalleled cruelty. A Protestant has seldom any mercy shown him, and a Jew,
who turns Christian, is far from being secure.
A defense in the Inquisition is of little use to the
prisoner, for a suspicion only is deemed sufficient cause of condemnation, and
the greater his wealth the greater his danger. The principal part of the
inquisitors' cruelties is owing to their rapacity: they destroy the life to
possess the property; and, under the pretence of zeal, plunder each obnoxious
individual.
A prisoner in the Inquisition is never allowed to see the
face of his accuser, or of the witnesses against him, but every method is taken
by threats and tortures, to oblige him to accuse himself, and by that means
corroborate their evidence. If the jurisdiction of the Inquisition is not fully
allowed, vengeance is denounced against such as call it in question for if any
of its officers are opposed, those who oppose them are almost certain to be
sufferers for the temerity; the maxim of the Inquisition being to strike terror,
and awe those who are the objects of its power into obedience. High birth,
distinguished rank, great dignity, or eminent employments, are no protection
from its severities; and the lowest officers of the Inquisition can make the
highest characters tremble.
When the person impeached is condemned, he is either
severely whipped, violently tortured, sent to the galleys, or sentenced to
death; and in either case the effects are confiscated. After judgment, a
procession is performed to the place of execution, which ceremony is called an
auto da fe, or act of faith.
The following is an account of an auto da fe, performed at
Madrid in the year 1682.
The officers of the Inquisition, preceded by trumpets,
kettledrums, and their banner, marched on the thirtieth of May, in cavalcade, to
the palace of the great square, where they declared by proclamation, that, on
the thirtieth of June, the sentence of the prisoners would be put in execution.
Of these prisoners, twenty men and women, with one renegade
Mahometan, were ordered to be burned; fifty Jews and Jewesses, having never
before been imprisoned, and repenting of their crimes, were sentenced to a long
confinement, and to wear a yellow cap. The whole court of Spain was present on
this occasion. The grand inquisitor's chair was placed in a sort of tribunal far
above that of the king.
Among those who were to suffer, was a young Jewess of
exquisite beauty, and but seventeen years of age. Being on the same side of the
scaffold where the queen was seated, she addressed her, in hopes of obtaining a
pardon, in the following pathetic speech: "Great queen, will not your royal
presence be of some service to me in my miserable condition? Have regard to my
youth; and, oh! consider, that I am about to die for professing a religion
imbibed from my earliest infancy!" Her majesty seemed greatly to pity her
distress, but turned away her eyes, as she did not dare to speak a word in
behalf of a person who had been declared a heretic.
Now Mass began, in the midst of which the priest came from
the altar, placed himself near the scaffold, and seated himself in a chair
prepared for that purpose.
The chief inquisitor then descended from the amphitheater,
dressed in his cope, and having a miter on his head. After having bowed to the
altar, he advanced towards the king's balcony, and went up to it, attended by
some of his officers, carrying a cross and the Gospels, with a book containing
the oath by which the kings of Spain oblige themselves to protect the Catholic
faith, to extirpate heretics, and to support with all their power and force the
prosecutions and decrees of the Inquisition: a like oath was administered to the
counsellors and whole assembly. The Mass was begun about twelve at noon, and did
not end until nine in the evening, being protracted by a proclamation of the
sentence of the several criminals, which were already separately rehearsed aloud
one after the other.
After this followed the burnings of the twenty-one men and
women, whose intrepidity in suffering that horrid death was truly astonishing.
The king's near situation to the criminals rendered their dying groans very
audible to him; he could not, however, be absent from this dreadful scene, as it
is esteemed a religious one; and his coronation oath obliged him to give a
sanction by his presence to all the acts of the tribunal.
What we have already said may be applied to inquisitions in
general, as well as to that of Spain in particular. The Inquisition belonging to
Portugal is exactly upon a similar plan to that of Spain, having been instituted
much about the same time, and put under the same regulations. The inquisitors
allow the torture to be used only three times, but during those times it is so
severely inflicted, that the prisoner either dies under it, or continues always
after a cripple, and suffers the severest pains upon every change of weather. We
shall give an ample description of the severe torments occasioned by the
torture, from the account of one who suffered it the three respective times, but
happily survived the cruelties he underwent.
At the first time of torturing, six executioners entered,
stripped him naked to his drawers, and laid him upon his back on a kind of
stand, elevated a few feet from the floor. The operation commenced by putting an
iron collar round his neck, and a ring to each foot, which fastened him to the
stand. His limbs being thus stretched out, they wound two ropes round each
thigh; which ropes being passed under the scaffold, through holes made for that
purpose, were all drawn tight at the same instant of time, by four of the men,
on a given signal.
It is easy to conceive that the pains which immediately
succeeded were intolerable; the ropes, which were of a small size, cut through
the prisoner's flesh to the bone, making the blood to gush out at eight
different places thus bound at a time. As the prisoner persisted in not making
any confession of what the inquisitors required, the ropes were drawn in this
manner four times successively.
The manner of inflicting the second torture was as follows:
they forced his arms backwards so that the palms of his hands were turned
outward behind him; when, by means of a rope that fastened them together at the
wrists, and which was turned by an engine, they drew them by degrees nearer each
other, in such a manner that the back of each hand touched, and stood exactly
parallel to each other. In consequence of this violent contortion, both his
shoulders became dislocated, and a considerable quantity of blood issued from
his mouth. This torture was repeated thrice; after which he was again taken to
the dungeon, and the surgeon set the dislocated bones.
Two months after the second torture, the prisoner being a
little recovered, was again ordered to the torture room, and there, for the last
time, made to undergo another kind of punishment, which was inflicted twice
without any intermission. The executioners fastened a thick iron chain round his
body, which crossing at the breast, terminated at the wrists. They then placed
him with his back against a thick board, at each extremity whereof was a pulley,
through which there ran a rope that caught the end of the chain at his wrists.
The executioner then, stretching the end of his rope by means of a roller,
placed at a distance behind him, pressed or bruised his stomach in proportion as
the ends of the chains were drawn tighter. They tortured him in this manner to
such a degree, that his wrists, as well as his shoulders, were quite dislocated.
They were, however, soon set by the surgeons; but the barbarians, not yet
satisfied with this species of cruelty, made him immediately undergo the like
torture a second time, which he sustained (though, if possible, attended with
keener pains,) with equal constancy and resolution. After this, he was again
remanded to the dungeon, attended by the surgeon to dress his bruises and adjust
the part dislocated, and here he continued until their auto da fe, or jail
delivery, when he was discharged, crippled and diseased for life.
The fifth day of November, about the year of our Lord 1560,
Mr. Nicholas Burton, citizen sometime of London, and merchant, dwelling in the
parish of Little St. Bartholomew, peaceably and quietly, following his traffic
in the trade of merchandise, and being in the city of Cadiz, in the party of
Andalusia, in Spain, there came into his lodging a Judas, or, as they term them,
a familiar of the fathers of Inquisition; who asking for the said Nicholas
Burton, feigned that he had a letter to deliver into his own hands; by which
means he spake with him immediately. And having no letter to deliver to him,
then the said promoter, or familiar, at the motion of the devil his master,
whose messenger he was, invented another lie, and said he would take lading for
London in such ships as the said Nicholas Burton had freighted to lade, if he
would let any; which was partly to know where he loaded his goods, that they
might attach them, and chiefly to protract the time until the sergeant of the
Inquisition might come and apprehend the body of the said Nicholas Burton; which
they did incontinently.
He then well perceiving that they were not able to burden
or charge him that he had written, spoken, or done any thing there in that
country against the ecclesiastical or temporal laws of the same realm, boldly
asked them what they had to lay to his charge that they did so arrest him, and
bade them to declare the cause, and he would answer them. Notwithstanding they
answered nothing, but commanded him with threatening words to hold his peace,
and not speak one word to them.
And so they carried him to the filthy common prison of the
town of Cadiz where he remained in irons fourteen days amongst thieves.
All which time he so instructed the poor prisoners in the
Word of God, according to the good talent which God had given him in that
behalf, and also in the Spanish tongue to utter the same, that in that short
space he had well reclaimed several of those superstitious and ignorant
Spaniards to embrace the Word of God, and to reject their popish traditions.
Which being known unto the officers of the Inquisition,
they conveyed him laden with irons from thence to a city called Seville, into a
more cruel and straiter prison called Triana, where the said fathers of the
Inquisition proceeded against him secretly according to their accustomable cruel
tyranny, that never after he could be suffered to write or speak to any of his
nation: so that to this day it is unknown who was his accuser.
Afterward, the twentieth of December, they brought the said
Nicholas Burton, with a great number of other prisoners, for professing the true
Christian religion, into the city of Seville, to a place where the said
inquisitors sat in judgment which they called auto, with a canvas coat,
whereupon in divers parts was painted the figure of a huge devil, tormenting a
soul in a flame of fire, and on his head a copping tank of the same work.
His tongue was forced out of his mouth with a cloven stick
fastened upon it, that he should not utter his conscience and faith to the
people, and so he was set with another Englishman of Southampton, and divers
other condemned men for religion, as well Frenchmen as Spaniards, upon a
scaffold over against the said Inquisition, where their sentences and judgments
were read and pronounced against them.
And immediately after the said sentences given, they were
carried from there to the place of execution without the city, where they most
cruelly burned them, for whose constant faith, God is praised.
This Nicholas Burton by the way, and in the flames of fire,
had so cheerful a countenance, embracing death with all patience and gladness,
that the tormentors and enemies which stood by, said, that the devil had his
soul before he came to the fire; and therefore they said his senses of feeling
were past him.
It happened that after the arrest of Nicholas Burton
aforesaid, immediately all the goods and merchandise which he brought with him
into Spain by the way of traffic, were (according to their common usage) seized,
and taken into the sequester; among which they also rolled up much that
appertained to another English merchant, wherewith he was credited as factor.
Whereof as soon as news was brought to the merchant as well of the imprisonment
of his factor, as of the arrest made upon his goods, he sent his attorney into
Spain, with authority from him to make claim to his goods, and to demand them;
whose name was John Fronton, citizen of Bristol.
When his attorney was landed at Seville, and had shown all
his letters and writings to the holy house, requiring them that such goods might
be delivered into his possession, answer was made to him that he must sue by
bill, and retain an advocate (but all was doubtless to delay him,) and they
forsooth of courtesy assigned him one to frame his supplication for him, and
other such bills of petition, as he had to exhibit into their holy court,
demanding for each bill eight reals, albeit they stood him in no more stead than
if he had put up none at all. And for the space of three or four months this
fellow missed not twice a day attending every morning and afternoon at the
inquisitors' palace, suing unto them upon his knees for his despatch, but
especially to the bishop of Tarracon, who was at that very time chief of the
Inquisition at Seville, that he of his absolute authority would command
restitution to be made thereof; but the booty was so good and great that it was
very hard to come by it again.
At length, after he had spent four whole months in suits
and requests, and also to no purpose, he received this answer from them, that he
must show better evidence, and bring more sufficient certificates out of England
for proof of this matter, than those which he had already presented to the
court. Whereupon the party forthwith posted to London, and with all speed
returned to Seville again with more ample and large letters testimonial, and
certificates, according to their requests, and exhibited them to the court.
Notwithstanding, the inquisitors still shifted him off,
excusing themselves by lack of leisure, and for that they were occupied in more
weighty affairs, and with such answers put him off, four months after.
At last, when the party had well nigh spent all his money,
and therefore sued the more earnestly for his despatch, they referred the matter
wholly to the bishop, of whom, when he repaired unto him, he made answer, 'That
for himself, he knew what he had to do, howbeit he was but one man, and the
determination appertained to the other commissioners as well as unto him;' and
thus by posting and passing it from one to another, the party could obtain no
end of his suit. Yet for his importunity's sake, they were resolved to despatch
him: it was on this sort: one of the inquisitors, called Gasco, a man very well
experienced in these practices, willed the party to resort unto him after
dinner.
The fellow being glad to hear this news, and supposing that
his goods should be restored unto him, and that he was called in for that
purpose to talk with the other that was in prison to confer with him about their
accounts, rather through a little misunderstanding, hearing the inquisitors cast
out a word, that it should be needful for him to talk with the prisoner, and
being thereupon more than half persuaded, that at length they meant good faith,
did so, and repaired thither about the evening. Immediately upon his coming, the
jailer was forthwith charged with him, to shut him up close in such a prison
where they appointed him.
The party, hoping at the first that he had been called for
about some other matter, and seeing himself, contrary to his expectation, cast
into a dark dungeon, perceived at length that the world went with him far
otherwise than he supposed it would have done.
But within two or three days after, he was brought into the
court, where he began to demand his goods: and because it was a device that well
served their turn without any more circumstance, they bid him say his Ave Maria:
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus, et
benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus Amen.
The same was written word by word as he spake it, and
without any more talk of claiming his goods, because it was needless, they
commanded him to prison again, and entered an action against him as a heretic,
forasmuch as he did not say his Ave Maria after the Romish fashion, but ended it
very suspiciously, for he should have added moreover; Sancta Maria mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus: by abbreviating whereof, it was evident enough (said
they) that he did not allow the mediation of saints.
Thus they picked a quarrel to detain him in prison a longer
season, and afterward brought him forth upon their stage disguised after their
manner; where sentence was given, that he should lose all the goods which he
sued for, though they were not his own, and besides this, suffer a year's
imprisonment.
Mark Brughes, an Englishman, master of an English ship
called the Minion, was burned in a city in Portugal.
William Hoker, a young man about the age of sixteen years,
being an Englishman, was stoned to death by certain young men in the city of
Seville, for the same righteous cause.
When the crown of Spain was contested for in the beginning
of the present century, by two princes, who equally pretended to the
sovereignty, France espoused the cause of one competitor, and England of the
other.
The duke of Berwick, a natural son of James II who
abdicated England, commanded the Spanish and French forces, and defeated the
English at the celebrated battle of Almanza. The army was then divided into two
parts; the one consisting of Spaniards and French, headed by the duke of
Berwick, advanced towards Catalonia; the other body, consisting of French troops
only, commanded by the duke of Orleans, proceeded to the conquest of Arragon.
As the troops drew near to the city of Arragon, the
magistrates came to offer the keys to the duke of Orleans; but he told them
haughtily that they were rebels, and that he would not accept the keys, for he
had orders to enter the city through a breach.
He accordingly made a breach in the walls with his cannon,
and then entered the city through it, together with his whole army. When he had
made every necessary regulation here, he departed to subdue other places,
leaving a strong garrison at once to overawe and defend, under the command of
his lieutenant-general M. de Legal. This gentleman, though brought up a Roman
Catholic, was totally free from superstition; he united great talents with great
bravery; and was the skilful officer, and accomplished gentleman.
The duke, before his departure, had ordered that heavy
contributions should be levied upon the city in the following manner:
1. That the magistrates and principal
inhabitants should pay a thousand crowns per month for the duke's table.
2. That every house should pay one pistole,
which would monthly amount to
18,000 pistoles.
3. That every convent and monastery should
pay a donative, proportionable to its riches and rents.
The two last contributions to be appropriated to the
maintenance of the army.
The money levied upon the magistrates and principal
inhabitants, and upon every house, was paid as soon as demanded; but when the
persons applied to the heads of convents and monasteries, they found that the
ecclesiastics were not so willing, as other people, to part with their cash.
Of the donatives to be raised by the clergy:
The College of Jesuits to pay - 2000
pistoles.
Carmelites, - 1000
Augustins, - 1000
Dominicans, - 1000
M. de Legal sent to the Jesuits a peremptory order to pay
the money immediately. The superior of the Jesuits returned for answer that for
the clergy to pay money for the army was against all ecclesiastical immunities;
and that he knew of no argument which could authorize such a procedure. M. de
Legal then sent four companies of dragoons to quarter themselves in the college,
with this sarcastic message. "To convince you of the necessity of paying the
money, I have sent four substantial arguments to your college, drawn from the
system of military logic; and, therefore, hope you will not need any further
admonition to direct your conduct."
These proceedings greatly perplexed the Jesuits, who
dispatched an express to court to the king's confessor, who was of their order;
but the dragoons were much more expeditious in plundering and doing mischief,
than the courier in his journey: so that the Jesuits, seeing everything going to
wreck and ruin, thought proper to adjust the matter amicably, and paid the money
before the return of their messenger. The Augustins and Carmelites, taking
warning by what had happened to the Jesuits, prudently went and paid the money,
and by that means escaped the study of military arguments, and of being taught
logic by dragoons.
But the Dominicans, who were all familiars of, or agents
dependent on, the Inquisition, imagined that that very circumstance would be
their protection; but they were mistaken, for M. de Legal neither feared nor
respected the Inquisition. The chief of the Dominicans sent word to the military
commander that his order was poor, and had not any money whatever to pay the
donative; for, says he, "The whole wealth of the Dominicans consists only in the
silver images of the apostles and saints, as large as life, which are placed in
our church, and which it would be sacrilege to remove."
This insinuation was meant to terrify the French commander,
whom the inquisitors imagined would not dare to be so profane as to wish for the
possession of the precious idols.
He, however, sent word that the silver images would make
admirable substitutes for money, and would be more in character in his
possession, than in that of the Dominicans themselves, "For [said he] while you
possess them in the manner you do at present, they stand up in niches, useless
and motionless, without being of the least benefit to mankind in general, or
even to yourselves; but, when they come into my possession, they shall be
useful; I will put them in motion; for I intend to have them coined, when they
may travel like the apostles, be beneficial in various places, and circulate for
the universal service of mankind."
The inquisitors were astonished at this treatment, which
they never expected to receive, even from crowned heads; they therefore
determined to deliver their precious images in a solemn procession, that they
might excite the people to an insurrection. The Dominican friars were
accordingly ordered to march to de Legal's house, with the silver apostles and
saints, in a mournful manner, having lighted tapers with them and bitterly
crying all the way, "heresy, heresy."
M. de Legal, hearing these proceedings, ordered four
companies of grenadiers to line the street which led to his house; each
grenadier was ordered to have his loaded fuzee in one hand, and a lighted taper
in the other; so that the troops might either repel force with force, or do
honor to the farcical solemnity.
The friars did all they could to raise the tumult, but the
common people were too much afraid of the troops under arms to obey them; the
silver images were, therefore, of necessity delivered up to M. de Legal, who
sent them to the mint, and ordered them to be coined immediately.
The project of raising an insurrection having failed, the
inquisitors determined to excommunicate M. de Legal, unless he would release
their precious silver saints from imprisonment in the mint, before they were
melted down, or otherwise mutilated. The French commander absolutely refused to
release the images, but said they should certainly travel and do good; upon
which the inquisitors drew up the form of excommunication, and ordered their
secretary to go and read it to M. de Legal.
The secretary punctually performed his commission, and read
the excommunication deliberately and distinctly. The French commander heard it
with great patience, and politely told the secretary that he would answer it the
next day.
When the secretary of the Inquisition was gone, M. de Legal
ordered his own secretary to prepare a form of excommunication, exactly like
that sent by the Inquisition; but to make this alteration, instead of his name
to put in those of the inquisitors.
The next morning he ordered four regiments under arms, and
commanded them to accompany his secretary, and act as he directed.
The secretary went to the Inquisition, and insisted upon
admittance, which, after a great deal of altercation, was granted. As soon as he
entered, he read, in an audible voice, the excommunication sent by M. de Legal
against the inquisitors. The inquisitors were all present, and heard it with
astonishment, never having before met with any individual who dared to behave so
boldly. They loudly cried out against de Legal, as a heretic; and said, "This
was a most daring insult against the Catholic faith." But to surprise them still
more, the French secretary told them that they must remove from their present
lodgings; for the French commander wanted to quarter the troops in the
Inquisition, as it was the most commodious place in the whole city.
The inquisitors exclaimed loudly upon this occasion, when
the secretary put them under a strong guard, and sent them to a place appointed
by M. de Legal to receive them. The inquisitors, finding how things went, begged
that they might be permitted to take their private property, which was granted;
and they immediately set out for Madrid, where they made the most bitter
complaints to the king; but the monarch told them that he could not grant them
any redress, as the injuries they had received were from his grandfather, the
king of France's troops, by whose assistance alone he could be firmly
established in his kingdom. "Had it been my own troops, [said he] I would have
punished them; but as it is, I cannot pretend to exert any authority."
In the mean time, M. de Legal's secretary set open all the
doors of the Inquisition, and released the prisoners, who amounted in the whole
to four hundred; and among these were sixty beautiful young women, who appeared
to form a seraglio for the three principal inquisitors.
This discovery, which laid the enormity of the inquisitors
so open, greatly alarmed the archbishop, who desired M. de Legal to send the
women to his palace, and he would take proper care of them; and at the same time
he published an ecclesiastical censure against all such as should ridicule, or
blame, the holy office of the Inquisition.
The French commander sent word to the archbishop, that the
prisoners had either run away, or were so securely concealed by their friends,
or even by his own officers, that it was impossible for him to send them back
again; and, therefore, the Inquisition having committed such atrocious actions,
must now put up with their exposure.
Some may suggest, that it is strange crowned heads and
eminent nobles did not attempt to crush the power of the Inquisition, and reduce
the authority of those ecclesiastical tyrants, from whose merciless fangs
neither their families nor themselves were secure.
But astonishing as it is, superstition hath, in this case,
always overcome common sense, and custom operated against reason. One prince,
indeed, intended to abolish the Inquisition, but he lost his life before he
became king, and consequently before he had the power so to do; for the very
intimation of his design procured his destruction.
This was that amiable prince Don Carlos, son of Philip the
Second, king of Spain, and grandson of the celebrated emperor Charles V. Don
Carlos possessed all the good qualities of his grandfather, without any of the
bad ones of his father; and was a prince of great vivacity, admirable learning,
and the most amiable disposition. He had sense enough to see into the errors of
popery, and abhorred the very name of the Inquisition. He inveighed publicly
against the institution, ridiculed the affected piety of the inquisitors, did
all he could to expose their atrocious deeds, and even declared, that if he ever
came to the crown, he would abolish the Inquisition, and exterminate its agents.
These things were sufficient to irritate the inquisitors
against the prince: they, accordingly, bent their minds to vengeance, and
determined on his destruction.
The inquisitors now employed all their agents and
emissaries to spread abroad the most artful insinuations against the prince;
and, at length raised such a spirit of discontent among the people that the king
was under the necessity of removing Don Carlos from court. Not content with
this, they pursued even his friends, and obliged the king likewise to banish Don
John, duke of Austria, his own brother, and consequently uncle to the prince;
together with the prince of Parma, nephew to the king, and cousin to the prince,
because they well knew that both the duke of Austria, and the prince of Parma,
had a most sincere and inviolable attachment to Don Carlos.
Some few years after, the prince having shown great lenity
and favor to the Protestants in the Netherlands, the Inquisition loudly
exclaimed against him, declaring, that as the persons in question were heretics,
the prince himself must necessarily be one, since he gave them countenance. In
short, they gained so great an ascendancy over the mind of the king, who was
absolutely a slave to superstition, that, shocking to relate, he sacrificed the
feelings of nature to the force of bigotry, and, for fear of incurring the anger
of the Inquisition, gave up his only son, passing the sentence of death on him
himself.
The prince, indeed, had what was termed an indulgence; that
is, he was permitted to choose the manner of his death. Roman-like, the
unfortunate young hero chose bleeding and the hot bath; when the veins of his
arms and legs were opened, he expired gradually, falling a martyr to the malice
of the inquisitors, and the stupid bigotry of his father.
Dr. Aegidio was educated at the university of Alcala, where
he took his several degrees, and particularly applied himself to the study of
the sacred Scriptures and school divinity. When the professor of theology died,
he was elected into his place, and acted so much to the satisfaction of every
one that his reputation for learning and piety was circulated throughout Europe.
Aegidio, however, had his enemies, and these laid a
complaint against him to the inquisitors, who sent him a citation, and when he
appeared to it, cast him into a dungeon.
As the greatest part of those who belonged to the cathedral
church at Seville, and many persons belonging to the bishopric of Dortois highly
approved of the doctrines of Aegidio, which they thought perfectly consonant
with true religion, they petitioned the emperor in his behalf. Though the
monarch had been educated a Roman Catholic, he had too much sense to be a bigot,
and therefore sent an immediate order for his enlargement.
He soon after visited the church of Valladolid, and did
every thing he could to promote the cause of religion. Returning home he soon
after fell sick, and died in an extreme old age.
The inquisitors having been disappointed of gratifying
their malice against him while living, determined (as the emperor's whole
thoughts were engrossed by a military expedition) to wreak their vengeance on
him when dead. Therefore, soon after he was buried, they ordered his remains to
be dug out of the grave; and a legal process being carried on, they were
condemned to be burnt, which was executed accordingly.
Dr. Constantine, an intimate acquaintance of the already
mentioned Dr. Aegidio, was a man of uncommon natural abilities and profound
learning; exclusive of several modern tongues, he was acquainted with the Latin,
Greek, and Hebrew languages, and perfectly well knew not only the sciences
called abstruse, but those arts which come under the denomination of polite
literature.
His eloquence rendered him pleasing, and the soundness of
his doctrines a profitable preacher; and he was so popular that he never
preached but to a crowded audience. He had many opportunities of rising in the
Church, but never would take advantage of them; for if a living of greater value
than his own was offered him, he would refuse it, saying, "I am content with
what I have"; and he frequently preached so forcibly against simony, that many
of his superiors, who were not so delicate upon the subject, took umbrage at his
doctrines upon that head.
Having been fully confirmed in Protestantism by Dr.
Aegidio, he preached boldly such doctrines only as were agreeable to Gospel
purity, and uncontaminated by the errors which had at various times crept into
the Romish Church. For these reasons he had many enemies among the Roman
Catholics, and some of them were fully determined on his destruction.
A worthy gentleman named Scobaria, having erected a school
for divinity lectures, appointed Dr. Constantine to be reader therein. He
immediately undertook the task, and read lectures, by portions, on the Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, and Canticles; and was beginning to expound the Book of Job, when
he was seized by the inquisitors.
Being brought to examination, he answered with such
precaution that they could not find any explicit charge against him, but
remained doubtful in what manner to proceed, when the following circumstances
occurred to determine them.
Dr. Constantine had deposited with a woman named Isabella
Martin, several books, which to him were very valuable, but which he knew, in
the eyes of the Inquisition, were exceptionable.
This woman having been informed against as a Protestant,
was apprehended, and, after a small process, her goods were ordered to be
confiscated. Previous, however, to the officers coming to her house, the woman's
son had removed away several chests full of the most valuable articles; among
these were Dr. Constantine's books.
A treacherous servant gave intelligence of this to the
inquisitors, and an officer was dispatched to the son to demand the chests. The
son, supposing the officer only came for Constantine's books, said, "I know what
you come for, and I will fetch them to you immediately." He then fetched Dr.
Constantine's books and papers, when the officer was greatly surprised to find
what he did not look for. He, however, told the young man that he was glad these
books and papers were produced, but nevertheless he must fulfill the end of his
commission, which was to carry him and the goods he had embezzled before the
inquisitors, which he did accordingly; for the young man knew it would be in
vain to expostulate, or resist, and therefore quietly submitted to his fate.
The inquisitors being thus possessed of Constantine's books
and writings, now found matter sufficient to form charges against him. When he
was brought to a re-examination, they presented one of his papers, and asked him
if he knew the handwriting? Perceiving it was his own, he guessed the whole
matter, confessed the writing, and justified the doctrine it contained: saying,
"In that, and all my other writings, I have never departed from the truth of the
Gospel, but have always kept in view the pure precepts of Christ, as He
delivered them to mankind."
After being detained upwards of two years in prison, Dr.
Constantine was seized with a bloody flux, which put an end to his miseries in
this world. The process, however, was carried on against his body, which, at the
ensuing auto da fe, was publicly burnt.
William Gardiner was born at Bristol, received a tolerable
education, and was, at a proper age, placed under the care of a merchant, named
Paget.
At the age of twenty-six years, he was, by his master, sent
to Lisbon to act as factor. Here he applied himself to the study of the
Portuguese language, executed his business with assiduity and despatch, and
behaved with the most engaging affability to all persons with whom he had the
least concern. He conversed privately with a few, whom he knew to be zealous
Protestants; and, at the same time cautiously avoided giving the least offence
to any who were Roman Catholics; he had not, however, hitherto gone into any of
the popish churches.
A marriage being concluded between the king of Portugal's
son, and the Infanta of Spain, upon the wedding-day the bridegroom, bride, and
the whole court went to the cathedral church, attended by multitudes of all
ranks of people, and among the rest William Gardiner, who stayed during the
whole ceremony, and was greatly shocked at the superstitions he saw.
The erroneous worship which he had seen ran strongly in his
mind; he was miserable to see a whole country sunk into such idolatry, when the
truth of the Gospel might be so easily obtained. He, therefore, took the
inconsiderate, though laudable design, into his head, of making a reform in
Portugal, or perishing in the attempt; and determined to sacrifice his prudence
to his zeal, though he became a martyr upon the occasion.
To this end, he settled all his worldly affairs, paid his
debts, closed his books, and consigned over his merchandise. On the ensuing
Sunday he went again to the cathedral church, with a New Testament in his hand,
and placed himself near the altar.
The king and the court soon appeared, and a cardinal began
Mass, at that part of the ceremony in which the people adore the wafer. Gardiner
could hold out no longer, but springing towards the cardinal, he snatched the
host from him, and trampled it under his feet.
This action amazed the whole congregation, and one person,
drawing a dagger, wounded Gardiner in the shoulder, and would, by repeating the
blow, have finished him, had not the king called to him to desist.
Gardiner, being carried before the king, the monarch asked
him what countryman he was: to which he replied, "I am an Englishman by birth, a
Protestant by religion, and a merchant by occupation. What I have done is not
out of contempt to your royal person, God forbid it should, but out of an honest
indignation, to see the ridiculous superstitious and gross idolatries practiced
here."
The king, thinking that he had been stimulated by some
other person to act as he had done, demanded who was his abettor, to which he
replied, "My own conscience alone. I would not hazard what I have done for any
man living, but I owe that and all other services to God."
Gardiner was sent to prison, and a general order issued to
apprehend all Englishmen in Lisbon. This order was in a great measure put into
execution, (some few escaping) and many innocent persons were tortured to make
them confess if they knew any thing of the matter; in particular, a person who
resided in the same house with Gardiner was treated with unparalleled barbarity
to make him confess something which might throw a light upon the affair.
Gardiner himself was then tormented in the most
excruciating manner; but in the midst of all his torments he gloried in the
deed. Being ordered for death, a large fire was kindled near a gibbet, Gardiner
was drawn up to the gibbet by pulleys, and then let down near the fire, but not
so close as to touch it; for they burnt or rather roasted him by slow degrees.
Yet he bore his sufferings patiently and resigned his soul to the Lord
cheerfully.
It is observable that some of the sparks that were blown
from the fire, (which consumed Gardiner) towards the haven, burnt one of the
king's ships of war, and did other considerable damage. The Englishmen who were
taken up on this occasion were, soon after Gardiner's death, all discharged,
except the person who resided in the same house with him, who was detained two
years before he could procure his liberty.
This gentleman was descended from a good family, and having
a natural propensity for traveling, he rambled, when very young, over the
northern and western islands; after which he visited France, Germany,
Switzerland, and Spain. He set out on his travels in the month of March, 1609,
and the first place he went to was Paris, where he stayed for some time. He then
prosecuted his travels through Germany and other parts, and at length arrived at
Malaga, in Spain, the seat of all his misfortunes.
During his residence here, he contracted with the master of
a French ship for his passage to Alexandria, but was prevented from going by the
following circumstances. In the evening of the seventeenth of October, 1620, the
English fleet, at that time on a cruise against the Algerine rovers, came to
anchor before Malaga, which threw the people of the town into the greatest
consternation, as they imagined them to be Turks. The morning, however,
discovered the mistake, and the governor of Malaga, perceiving the cross of
England in their colors, went on board Sir Robert Mansel's ship, who commanded
on that expedition, and after staying some time returned, and silenced the fears
of the people.
The next day many persons from on board the fleet came
ashore. Among these were several well known by Mr. Lithgow, who, after
reciprocal compliments, spent some days together in festivity and the amusements
of the town. They then invited Mr. Lithgow to go on board, and pay his respects
to the admiral. He accordingly accepted the invitation, was kindly received by
him, and detained till the next day when the fleet sailed. The admiral would
willingly have taken Mr. Lithgow with him to Algiers; but having contracted for
his passage to Alexandria, and his baggage, etc., being in the town, he could
not accept the offer.
As soon as Mr. Lithgow got on shore, he proceeded towards
his lodgings by a private way, (being to embark the same night for Alexandria)
when, in passing through a narrow uninhabited street, he found himself suddenly
surrounded by nine sergeants, or officers, who threw a black cloak over him, and
forcibly conducted him to the governor's house. After some little time the
governor appeared when Mr. Lithgow earnestly begged he might be informed of the
cause of such violent treatment. The governor only answered by shaking his head,
and gave orders that the prisoner should be strictly watched until he (the
governor) returned from his devotions; directing, at the same time, that the
captain of the town, the alcade major, and town notary, should be summoned to
appear at his examination, and that all this should be done with the greatest
secrecy, to prevent the knowledge reaching the ears of the English merchants
then residing in the town.
These orders were strictly discharged, and on the
governor's return, he, with the officers, having seated themselves, Mr. Lithgow
was brought before them for examination. The governor began by asking several
questions, namely, of what country he was, whither bound, and how long he had
been in Spain. The prisoner, after answering these and other questions, was
conducted to a closet, where, in a short space of time, he was visited by the
town captain, who inquired whether he had ever been at Seville, or was lately
come from thence; and patting his cheeks with an air of friendship, conjured him
to tell the truth, "For (said he) your very countenance shows there is some
hidden matter in your mind, which prudence should direct you to disclose."
Finding himself, however, unable to extort any thing from the prisoner, he left
him, and reported the same to the governor and the other officers; on which Mr.
Lithgow was again brought before them, a general accusation was laid against
him, and he was compelled to swear that he would give true answers to such
questions as should be asked him.
The governor proceeded to inquire the quality of the
English commander, and the prisoner's opinion what were the motives that
prevented his accepting an invitation from him to come on shore. He demanded,
likewise, the names of the English captains in the squadron, and what knowledge
he had of the embarkation, or preparation for it before his departure from
England. The answers given to the several questions asked were set down in
writing by the notary; but the junto seemed surprised at his denying any
knowledge of the fitting out of the fleet, particularly the governor, who said
he lied; that he was a traitor and a spy, and came directly from England to
favor and assist the designs that were projected against Spain, and that he had
been for that purpose nine months in Seville, in order to procure intelligence
of the time the Spanish navy was expected from the Indies. They exclaimed
against his familiarity with the officers of the fleet, and many other English
gentlemen, between whom, they said, unusual civilities had passed, but all these
transactions had been carefully noticed.
Besides to sum up the whole, and put the truth past all
doubt, they said he came from a council of war, held that morning on board the
admiral's ship, in order to put in execution the orders assigned him. They
upbraided him with being accessory to the burning of the island of St. Thomas,
in the West Indies. "Wherefore (said they) these Lutherans, and sons of the
devil, ought to have no credit given to what they say or swear."
In vain did Mr. Lithgow endeavor to obviate every
accusation laid against him, and to obtain belief from his prejudiced judges. He
begged permission to send for his cloak bag which contained his papers, and
might serve to show his innocence. This request they complied with, thinking it
would discover some things of which they were ignorant. The cloak bag was
accordingly brought, and being opened, among other things, was found a license
from King James the First, under the sign manual, setting forth the bearer's
intention to travel into Egypt; which was treated by the haughty Spaniards with
great contempt. The other papers consisted of passports, testimonials, etc., of
persons of quality. All these credentials, however, seemed rather to confirm
than abate the suspicions of these prejudiced judges, who, after seizing all the
prisoner's papers, ordered him again to withdraw.
In the meantime a consultation was held to fix the place
where the prisoner should be confined. The alcade, or chief judge, was for
putting him into the town prison; but this was objected to, particularly by the
corregidor, who said, in Spanish, "In order to prevent the knowledge of his
confinement from reaching his countrymen, I will take the matter on myself, and
be answerable for the consequences"; upon which it was agreed that he should be
confined in the governor's house with the greatest secrecy.
This matter being determined, one of the sergeants went to
Mr. Lithgow, and begged his money, with liberty to search him. As it was
needless to make any resistance, the prisoner quietly complied, when the
sergeant (after rifling his pockets of eleven ducatoons) stripped him to his
shirt; and searching his breeches he found, enclosed in the wasteland, two
canvass bags, containing one hundred and thirty-seven pieces of gold. The
sergeant immediately took the money to the corregidor, who, after having told it
over, ordered him to clothe the prisoner, and shut him up close until after
supper.
About midnight, the sergeant and two Turkish slaves
released Mr. Lithgow from his then confinement, but it was to introduce him to
one much more horrible. They conducted him through several passages, to a
chamber in a remote part of the palace, towards the garden, where they loaded
him with irons, and extended his legs by means of an iron bar above a yard long,
the weight of which was so great that he could neither stand nor sit, but was
obliged to lie continually on his back. They left him in this condition for some
time, when they returned with a refreshment of food, consisting of a pound of
boiled mutton and a loaf, together with a small quantity of wine; which was not
only the first, but the best and last of the kind, during his confinement in
this place. After delivering these articles, the sergeant locked the door, and
left Mr. Lithgow to his own private contemplations.
The next day he received a visit from the governor, who
promised him his liberty, with many other advantages, if he would confess being
a spy; but on his protesting that he was entirely innocent, the governor left
him in a rage, saying, 'He should see him no more until further torments
constrained him to confess'; commanding the keeper, to whose care he was
committed, that he should permit no person whatever to have access to, or
commune with him; that his sustenance should not exceed three ounces of musty
bread, and a pint of water every second day; that he shall be allowed neither
bed, pillow, nor coverlid. "Close up (said he) this window in his room with lime
and stone, stop up the holes of the door with double mats: let him have nothing
that bears any likeness to comfort." These, and several orders of the like
severity, were given to render it impossible for his condition to be known to
those of the English nation.
In this wretched and melancholy state did poor Lithgow
continue without seeing any person for several days, in which time the governor
received an answer to a letter he had written, relative to the prisoner, from
Madrid; and, pursuant to the instructions given him, began to put in practice
the cruelties devised, which were hastened, because Christmas holy-days
approached, it being then the forty-seventh day since his imprisonment.
About two o'clock in the morning, he heard the noise of a
coach in the street, and sometime after heard the opening of the prison doors,
not having had any sleep for two nights; hunger, pain, and melancholy
reflections having prevented him from taking any repose.
Soon after the prison doors were opened, the nine
sergeants, who had first seized him, entered the place where he lay, and without
uttering a word, conducted him in his irons through the house into the street,
where a coach waited, and into which they laid him at the bottom on his back,
not being able to sit. Two of the sergeants rode with him, and the rest walked
by the coach side, but all observed the most profound silence. They drove him to
a vinepress house, about a league from the town, to which place a rack had been
privately conveyed before; and here they shut him up for that night.
At daybreak the next morning, arrived the governor and the
alcade, into whose presence Mr. Lithgow was immediately brought to undergo
another examination. The prisoner desired he might have an interpreter, which
was allowed to strangers by the laws of that country, but this was refused, nor
would they permit him to appeal to Madrid, the superior court of judicature.
After a long examination, which lasted from morning until night, there appeared
in all his answers so exact a conformity with what he had before said, that they
declared he had learned them by heart, there not being the least prevarication.
They, however, pressed him again to make a full discovery; that is, to accuse
himself of crimes never committed, the governor adding, "You are still in my
power; I can set you free if you comply, if not, I must deliver you to the
alcade." Mr. Lithgow still persisting in his innocence, the governor ordered the
notary to draw up a warrant for delivering him to the alcade to be tortured.
In consequence of this he was conducted by the sergeants to
the end of a stone gallery, where the rack was placed. The encarouador, or
executioner, immediately struck off his irons, which put him to very great
pains, the bolts being so closely riveted that the sledge hammer tore away half
an inch of his heel, in forcing off the bolt; the anguish of which, together
with his weak condition, (not having the least sustenance for three days)
occasioned him to groan bitterly; upon which the merciless alcade said,
"Villain, traitor, this is but the earnest of what you shall endure."
When his irons were off, he fell on his knees, uttering a
short prayer, that God would be pleased to enable him to be steadfast, and
undergo courageously the grievous trial he had to encounter. The alcade and
notary having placed themselves in chairs, he was stripped naked, and fixed upon
the rack, the office of these gentlemen being to be witness of, and set down the
confessions and tortures endured by the delinquent.
It is impossible to describe all the various tortures
inflicted upon him. Suffice it to say that he lay on the rack for above five
hours, during which time he received above sixty different tortures of the most
hellish nature; and had they continued them a few minutes longer, he must have
inevitably perished.
These cruel persecutors being satisfied for the present,
the prisoner was taken from the rack, and his irons being again put on, he was
conducted to his former dungeon, having received no other nourishment than a
little warm wine, which was given him rather to prevent his dying, and reserve
him for future punishments, than from any principle of charity or compassion.
As a confirmation of this, orders were given for a coach to
pass every morning before day by the prison, that the noise made by it might
give fresh terrors and alarms to the unhappy prisoner, and deprive him of all
possibility of obtaining the least repose.
He continued in this horrid situation, almost starved for
want of the common necessaries to preserve his wretched existence, until
Christmas day, when he received some relief from Mariane, waiting-woman to the
governor's lady. This woman having obtained leave to visit him, carried with her
some refreshments, consisting of honey, sugar, raisins, and other articles; and
so affected was she at beholding his situation that she wept bitterly, and at
her departure expressed the greatest concern at not being able to give him
further assistance.
In this loathsome prison was poor Mr. Lithgow kept until he
was almost devoured by vermin. They crawled about his beard, lips, eyebrows,
etc., so that he could scarce open his eyes; and his mortification was increased
by not having the use of his hands or legs to defend himself, from his being so
miserably maimed by the tortures. So cruel was the governor, that he even
ordered the vermin to be swept on him twice in every eight days. He, however,
obtained some little mitigation of this part of his punishment, from the
humanity of a Turkish slave that attended him, who, when he could do it with
safety, destroyed the vermin, and contributed every refreshment to him that laid
in his power.
From this slave Mr. Lithgow at length received information
which gave him little hopes of ever being released, but, on the contrary, that
he should finish his life under new tortures. The substance of this information
was that an English seminary priest, and a Scotch cooper, had been for some time
employed by the governor to translate from the English into the Spanish
language, all his books and observations; and that it was commonly said in the
governor's house, that he was an arch-heretic.
This information greatly alarmed him, and he began, not
without reason, to fear that they would soon finish him, more especially as they
could neither by torture or any other means, bring him to vary from what he had
all along said at his different examinations.
Two days after he had received the above information, the
governor, an inquisitor, and a canonical priest, accompanied by two Jesuits,
entered his dungeon, and being seated, after several idle questions, the
inquisitor asked Mr. Lithgow if he was a Roman Catholic, and acknowledged the
pope's supremacy? He answered that he neither was the one nor did the other,
adding that he was surprised at being asked such questions, since it was
expressly stipulated by the articles of peace between England and Spain that
none of the English subjects should be liable to the Inquisition, or any way
molested by them on account of diversity in religion, etc. In the bitterness of
his soul he made use of some warm expressions not suited to his circumstances:
"As you have almost murdered me (said he) for pretended treason, so now you
intend to make a martyr of me for my religion." He also expostulated with the
governor on the ill return he made to the king of England, (whose subject he
was) for the princely humanity exercised towards the Spaniards in 1588, when
their armada was shipwrecked on the Scotch coast, and thousands of the Spaniards
found relief, who must otherwise have miserably perished.
The governor admitted the truth of what Mr. Lithgow said,
but replied with a haughty air that the king, who then only ruled Scotland, was
actuated more by fear than love, and therefore did not deserve any thanks. One
of the Jesuits said there was no faith to be kept with heretics. The inquisitor
then rising, addressed himself to Mr. Lithgow in the following words: "You have
been taken up as a spy, accused of treachery, and tortured, as we acknowledge,
innocently:
(which appears by the account lately received from Madrid
of the intentions of the English) yet it was the divine power that brought those
judgments upon you, for presumptuously treating the blessed miracle of Loretto
with ridicule, and expressing yourself in your writings irreverently of his
holiness, the great agent and Christ's vicar upon earth; therefore you are
justly fallen into our hands by their special appointment: thy books and papers
are miraculously translated by the assistance of Providence influencing thy own
countrymen."
This trumpery being ended, they gave the prisoner eight
days to consider and resolve whether he would become a convert to their
religion; during which time the inquisitor told him he, with other religious
orders, would attend, to give him such assistance thereto as he might want. One
of the Jesuits said, (first making the sign of the cross upon his breast), "My
son, behold, you deserve to be burnt alive; but by the grace of our lady of
Loretto, whom you have blasphemed we will both save your soul and body."
In the morning the inquisitor, with three other
ecclesiastics, returned, when the former asked the prisoner what difficulties he
had on his conscience that retarded his conversion; to which he answered, 'he
had not any doubts in his mind, being confident in the promises of Christ, and
assuredly believing his revealed will signified in the Gospels, as professed in
the reformed Catholic Church, being confirmed by grace, and having infallible
assurance thereby of the Christian faith.' To these words the inquisitor
replied, "Thou art no Christian, but an absurd heretic, and without conversion a
member of perdition." The prisoner then told him that it was not consistent with
the nature and essence of religion and charity to convince by opprobrious
speeches, racks, and torments, but by arguments deduced from the Scriptures; and
that all other methods would with him be totally ineffectual.
The inquisitor was so enraged at the replies made by the
prisoner, that he struck him on the face, used many abusive speeches, and
attempted to stab him, which he had certainly done had he not been prevented by
the Jesuits; and from this time he never again visited the prisoner.
The next day the two Jesuits returned, and putting on a
very grave, supercilious air, the superior asked him what resolution he had
taken. To which Mr. Lithgow replied that he was already resolved, unless he
could show substantial reasons to make him alter his opinion. The superior,
after a pedantic display of their seven sacraments, the intercession of saints,
transubstantiation, etc., boasted greatly of their Church, her antiquity,
universality, and uniformity; all of which Mr. Lithgow denied: "For (said he)
the profession of the faith I hold hath been ever since the first days of the
apostles, and Christ had ever his own Church (however obscure) in the greatest
time of your darkness."
The Jesuits, finding their arguments had not the desired
effect, that torments could not shake his constancy, nor even the fear of the
cruel sentence he had reason to expect would be pronounced and executed on him,
after severe menaces, left him. On the eighth day after, being the last of their
Inquisition, when sentence is pronounced, they returned again, but quite altered
both in their words and behavior after repeating much of the same kind of
arguments as before, they with seeming tears in their eyes, pretended they were
sorry from their heart he must be obliged to undergo a terrible death, but above
all, for the loss of his most precious soul; and falling on their knees, cried
out, "Convert, convert, O dear brother, for our blessed Lady's sake convert!" To
which he answered, "I fear neither death nor fire, being prepared for both."
The first effects Mr. Lithgow felt of the determination of
this bloody tribunal was, a sentence to receive that night eleven different
tortures, and if he did not die in the execution of them, (which might be
reasonably expected from the maimed and disjointed condition he was in) he was,
after Easter holy-days, to be carried to Grenada, and there burnt to ashes. The
first part of this sentence was executed with great barbarity that night; and it
pleased God to give him strength both of body and mind, to stand fast to the
truth, and to survive the horrid punishments inflicted on him.
After these barbarians had glutted themselves for the
present, with exercising on the unhappy prisoner the most distinguished
cruelties, they again put irons on, and conveyed him to his former dungeon. The
next morning he received some little comfort from the Turkish slave before
mentioned, who secretly brought him, in his shirt sleeve, some raisins and figs,
which he licked up in the best manner his strength would permit with his tongue.
It was to this slave Mr. Lithgow attributed his surviving so long in such a
wretched situation; for he found means to convey some of these fruits to him
twice every week. It is very extraordinary, and worthy of note, that this poor
slave, bred up from his infancy, according to the maxims of his prophet and
parents, in the greatest detestation of Christians, should be so affected at the
miserable situation of Mr. Lithgow that he fell ill, and continued so for
upwards of forty days. During this period Mr. Lithgow was attended by a negro
woman, a slave, who found means to furnish him with refreshments still more
amply than the Turk, being conversant in the house and family. She brought him
every day some victuals, and with it some wine in a bottle.
The time was now so far elapsed, and the horrid situation
so truly loathsome, that Mr. Lithgow waited with anxious expectation for the
day, which, by putting an end to his life, would also end his torments. But his
melancholy expectations were, by the interposition of Providence, happily
rendered abortive, and his deliverance obtained from the following
circumstances.
It happened that a Spanish gentleman of quality came from
Grenada to Malaga, who being invited to an entertainment by the governor,
informed him of what had befallen Mr. Lithgow from the time of his being
apprehended as a spy, and described the various sufferings he had endured. He
likewise told him that after it was known the prisoner was innocent, it gave him
great concern. That on this account he would gladly have released him, restored
his money and papers, and made some atonement for the injuries he had received,
but that, upon an inspection into his writings, several were found of a very
blasphemous nature, highly reflecting on their religion, that on his refusing to
abjure these heretical opinions, he was turned over to the Inquisition, by whom
he was finally condemned.
While the governor was relating this tragical tale, a
Flemish youth (servant to the Spanish gentleman) who waited at the table, was
struck with amazement and pity at the sufferings of the stranger described. On
his return to his master's lodgings he began to revolve in his mind what he had
heard, which made such an impression on him that he could not rest in his bed.
In the short slumbers he had, his imagination pointed to him the person
described, on the rack, and burning in the fire. In this anxiety he passed the
night; and when the morning came, without disclosing his intentions to any
person whatever, he went into the town, and inquired for an English factor. He
was directed to the house of a Mr. Wild, to whom he related the whole of what he
had heard pass the preceding evening, between his master and the governor, but
could not tell Mr. Lithgow's name. Mr. Wild, however, conjectured it was he, by
the servant's remembering the circumstance of his being a traveler, and his
having had some acquaintance with him.
On the departure of the Flemish servant, Mr. Wild
immediately sent for the other English factors, to whom he related all the
particulars relative to their unfortunate countryman. After a short consultation
it was agreed that an information of the whole affair should be sent, by
express, to Sir Walter Aston, the English ambassador to the king of Spain, then
at Madrid. This was accordingly done, and the ambassador having presented a
memorial to the king and council of Spain, obtained an order for Mr. Lithgow's
enlargement, and his delivery to the English factor. This order was directed to
the governor of Malaga; and was received with great dislike and surprise by the
whole assembly of the bloody Inquisition.
Mr. Lithgow was released from his confinement on the eve of
Easter Sunday, when he was carried from his dungeon on the back of the slave who
had attended him, to the house of one Mr. Bosbich, where all proper comforts
were given him. It fortunately happened that there was at this time a squadron
of English ships in the road, commanded by Sir Richard Hawkins, who being
informed of the past sufferings and present situation of Mr. Lithgow, came the
next day ashore, with a proper guard, and received him from the merchants. He
was instantly carried in blankets on board the Vanguard, and three days after
was removed to another ship, by direction of the general Sir Robert Mansel, who
ordered that he should have proper care taken of him. The factor presented him
with clothes, and all necessary provisions, besides which they gave him two
hundred reals in silver; and Sir Richard Hawkins sent him two double pistoles.
Before his departure from the Spanish coast, Sir Richard
Hawkins demanded the delivery of his papers, money, books, etc., but could not
obtain any satisfactory answer on that head.
We cannot help making a pause here to reflect how
manifestly Providence interfered in behalf of this poor man, when he was just on
the brink of destruction; for by his sentence, from which there was no appeal,
he would have been taken, in a few days, to Grenada, and burnt to ashes; and
that a poor ordinary servant, who had not the least knowledge of him, nor was
any ways interested in his preservation, should risk the displeasure of his
master, and hazard his own life, to disclose a thing of so momentous and
perilous a nature, to a strange gentleman, on whose secrecy depended his own
existence. By such secondary means does Providence frequently interfere in
behalf of the virtuous and oppressed; of which this is a most distinguished
example.
After lying twelve days in the road, the ship weighed
anchor, and in about two months arrived safe at Deptford. The next morning, Mr.
Lithgow was carried on a feather bed to Theobalds, in Hertfordshire, where at
that time was the king and royal family. His majesty happened to be that day
engaged in hunting, but on his return in the evening, Mr. Lithgow was presented
to him, and related the particulars of his sufferings, and his happy delivery.
The king was so affected at the narrative, that he expressed the deepest
concern, and gave orders that he should be sent to Bath, and his wants properly
supplied from his royal munificence. By these means, under God, after some time,
Mr. Lithgow was restored from the most wretched spectacle, to a great share of
health and strength; but he lost the use of his left arm and several of the
smaller bones were so crushed and broken, as to be ever after rendered useless.
Notwithstanding that every effort was used, Mr. Lithgow
could never obtain any part of his money or effects, although his majesty and
the ministers of state interested themselves in his behalf. Gondamore, the
Spanish ambassador, indeed, promised that all his effects should be restored,
with the addition of 1000 Pounds English money, as some atonement for the
tortures he had undergone, which last was to be paid him by the governor of
Malaga. These engagements, however, were but mere promises; and although the
king was a kind of guarantee for the well performance of them, the cunning
Spaniard found means to elude the same. He had, indeed, too great a share of
influence in the English council during the time of that pacific reign, when
England suffered herself to be bullied into slavish compliance by most of the
states and kings in Europe.
The most eminent men of science and philosophy of the day
did not escape the watchful eye of this cruel despotism. Galileo, the chief
astronomer and mathematician of his age, was the first who used the telescope
successfully in solving the movements of the heavenly bodies. He discovered that
the sun is the center of motion around which the earth and various planets
revolve. For making this great discovery Galileo was brought before the
Inquisition, and for a while was in great danger of being put to death.
After a long and bitter review of Galileo's writings, in
which many of his most important discoveries were condemned as errors, the
charge of the inquisitors went on to declare, "That you, Galileo, have upon
account of those things which you have written and confessed, subjected yourself
to a strong suspicion of heresy in this Holy Office, by believing, and holding
to be true, a doctrine which is false, and contrary to the sacred and divine
Scripture- viz., that the sun is the center of the orb of the earth, and does
not move from the east to the west; and that the earth moves, and is not the
center of the world."
In order to save his life. Galileo admitted that he was
wrong in thinking that the earth revolved around the sun, and swore that-"For
the future, I will never more say, or assert, either by word or writing,
anything that shall give occasion for a like suspicion." But immediately after
taking this forced oath he is said to have whispered to a friend standing near,
"The earth moves, for all that."
Of the multitudes who perished by the Inquisition
throughout the world, no authentic record is now discoverable. But wherever
popery had power, there was the tribunal. It had been planted even in the east,
and the Portuguese Inquisition of Goa was, until within these few years, fed
with many an agony. South America was partitioned into provinces of the
Inquisition; and with a ghastly mimicry of the crimes of the mother state, the
arrivals of viceroys, and the other popular celebrations were thought imperfect
without an auto da fe. The Netherlands were one scene of slaughter from the time
of the decree which planted the Inquisition among them. In Spain the calculation
is more attainable. Each of the seventeen tribunals during a long period burned
annually, on an average, ten miserable beings! We are to recollect that this
number was in a country where persecution had for ages abolished all religious
differences, and where the difficulty was not to find the stake, but the
offering. Yet, even in Spain, thus gleaned of all heresy, the Inquisition could
still swell its lists of murders to thirty-two thousand! The numbers burned in
effigy, or condemned to penance, punishments generally equivalent to exile,
confiscation, and taint of blood, to all ruin but the mere loss of worthless
life, amounted to three hundred and nine thousand. But the crowds who perished
in dungeons of torture, of confinement, and of broken hearts, the millions of
dependent lives made utterly helpless, or hurried to the grave by the death of
the victims, are beyond all register; or recorded only before HIM, who has sworn
that "He that leadeth into captivity, shall go into captivity: he that killeth
with the sword must be killed with the sword."
Such was the Inquisition, declared by the Spirit of God to
be at once the offspring and the image of the popedom. To feel the force of the
parentage, we must look to the time. In the thirteenth century, the popedom was
at the summit of mortal dominion; it was independent of all kingdoms; it ruled
with a rank of influence never before or since possessed by a human scepter; it
was the acknowledged sovereign of body and soul; to all earthly intents its
power was immeasurable for good or evil. It might have spread literature, peace,
freedom, and Christianity to the ends of Europe, or the world. But its nature
was hostile; its fuller triumph only disclosed its fuller evil; and, to the
shame of human reason, and the terror and suffering of human virtue, Rome, in
the hour of its consummate grandeur, teemed with the monstrous and horrid birth
of the INQUISITION!
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.
2. The seat of the pontiff.
3. The source of the various errors which
have spread themselves over other countries, deluded the minds of thousands, and
diffused the clouds of superstition and bigotry over the human
understanding.
In pursuing our narrative we shall include the most
remarkable persecutions which have happened, and the cruelties which have been
practiced,
1. By the immediate power of the pope.
2. Through the power of the Inquisition.
3. By the bigotry of the Italian princes.
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 propagated 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.
In the fourteenth century, many of the Waldenses of Pragela
and Dauphiny, emigrated to Calabria, and settling some waste lands, by the
permission of the nobles of that country, they soon, by the most industrious
cultivation, made several wild and barren spots appear with all the beauties of
verdure and fertility.
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 anything 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, dispatched 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
throughout 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.
Many of the Waldenses, to avoid the persecutions to which
they were continually subjected in France, went and settled in the valleys of
Piedmont, where they increased exceedingly, and flourished very much for a
considerable time.
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 disturbance: they, accordingly,
complained to the archbishop of Turin that the Waldenses of the valleys of
Piedmont were heretics, for these reasons:
1. That they did not believe in the
doctrines of the Church of Rome.
2. That they made no offerings or prayers
for the dead.
3. That they did not go to Mass.
4. That they did not confess, and receive
absolution.
5. That they did not believe in purgatory,
or pay money to get the souls of their friends out of it.
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 defense, 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 traveling 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 defense, 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.
2. That to prove their obedience, they
should send twelve of their principal persons, with all their ministers and
schoolmasters, to Turin, to be dealt with at discretion.
3. That the pope, the king of France, and
the duke of Savoy, approved of, and authorized the proceedings of the parliament
of Turin, upon this occasion.
4. That if the Waldenses of the valleys of
Piedmont refused to comply with these propositions, persecution should ensue,
and certain death be their portion.
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.
2. That they would never consent to commit
their best and most respectable friends, to the custody and discretion of their
worst and most inveterate enemies.
3. That they valued the approbation of the
King of kings, who reigns in heaven, more than any temporal authority.
4. That their souls were more precious than
their bodies.
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 tranquility,
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 discharged 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.
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 practiced 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 Parts 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 dispatched 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 dispatched 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.
2. That he should wear the image of the
devil upon his head.
3. That his breeches should be painted with
the representation of flames.
4. That he should have his right hand cut
off.
5. That after having been carried about thus
in procession, he should be burnt.
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.
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 behind, were seized, plundered, and put to death.
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.
2. That the church livings may be all under
one mode of government.
3. To make a union among all parties.
4. In honor of all the saints, and of the
ceremonies of the Church of 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.
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.
2. Transubstantiation.
3. Purgatory.
4. The pope's infallibility.
5. That masses said for the dead will
release souls from purgatory.
6. That praying to saints will procure the
remission of sins.
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.
2. That to fancy the words of consecration
perform what the papists call transubstantiation, by converting the wafer and
wine into the real and identical body and blood of Christ, which was crucified,
and which afterward ascended into heaven, is too gross an absurdity for even a
child to believe, who was come to the least glimmering of reason; and that
nothing but the most blind superstition could make the Roman Catholics put a
confidence in anything so completely ridiculous.
3. That the doctrine of purgatory was more
inconsistent and absurd than a fairy tale.
4. That the pope's being infallible was an
impossibility, and the pope arrogantly laid claim to what could belong to God
only, as a perfect being.
5. That saying Masses for the dead was
ridiculous, and only meant to keep up a belief in the fable of purgatory, as the
fate of all is finally decided, on the departure of the soul from the body.
6. That praying to saints for the remission
of sins is misplacing adoration; as the saints themselves have occasion for an
intercessor in Christ. Therefore, as God only can pardon our errors, we ought to
sue to him alone for pardon.
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 musketeers to draw up and fire
upon her, by which she was soon dispatched, 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 dispatching
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
dispatched him without the least hesitation.
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.
4. To go to Mass.
5. To pray to the saints.
6. To wear beards.
7. To deliver up their ministers.
8. To deliver up their
schoolmasters.
9. To go to confession.
10. To pay loans for the delivery of souls from
purgatory.
11. To give up Captain Gianavel at
discretion.
12. To give up the elders of their church at
discretion.
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
depredations, 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,
"There is no torment so great or death so cruel, but what I
would prefer to the abjuration of my religion: so that promises lose their
effects, and menaces only strengthen me in my faith.
"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 dispatched
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.
2. That with respect to the Roman Catholics
who had borne arms, whether they belonged to the army or not, he should act by
the law of retaliation, and put them to death, for the numerous depredations and
many cruel murders they had committed.
3. That all women and children, whatever
their religion might be, should be safe.
4. That he commanded all male Protestants to
leave the town and join him.
5. That all apostates, who had, through
weakness, abjured their religion, should be deemed enemies, unless they
renounced their abjuration.
6. That all who returned to their duty to
God, and themselves, should be received as friends.
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 dispatched 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.
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 learning, 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 were 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 entrusted 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 tranquility; 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 VII
An Account of the Life and Persecutions of John Wickliffe
It will not be inappropriate to devote a few pages of this
work to a brief detail of the lives of some of those men who first stepped
forward, regardless of the bigoted power which opposed all reformation, to stem
the time of papal corruption, and to seal the pure doctrines of the Gospel with
their blood.
Among these, Great Britain has the honor of taking the
lead, and first maintaining that freedom in religious controversy which
astonished Europe, and demonstrated that political and religious liberty are
equally the growth of that favored island. Among the earliest of these eminent
persons was John Wickliffe.
This celebrated reformer, denominated the "Morning Star of
the Reformation," was born about the year 1324, in the reign of Edward II. Of
his extraction we have no certain account. His parents designing him for the
Church, sent him to Queen's College, Oxford, about that period founded by Robert
Eaglesfield, confessor to Queen Philippi. But not meeting with the advantages
for study in that newly established house which he expected, he removed to
Merton College, which was then esteemed one of the most learned societies in
Europe.
The first thing which drew him into public notice, was his
defense of the university against the begging friars, who about this time, from
their settlement in Oxford in 1230, had been troublesome neighbors to the
university. Feuds were continually fomented; the friars appealing to the pope,
the scholars to the civil power; and sometimes one party, and sometimes, the
other, prevailed. The friars became very fond of a notion that Christ was a
common beggar; that his disciples were beggars also; and that begging was of
Gospel institution. This doctrine they urged from the pulpit and wherever they
had access.
Wickliffe had long held these religious friars in contempt
for the laziness of their lives, and had now a fair opportunity of exposing
them. He published a treatise against able beggary, in which he lashed the
friars, and proved that they were not only a reproach to religion, but also to
human society. The university began to consider him one of their first
champions, and he was soon promoted to the mastership of Baliol College.
About this time, Archbishop Islip founded Canterbury Hall,
in Oxford, where he established a warden and eleven scholars. To this wardenship
Wickliffe was elected by the archbishop, but upon his demise, he was displaced
by his successor, Stephen Langham, bishop of Ely. As there was a degree of
flagrant injustice in the affair, Wickliffe appealed to the pope, who
subsequently gave it against him from the following cause: Edward III, then king
of England, had withdrawn the tribune, which from the time of King John had been
paid to the pope. The pope menaced; Edward called a parliament. The parliament
resolved that King John had done an illegal thing, and given up the rights of
the nation, and advised the king not to submit, whatever consequences might
follow.
The clergy now began to write in favor of the pope, and a
learned monk published a spirited and plausible treatise, which had many
advocates. Wickliffe, irritated at seeing so bad a cause so well defended,
opposed the monk, and did it in so masterly a way that he was considered no
longer as unanswerable. His suit at Rome was immediately determined against him;
and nobody doubted but his opposition to the pope, at so critical a period, was
the true cause of his being non-suited at Rome.
Wickliffe was afterward elected to the chair of the
divinity professor: and now fully convinced of the errors of the Romish Church,
and the vileness of its monastic agents, he determined to expose them. In public
lectures he lashed their vices and opposed their follies. He unfolded a variety
of abuses covered by the darkness of superstition. At first he began to loosen
the prejudices of the vulgar, and proceeded by slow advances; with the
metaphysical disquisitions of the age, he mingled opinions in divinity
apparently novel. The usurpations of the court of Rome was a favorite topic. On
these he expatiated with all the keenness of argument, joined to logical
reasoning. This soon procured him the clamor of the clergy, who, with the
archbishop of Canterbury, deprived him of his office.
At this time the administration of affairs was in the hands
of the duke of Lancaster, well known by the name of John of Gaunt. This prince
had very free notions of religion, and was at enmity with the clergy. The
exactions of the court of Rome having become very burdensome, he determined to
send the bishop of Bangor and Wickliffe to remonstrate against these abuses, and
it was agreed that the pope should no longer dispose of any benefices belonging
to the Church of England. In this embassy, Wickliffe's observant mind penetrated
into the constitution and policy of Rome, and he returned more strongly than
ever determined to expose its avarice and ambition.
Having recovered his former situation, he inveighed, in his
lectures, against the pope-his usurpation-his infallibility-his pride-his
avarice- and his tyranny. He was the first who termed the pope Antichrist. From
the pope, he would turn to the pomp, the luxury, and trappings of the bishops,
and compared them with the simplicity of primitive bishops. Their superstitions
and deceptions were topics that he urged with energy of mind and logical
precision.
From the patronage of the duke of Lancaster, Wickliffe
received a good benefice; but he was no sooner settled in his parish, than his
enemies and the bishops began to persecute him with renewed vigor. The duke of
Lancaster was his friend in this persecution, and by his presence and that of
Lord Percy, earl marshal of England, he so overawed the trial, that the whole
ended in disorder.
After the death of Edward III his grandson Richard II
succeeded, in the eleventh year of his age. The duke of Lancaster not obtaining
to be the sole regent, as he expected, his power began to decline, and the
enemies of Wickliffe, taking advantage of the circumstance, renewed their
articles of accusation against him. Five bulls were dispatched in consequence by
the pope to the king and certain bishops, but the regency and the people
manifested a spirit of contempt at the haughty proceedings of the pontiff, and
the former at that time wanting money to oppose an expected invasion of the
French, proposed to apply a large sum, collected for the use of the pope, to
that purpose. The question was submitted to the decision of Wickliffe. The
bishops, however, supported by the papal authority, insisted upon bringing
Wickliffe to trial, and he was actually undergoing examination at Lambeth, when,
from the riotous behavior of the populace without, and awed by the command of
Sir Lewis Clifford, a gentleman of the court, that they should not proceed to
any definitive sentence, they terminated the whole affair in a prohibition to
Wickliffe, not to preach those doctrines which were obnoxious to the pope; but
this was laughed at by our reformer, who, going about barefoot, and in a long
frieze gown, preached more vehemently than before.
In the year 1378, a contest arose between two popes, Urban
VI and Clement VII which was the lawful pope, and true vicegerent of God. This
was a favorable period for the exertion of Wicliffe's talents: he soon produced
a tract against popery, which was eagerly read by all sorts of people.
About the end of the year, Wickliffe was seized with a
violent disorder, which it was feared might prove fatal. The begging friars,
accompanied by four of the most eminent citizens of Oxford, gained admittance to
his bed chamber, and begged of him to retract, for his soul's sake, the unjust
things he had asserted of their order. Wickliffe, surprised at the solemn
message, raised himself in his bed, and with a stern countenance replied, "I
shall not die, but live to declare the evil deeds of the friars."
When Wickliffe recovered, he set about a most important
work, the translation of the Bible into English. Before this work appeared, he
published a tract, wherein he showed the necessity of it. The zeal of the
bishops to suppress the Scriptures greatly promoted its sale, and they who were
not able to purchase copies, procured transcripts of particular Gospels or
Epistles. Afterward, when Lollardy increased, and the flames kindled, it was a
common practice to fasten about the neck of the condemned heretic such of these
scraps of Scripture as were found in his possession, which generally shared his
fate.
Immediately after this transaction, Wickliffe ventured a
step further, and affected the doctrine of transubstantiation. This strange
opinion was invented by Paschade Radbert, and asserted with amazing boldness.
Wickliffe, in his lecture before the University of Oxford, 1381, attacked this
doctrine, and published a treatise on the subject. Dr. Barton, at this time
vice-chancellor of Oxford, calling together the heads of the university,
condemned Wickliffe's doctrines as heretical, and threatened their author with
excommunication. Wickliffe could now derive no support from the duke of
Lancaster, and being cited to appear before his former adversary, William
Courteney, now made archbishop of Canterbury, he sheltered himself under the
plea, that, as a member of the university, he was exempt from episcopal
jurisdiction. This plea was admitted, as the university were determined to
support their member.
The court met at the appointed time, determined, at least
to sit in judgment upon his opinions, and some they condemned as erroneous,
others as heretical. The publication on this subject was immediately answered by
Wickliffe, who had become a subject of the archbishop's determined malice. The
king, solicited by the archbishop, granted a license to imprison the teacher of
heresy, but the commons made the king revoke this act as illegal. The primate,
however, obtained letters from the king, directing the head of the University of
Oxford to search for all heresies and books published by Wickliffe; in
consequence of which order, the university became a scene of tumult. Wickliffe
is supposed to have retired from the storm, into an obscure part of the kingdom.
The seeds, however, were scattered, and Wickliffe's opinions were so prevalent
that it was said if you met two persons upon the road, you might be sure that
one was a Lollard. At this period, the disputes between the two popes continued.
Urban published a bull, in which he earnestly called upon all who had any regard
for religion, to exert themselves in its cause; and to take up arms against
Clement and his adherents in defense of the holy see.
A war, in which the name of religion was so vilely
prostituted, roused Wickliffe's inclination, even in his declining years. He
took up his pen once more, and wrote against it with the greatest acrimony. He
expostulated with the pope in a very free manner, and asks him boldly: 'How he
durst make the token of Christ on the cross (which is the token of peace, mercy
and charity) a banner to lead us to slay Christian men, for the love of two
false priests, and to oppress Christendom worse than Christ and his apostles
were oppressed by the Jews? 'When,' said he, 'will the proud priest of Rome
grant indulgences to mankind to live in peace and charity, as he now does to
fight and slay one another?'
This severe piece drew upon him the resentment of Urban,
and was likely to have involved him in greater troubles than he had before
experienced, but providentially he was delivered out of their hands. He was
struck with the palsy, and though he lived some time, yet it was in such a way
that his enemies considered him as a person below their resentment.
Wickliffe returning within short space, either from his
banishment, or from some other place where he was secretly kept, repaired to his
parish of Lutterworth, where he was parson; and there, quietly departing this
mortal life, slept in peace in the Lord, in the end of the year 1384, upon
Silvester's day. It appeared that he was well aged before he departed, "and that
the same thing pleased him in his old age, which did please him being young."
Wickliffe had some cause to give them thanks, that they
would at least spare him until he was dead, and also give him so long respite
after his death, forty-one years to rest in his sepulcher before they ungraved
him, and turned him from earth to ashes; which ashes they also took and threw
into the river. And so was he resolved into three elements, earth, fire, and
water, thinking thereby utterly to extinguish and abolish both the name and
doctrine of Wickliffe forever. Not much unlike the example of the old Pharisees
and sepulcher knights, who, when they had brought the Lord unto the grave,
thought to make him sure never to rise again. But these and all others must know
that, as there is no counsel against the Lord, so there is no keeping down of
verity, but it will spring up and come out of dust and ashes, as appeared right
well in this man; for though they dug up his body, burned his bones, and drowned
his ashes, yet the Word of God and the truth of his doctrine, with the fruit and
success thereof, they could not burn.
CHAPTER VIII
An Account of the Persecutions in Bohemia Under the Papacy
The Roman pontiffs having usurped a power over several
churches were particularly severe on the Bohemians, which occasioned them to
send two ministers and four lay-brothers to Rome, in the year 977, to obtain
redress of the pope. After some delay, their request was granted, and their
grievances redressed. Two things in particular they were permitted to do, viz.,
to have divine service performed in their own language, and to give the cup to
the laity in the Sacrament.
The disputes, however, soon broke out again, the succeeding
popes exerting their whole power to impose on the minds of the Bohemians; and
the latter, with great spirit, aiming to preserve their religious liberties.
In A.D. 1375, some zealous friends of the Gospel applied to
Charles, king of Bohemia, to call an ecumenical Council, for an inquiry into the
abuses that had crept into the Church, and to make a full and thorough
reformation. The king, not knowing how to proceed, sent to the pope for
directions how to act; but the pontiff was so incensed at this affair that his
only reply was, "Severely punish those rash and profane heretics." The monarch,
accordingly banished every one who had been concerned in the application, and,
to oblige the pope, laid a great number of additional restraints upon the
religious liberties of the people.
The victims of persecution, however, were not so numerous
in Bohemia, until after the burning of John Huss and Jerome of Prague. These two
eminent reformers were condemned and executed at the instigation of the pope and
his emissaries, as the reader will perceive by the following short sketches of
their lives.
John Huss was born at Hussenitz, a village in Bohemia,
about the year 1380. His parents gave him the best education their circumstances
would admit; and having acquired a tolerable knowledge of the classics at a
private school, he was removed to the university of Prague, where he soon gave
strong proofs of his mental powers, and was remarkable for his diligence and
application to study.
In 1398, Huss commenced bachelor of divinity, and was after
successively chosen pastor of the Church of Bethlehem, in Prague, and dean and
rector of the university. In these stations he discharged his duties with great
fidelity; and became, at length, so conspicuous for his preaching, which was in
conformity with the doctrines of Wickliffe, that it was not likely he could long
escape the notice of the pope and his adherents, against whom he inveighed with
no small degree of asperity.
The English reformist, Wickliffe, had so kindled the light
of reformation, that it began to illumine the darkest corners of popery and
ignorance. His doctrines spread into Bohemia, and were well received by great
numbers of people, but by none so particularly as John Huss, and his zealous
friend and fellow martyr, Jerome of Prague.
The archbishop of Prague, finding the reformists daily
increasing, issued a decree to suppress the further spreading of Wickliffe's
writings: but this had an effect quite different to what he expected, for it
stimulated the friends of those doctrines to greater zeal, and almost the whole
university united to propagate them.
Being strongly attached to the doctrines of Wickliffe, Huss
opposed the decree of the archbishop, who, however, at length, obtained a bull
from the pope, giving him commission to prevent the publishing of Wickliffe's
doctrines in his province. By virtue of this bull, the archbishop condemned the
writings of Wickliffe: he also proceeded against four doctors, who had not
delivered up the copies of that divine, and prohibited them, notwithstanding
their privileges, to preach to any congregation. Dr. Huss, with some other
members of the university, protested against these proceedings, and entered an
appeal from the sentence of the archbishop.
The affair being made known to the pope, he granted a
commission to Cardinal Colonna, to cite John Huss to appear personally at the
court of Rome, to answer the accusations laid against him, of preaching both
errors and heresies. Dr. Huss desired to be excused from a personal appearance,
and was so greatly favored in Bohemia, that King Winceslaus, the queen, the
nobility, and the university, desired the pope to dispense with such an
appearance; as also that he would not suffer the kingdom of Bohemia to lie under
the accusation of heresy, but permit them to preach the Gospel with freedom in
their places of worship.
Three proctors appeared for Dr. Huss before Cardinal
Colonna. They endeavored to excuse his absence, and said they were ready to
answer in his behalf. But the cardinal declared Huss contumacious, and
excommunicated him accordingly. The proctors appealed to the pope, and appointed
four cardinals to examine the process: these commissioners confirmed the former
sentence, and extended the excommunication not only to Huss but to all his
friends and followers.
From this unjust sentence Huss appealed to a future
Council, but without success; and, notwithstanding so severe a decree, and an
expulsion in consequence from his church in Prague, he retired to Hussenitz, his
native place, where he continued to promulgate his new doctrine, both from the
pulpit and with the pen.
The letters which he wrote at this time were very numerous;
and he compiled a treatise in which he maintained, that reading the books of
Protestants could not be absolutely forbidden. He wrote in defense of
Wickliffe's book on the Trinity; and boldly declared against the vices of the
pope, the cardinals, and clergy, of those corrupt times. He wrote also many
other books, all of which were penned with a strength of argument that greatly
facilitated the spreading of his doctrines.
In the month of November, 1414, a general Council was
assembled at Constance, in Germany, in order, as was pretended, for the sole
purpose of determining a dispute then pending between three persons who
contended for the papacy; but the real motive was to crush the progress of the
Reformation.
John Huss was summoned to appear at this Council; and, to
encourage him, the emperor sent him a safe-conduct: the civilities, and even
reverence, which Huss met with on his journey were beyond imagination. The
streets, and sometimes the very roads, were lined with people, whom respect,
rather than curiosity, had brought together.
He was ushered into the town with great acclamations, and
it may be said that he passed through Germany in a kind of triumph. He could not
help expressing his surprise at the treatment he received: "I thought (said he)
I had been an outcast. I now see my worst friends are in Bohemia."
As soon as Huss arrived at Constance, he immediately took
lodgings in a remote part of the city. A short time after his arrival, came one
Stephen Paletz, who was employed by the clergy at Prague to manage the intended
prosecution against him. Paletz was afterwards joined by Michael de Cassis, on
the part of the court of Rome. These two declared themselves his accusers, and
drew up a set of articles against him, which they presented to the pope and the
prelates of the Council.
When it was known that he was in the city he was
immediately arrested, and committed prisoner to a chamber in the palace. This
violation of common law and justice was particularly noticed by one of Huss's
friends, who urged the imperial safe-conduct; but the pope replied he never
granted any safe-conduct, nor was he bound by that of the emperor.
While Huss was in confinement, the Council acted the part
of inquisitors. They condemned the doctrines of Wickliffe, and even ordered his
remains to be dug up and burned to ashes; which orders were strictly complied
with. In the meantime, the nobility of Bohemia and Poland strongly interceded
for Huss; and so far prevailed as to prevent his being condemned unheard, which
had been resolved on by the commissioners appointed to try him.
When he was brought before the Council, the articles
exhibited against him were read: they were upwards of forty in number, and
chiefly extracted from his writings.
John Huss's answer was this: "I did appeal unto the pope;
who being dead, and the cause of my matter remaining undetermined, I appealed
likewise unto his successor John XXIII: before whom when, by the space of two
years, I could not be admitted by my advocates to defend my cause, I appealed
unto the high judge Christ."
When John Huss had spoken these words, it was demanded of
him whether he had received absolution of the pope or no? He answered, "No."
Then again, whether it was lawful for him to appeal unto Christ or no? Whereunto
John Huss answered: "Verily I do affirm here before you all, that there is no
more just or effectual appeal, than that appeal which is made unto Christ,
forasmuch as the law doth determine, that to appeal is no other thing than in a
cause of grief or wrong done by an inferior judge, to implore and require aid at
a higher Judge's hand. Who is then a higher Judge than Christ? Who, I say, can
know or judge the matter more justly, or with more equity? when in Him there is
found no deceit, neither can He be deceived; or, who can better help the
miserable and oppressed than He?" While John Huss, with a devout and sober
countenance, was speaking and pronouncing those words, he was derided and mocked
by all the whole Council.
These excellent sentences were esteemed as so many
expressions of treason, and tended to inflame his adversaries. Accordingly, the
bishops appointed by the Council stripped him of his priestly garments, degraded
him, put a paper miter on his head, on which was painted devils, with this
inscription, "A ringleader of heretics." Which when he saw, he said: "My Lord
Jesus Christ, for my sake, did wear a crown of thorns; why should not I then,
for His sake, again wear this light crown, be it ever so ignominious? Truly I
will do it, and that willingly." When it was set upon his head, the bishop said:
"Now we commit thy soul unto the devil." "But I," said John Huss, lifting his
eyes towards the heaven, "do commend into Thy hands, O Lord Jesus Christ! my
spirit which Thou has redeemed."
When the chain was put about him at the stake, he said,
with a smiling countenance, "My Lord Jesus Christ was bound with a harder chain
than this for my sake, and why then should I be ashamed of this rusty one?"
When the fagots were piled up to his very neck, the duke of
Bavaria was so officious as to desire him to abjure. "No, (said Huss;) I never
preached any doctrine of an evil tendency; and what I taught with my lips I now
seal with my blood." He then said to the executioner, "You are now going to burn
a goose, (Huss signifying goose in the Bohemian language:) but in a century you
will have a swan which you can neither roast nor boil." If he were prophetic, he
must have meant Martin Luther, who shone about a hundred years after, and who
had a swan for his arms.
The flames were now applied to the fagots, when our martyr
sung a hymn with so loud and cheerful a voice that he was heard through all the
cracklings of the combustibles, and the noise of the multitude. At length his
voice was interrupted by the severity of the flames, which soon closed his
existence.
Then, with great diligence, gathering the ashes together,
they cast them into the river Rhine, that the least remnant of that man should
not be left upon the earth, whose memory, notwithstanding, cannot be abolished
out of the minds of the godly, neither by fire, neither by water, neither by any
kind of torment.
This reformer, who was the companion of Dr. Huss, and may
be said to be a co-martyr with him, was born at Prague, and educated in that
university, where he particularly distinguished himself for his great abilities
and learning. He likewise visited several other learned seminaries in Europe,
particularly the universities of Paris, Heidelburg, Cologne and Oxford. At the
latter place he became acquainted with the works of Wickliffe, and being a
person of uncommon application, he translated many of them into his native
language, having, with great pains, made himself master of the English tongue.
On his return to Prague, he professed himself an open
favorer of Wickliffe, and finding that his doctrines had made considerable
progress in Bohemia, and that Huss was the principal promoter of them, he became
an assistant to him in the great work of reformation.
On the fourth of April, 1415, Jerome arrived at Constance,
about three months before the death of Huss. He entered the town privately, and
consulting with some of the leaders of his party, whom he found there, was
easily convinced he could not be of any service to his friends.
Finding that his arrival in Constance was publicly known,
and that the Council intended to seize him, he thought it most prudent to
retire. Accordingly, the next day he went to Iberling, an imperial town, about a
mile from Constance. From this place he wrote to the emperor, and proposed his
readiness to appear before the Council, if he would give him a safe-conduct; but
this was refused. He then applied to the Council, but met with an answer no less
unfavorable than that from the emperor.
After this, he set out on his return to Bohemia. He had the
precaution to take with him a certificate, signed by several of the Bohemian
nobility, then at Constance, testifying that he had used all prudent means in
his power to procure a hearing.
Jerome, however, did not thus escape. He was seized at
Hirsaw by an officer belonging to the duke of Sultsbach, who, though
unauthorized so to act, made little doubt of obtaining thanks from the Council
for so acceptable a service.
The duke of Sultsbach, having Jerome now in his power,
wrote to the Council for directions how to proceed. The Council, after
expressing their obligations to the duke, desired him to send the prisoner
immediately to Constance. The elector palatine met him on the way, and conducted
him into the city, himself riding on horseback, with a numerous retinue, who led
Jerome in fetters by a long chain; and immediately on his arrival he was
committed to a loathsome dungeon.
Jerome was treated nearly in the same manner as Huss had
been, only that he was much longer confined, and shifted from one prison to
another. At length, being brought before the Council, he desired that he might
plead his own cause, and exculpate himself: which being refused him, he broke
out into the following exclamation:
"What barbarity is this! For three hundred and forty days
have I been confined in a variety of prisons. There is not a misery, there is
not a want, that I have not experienced. To my enemies you have allowed the
fullest scope of accusation: to me you deny the least opportunity of defense.
Not an hour will you now indulge me in preparing for my trial. You have
swallowed the blackest calumnies against me. You have represented me as a
heretic, without knowing my doctrine; as an enemy of the faith, before you knew
what faith I professed: as a persecutor of priests before you could have an
opportunity of understanding my sentiments on that head. You are a General
Council: in you center all this world can communicate of gravity, wisdom, and
sanctity: but still you are men, and men are seducible by appearances. The
higher your character is for wisdom, the greater ought your care to be not to
deviate into folly. The cause I now plead is not my own cause: it is the cause
of men, it is the cause of Christians; it is a cause which is to affect the
rights of posterity, however the experiment is to be made in my person."
This speech had not the least effect; Jerome was obliged to
hear the charge read, which was reduced under the following heads: 1. That he
was a derider of the papal dignity. 2. An opposer of the pope. 3. An enemy to
the cardinals. 4. A persecutor of the prelates. 5. A hater of the Christian
religion.
The trial of Jerome was brought on the third day after his
accusation and witnesses were examined in support of the charge. The prisoner
was prepared for his defense, which appears almost incredible, when we consider
he had been three hundred and forty days shut up in loathsome prisons, deprived
of daylight, and almost starved for want of common necessaries. But his spirit
soared above these disadvantages, under which a man less animated would have
sunk; nor was he more at a loss of quotations from the fathers and ancient
authors than if he had been furnished with the finest library.
The most bigoted of the assembly were unwilling he should
be heard, knowing what effect eloquence is apt to have on the minds of the most
prejudiced. At length, however, it was carried by the majority that he should
have liberty to proceed in his defense, which he began in such an exalted strain
of moving elocution that the heart of obdurate zeal was seen to melt, and the
mind of superstition seemed to admit a ray of conviction. He made an admirable
distinction between evidence as resting upon facts, and as supported by malice
and calumny. He laid before the assembly the whole tenor of his life and
conduct. He observed that the greatest and most holy men had been known to
differ in points of speculation, with a view to distinguish truth, not to keep
it concealed. He expressed a noble contempt of all his enemies, who would have
induced him to retract the cause of virtue and truth. He entered upon a high
encomium of Huss; and declared he was ready to follow him in the glorious task
of martyrdom. He then touched upon the most defensible doctrines of Wickliffe;
and concluded with observing that it was far from his intention to advance
anything against the state of the Church of God; that it was only against the
abuse of the clergy he complained; and that he could not help saying, it was
certainly impious that the patrimony of the Church, which was originally
intended for the purpose of charity and universal benevolence, should be
prostituted to the pride of the eye, in feasts, foppish vestments, and other
reproaches to the name and profession of Christianity.
The trial being over, Jerome received the same sentence
that had been passed upon his martyred countryman. In consequence of this, he
was, in the usual style of popish affectation, delivered over to the civil
power: but as he was a layman, he had not to undergo the ceremony of
degradation. They had prepared a cap of paper painted with red devils, which
being put upon his head, he said, "Our Lord Jesus Christ, when He suffered death
for me a most miserable sinner, did wear a crown of thorns upon His head, and
for His sake will I wear this cap."
Two days were allowed him in hopes that he would recant; in
which time the cardinal of Florence used his utmost endeavors to bring him over.
But they all proved ineffectual. Jerome was resolved to seal the doctrine with
his blood; and he suffered death with the most distinguished magnanimity.
In going to the place of execution he sang several hymns,
and when he came to the spot, which was the same where Huss had been burnt, he
knelt down, and prayed fervently. He embraced the stake with great cheerfulness,
and when they went behind him to set fire to the fagots, he said, "Come here,
and kindle it before my eyes; for if I had been afraid of it, I had not come to
this place." The fire being kindled, he sang a hymn, but was soon interrupted by
the flames; and the last words he was heard to say these, "This soul in flames I
offer Christ, to Thee."
The elegant Pogge, a learned gentleman of Florence,
secretary to two popes, and a zealous but liberal Catholic, in a letter to
Leonard Arotin, bore ample testimony of the extraordinary powers and virtues of
Jerome whom he emphatically styles, A prodigious man!
The real name of this zealous servant of Christ was John de
Trocznow, that of Zisca is a Bohemian word, signifying one-eyed, as he had lost
an eye. He was a native of Bohemia, of a good family and left the court of
Winceslaus, to enter into the service of the king of Poland against the Teutonic
knights. Having obtained a badge of honor and a purse of ducats for his
gallantry, at the close of the war, he returned to the court of Winceslaus, to
whom he boldly avowed the deep interest he took in the bloody affront offered to
his majesty's subjects at Constance in the affair of Huss. Winceslaus lamented
it was not in his power to revenge it; and from this moment Zisca is said to
have formed the idea of asserting the religious liberties of his country. In the
year 1418, the Council was dissolved, having done more mischief than good, and
in the summer of that year a general meeting was held of the friends of
religious reformation, at the castle of Wisgrade, who, conducted by Zisca,
repaired to the emperor with arms in their hands, and offered to defend him
against his enemies. The king bid them use their arms properly, and this stroke
of policy first insured to Zisca the confidence of his party.
Winceslaus was succeeded by Sigismond, his brother, who
rendered himself odious to the reformers; and removed all such as were obnoxious
to his government. Zisca and his friends, upon this, immediately flew to arms,
declared war against the emperor and the pope, and laid siege to Pilsen with
40,000 men. They soon became masters of the fortress, and in a short time all
the southwest part of Bohemia submitted, which greatly increased the army of the
reformers. The latter having taken the pass of Muldaw, after a severe conflict
of five days and nights, the emperor became alarmed, and withdrew his troops
from the confines of Turkey, to march them into Bohemia. At Berne in Moravia, he
halted, and sent dispatches to treat of peace, as a preliminary to which Zisca
gave up Pilsen and all the fortresses he had taken. Sigismond proceeding in a
manner that clearly manifested he acted on the Roman doctrine, that no faith was
to be kept with heretics, and treating some of the authors of the late
disturbances with severity, the alarm-bell of revolt was sounded from one end of
Bohemia to the other. Zisca took the castle of Prague by the power of money, and
on August 19, 1420, defeated the small army the emperor had hastily got together
to oppose him. He next took Ausea by assault, and destroyed the town with a
barbarity that disgraced the cause in which he fought.
Winter approaching, Zisca fortified his camp on a strong
hill about forty miles from Prague, which he called Mount Tabor, whence he
surprised a body of horse at midnight, and made a thousand men prisoners.
Shortly after, the emperor obtained possession of the strong fortress of Prague,
by the same means Zisca had before done: it was blockaded by the latter, and
want began to threaten the emperor, who saw the necessity of a retreat.
Determined to make a desperate effort, Sigismond attacked
the fortified camp of Zisca on Mount Tabor, and carried it with great slaughter.
Many other fortresses also fell, and Zisca withdrew to a craggy hill, which he
strongly fortified, and whence he so annoyed the emperor in his approaches
against the town of Prague, that he found he must either abandon the siege or
defeat his enemy. The marquis of Misnia was deputed to effect this with a large
body of troops, but the event was fatal to the imperialists; they were defeated,
and the emperor having lost nearly one third of his army, retreated from the
siege of Prague, harassed in his rear by the enemy.
In the spring of 1421, Zisca commenced the campaign, as
before, by destroying all the monasteries in his way. He laid siege to the
castle of Wisgrade, and the emperor coming to relieve it, fell into a snare, was
defeated with dreadful slaughter, and this important fortress was taken. Our
general had now leisure to attend to the work of reformation, but he was much
disgusted with the gross ignorance and superstition of the Bohemian clergy, who
rendered themselves contemptible in the eyes of the whole army. When he saw any
symptoms of uneasiness in the camp, he would spread alarm in order to divert
them, and draw his men into action. In one of these expeditions, he encamped
before the town of Rubi, and while pointing out the place for an assault, an
arrow shot from the wall struck him in the eye. At Prague it was extracted, but,
being barbed, it tore the eye out with it. A fever succeeded, and his life was
with difficulty preserved. He was now totally blind, but still desirous of
attending the army. The emperor, having summoned the states of the empire to
assist him, resolved, with their assistance, to attack Zisca in the winter, when
many of his troops departed until the return of spring.
The confederate princes undertook the siege of Soisin, but
at the approach merely of the Bohemian general, they retreated. Sigismond
nevertheless advanced with his formidable army, consisting of 15,000 Hungarian
horse and 25,000 infantry, well equipped for a winter campaign. This army spread
terror through all the east of Bohemia. Wherever Sigismond marched, the
magistrates laid their keys at his feet, and were treated with severity or
favor, according to their merits in his cause. Zisca, however, with speedy
marches, approached, and the emperor resolved to try his fortune once more with
that invincible chief. On the thirteenth of January, 1422, the two armies met on
a spacious plain near Kremnitz. Zisca appeared in the center of his front line,
guarded, or rather conducted, by a horseman on each side, armed with a pole-axe.
His troops having sung a hymn, with a determined coolness drew their swords, and
waited for a signal. When his officers had informed him that the ranks were all
well closed, he waved his saber round his head, which was the sign of battle.
This battle is described as a most awful sight. The extent
of the plain was one continued scene of disorder. The imperial army fled towards
the confines of Moravia, the Taborites, without intermission, galling their
rear. The river Igla, then frozen opposed their flight. The enemy pressing
furiously, many of the infantry and in a manner the whole body of the cavalry,
attempted the river. The ice gave way, and not fewer than two thousand were
swallowed up in the water. Zisca now returned to Tabor, laden with all the
spoils and trophies which the most complete victory could give.
Zisca now began again to pay attention to the Reformation;
he forbid all the prayers for the dead, images, sacerdotal vestments, fasts, and
festivals. Priests were to be preferred according to their merits, and no one to
be persecuted for religious opinions. In everything Zisca consulted the liberal
minded, and did nothing without general concurrence. An alarming disagreement
now arose at Prague between the magistrates who were Calixtans, or receivers of
the Sacraments in both kinds, and the Taborites, nine of the chiefs of whom were
privately arraigned, and put to death. The populace, enraged, sacrificed the
magistrates, and the affair terminated without any particular consequence. The
Calixtans having sunk into contempt, Zisca was solicited to assume the crown of
Bohemia; but this he nobly refused, and prepared for the next campaign, in which
Sigismond resolved to make his last effort. While the marquis of Misnia
penetrated into Upper Saxony, the emperor proposed to enter Moravia, on the side
of Hungary. Before the marquis had taken the field, Zisca sat down before the
strong town of Aussig, situated on the Elbe. The marquis flew to its relief with
a superior army, and, after an obstinate engagement, was totally defeated and
Aussig capitulated. Zisca then went to the assistance of Procop, a young general
whom he had appointed to keep Sigismond in check, and whom he compelled to
abandon the siege of Pernitz, after laying eight weeks before it.
Zisca, willing to give his troops some respite from
fatigue, now entered Prague, hoping his presence would quell any uneasiness that
might remain after the late disturbance: but he was suddenly attacked by the
people; and he and his troop having beaten off the citizens, effected a retreat
to his army, whom he acquainted with the treacherous conduct of the Calixtans.
Every effort of address was necessary to appease their vengeful animosity, and
at night, in a private interview between Roquesan, an ecclesiastic of great
eminence in Prague, and Zisca, the latter became reconciled, and the intended
hostilities were done away.
Mutually tired of the war, Sigismond sent to Zisca,
requesting him to sheath his sword, and name his conditions. A place of congress
being appointed, Zisca, with his chief officers, set out to meet the emperor.
Compelled to pass through a part of the country where the plague raged, he was
seized with it at the castle of Briscaw, and departed this life, October 6,
1424. Like Moses, he died in view of the completion of his labors, and was
buried in the great Church of Czaslow, in Bohemia, where a monument is erected
to his memory, with this inscription on it-"Here lies John Zisca, who, having
defended his country against the encroachments of papal tyranny, rests in this
hallowed place, in despite of the pope."
After the death of Zisca, Procop was defeated, and fell
with the liberties of his country.
After the death of Huss and Jerome, the pope, in
conjunction with the Council of Constance, ordered the Roman clergy everywhere
to excommunicate such as adopted their opinions, or commiserated their fate.
These orders occasioned great contentions between the
papists and reformed Bohemians, which was the cause of a violent persecution
against the latter. At Prague, the persecution was extremely severe, until, at
length, the reformed being driven to desperation, armed themselves, attacked the
senate-house, and threw twelve senators, with the speaker, out of the
senate-house windows, whose bodies fell upon spears, which were held up by
others of the reformed in the street, to receive them.
Being informed of these proceedings, the pope came to
Florence, and publicly excommunicated the reformed Bohemians, exciting the
emperor of Germany, and all kings, princes, dukes, etc., to take up arms, in
order to extirpate the whole race; and promising, by way of encouragement, full
remission of all sins whatever, to the most wicked person, if he did but kill
one Bohemian Protestant.
This occasioned a bloody war; for several popish princes
undertook the extirpation, or at least expulsion, of the proscribed people; and
the Bohemians, arming themselves, prepared to repel force by force, in the most
vigorous and effectual manner. The popish army prevailing against the Protestant
forces at the battle of Cuttenburgh, the prisoners of the reformed were taken to
three deep mines near that town, and several hundreds were cruelly thrown into
each, where they miserably perished.
A merchant of Prague, going to Breslau, in Silesia,
happened to lodge in the same inn with several priests. Entering into
conversation upon the subject of religious controversy, he passed many encomiums
upon the martyred John Huss, and his doctrines. The priests taking umbrage at
this, laid an information against him the next morning, and he was committed to
prison as a heretic. Many endeavors were used to persuade him to embrace the
Roman Catholic faith, but he remained steadfast to the pure doctrines of the
reformed Church. Soon after his imprisonment, a student of the university was
committed to the same jail; when, being permitted to converse with the merchant,
they mutually comforted each other. On the day appointed for execution, when the
jailer began to fasten ropes to their feet, by which they were to be dragged
through the streets, the student appeared quite terrified, and offered to abjure
his faith, and turn Roman Catholic if he might be saved. The offer was accepted,
his abjuration was taken by a priest, and he was set at liberty. A priest
applying to the merchant to follow the example of the student, he nobly said,
"Lose no time in hopes of my recantation, your expectations will be vain; I
sincerely pity that poor wretch, who has miserably sacrificed his soul for a few
more uncertain years of a troublesome life; and, so far from having the least
idea of following his example, I glory in the very thoughts of dying for the
sake of Christ." On hearing these words, the priest ordered the executioner to
proceed, and the merchant being drawn through the city was brought to the place
of execution, and there burnt.
Pichel, a bigoted popish magistrate, apprehended
twenty-four Protestants, among whom was his daughter's husband. As they all
owned they were of the reformed religion, he indiscriminately condemned them to
be drowned in the river Abbis. On the day appointed for the execution, a great
concourse of people attended, among whom was Pichel's daughter. This worthy wife
threw herself at her father's feet, bedewed them with tears, and in the most
pathetic manner, implored him to commiserate her sorrow, and pardon her husband.
The obdurate magistrate sternly replied, "Intercede not for him, child, he is a
heretic, a vile heretic." To which she nobly answered, "Whatever his faults may
be, or however his opinions may differ from yours, he is still my husband, a
name which, at a time like this, should alone employ my whole consideration."
Pichel flew into a violent passion and said, "You are mad! cannot you, after the
death of this, have a much worthier husband?" "No, sir, (replied she) my
affections are fixed upon this, and death itself shall not dissolve my marriage
vow." Pichel, however, continued inflexible, and ordered the prisoners to be
tied with their hands and feet behind them, and in that manner be thrown into
the river. As soon as this was put into execution, the young lady watched her
opportunity, leaped into the waves, and embracing the body of her husband, both
sank together into one watery grave. An uncommon instance of conjugal love in a
wife, and of an inviolable attachment to, and personal affection for, her
husband.
The emperor Ferdinand, whose hatred to the Bohemian
Protestants was without bounds, not thinking he had sufficiently oppressed them,
instituted a high court of reformers, upon the plan of the Inquisition, with
this difference, that the reformers were to remove from place to place, and
always to be attended by a body of troops.
These reformers consisted chiefly of Jesuits, and from
their decision, there was no appeal, by which it may be easily conjectured, that
it was a dreadful tribunal indeed.
This bloody court, attended by a body of troops, made the
tour of Bohemia, in which they seldom examined or saw a prisoner, suffering the
soldiers to murder the Protestants as they pleased, and then to make a report of
the matter to them afterward.
The first victim of their cruelty was an aged minister,
whom they killed as he lay sick in his bed; the next day they robbed and
murdered another, and soon after shot a third, as he was preaching in his
pulpit.
A nobleman and clergyman, who resided in a Protestant
village, hearing of the approach of the high court of reformers and the troops,
fled from the place, and secreted themselves. The soldiers, however, on their
arrival, seized upon a schoolmaster, asked him where the lord of that place and
the minister were concealed, and where they had hidden their treasures. The
schoolmaster replied that he could not answer either of the questions. They then
stripped him naked, bound him with cords, and beat him most unmercifully with
cudgels. This cruelty not extorting any confession from him, they scorched him
in various parts of his body; when, to gain a respite from his torments, he
promised to show them where the treasures were hid. The soldiers gave ear to
this with pleasure, and the schoolmaster led them to a ditch full of stones,
saying, "Beneath these stones are the treasures ye seek for." Eager after money,
they went to work, and soon removed those stones, but not finding what they
sought after, they beat the schoolmaster to death, buried him in the ditch, and
covered him with the very stones he had made them remove.
Some of the soldiers ravished the daughters of a worthy
Protestant before his face, and then tortured him to death. A minister and his
wife they tied back to back and burnt. Another minister they hung upon a cross
beam, and making a fire under him, broiled him to death. A gentleman they hacked
into small pieces, and they filled a young man's mouth with gunpowder, and
setting fire to it, blew his head to pieces.
As their principal rage was directed against the clergy,
they took a pious Protestant minister, and tormenting him daily for a month
together, in the following manner, making their cruelty regular, systematic, and
progressive.
They placed him amidst them, and made him the subject of
their derision and mockery, during a whole day's entertainment, trying to
exhaust his patience, but in vain, for he bore the whole with true Christian
fortitude. They spit in his face, pulled his nose, and pinched him in most parts
of his body. He was hunted like a wild beast, until ready to expire with
fatigue. They made him run the gauntlet between two ranks of them, each striking
him with a twig. He was beat with their fists. He was beat with ropes. They
scourged him with wires. He was beat with cudgels. They tied him up by the heels
with his head downwards, until the blood started out of his nose, mouth, etc.
They hung him by the right arm until it was dislocated, and then had it set
again. The same was repeated with his left arm. Burning papers dipped in oil
were placed between his fingers and toes. His flesh was torn with red-hot
pincers. He was put to the rack. They pulled off the nails of his right hand.
The same repeated with his left hand. He was bastinadoed on his feet. A slit was
made in his right ear. The same repeated on his left ear. His nose was slit.
They whipped him through the town upon an ass. They made several incisions in
his flesh. They pulled off the toe nails of his right foot. The same they
repeated with his left foot. He was tied up by the loins, and suspended for a
considerable time. The teeth of his upper jaw were pulled out. The same was
repeated with his lower jaw. Boiling lead was poured upon his fingers. The same
was repeated with his toes. A knotted cord was twisted about his forehead in
such a manner as to force out his eyes.
During the whole of these horrid cruelties, particular care
was taken that his wounds should not mortify, and not to injure him mortally
until the last day, when the forcing out of his eyes proved his death.
Innumerable were the other murders and depredations
committed by those unfeeling brutes, and shocking to humanity were the cruelties
which they inflicted on the poor Bohemian Protestants. The winter being far
advanced, however, the high court of reformers, with their infernal band of
military ruffians, thought proper to return to Prague; but on their way, meeting
with a Protestant pastor, they could not resist the temptation of feasting their
barbarous eyes with a new kind of cruelty, which had just suggested itself to
the diabolical imagination of one of the soldiers. This was to strip the
minister naked, and alternately to cover him with ice and burning coals. This
novel mode of tormenting a fellow creature was immediately put into practice,
and the unhappy victim expired beneath the torments, which seemed to delight his
inhuman persecutors.
A secret order was soon after issued by the emperor, for
apprehending all noblemen and gentlemen, who had been principally concerned in
supporting the Protestant cause, and in nominating Frederic elector Palatine of
the Rhine, to be king of Bohemia. These, to the number of fifty, were
apprehended in one night, and at one hour, and brought from the places where
they were taken, to the castle of Prague, and the estates of those who were
absent from the kingdom were confiscated, themselves were made outlaws, and
their names fixed upon a gallows, as marks of public ignominy.
The high court of reformers then proceeded to try the
fifty, who had been apprehended, and two apostate Protestants were appointed to
examine them. These examinants asked a great number of unnecessary and
impertinent questions, which so exasperated one of the noblemen, who was
naturally of a warm temper, that he exclaimed, opening his breast at the same
time, "Cut here, search my heart, you shall find nothing but the love of
religion and liberty; those were the motives for which I drew my sword, and for
those I am willing to suffer death."
As none of the prisoners would change their religion, or
acknowledge they had been in error, they were all pronounced guilty; but the
sentence was referred to the emperor. When that monarch had read their names,
and an account of the respective accusations against them, he passed judgment on
all, but in a different manner, as his sentences were of four kinds, viz. death,
banishment, imprisonment for life, and imprisonment during pleasure.
Twenty being ordered for execution, were informed they
might send for Jesuits, monks, or friars, to prepare for the awful change they
were to undergo; but that no Protestants should be permitted to come near them.
This proposal they rejected, and strove all they could to comfort and cheer each
other upon the solemn occasion.
On the morning of the day appointed for the execution, a
cannon was fired as a signal to bring the prisoners from the castle to the
principal market place, in which scaffolds were erected, and a body of troops
were drawn up to attend the tragic scene.
The prisoners left the castle with as much cheerfulness as
if they had been going to an agreeable entertainment, instead of a violent
death.
Exclusive of soldiers, Jesuits, priests, executioners,
attendants, etc., a prodigious concourse of people attended, to see the exit of
these devoted martyrs, who were executed in the following order.
Lord Schilik was about fifty years of age, and was
possessed of great natural and acquired abilities. When he was told he was to be
quartered, and his parts scattered in different places, he smiled with great
serenity, saying, "The loss of a sepulcher is but a trifling consideration." A
gentleman who stood by, crying, "Courage, my lord!" he replied, "I have God's
favor, which is sufficient to inspire any one with courage: the fear of death
does not trouble me; formerly I have faced him in fields of battle to oppose
Antichrist; and now dare face him on a scaffold, for the sake of Christ." Having
said a short prayer, he told the executioner he was ready. He cut off his right
hand and his head, and then quartered him. His hand and his head were placed
upon the high tower of Prague, and his quarters distributed in different parts
of the city.
Lord Viscount Winceslaus, who had attained the age of
seventy years, was equally respectable for learning, piety, and hospitality. His
temper was so remarkably patient that when his house was broken open, his
property seized, and his estates confiscated, he only said, with great
composure, "The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away." Being asked why
he could engage in so dangerous a cause as that of attempting to support the
elector Palatine Frederic against the power of the emperor, he replied, "I acted
strictly according to the dictates of my conscience, and, to this day, deem him
my king. I am now full of years, and wish to lay down life, that I may not be a
witness of the further evils which are to attend my country. You have long
thirsted for my blood, take it, for God will be my avenger." Then approaching
the block, he stroked his long, grey beard, and said, "Venerable hairs, the
greater honor now attends ye, a crown of martyrdom is your portion." Then laying
down his head, it was severed from his body at one stroke, and placed upon a
pole in a conspicuous part of the city.
Lord Harant was a man of good sense, great piety, and much
experience gained by travel, as he had visited the principal places in Europe,
Asia, and Africa. Hence he was free from national prejudices and had collected
much knowledge.
The accusations against this nobleman, were, his being a
Protestant, and having taken an oath of allegiance to Frederic, elector Palatine
of the Rhine, as king of Bohemia. When he came upon the scaffold he said, "I
have traveled through many countries, and traversed various barbarous nations,
yet never found so much cruelty as at home. I have escaped innumerable perils
both by sea and land, and surmounted inconceivable difficulties, to suffer
innocently in my native place. My blood is likewise sought by those for whom I,
and my forefathers, have hazarded our estates; but, Almighty God! forgive them,
for they know not what they do." He then went to the block, kneeled down, and
exclaimed with great energy, "Into Thy hands, O Lord! I commend my spirit; in
Thee have I always trusted; receive me, therefore, my blessed Redeemer." The
fatal stroke was then given, and a period put to the temporary pains of this
life.
Lord Frederic de Bile suffered as a Protestant, and a
promoter of the late war; he met his fate with serenity, and only said he wished
well to the friends whom he left behind, forgave the enemies who caused his
death, denied the authority of the emperor in that country, acknowledged
Frederic to be the only true king of Bohemia, and hoped for salvation in the
merits of his blessed Redeemer.
Lord Henry Otto, when he first came upon the scaffold,
seemed greatly confounded, and said, with some asperity, as if addressing
himself to the emperor, "Thou tyrant Ferdinand, your throne is established in
blood; but if you will kill my body, and disperse my members, they shall still
rise up in judgment against you." He then was silent, and having walked about
for some time, seemed to recover his fortitude, and growing calm, said to a
gentleman who stood near, "I was, a few minutes since, greatly discomposed, but
now I feel my spirits revive; God be praised for affording me such comfort;
death no longer appears as the king of terrors, but seems to invite me to
participate of some unknown joys." Kneeling before the block, he said, "Almighty
God! to Thee I commend my soul, receive it for the sake of Christ, and admit it
to the glory of Thy presence." The executioner put this nobleman to considerable
pain, by making several strokes before he severed the head from the body.
The earl of Rugenia was distinguished for his superior
abilities, and unaffected piety. On the scaffold he said, "We who drew our
swords fought only to preserve the liberties of the people, and to keep our
consciences sacred: as we were overcome, I am better pleased at the sentence of
death, than if the emperor had given me life; for I find that it pleases God to
have his truth defended, not by our swords, but by our blood." He then went
boldly to the block, saying, "I shall now be speedily with Christ," and received
the crown of martyrdom with great courage.
Sir Gaspar Kaplitz was eighty-six years of age. When he
came to the place of execution, he addressed the principal officer thus: "Behold
a miserable ancient man, who hath often entreated God to take him out of this
wicked world, but could not until now obtain his desire, for God reserved me
until these years to be a spectacle to the world, and a sacrifice to himself;
therefore God's will be done." One of the officers told him, in consideration of
his great age, that if he would only ask pardon, he would immediately receive
it. "Ask pardon, (exclaimed he) I will ask pardon of God, whom I have frequently
offended; but not of the emperor, to whom I never gave any offence; should I sue
for pardon, it might be justly suspected I had committed some crime for which I
deserved this condemnation. No, no, as I die innocent, and with a clear
conscience, I would not be separated from this noble company of martyrs:" so
saying, he cheerfully resigned his neck to the block.
Procopius Dorzecki on the scaffold said, "We are now under
the emperor's judgment; but in time he shall be judged, and we shall appear as
witnesses against him." Then taking a gold medal from his neck, which was struck
when the elector Frederic was crowned king of Bohemia, he presented it to one of
the officers, at the same time uttering these words, "As a dying man, I request,
if ever King Frederic is restored to the throne of Bohemia, that you will give
him this medal. Tell him, for his sake, I wore it until death, and that now I
willingly lay down my life for God and my king." He then cheerfully laid down
his head and submitted to the fatal blow.
Dionysius Servius was brought up a Roman Catholic, but had
embraced the reformed religion for some years. When upon the scaffold the
Jesuits used their utmost endeavors to make him recant, and return to his former
faith, but he paid not the least attention to their exhortations. Kneeling down
he said, "They may destroy my body, but cannot injure my soul, that I commend to
my Redeemer"; and then patiently submitted to martyrdom, being at that time
fifty-six years of age.
Valentine Cockan, was a person of considerable fortune and
eminence, perfectly pious and honest, but of trifling abilities; yet his
imagination seemed to grow bright, and his faculties to improve on death's
approach, as if the impending danger refined the understanding. Just before he
was beheaded, he expressed himself with such eloquence, energy, and precision as
greatly amazed those who knew his former deficiency in point of capacity.
Tobias Steffick was remarkable for his affability and
serenity of temper. He was perfectly resigned to his fate, and a few minutes
before his death spoke in this singular manner, "I have received, during the
whole course of my life, many favors from God; ought I not therefore cheerfully
to take one bitter cup, when He thinks proper to present it? Or rather, ought I
not to rejoice that it is his will I should give up a corrupted life for that of
immortality!"
Dr. Jessenius, an able student of physic, was accused of
having spoken disrespectful words of the emperor, of treason in swearing
allegiance to the elector Frederic, and of heresy in being a Protestant. For the
first accusation he had his tongue cut out; for the second he was beheaded; and
for the third, and last, he was quartered, and the respective parts exposed on
poles.
Christopher Chober, as soon as he stepped upon the scaffold
said, "I come in the name of God, to die for His glory; I have fought the good
fight, and finished my course; so, executioner, do your office." The executioner
obeyed, and he instantly received the crown of martyrdom.
No person ever lived more respected or died more lamented
than John Shultis. The only words he spoke, before receiving the fatal stroke,
were, "The righteous seem to die in the eyes of fools, but they only go to rest.
Lord Jesus! Thou hast promised that those who come to Thee shall not be cast
off. Behold, I am come; look on me, pity me, pardon my sins, and receive my
soul."
Maximilian Hostialick was famed for his learning, piety,
and humanity. When he first came on the scaffold, he seemed exceedingly
terrified at the approach of death. The officer taking notice of his agitation,
Hostialick said, "Ah! sir, now the sins of my youth crowd upon my mind, but I
hope God will enlighten me, lest I sleep the sleep of death and lest mine
enemies say we have prevailed." Soon after he said, "I hope my repentance is
sincere, and will be accepted, in which case the blood of Christ will wash me
from my crimes." He then told the officer he should repeat the Song of Simeon;
at the conclusion of which the executioner might do his duty. He accordingly,
said, "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy
word: For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation;" at which words his head was struck
off at one blow.
When John Kutnaur came to the place of execution, a Jesuit
said to him, "Embrace the Roman Catholic faith, which alone can save and arm you
against the terrors of death." To which he replied, "Your superstitious faith I
abhor, it leads to perdition, and I wish for no other arms against the terrors
of death than a good conscience." The Jesuit turned away, saying, sarcastically,
"The Protestants are impenetrable rocks." "You are mistaken," said Kutnaur, "it
is Christ that is the Rock, and we are firmly fixed upon Him."
This person not being born independent, but having acquired
a fortune by a mechanical employment, was ordered to be hanged. Just before he
was turned off, he said, "I die, not for having committed any crime, but for
following the dictates of my own conscience, and defending my country and
religion."
Simeon Sussickey was father-in-law to Kutnaur, and like
him, was ordered to be executed on a gallows. He went cheerfully to death, and
appeared impatient to be executed, saying, "Every moment delays me from entering
into the Kingdom of Christ."
Nathaniel Wodnianskey was hanged for having supported the
Protestant cause, and the election of Frederic to the crown of Bohemia. At the
gallows, the Jesuits did all in their power to induce him to renounce his faith.
Finding their endeavors ineffectual, one of them said, "If you will not adjure
your heresy, at least repent of your rebellion?" To which Wodnianskey replied,
"You take away our lives under a pretended charge of rebellion; and, not content
with that, seek to destroy our souls; glut yourselves with blood, and be
satisfied; but tamper not with our consciences."
Wodnianskey's own son then approached the gallows, and said
to his father, "Sir, if life should be offered to you on condition of apostasy,
I entreat you to remember Christ, and reject such pernicious overtures." To this
the father replied, "It is very acceptable, my son, to be exhorted to constancy
by you; but suspect me not; rather endeavor to confirm in their faith your
brothers, sisters, and children, and teach them to imitate that constancy of
which I shall leave them an example." He had so sooner concluded these words
than he was turned off, receiving the crown of martyrdom with great fortitude.
Winceslaus Gisbitzkey, during his whole confinement, had
great hopes of life given him, which made his friends fear for the safety of his
soul. He, however, continued steadfast in his faith, prayed fervently at the
gallows, and met his fate with singular resignation.
Martin Foster was an ancient cripple; the accusations
against whom were, being charitable to heretics, and lending money to the
elector Frederic. His great wealth, however, seemed to have been his principal
crime; and that he might be plundered of his treasures was the occasion of his
being ranked in this illustrious list of martyrs.
CHAPTER IX
An Account of the Life and Persecutions of Martin
Luther
This illustrious German divine and reformer of the Church
was the son of John Luther and Margaret Ziegler, and born at Isleben, a town of
Saxony, in the county of Mansfield, November 10, 1483. His father's extraction
and condition were originally but mean, and his occupation that of a miner; it
is probable, however, that by his application and industry he improved the
fortunes of his family, as he afterward became a magistrate of rank and dignity.
Luther was early initiated into letters, and at the age of thirteen was sent to
school at Magdeburg, and thence to Eisenach, in Thuringia, where he remained
four years, producing the early indications of his future eminence.
In 1501 he was sent to the University of Erfurt, where he
went through the usual courses of logic and philosophy. When twenty, he took a
master's degree, and then lectured on Aristotle's physics, ethics, and other
parts of philosophy. Afterward, at the instigation of his parents, he turned
himself to the civil law, with a view of advancing himself to the bar, but was
diverted from this pursuit by the following accident. Walking out into the
fields one day, he was struck by lightning so as to fall to the ground, while a
companion was killed by his side; and this affected him so sensibly, that,
without communicating his purpose to any of his friends, he withdrew himself
from the world, and retired into the order of the hermits of St. Augustine.
Here he employed himself in reading St. Augustine and the
schoolmen; but in turning over the leaves of the library, he accidentally found
a copy of the Latin Bible, which he had never seen before. This raised his
curiosity to a high degree: he read it over very greedily, and was amazed to
find what a small portion of the Scriptures was rehearsed to the people.
He made his profession in the monastery of Erfurt, after he
had been a novice one year; and he took priest's orders, and celebrated his
first Mass in 1507. The year after, he was removed from the convent of Erfurt to
the University of Wittenberg; for this university being just founded, nothing
was thought more likely to bring it into immediate repute and credit, than the
authority and presence of a man so celebrated, for his great parts and learning,
as Luther.
In this University of Erfurt, there was a certain aged man
in the convent of the Augustines with whom Luther, being then of the same order,
a friar Augustine, had conference upon divers things, especially touching
remission of sins; which article the said aged father opened unto Luther;
declaring that God's express commandment is that every man should particularly
believe his sins to be forgiven him in Christ: and further said that this
interpretation was confirmed by St. Bernard: "This is the testimony that the
Holy Ghost giveth thee in thy heart, saying, thy sins are forgiven thee. For
this is the opinion of the apostle, that man is freely justified by faith."
By these words Luther was not only strengthened, but was
also instructed of the full meaning of St. Paul, who repeateth so many times
this sentence, "We are justified by faith." And having read the expositions of
many upon this place, he then perceived, as well by the discourse of the old
man, as by the comfort he received in his spirit, the vanity of those
interpretations, which he had read before, of the schoolmen. And so, by little
and little, reading and comparing the sayings and examples of the prophets and
apostles, with continual invocation of God, and the excitation of faith by force
of prayer, he perceived that doctrine most evidently. Thus continued he his
study at Erfurt the space of four years in the convent of the Augustines.
In 1512, seven convents of his order having a quarrel with
their vicar-general, Luther was chosen to go to Rome to maintain their cause. At
Rome he saw the pope and the court, and had an opportunity of observing also the
manners of the clergy, whose hasty, superficial, and impious way of celebrating
Mass, he has severely noted. As soon as he had adjusted the dispute which was
the business of his journey, he returned to Wittenberg, and was created doctor
of divinity, at the expense of Frederic, elector of Saxony; who had often heard
him preach, was perfectly acquainted with his merit, and reverenced him highly.
He continued in the University of Wittenberg, where, as
professor of divinity, he employed himself in the business of his calling. Here
then he began in the most earnest manner to read lectures upon the sacred books:
he explained the Epistle to the Romans, and the Psalms, which he cleared up and
illustrated in a manner so entirely new, and so different from what had been
pursued by former commentators, that "there seemed, after a long and dark night,
a new day to arise, in the judgment of all pious and prudent men."
Luther diligently reduced the minds of men to the Son of
God: as John the Baptist demonstrated the Lamb of God that took away the sins of
the world, even so Luther, shining in the Church as the bright daylight after a
long and dark night, expressly showed that sins are freely remitted for the love
of the Son of God, and that we ought faithfully to embrace this bountiful gift.
His life was correspondent to his profession; and it
plainly appeared that his words were no lip-labor, but proceeded from the very
heart. This admiration of his holy life much allured the hearts of his auditors.
The better to qualify himself for the task he had
undertaken, he had applied himself attentively to the Greek and Hebrew
languages; and in this manner was he employed, when the general indulgences were
published in 1517.
Leo X who succeeded Julius II in March, 1513, formed a
design of building the magnificent Church of St. Peter's at Rome, which was,
indeed, begun by Julius, but still required very large sums to be finished. Leo,
therefore, in 1517 published general indulgences throughout all Europe, in favor
of those who contribute any sum to the building of St. Peter's; and appointed
persons in different countries to preach up these indulgences, and to receive
money for them. These strange proceedings gave vast offence at Wittenberg, and
particularly inflamed the pious zeal of Luther; who, being naturally warm and
active, and in the present case unable to contain himself, was determined to
declare against them at all adventures.
Upon the eve of All-saints, therefore, in 1517, he publicly
fixed up, at the church next to the castle of that town, a thesis upon
indulgences; in the beginning of which he challenged any one to oppose it either
by writing or disputation. Luther's propositions about indulgences were no
sooner published, than Tetzel, the Dominican friar, and commissioner for selling
them, maintained and published at Frankfort, a thesis, containing a set of
propositions directly contrary to them. He did more; he stirred up the clergy of
his order against Luther; anathematized him from the pulpit, as a most damnable
heretic; and burnt his thesis publicly at Frankfort. Tetzel's thesis was also
burnt, in return, by the Lutherans at Wittenberg; but Luther himself disowned
having had any hand in that procedure.
In 1518, Luther, though dissuaded from it by his friends,
yet, to show obedience to authority, went to the monastery of St. Augustine, at
Heidelberg, while the chapter was held; and here maintained, April 26, a dispute
concerning "justification by faith"; which Bucer, who was present at, took down
in writing, and afterward communicated to Beatus Rhenanus, not without the
highest commendations.
In the meantime, the zeal of his adversaries grew every day
more and more active against him; and he was at length accused to Leo X as a
heretic. As soon as he returned therefore from Heidelberg, he wrote a letter to
that pope, in the most submissive terms; and sent him, at the same time, an
explication of his propositions about indulgences. This letter is dated on
Trinity Sunday, 1518, and was accompanied with a protestation, wherein he
declared, that he did not pretend to advance or defend anything contrary to the
Holy Scriptures, or to the doctrine of the fathers, received and observed by the
Church of Rome, or to the canons and decretals of the popes: nevertheless, he
thought he had the liberty either to approve or disapprove the opinions of St.
Thomas, Bonaventure, and other schoolmen and canonists, which are not grounded
upon any text.
The emperor Maximilian was equally solicitous, with the
pope about putting a stop to the propagation of Luther's opinions in Saxony;
troublesome both to the Church and empire. Maximilian, therefore, applied to
Leo, in a letter dated August 5, 1518, and begged him to forbid, by his
authority, these useless, rash, and dangerous disputes; assuring him also that
he would strictly execute in the empire whatever his holiness should enjoin.
In the meantime Luther, as soon as he understood what was
transacting about him at Rome, used all imaginable means to prevent his being
carried thither, and to obtain a hearing of his cause in Germany. The elector
was also against Luther's going to Rome, and desired of Cardinal Cajetan, that
he might be heard before him, as the pope's legate in Germany. Upon these
addresses, the pope consented that the cause should be tried before Cardinal
Cajetan, to whom he had given power to decide it.
Luther, therefore, set off immediately for Augsburg, and
carried with him letters from the elector. He arrived here in October, 1518,
and, upon an assurance of his safety, was admitted into the cardinal's presence.
But Luther was soon convinced that he had more to fear from the cardinal's power
than from disputations of any kind; and, therefore, apprehensive of being seized
if he did not submit, withdrew from Augsburg upon the twentieth. But, before his
departure, he published a formal appeal to the pope, and finding himself
protected by the elector, continued to teach the same doctrines at Wittenberg,
and sent a challenge to all the inquisitors to come and dispute with him.
As to Luther, Miltitius, the pope's chamberlain, had orders
to require the elector to oblige him to retract, or to deny him his protection:
but things were not now to be carried with so high a hand, Luther's credit being
too firmly established. Besides, the emperor Maximilian happened to die upon the
twelfth of this month, whose death greatly altered the face of affairs, and made
the elector more able to determine Luther's fate. Miltitius thought it best,
therefore, to try what could be done by fair and gentle means, and to that end
came to some conference with Luther.
During all these treaties, the doctrine of Luther spread,
and prevailed greatly; and he himself received great encouragement at home and
abroad. The Bohemians about this time sent him a book of the celebrated John
Huss, who had fallen a martyr in the work of reformation; and also letters, in
which they exhorted him to constancy and perseverance, owning that the divinity
which he taught was the pure, sound, and orthodox divinity. Many great and
learned men had joined themselves to him.
In 1519, he had a famous dispute at Leipsic with John
Eccius. But this dispute ended at length like all others, the parties not the
least nearer in opinion, but more at enmity with each other's persons.
About the end of this year, Luther published a book, in
which he contended for the Communion being celebrated in both kinds; which was
condemned by the bishop of Misnia, January 24, 1520.
While Luther was laboring to excuse himself to the new
emperor and the bishops of Germany, Eccius had gone to Rome, to solicit his
condemnation; which, it may easily be conceived, was now become not difficult to
be attained. Indeed the continual importunities of Luther's adversaries with
Leo, caused him at length to publish a formal condemnation of him, and he did so
accordingly, in a bull, dated June 15, 1520. This was carried into Germany, and
published there by Eccius, who had solicited it at Rome; and who, together with
Jerome Alexander, a person eminent for his learning and eloquence, was entrusted
by the pope with the execution of it. In the meantime, Charles V of Spain, after
he had set things to rights in the Low Countries, went into Germany, and was
crowned emperor, October the twenty-first at Aix-la-Chapelle.
Martin Luther, after he had been first accused at Rome upon
Maunday Thursday by the pope's censure, shortly after Easter speedeth his
journey toward Worms, where the said Luther, appearing before the emperor and
all the states of Germany, constantly stuck to the truth, defended himself, and
answered his adversaries.
Luther was lodged, well entertained, and visited by many
earls, barons, knights of the order, gentlemen, priests, and the commonalty, who
frequented his lodging until night.
He came, contrary to the expectation of many, as well
adversaries as others. His friends deliberated together, and many persuaded him
not to adventure himself to such a present danger, considering how these
beginnings answered not the faith of promise made. Who, when he had heard their
whole persuasion and advice, answered in this wise: "As touching me, since I am
sent for, I am resolved and certainly determined to enter Worms, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ; yea, although I knew there were as many devils to resist
me as there are tiles to cover the houses in Worms."
The next day, the herald brought him from his lodging to
the emperor's court, where he abode until six o'clock, for that the princes were
occupied in grave consultations; abiding there, and being environed with a great
number of people, and almost smothered for the press that was there. Then after,
when the princes were set, and Luther entered, Eccius, the official, spake in
this manner: "Answer now to the Emperor's demand. Wilt thou maintain all thy
books which thou hast acknowledged, or revoke any part of them, and submit
thyself?"
Martin Luther answered modestly and lowly, and yet not
without some stoutness of stomach, and Christian constancy. "Considering your
sovereign majesty, and your honors, require a plain answer; this I say and
profess as resolutely as I may, without doubting or sophistication, that if I be
not convinced by testimonies of the Scriptures (for I believe not the pope,
neither his general Councils, which have erred many times, and have been
contrary to themselves), my conscience is so bound and captivated in these
Scriptures and the Word of God, that I will not, nor may not revoke any manner
of thing; considering it is not godly or lawful to do anything against
conscience. Hereupon I stand and rest: I have not what else to say. God have
mercy upon me!"
The princes consulted together upon this answer given by
Luther; and when they had diligently examined the same, the prolocutor began to
repel him thus:
"The Emperor's majesty requireth of thee a simple answer,
either negative or affirmative, whether thou mindest to defend all thy works as
Christian, or no?"
Then Luther, turning to the emperor and the nobles,
besought them not to force or compel him to yield against his conscience,
confirmed with the Holy Scriptures, without manifest arguments alleged to the
contrary by his adversaries. "I am tied by the Scriptures."
Before the Diet of Worms was dissolved, Charves V caused an
edict to be drawn up, which was dated the eighth of May, and decreed that Martin
Luther be, agreeably to the sentence of the pope, henceforward looked upon as a
member separated from the Church, a schismatic, and an obstinate and notorious
heretic. While the bull of Leo X executed by Charles V was thundering throughout
the empire, Luther was safely shut up in the castle of Wittenberg; but weary at
length of his retirement, he appeared publicly again at Wittenberg, March 6,
1522, after he had been absent about ten months.
Luther now made open war with the pope and bishops; and,
that he might make the people despise their authority as much as possible, he
wrote one book against the pope's bull, and another against the order falsely
called "The Order of Bishops." He published also a translation of the New
Testament in the German tongue, which was afterward corrected by himself and
Melancthon.
Affairs were now in great confusion in Germany; and they
were not less so in Italy, for a quarrel arose between the pope and the emperor,
during which Rome was twice taken, and the pope imprisoned. While the princes
were thus employed in quarrelling with each other, Luther persisted in carrying
on the work of the Reformation, as well by opposing the papists, as by combating
the Anabaptists and other fanatical sects; which, having taken the advantage of
his contest with the Church of Rome, had sprung up and established themselves in
several places.
In 1527, Luther was suddenly seized with a coagulation of
the blood about the heart, which had like to have put an end to his life. The
troubles of Germany being not likely to have any end, the emperor was forced to
call a diet at Spires, in 1529, to require the assistance of the princes of the
empire against the Turks. Fourteen cities, viz., Strassburg, Nuremberg, Ulm,
Constance, Retlingen, Windsheim, Memmingen, Lindow, Kempten, Hailbron, Isny,
Weissemburg, Nortlingen, S. Gal, joined against the decree of the Diet
protestation, which was put into writing, and published April, 1529. This was
the famous protestation, which gave the name of "Protestants" to the reformers
in Germany.
After this, the Protestant princes labored to make a firm
league and enjoined the elector of Saxony and his allies to approve of what the
Diet had done; but the deputies drew up an appeal, and the Protestants
afterwards presented an apology for their "Confession"-that famous confession
which was drawn up by the temperate Melancthon, as also the apology. These were
signed by a variety of princes, and Luther had now nothing else to do, but to
sit down and contemplate the mighty work he had finished: for that a single monk
should be able to give the Church of Rome so rude a shock, that there needed but
such another entirely to overthrow it, may be well esteemed a mighty work.
In 1533, Luther wrote a consolatory epistle to the citizens
of Oschatz, who had suffered some hardships for adhering to the Augsburg
confession of faith: and in 1534, the Bible translated by him into German was
first printed, as the old privilege, dated at Bibliopolis, under the elector's
own hand, shows; and it was published in the year after. He also published this
year a book, "Against Masses and the Consecration of Priests."
In February, 1537, an assembly was held at Smalkald about
matters of religion, to which Luther and Melancthon were called. At this meeting
Luther was seized with so grievous an illness that there was no hope of his
recovery. As he was carried along he made his will, in which he bequeathed his
detestation of popery to his friends and brethren. In this manner was he
employed until his death, which happened in 1546.
That year, accompanied by Melancthon, he paid a visit to
his own country, which he had not seen for many years, and returned again in
safety. But soon after, he was called thither again by the earls of Manfelt, to
compose some differences which had arisen about their boundaries, where he was
received by one hundred horsemen, or more, and conducted in a very honorable
manner; but was at the same time so very ill that it was feared he would die. He
said that these fits of sickness often came upon him, when he had any great
business to undertake. Of this, however, he did not recover, but died in
February 18, in his sixty-third year. A little before he expired, he admonished
those that were about him to pray to God for the propagation of the Gospel,
"Because," said he, "the Council of Trent, which had set once or twice, and the
pope, will devise strange things against it." Feeling his fatal hour to
approach, before nine o'clock in the morning, he commended himself to God with
this devout prayer:
"My heavenly Father, eternal and merciful God! Thou hast
manifested unto me Thy dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I have taught Him, I
have known Him; I love Him as my life, my health and my redemption; Whom the
wicked have persecuted, maligned, and with injury afflicted. Draw my soul to
Thee."
After this he said as ensueth, thrice: "I commend my spirit
into Thy hands, Thou hast redeemed me, O God of Truth! 'God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have life everlasting.'" Having repeated oftentimes his prayers, he
was called to God. So praying, his innocent ghost peaceably was separated from
the earthly body.
CHAPTER X
General Persecutions in Germany
The general persecutions in Germany were principally
occasioned by the doctrines and ministry of Martin Luther. Indeed, the pope was
so terrified at the success of that courageous reformer, that he determined to
engage the emperor, Charles V, at any rate, in the scheme to attempt their
extirpation.
To this end
1. He gave the emperor two hundred thousand
crowns in ready money.
2. He promised to maintain twelve thousand
foot, and five thousand horse, for the space of six months, or during a
campaign.
3. He allowed the emperor to receive one
half the revenues of the clergy of the empire during the war.
4. He permitted the emperor to pledge the
abbey lands for five hundred thousand crowns, to assist in carrying on
hostilities against the Protestants.
Thus prompted and supported, the emperor undertook the
extirpation of the Protestants, against whom, indeed, he was particularly
enraged himself; and, for this purpose, a formidable army was raised in Germany,
Spain, and Italy.
The Protestant princes, in the meantime, formed a powerful
confederacy, in order to repel the impending blow. A great army was raised, and
the command given to the elector of Saxony, and the landgrave of Hesse. The
imperial forces were commanded by the emperor of Germany in person, and the eyes
of all Europe were turned on the event of the war.
At length the armies met, and a desperate engagement
ensued, in which the Protestants were defeated, and the elector of Saxony and
the landgrave of Hesse both taken prisoners. This fatal blow was succeeded by a
horrid persecution, the severities of which were such that exile might be deemed
a mild fate, and concealment in a dismal wood pass for happiness. In such times
a cave is a palace, a rock a bed of down, and wild roots delicacies.
Those who were taken experienced the most cruel tortures
that infernal imaginations could invent; and by their constancy evinced that a
real Christian can surmount every difficulty, and despite every danger acquire a
crown of martyrdom.
Henry Voes and John Esch, being apprehended as Protestants,
were brought to examination. Voes, answering for himself and the other, gave the
following answers to some questions asked by a priest, who examined them by
order of the magistracy.
Priest. Were you not both, some years ago, Augustine
friars?
Voes. Yes.
Priest. How came you to quit the bosom of the Church at
Rome?
Voes. On account of her abominations.
Priest. In what do you believe?
Voes. In the Old and New Testaments.
Priest. Do you believe in the writings of the fathers, and
the decrees of the Councils?
Voes. Yes, if they agree with Scripture.
Priest. Did not Martin Luther seduce you both?
Voes. He seduced us even in the very same manner as Christ
seduced the apostles; that is, he made us sensible of the frailty of our bodies,
and the value of our souls.
This examination was sufficient. They were both condemned
to the flames, and soon after suffered with that manly fortitude which becomes
Christians when they receive a crown of martyrdom.
Henry Sutphen, an eloquent and pious preacher, was taken
out of his bed in the middle of the night, and compelled to walk barefoot a
considerable way, so that his feet were terribly cut. He desired a horse, but
his conductors said, in derision, "A horse for a heretic! no no, heretics may go
barefoot." When he arrived at the place of his destination, he was condemned to
be burnt; but, during the execution, many indignities were offered him, as those
who attended not content with what he suffered in the flames, cut and slashed
him in a most terrible manner.
Many were murdered at Halle; Middleburg being taken by
storm all the Protestants were put to the sword, and great numbers were burned
at Vienna.
An officer being sent to put a minister to death,
pretended, when he came to the clergyman's house, that his intentions were only
to pay him a visit. The minister, not suspecting the intended cruelty,
entertained his supposed guest in a very cordial manner. As soon as dinner was
over, the officer said to some of his attendants, "Take this clergyman, and hang
him." The attendants themselves were so shocked after the civility they had
seen, that they hesitated to perform the commands of their master; and the
minister said, "Think what a sting will remain on your conscience, for thus
violating the laws of hospitality." The officer, however, insisted upon being
obeyed, and the attendants, with reluctance, performed the execrable office of
executioners.
Peter Spengler, a pious divine, of the town of Schalet, was
thrown into the river, and drowned. Before he was taken to the banks of the
stream which was to become his grave, they led him to the market place that his
crimes might be proclaimed; which were, not going to Mass, not making
confession, and not believing in transubstantiation. After this ceremony was
over, he made a most excellent discourse to the people, and concluded with a
kind hymn, of a very edifying nature.
A Protestant gentleman being ordered to lose his head for
not renouncing his religion, went cheerfully to the place of execution. A friar
came to him, and said these words in a low tone of voice, "As you have a great
reluctance publicly to abjure your faith, whisper your confession in my ear, and
I will absolve your sins." To this the gentleman loudly replied, "Trouble me
not, friar, I have confessed my sins to God, and obtained absolution through the
merits of Jesus Christ." Then turning to the executioner, he said, "Let me not
be pestered with these men, but perform your duty," on which his head was struck
off at a single blow.
Wolfgang Scuch, and John Huglin, two worthy ministers, were
burned, as was Leonard Keyser, a student of the University of Wertembergh; and
George Carpenter, a Bavarian, was hanged for refusing to recant Protestantism.
The persecutions in Germany having subsided many years,
again broke out in 1630, on account of the war between the emperor and the king
of Sweden, for the latter was a Protestant prince, and consequently the
Protestants of Germany espoused his cause, which greatly exasperated the emperor
against them.
The imperialists having laid siege to the town of
Passewalk, (which was defended by the Swedes) took it by storm, and committed
the most horrid cruelties on the occasion. They pulled down the churches, burnt
the houses, pillaged the properties, massacred the ministers, put the garrison
to the sword, hanged the townsmen, ravished the women, smothered the children,
etc., etc.
A most bloody tragedy was transacted at Magdeburg, in the
year 1631. The generals Tilly and Pappenheim, having taken that Protestant city
by storm, upwards of twenty thousand persons, without distinction of rank, sex,
or age, were slain during the carnage, and six thousand were drowned in
attempting to escape over the river Elbe. After this fury had subsided, the
remaining inhabitants were stripped naked, severely scourged, had their ears
cropped, and being yoked together like oxen were turned adrift.
The town of Hoxter was taken by the popish army, and all
the inhabitants as well as the garrison were put to the sword; the houses even
were set on fire, the bodies being consumed in the flames.
At Griphenberg, when the imperial forces prevailed, they
shut up the senators in the senate chamber, and surrounding it by lighted straw
suffocated them.
Franhendal surrendered upon articles of capitulation, yet
the inhabitants were as cruelly used as at other places; and at Heidelberg many
were shut up in prison and starved.
The cruelties used by the imperial troops, under Count
Tilly in Saxony, are thus enumerated. Half strangling, and recovering the
persons again repeatedly. Rolling sharp wheels over the fingers and toes.
Pinching the thumbs in a vice. Forcing the most filthy things down the throat,
by which many were choked. Tying cords round the head so tightly that the blood
gushed out of the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Fastening burning matches to the
fingers, toes, ears, arms, legs, and even the tongue. Putting powder in the
mouth and setting fire to it, by which the head was shattered to pieces. Tying
bags of powder to all parts of the body, by which the person was blown up.
Drawing cords backwards and forwards through the fleshy parts. Making incisions
with bodkins and knives in the skin. Running wires through the nose, ears, lips,
etc. Hanging Protestants up by the legs, with their heads over a fire, by which
they were smoke dried. Hanging up by one arm until it was dislocated. Hanging
upon hooks by the ribs. Forcing people to drink until they burst. Baking many in
hot ovens. Fixing weights to the feet, and drawing up several with pulleys.
Hanging, stifling, roasting, stabbing, frying, racking, ravishing, ripping open,
breaking the bones, rasping off the flesh, tearing with wild horses, drowning,
strangling, burning, broiling, crucifying, immuring, poisoning, cutting off
tongues, noses, ears, etc., sawing off the limbs, hacking to pieces, and drawing
by the heels through the streets.
The enormous cruelties will be a perpetual stain on the
memory of Count Tilly, who not only committed, but even commanded the troops to
put them in practice. Wherever he came, the most horrid barbarities and cruel
depredations ensued: famine and conflagration marked his progress: for he
destroyed all the provisions he could not take with him, and burnt all the towns
before he left them; so that the full result of his conquests were murder,
poverty, and desolation.
An aged and pious divine they stripped naked, tied him on
his back upon a table, and fastened a large, fierce cat upon his belly. They
then pricked and tormented the cat in such a manner that the creature with rage
tore his belly open, and gnawed his bowels.
Another minister and his family were seized by these
inhuman monsters; they ravished his wife and daughter before his face; stuck his
infant son upon the point of a lance, and then surrounding him with his whole
library of books, they set fire to them, and he was consumed in the midst of the
flames.
In Hesse-Cassel some of the troops entered an hospital, in
which were principally mad women, when stripping all the poor wretches naked,
they made them run about the streets for their diversion, and then put them all
to death.
In Pomerania, some of the imperial troops entering a small
town, seized upon all the young women, and girls of upwards of ten years, and
then placing their parents in a circle, they ordered them to sing Psalms, while
they ravished their children, or else they swore they would cut them to pieces
afterward. They then took all the married women who had young children, and
threatened, if they did not consent to the gratification of their lusts, to burn
their children before their faces in a large fire, which they had kindled for
that purpose.
A band of Count Tilly's soldiers meeting a company of
merchants belonging to Basel, who were returning from the great market of
Strassburg, attempted to surround them; all escaped, however, but ten, leaving
their properties behind. The ten who were taken begged hard for their lives: but
the soldiers murdered them saying, "You must die because you are heretics, and
have got no money."
The same soldiers met with two countesses, who, together
with some young ladies, the daughters of one of them, were taking an airing in a
landau. The soldiers spared their lives, but treated them with the greatest
indecency, and having stripped them all stark naked, bade the coachman drive on.
By means and mediation of Great Britain, peace was at
length restored to Germany, and the Protestants remained unmolested for several
years, until some new disturbances broke out in the Palatinate, which were thus
occasioned:
The great Church of the Holy Ghost, at Heidelberg, had, for
many years, been shared equally by the Protestants and Roman Catholics in this
manner: the Protestants performed divine service in the nave or body of the
church; and the Roman Catholics celebrated Mass in the choir. Though this had
been the custom from time immemorial, the elector of the Palatinate, at length,
took it into his head not to suffer it any longer, declaring, that as Heidelberg
was the place of his residence, and the Church of the Holy Ghost the cathedral
of his principal city, divine service ought to be performed only according to
the rites of the Church of which he was a member. He then forbade the
Protestants to enter the church, and put the papists in possession of the whole.
The aggrieved people applied to the Protestant powers for
redress, which so much exasperated the elector, that he suppressed the
Heidelberg catechism. The Protestant powers, however, unanimously agreed to
demand satisfaction, as the elector, by this conduct, had broken an article of
the treaty of Westphalia; and the courts of Great Britain, Prussia, Holland,
etc., sent deputies to the elector, to represent the injustice of his
proceedings, and to threaten, unless he changed his behavior to the Protestants
in the Palatinate, that they would treat their Roman Catholic subjects with the
greatest severity. Many violent disputes took place between the Protestant
powers and those of the elector, and these were greatly augmented by the
following incident: the coach of the Dutch minister standing before the door of
the resident sent by the prince of Hesse, the host was by chance being carried
to a sick person; the coachman took not the least notice, which those who
attended the host observing, pulled him from his box, and compelled him to
kneel; this violence to the domestic of a public minister was highly resented by
all the Protestant deputies; and still more to heighten these differences, the
Protestants presented to the deputies three additional articles of complaint.
1. That military executions were ordered
against all Protestant shoemakers who should refuse to contribute to the Masses
of St. Crispin.
2. that the Protestants were forbid to work
on popish holy days, even in harvest time, under very heavy penalties, which
occasioned great inconveniences, and considerably prejudiced public business.
3. That several Protestant ministers had
been dispossessed of their churches, under pretence of their having been
originally founded and built by Roman Catholics.
The Protestant deputies at length became so serious as to
intimate to the elector, that force of arms should compel him to do the justice
he denied to their representations. This menace brought him to reason, as he
well knew the impossibility of carrying on a war against the powerful states who
threatened him. He therefore agreed that the body of the Church of the Holy
Ghost should be restored to the Protestants. He restored the Heidelberg
catechism, put the Protestant ministers again in possession of the churches of
which they had been dispossessed, allowed the Protestants to work on popish holy
days, and, ordered, that no person should be molested for not kneeling when the
host passed by.
These things he did through fear; but to show his
resentment to his Protestant subjects, in other circumstances where Protestant
states had no right to interfere, he totally abandoned Heidelberg, removing all
the courts of justice to Mannheim, which was entirely inhabited by Roman
Catholics. He likewise built a new palace there, making it his place of
residence; and, being followed by the Roman Catholics of Heidelberg, Mannheim
became a flourishing place.
In the meantime the Protestants of Heidelberg sunk into
poverty and many of them became so distressed as to quit their native country,
and seek an asylum in Protestant states. A great number of these coming into
England, in the time of Queen Anne, were cordially received there, and met with
a most humane assistance, both by public and private donations.
In 1732, above thirty thousand Protestants were, contrary
to the treaty of Westphalia, driven from the archbishopric of Salzburg. They
went away in the depth of winter, with scarcely enough clothes to cover them,
and without provisions, not having permission to take anything with them. The
cause of these poor people not being publicly espoused by such states as could
obtain them redress, they emigrated to various Protestant countries, and settled
in places where they could enjoy the free exercise of their religion, without
hurting their consciences, and live free from the trammels of popish
superstition, and the chains of papal tyranny.
CHAPTER XI
An Account of the Persecutions in the
Netherlands
The light of the Gospel having successfully spread over the
Netherlands, the pope instigated the emperor to commence a persecution against
the Protestants; when many thousand fell martyrs to superstitious malice and
barbarous bigotry, among whom the most remarkable were the following:
Wendelinuta, a pious Protestant widow, was apprehended on
account of her religion, when several monks, unsuccessfully, endeavored to
persuade her to recant. As they could not prevail, a Roman Catholic lady of her
acquaintance desired to be admitted to the dungeon in which she was confined,
and promised to exert herself strenuously towards inducing the prisoner to
abjure the reformed religion. When she was admitted to the dungeon, she did her
utmost to perform the task she had undertaken; but finding her endeavors
ineffectual, she said, "Dear Wendelinuta, if you will not embrace our faith, at
least keep the things which you profess secret within your own bosom, and strive
to prolong your life." To which the widow replied, "Madam, you know not what you
say; for with the heart we believe to righteousness, but with the tongue
confession is made unto salvation." As she positively refused to recant, her
goods were confiscated, and she was condemned to be burnt. At the place of
execution a monk held a cross to her, and bade her kiss and worship God. To
which she answered, "I worship no wooden god, but the eternal God who is in
heaven." She was then executed, but through the before-mentioned Roman Catholic
lady, the favor was granted that she should be strangled before fire was put to
the fagots.
Two Protestant clergymen were burnt at Colen; a tradesman
of Antwerp, named Nicholas, was tied up in a sack, thrown into the river, and
drowned; and Pistorius, a learned student, was carried to the market of a Dutch
village in a fool's coat, and committed to the flames.
Sixteen Protestants, having receive sentence to be
beheaded, a Protestant minister was ordered to attend the execution. This
gentleman performed the function of his office with great propriety, exhorted
them to repentance, and gave them comfort in the mercies of their Redeemer. As
soon as the sixteen were beheaded, the magistrate cried out to the executioner,
"There is another stroke remaining yet; you must behead the minister; he can
never die at a better time than with such excellent precepts in his mouth, and
such laudable examples before him." He was accordingly beheaded, though even
many of the Roman Catholics themselves reprobated this piece of treacherous and
unnecessary cruelty.
George Scherter, a minister of Salzburg, was apprehended
and committed to prison for instructing his flock in the knowledge of the
Gospel. While he was in confinement he wrote a confession of his faith; soon
after which he was condemned, first to be beheaded, and afterward to be burnt to
ashes. On his way to the place of execution he said to the spectators, "That you
may know I die a true Christian, I will give you a sign." This was indeed
verified in a most singular manner; for after his head was cut off, the body
lying a short space of time with the belly to the ground, it suddenly turned
upon the back, when the right foot crossed over the left, as did also the right
arm over the left: and in this manner it remained until it was committed to the
flames.
In Louviana, a learned man, named Percinal, was murdered in
prison; and Justus Insparg was beheaded, for having Luther's sermons in his
possession.
Giles Tilleman, a cutler of Brussels, was a man of great
humanity and piety. Among others he was apprehended as a Protestant, and many
endeavors were made by the monks to persuade him to recant. He had once, by
accident, a fair opportunity of escaping from prison and being asked why he did
not avail himself of it, he replied, "I would not do the keepers so much injury,
as they must have answered for my absence, had I gone away." When he was
sentenced to be burnt, he fervently thanked God for granting him an opportunity,
by martyrdom, to glorify His name. Perceiving, at the place of execution, a
great quantity of fagots, he desired the principal part of them might be given
to the poor, saying, "A small quantity will suffice to consume me." The
executioner offered to strangle him before the fire was lighted, but he would
not consent, telling him that he defied the flames; and, indeed, he gave up the
ghost with such composure amidst them, that he hardly seemed sensible of their
effects.
In the year 1543 and 1544, the persecution was carried on
throughout all Flanders in a most violent and cruel manner. Some were condemned
to perpetual imprisonment, others to perpetual banishment; but most were put to
death either by hanging, drowning, immuring, burning, the rack, or burying
alive.
John de Boscane, a zealous Protestant, was apprehended on
account of his faith, in the city of Antwerp. On his trial, he steadfastly
professed himself to be of the reformed religion, which occasioned his immediate
condemnation. The magistrate, however, was afraid to put him to death publicly,
as he was popular through his great generosity, and almost universally beloved
for his inoffensive life, and exemplary piety. A private execution being
determined on, an order was given to drown him in prison. The executioner,
accordingly, put him in a large tub; but Boscane struggling, and getting his
head above the water, the executioner stabbed him with a dagger in several
places, until he expired.
John de Buisons, another Protestant, was, about the same
time, secretly apprehended, and privately executed at Antwerp. The numbers of
Protestants being great in that city, and the prisoner much respected, the
magistrates feared an insurrection, and for that reason ordered him to be
beheaded in prison.
A.D. 1568, three persons were apprehended in Antwerp, named
Scoblant, Hues, and Coomans. During their confinement they behaved with great
fortitude and cheerfulness, confessing that the hand of God appeared in what had
befallen them, and bowing down before the throne of his providence. In an
epistle to some worthy Protestants, they expressed themselves in the following
words: "Since it is the will of the Almighty that we should suffer for His name,
and be persecuted for the sake of His Gospel, we patiently submit, and are
joyful upon the occasion; though the flesh may rebel against the spirit, and
hearken to the council of the old serpent, yet the truths of the Gospel shall
prevent such advice from being taken, and Christ shall bruise the serpent's
head. We are not comfortless in confinement, for we have faith; we fear not
affliction, for we have hope; and we forgive our enemies, for we have charity.
Be not under apprehensions for us, we are happy in confinement through the
promises of God, glory in our bonds, and exult in being thought worthy to suffer
for the sake of Christ. We desire not to be released, but to be blessed with
fortitude; we ask not liberty, but the power of perseverance; and wish for no
change in our condition, but that which places a crown of martyrdom upon our
heads."
Scoblant was first brought to his trial; when, persisting
in the profession of his faith, he received sentence of death. On his return to
prison, he earnestly requested the jailer not to permit any friar to come near
him; saying, "They can do me no good, but may greatly disturb me. I hope my
salvation is already sealed in heaven, and that the blood of Christ, in which I
firmly put my trust, hath washed me from my iniquities. I am not going to throw
off this mantle of clay, to be clad in robes of eternal glory, by whose
celestial brightness I shall be freed from all errors. I hope I may be the last
martyr to papal tyranny, and the blood already spilt found sufficient to quench
the thirst of popish cruelty; that the Church of Christ may have rest here, as
his servants will hereafter." On the day of execution, he took a pathetic leave
of his fellow prisoners. At the stake he fervently said the Lord's Prayer, and
sung the Fortieth Psalm; then commending his soul to God, he was burnt alive.
Hues, soon after died in prison; upon which occasion
Coomans wrote thus to his friends: "I am now deprived of my friends and
companions; Scoblant is martyred, and Hues dead, by the visitation of the Lord;
yet I am not alone, I have with me the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob;
He is my comfort, and shall be my reward. Pray unto God to strengthen me to the
end, as I expect every hour to be freed from this tenement of clay."
On his trial he freely confessed himself of the reformed
religion, answered with a manly fortitude to every charge against him, and
proved the Scriptural part of his answers from the Gospel. The judge told him
the only alternatives were recantation or death; and concluded by saying, "Will
you die for the faith you profess?" To which Coomans replied, "I am not only
willing to die, but to suffer the most excruciating torments for it; after which
my soul shall receive its confirmation from God Himself, in the midst of eternal
glory." Being condemned, he went cheerfully to the place of execution, and died
with the most manly fortitude, and Christian resignation.
William of Nassau fell a sacrifice to treachery, being
assassinated in the fifty-first year of his age, by Beltazar Gerard, a native of
Ranche Compte, in the province of Burgundy. This murderer, in hopes of a reward
here and hereafter, for killing an enemy to the king of Spain and an enemy to
the Catholic religion, undertook to destroy the prince of Orange. Having
procured firearms, he watched him as he passed through the great hall of his
palace to dinner, and demanded a passport. The princess of Orange, observing
that the assassin spoke with a hollow and confused voice, asked who he was,
saying that she did not like his countenance. The prince answered that it was
one that demanded a passport, which he should presently have.
Nothing further passed before dinner, but on the return of
the prince and princess through the same hall, after dinner was over, the
assassin, standing concealed as much as possible by one of the pillars, fired at
the prince, the balls entering at the left side, and passing through the right,
wounding in their passage the stomach and vital parts. On receiving the wounds,
the prince only said, "Lord, have mercy upon my soul, and upon these poor
people," and then expired immediately.
The lamentations throughout the United Provinces were
general, on account of the death of the prince of Orange; and the assassin, who
was immediately taken, received sentence to be put to death in the most
exemplary manner, yet such was his enthusiasm, or folly, that when his flesh was
torn by red-hot pincers, he coolly said, "If I was at liberty, I would commit
such an action over again."
The prince of Orange's funeral was the grandest ever seen
in the Low Countries, and perhaps the sorrow for his death the most sincere, as
he left behind him the character he honestly deserved, viz., that of father of
his people.
To conclude, multitudes were murdered in different parts of
Flanders; in the city of Valence, in particular, fifty-seven of the principal
inhabitants were butchered in one day, for refusing to embrace the Romish
superstition; and great numbers were suffered to languish in confinement, until
they perished through the inclemency of their dungeons.
CHAPTER XII
The Life and Story of the True Servant and Martyr of God,
William Tyndale
We have now to enter into the story of the good martyr of
God, William Tyndale; which William Tyndale, as he was a special organ of the
Lord appointed, and as God's mattock to shake the inward roots and foundation of
the pope's proud prelacy, so the great prince of darkness, with his impious
imps, having a special malice against him, left no way unsought how craftily to
entrap him, and falsely to betray him, and maliciously to spill his life, as by
the process of his story here following may appear.
William Tyndale, the faithful minister of Christ, was born
about the borders of Wales, and brought up from a child in the University of
Oxford, where he, by long continuance, increased as well in the knowledge of
tongues, and other liberal arts, as especially in the knowledge of the
Scriptures, whereunto his mind was singularly addicted; insomuch that he, lying
then in Magdalen Hall, read privily to certain students and fellows of Magdalen
College some parcel of divinity; instructing them in the knowledge and truth of
the Scriptures. His manners and conversation being correspondent to the same,
were such that all they that knew him reputed him to be a man of most virtuous
disposition, and of life unspotted.
Thus he, in the University of Oxford, increasing more and
more in learning, and proceeding in degrees of the schools, spying his time,
removed from thence to the University of Cambridge, where he likewise made his
abode a certain space. Being now further ripened in the knowledge of God's Word,
leaving that university, he resorted to one Master Welch, a knight of
Gloucestershire, and was there schoolmaster to his children, and in good favor
with his master. As this gentleman kept a good ordinary commonly at his table,
there resorted to him many times sundry abbots, deans, archdeacons, with divers
other doctors, and great beneficed men; who there, together with Master Tyndale
sitting at the same table, did use many times to enter communication, and talk
of learned men, as of Luther and of Erasmus; also of divers other controversies
and questions upon the Scripture.
Then Master Tyndale, as he was learned and well practiced
in God's matters, spared not to show unto them simply and plainly his judgment,
and when they at any time did vary from Tyndale in opinions, he would show them
in the Book, and lay plainly before them the open and manifest places of the
Scriptures, to confute their errors, and confirm his sayings. And thus continued
they for a certain season, reasoning and contending together divers times, until
at length they waxed weary, and bare a secret grudge in their hearts against
him.
As this grew on, the priests of the country, clustering
together, began to grudge and storm against Tyndale, railing against him in
alehouses and other places, affirming that his sayings were heresy; and accused
him secretly to the chancellor, and others of the bishop's officers.
It followed not long after this that there was a sitting of
the bishop's chancellor appointed, and warning was given to the priests to
appear, amongst whom Master Tyndale was also warned to be there. And whether he
had any misdoubt by their threatenings, or knowledge given him that they would
lay some things to his charge, it is uncertain; but certain this is (as he
himself declared), that he doubted their privy accusations; so that he by the
way, in going thitherwards, cried in his mind heartily to God, to give him
strength fast to stand in the truth of His Word.
When the time came for his appearance before the
chancellor, he threatened him grievously, reviling and rating him as though he
had been a dog, and laid to his charge many things whereof no accuser could be
brought forth, notwithstanding that the priests of the country were there
present. Thus Master Tyndale, escaping out of their hands, departed home, and
returned to his master again.
There dwelt not far off a certain doctor, that he been
chancellor to a bishop, who had been of old, familiar acquaintance with Master
Tyndale, and favored him well; unto whom Master Tyndale went and opened his mind
upon divers questions of the Scripture: for to him he durst be bold to disclose
his heart. Unto whom the doctor said, "Do you not know that the pope is very
Antichrist, whom the Scripture speaketh of? But beware what you say; for if you
shall be perceived to be of that opinion, it will cost you your life."
Not long after, Master Tyndale happened to be in the
company of a certain divine, recounted for a learned man, and, in communing and
disputing with him, he drove him to that issue, that the said great doctor burst
out into these blasphemous words, "We were better to be without God's laws than
the pope's." Master Tyndale, hearing this, full of godly zeal, and not bearing
that blasphemous saying, replied, "I defy the pope, and all his laws;" and
added, "If God spared him life, ere many years he would cause a boy that driveth
the plough to know more of the Scripture than he did."
The grudge of the priests increasing still more and more
against Tyndale, they never ceased barking and rating at him, and laid many
things sorely to his charge, saying that he was a heretic. Being so molested and
vexed, he was constrained to leave that country, and to seek another place; and
so coming to Master Welch, he desired him, of his good will, that he might
depart from him, saying: "Sir, I perceive that I shall not be suffered to tarry
long here in this country, neither shall you be able, though you would, to keep
me out of the hands of the spirituality; what displeasure might grow to you by
keeping me, God knoweth; for the which I should be right sorry."
So that in fine, Master Tyndale, with the good will of his
master, departed, and eftsoons came up to London, and there preached a while, as
he had done in the country.
Bethinking himself of Cuthbert Tonstal, then bishop of
London, and especially of the great commendation of Erasmus, who, in his
annotations, so extolleth the said Tonstal for his learning, Tyndale thus cast
with himself, that if he might attain unto his service, he were a happy man.
Coming to Sir Henry Guilford, the king's comptroller, and bringing with him an
oration of Isocrates, which he had translated out of Greek into English, he
desired him to speak to the said bishop of London for him; which he also did;
and willed him moreover to write an epistle to the bishop, and to go himself
with him. This he did, and delivered his epistle to a servant of his, named
William Hebilthwait, a man of his old acquaintance. But God, who secretly
disposeth the course of things, saw that was not best for Tyndale's purpose, nor
for the profit of His Church, and therefore gave him to find little favor in the
bishop's sight; the answer of whom was this: his house was full; he had more
than he could well find: and he advised him to seek in London abroad, where, he
said, he could lack no service.
Being refused of the bishop he came to Humphrey Mummuth,
alderman of London, and besought him to help him: who the same time took him
into his house, where the said Tyndale lived (as Mummuth said) like a good
priest, studying both night and day. He would eat but sodden meat by his good
will, nor drink but small single beer. He was never seen in the house to wear
linen about him, all the space of his being there.
And so remained Master Tyndale in London almost a year,
marking with himself the course of the world, and especially the demeanor of the
preachers, how they boasted themselves, and set up their authority; beholding
also the pomp of the prelates, with other things more, which greatly misliked
him; insomuch that he understood not only that there was no room in the bishop's
house for him to translate the New Testament, but also that there was no place
to do it in all England.
Therefore, having by God's providence some aid ministered
unto him by Humphrey Mummuth, and certain other good men, he took his leave of
the realm, and departed into Germany, where the good man, being inflamed with a
tender care and zeal of his country, refused no travail nor diligence, how, by
all means possible, to reduce his brethren and countrymen of England to the same
taste and understanding of God's holy Word and verity, which the Lord had endued
him withal. Whereupon, considering in his mind, and conferring also with John
Frith, Tyndale thought with himself no way more to conduce thereunto, than if
the Scripture were turned into the vulgar speech, that the poor people might
read and see the simple plain Word of God. He perceived that it was not possible
to establish the lay people in any truth, except the Scriptures were so plainly
laid before their eyes in their mother tongue that they might see the meaning of
the text; for else, whatsoever truth should be taught them, the enemies of the
truth would quench it, either with reasons of sophistry, and traditions of their
own making, founded without all ground of Scripture; or else juggling with the
text, expounding it in such a sense as it were impossible to gather of the text,
if the right meaning thereof were seen.
Master Tyndale considered this only, or most chiefly, to be
the cause of all mischief in the Church, that the Scriptures of God were hidden
from the people's eyes; for so long the abominable doings and idolatries
maintained by the pharisaical clergy could not be espied; and therefore all
their labor was with might and main to keep it down, so that either it should
not be read at all, or if it were, they would darken the right sense with the
mist of their sophistry, and so entangle those who rebuked or despised their
abominations; wresting the Scripture unto their own purpose, contrary unto the
meaning of the text, they would so delude the unlearned lay people, that though
thou felt in thy heart, and wert sure that all were false that they said, yet
couldst thou not solve their subtle riddles.
For these and such other considerations this good man was
stirred up of God to translate the Scripture into his mother tongue, for the
profit of the simple people of his country; first setting in hand with the New
Testament, which came forth in print about A.D. 1525. Cuthbert Tonstal, bishop
of London, with Sir Thomas More, being sore aggrieved, despised how to destroy
that false erroneous translation, as they called it.
It happened that one Augustine Packington, a mercer, was
then at Antwerp, where the bishop was. This man favored Tyndale, but showed the
contrary unto the bishop. The bishop, being desirous to bring his purpose to
pass, communed how that he would gladly buy the New Testaments. Packington
hearing him say so, said, "My lord! I can do more in this matter than most
merchants that be here, if it be your pleasure; for I know the Dutchmen and
strangers that have brought them of Tyndale, and have them here to sell; so that
if it be your lordship's pleasure, I must disburse money to pay for them, or
else I cannot have them: and so I will assure you to have every book of them
that is printed and unsold." The bishop, thinking he had God "by the toe," said,
"Do your diligence, gentle Master Packington! get them for me, and I will pay
whatsoever they cost; for I intend to burn and destroy them all at Paul's
Cross." This Augustine Packington went unto William Tyndale, and declared the
whole matter, and so, upon compact made between them, the bishop of London had
the books, Packington had the thanks, and Tyndale had the money.
After this, Tyndale corrected the same New Testaments
again, and caused them to be newly imprinted, so that they came thick and
threefold over into England. When the bishop perceived that, he sent for
Packington, and said to him, "How cometh this, that there are so many New
Testaments abroad? You promised me that you would buy them all." Then answered
Packington, "Surely, I bought all that were to be had, but I perceive they have
printed more since. I see it will never be better so long as they have letters
and stamps: wherefore you were best to buy the stamps too, and so you shall be
sure," at which answer the bishop smiled, and so the matter ended.
In short space after, it fortuned that George Constantine
was apprehended by Sir Thomas More, who was then chancellor of England, as
suspected of certain heresies. Master More asked of him, saying, "Constantine! I
would have thee be plain with me in one thing that I will ask; and I promise
thee I will show thee favor in all other things whereof thou art accused. There
is beyond the sea, Tyndale, Joye, and a great many of you: I know they cannot
live without help. There are some that succor them with money; and thou, being
one of them, hadst thy part thereof, and therefore knowest whence it came. I
pray thee, tell me, who be they that help them thus?" "My lord," quoth
Constantine, "I will tell you truly: it is the bishop of London that hath holpen
us, for he hath bestowed among us a great deal of money upon New Testaments to
burn them; and that hath been, and yet is, our only succor and comfort." "Now by
my troth," quoth More, "I think even the same; for so much I told the bishop
before he went about it."
After that, Master Tyndale took in hand to translate the
Old Testament, finishing the five books of Moses, with sundry most learned and
godly prologues most worthy to be read and read again by all good Christians.
These books being sent over into England, it cannot be spoken what a door of
light they opened to the eyes of the whole English nation, which before were
shut up in darkness.
At his first departing out of the realm he took his journey
into Germany, where he had conference with Luther and other learned men; after
he had continued there a certain season he came down into the Netherlands, and
had his most abiding in the town of Antwerp.
The godly books of Tyndale, and especially the New
Testament of his translation, after that they began to come into men's hands,
and to spread abroad, wrought great and singular profit to the godly; but the
ungodly (envying and disdaining that the people should be anything wiser than
they and, fearing lest by the shining beams of truth, their works of darkness
should be discerned) began to sir with no small ado.
At what time Tyndale had translated Deuteronomy, minding to
print the same at Hamburg, he sailed thitherward; upon the coast of Holland he
suffered shipwreck, by which he lost all his books, writings, and copies, his
money and his time, and so was compelled to begin all again. He came in another
ship to Hamburg, where, at his appointment, Master Coverdale tarried for him,
and helped him in the translating of the whole five books of Moses, from Easter
until December, in the house of a worshipful widow, Mistress Margaret Van
Emmerson, A.D. 1529; a great sweating sickness being at the same time in the
town. So, having dispatched his business at Hamburg, he returned to Antwerp.
When God's will was, that the New Testament in the common
tongue should come abroad, Tyndale, the translator thereof, added to the latter
end a certain epistle, wherein he desired them that were learned to amend, if
ought were found amiss. Wherefore if there had been any such default deserving
correction, it had been the part of courtesy and gentleness, for men of
knowledge and judgment to have showed their learning therein, and to have
redressed what was to be amended. But the clergy, not willing to have that book
prosper, cried out upon it, that there were a thousand heresies in it, and that
it was not to be corrected, but utterly to be suppressed. Some said it was not
possible to translate the Scriptures into English; some that it was not lawful
for the lay people to have it in their mother tongue; some, that it would make
them all heretics. And to the intent to induce the temporal rulers unto their
purpose, they said it would make the people to rebel against the king.
All this Tyndale himself, in his prologue before the first
book of Moses, declareth; showing further what great pains were taken in
examining that translation, and comparing it with their own imaginations, that
with less labor, he supposeth, they might have translated a great part of the
Bible; showing moreover that they scanned and examined every title and point in
such sort, and so narrowly, that there was not one i therein, but if it lacked a
prick over his head, they did note it, and numbered it unto the ignorant people
for a heresy.
So great were then the froward devices of the English
clergy (who should have been the guides of light unto the people), to drive the
people from the knowledge of the Scripture, which neither they would translate
themselves, nor yet abide it to be translated of others; to the intent (as
Tyndale saith) that the world being kept still in darkness, they might sit in
the consciences of the people through vain superstition and false doctrine, to
satisfy their ambition, and insatiable covetousness, and to exalt their own
honor above king and emperor.
The bishops and prelates never rested before they had
brought the king to their consent; by reason whereof, a proclamation in all
haste was devised and set forth under public authority, that the Testament of
Tyndale's translation was inhibited-which was about A.D. 1537. And not content
herewith, they proceeded further, how to entangle him in their nets, and to
bereave him of his life; which how they brought to pass, now it remaineth to be
declared.
In the registers of London it appeareth manifest how that
the bishops and Sir Thomas More having before them such as had been at Antwerp,
most studiously would search and examine all things belonging to Tyndale, where
and with whom he hosted, whereabouts stood the house, what was his stature, in
what apparel he went, what resort he had; all which things when they had
diligently learned then began they to work their feats.
William Tyndale, being in the town of Antwerp, had been
lodged about one whole year in the house of Thomas Pointz, an Englishman, who
kept a house of English merchants. Came thither one out of England, whose name
was Henry Philips, his father being customer of Poole, a comely fellow, like as
he had been a gentleman having a servant with him: but wherefore he came, or for
what purpose he was sent thither, no man could tell.
Master Tyndale divers times was desired forth to dinner and
support amongst merchants; by means whereof this Henry Philips became acquainted
with him, so that within short space Master Tyndale had a great confidence in
him, and brought him to his lodging, to the house of Thomas Pointz; and had him
also once or twice with him to dinner and supper, and further entered such
friendship with him, that through his procurement he lay in the same house of
the said Pointz; to whom he showed moreover his books, and other secrets of his
study, so little did Tyndale then mistrust this traitor.
But Pointz, having no great confidence in the fellow, asked
Master Tyndale how he came acquainted with this Philips. Master Tyndale
answered, that he was an honest man, handsomely learned, and very conformable.
Pointz, perceiving that he bare such favor to him, said no more, thinking that
he was brought acquainted with him by some friend of his. The said Philips,
being in the town three or four days, upon a time desired Pointz to walk with
him forth of the town to show him the commodities thereof, and in walking
together without the town, had communication of divers things, and some of the
king's affairs; by which talk Pointz as yet suspected nothing. But after, when
the time was past, Pointz perceived this to be the mind of Philips, to feel
whether the said Pointz might, for lucre of money, help him to his purpose, for
he perceived before that Philips was monied, and would that Pointz should think
no less. For he had desired Pointz before to help him to divers things; and such
things as he named, he required might be of the best, "for," said he, "I have
money enough."
Philips went from Antwerp to the court of Brussels, which
is from thence twenty-four English miles, whence he brought with him to Antwerp,
the procurator-general, who is the emperor's attorney, with certain other
officers.
Within three or four days, Pointz went forth to the town of
Barois, being eighteen English miles from Antwerp, where he had business to do
for the space of a month or six weeks; and in the time of his absence Henry
Philips came again to Antwerp, to the house of Pointz, and coming in, spake with
his wife, asking whether Master Tyndale were within. Then went he forth again
and set the officers whom he had brought with him from Brussels, in the street,
and about the door. About noon he came again, and went to Master Tyndale, and
desired him to lend him forty shillings; "for," said he, "I lost my purse this
morning, coming over at the passage between this and Mechlin." So Master Tyndale
took him forty shillings, which was easy to be had of him, if he had it; for in
the wily subtleties of this world he was simple and inexpert. Then said Philips,
"Master Tyndale! you shall be my guest here this day." "No," said Master
Tyndale, "I go forth this day to dinner, and you shall go with me, and be my
guest, where you shall be welcome."
So when it was dinner time, Master Tyndale went forth with
Philips, and at the going forth of Pointz's house, was a long narrow entry, so
that two could not go in front. Master Tyndale would have put Philips before
him, but Philips would in no wise, but put Master Tyndale before, for that he
pretended to show great humanity. So Master Tyndale, being a man of no great
stature, went before, and Philips, a tall, comely person, followed behind him;
who had set officers on either side of the door upon two seats, who might see
who came in the entry. Philips pointed with his finger over Master Tyndale's
head down to him, that the officers might see that it was he whom they should
take. The officers afterwards told Pointz, when they had laid him in prison,
that they pitied to see his simplicity. They brought him to the emperor's
attorney, where he dined. Then came the procurator-general to the house of
Pointz, and sent away all that was there of Master Tyndale's, as well his books
as other things; and from thence Tyndale was had to the castle of Vilvorde,
eighteen English miles from Antwerp.
Master Tyndale, remaining in prison, was proffered an
advocate and a procurator; the which he refused, saying that he would make
answer for himself. He had so preached to them who had him in charge, and such
as was there conversant with him in the Castle that they reported of him, that
if he were not a good Christian man, they knew not whom they might take to be
one.
At last, after much reasoning, when no reason would serve,
although he deserved no death, he was condemned by virtue of the emperor's
decree, made in the assembly at Augsburg. Brought forth to the place of
execution, he was tied to the stake, strangled by the hangman, and afterwards
consumed with fire, at the town of Vilvorde, A.D. 1536; crying at the stake with
a fervent zeal, and a loud voice, "Lord! open the king of England's eyes."
Such was the power of his doctrine, and the sincerity of
his life, that during the time of his imprisonment (which endured a year and a
half), he converted, it is said, his keeper, the keeper's daughter, and others
of his household.
As touching his translation of the New Testament, because
his enemies did so much carp at it, pretending it to be full of heresies, he
wrote to John Frith, as followeth, "I call God to record against the day we
shall appear before our Lord Jesus, that I never altered one syllable of God's
Word against my conscience, nor would do this day, if all that is in earth,
whether it be honor, pleasure, or riches, might be given me."
CHAPTER XIII
An Account of the Life of John Calvin
This reformer was born at Noyon in Picardy, July 10, 1509.
He was instructed in grammar, learning at Paris under Maturinus Corderius, and
studied philosophy in the College of Montaign under a Spanish professor.
His father, who discovered many marks of his early piety,
particularly in his reprehensions of the vices of his companions, designed him
at first for the Church, and got him presented, May 21, 1521, to the chapel of
Notre Dame de la Gesine, in the Church of Noyon. In 1527 he was presented to the
rectory of Marseville, which he exchanged in 1529 for the rectory of Point
l'Eveque, near Noyon. His father afterward changed his resolution, and would
have him study law; to which Calvin, who, by reading the Scriptures, had
conceived a dislike to the superstitions of popery, readily consented, and
resigned the chapel of Gesine and the rectory of Pont l'Eveque, in 1534. He made
a great progress in that science, and improved no less in the knowledge of
divinity by his private studies. At Bourges he applied to the Greek tongue,
under the direction of Professor Wolmar.
His father's death having called him back to Noyon, he
stayed there a short time, and then went to Paris, where a speech of Nicholas
Cop, rector of the University of Paris, of which Calvin furnished the materials,
having greatly displeased the Sorbonne and the parliament, gave rise to a
persecution against the Protestants, and Calvin, who narrowly escaped being
taken in the College of Forteret, was forced to retire to Xaintonge, after
having had the honor to be introduced to the queen of Navarre, who had raised
this first storm against the Protestants.
Calvin returned to Paris in 1534. This year the reformed
met with severe treatment, which determined him to leave France, after
publishing a treatise against those who believed that departed souls are in a
kind of sleep. He retired to Basel, where he studied Hebrew: at this time he
published his Institutions of the Christian Religion; a work well adapted to
spread his fame, though he himself was desirous of living in obscurity. It is
dedicated to the French king, Francis I. Calvin next wrote an apology for the
Protestants who were burnt for their religion in France. After the publication
of this work, Calvin went to Italy to pay a visit to the duchess of Ferrara, a
lady of eminent piety, by whom he was very kindly received.
From Italy he came back to France, and having settled his
private affairs, he proposed to go to Strassburg or Basel, in company with his
sole surviving brother, Antony Calvin; but as the roads were not safe on account
of the war, except through the duke of Savoy's territories, he chose that road.
"This was a particular direction of Providence," says Bayle; "it was his destiny
that he should settle at Geneva, and when he was wholly intent upon going
farther, he found himself detained by an order from heaven, if I may so speak."
At Geneva, Calvin therefore was obliged to comply with the
choice which the consistory and magistrates made of him, with the consent of the
people, to be one of their ministers, and professor of divinity. He wanted to
undertake only this last office, and not the other; but in the end he was
obliged to take both upon him, in August, 1536. The year following, he made all
the people declare, upon oath, their assent to the confession of faith, which
contained a renunciation of popery. He next intimated that he could not submit
to a regulation which the canton of Berne had lately made. Whereupon the syndics
of Geneva summoned an assembly of the people; and it was ordered that Calvin,
Farel, and another minister should leave the town in a few days, for refusing to
administer the Sacrament.
Calvin retired to Strassburg, and established a French
church in that city, of which he was the first minister: he was also appointed
to be professor of divinity there. Meanwhile the people of Geneva entreated him
so earnestly to return to them that at last he consented, and arrived September
13, 1541, to the great satisfaction both of the people and the magistrates; and
the first thing he did, after his arrival, was to establish a form of church
discipline, and a consistorial jurisdiction, invested with power of inflicting
censures and canonical punishments, as far as excommunication, inclusively.
It has long been the delight of both infidels and some
professed Christians, when they wish to bring odium upon the opinions of Calvin,
to refer to his agency in the death of Michael Servetus. This action is used on
all occasions by those who have been unable to overthrow his opinions, as a
conclusive argument against his whole system. "Calvin burnt Servetus!--Calvin
burnt Servetus!" is a good proof with a certain class of reasoners, that the
doctrine of the Trinity is not true-that divine sovereignty is
Antiscriptural,--and Christianity a cheat.
We have no wish to palliate any act of Calvin's which is
manifestly wrong. All his proceedings, in relation to the unhappy affair of
Servetus, we think, cannot be defended. Still it should be remembered that the
true principles of religious toleration were very little understood in the time
of Calvin. All the other reformers then living approved of Calvin's conduct.
Even the gentle and amiable Melancthon expressed himself in relation to this
affair, in the following manner. In a letter addressed to Bullinger, he says, "I
have read your statement respecting the blasphemy of Servetus, and praise your
piety and judgment; and am persuaded that the Council of Geneva has done right
in putting to death this obstinate man, who would never have ceased his
blasphemies. I am astonished that any one can be found to disapprove of this
proceeding." Farel expressly says, that "Servetus deserved a capital
punishment." Bucer did not hesitate to declare, that "Servetus deserved
something worse than death."
The truth is, although Calvin had some hand in the arrest
and imprisonment of Servetus, he was unwilling that he should be burnt at all.
"I desire," says he, "that the severity of the punishment should be remitted."
"We endeavored to commute the kind of death, but in vain." "By wishing to
mitigate the severity of the punishment," says Farel to Calvin, "you discharge
the office of a friend towards your greatest enemy." "That Calvin was the
instigator of the magistrates that Servetus might be burned," says Turritine,
"historians neither anywhere affirm, nor does it appear from any considerations.
Nay, it is certain, that he, with the college of pastors, dissuaded from that
kind of punishment."
It has been often asserted, that Calvin possessed so much
influence with the magistrates of Geneva that he might have obtained the release
of Servetus, had he not been desirous of his destruction. This however, is not
true. So far from it, that Calvin was himself once banished from Geneva, by
these very magistrates, and often opposed their arbitrary measures in vain. So
little desirous was Calvin of procuring the death of Servetus that he warned him
of his danger, and suffered him to remain several weeks at Geneva, before he was
arrested. But his language, which was then accounted blasphemous, was the cause
of his imprisonment. When in prison, Calvin visited him, and used every argument
to persuade him to retract his horrible blasphemies, without reference to his
peculiar sentiments. This was the extent of Calvin's agency in this unhappy
affair.
It cannot, however, be denied, that in this instance,
Calvin acted contrary to the benignant spirit of the Gospel. It is better to
drop a tear over the inconsistency of human nature, and to bewail those
infirmities which cannot be justified. He declared he acted conscientiously, and
publicly justified the act.
It was the opinion, that erroneous religious principles are
punishable by the civil magistrate, that did the mischief, whether at Geneva, in
Transylvania, or in Britain; and to this, rather than to Trinitarianism, or
Unitarianism, it ought to be imputed.
After the death of Luther, Calvin exerted great sway over
the men of that notable period. He was influential in France, Italy, Germany,
Holland, England, and Scotland. Two thousand one hundred and fifty reformed
congregations were organized, receiving from him their preachers.
Calvin, triumphant over all his enemies, felt his death
drawing near. Yet he continued to exert himself in every way with youthful
energy. When about to lie down in rest, he drew up his will, saying: "I do
testify that I live and purpose to die in this faith which God has given me
through His Gospel, and that I have no other dependence for salvation than the
free choice which is made of me by Him. With my whole heart I embrace His mercy,
through which all my sins are covered, for Christ's sake, and for the sake of
His death and sufferings. According to the measure of grace granted unto me, I
have taught this pure, simple Word, by sermons, by deeds, and by expositions of
this Scripture. In all my battles with the enemies of the truth I have not used
sophistry, but have fought the good fight squarely and directly."
May 27, 1564, was the day of his release and blessed
journey home. He was in his fifty-fifth year.
That a man who had acquired so great a reputation and such
an authority, should have had but a salary of one hundred crowns, and refuse to
accept more; and after living fifty-five years with the utmost frugality should
leave but three hundred crowns to his heirs, including the value of his library,
which sold very dear, is something so heroical, that one must have lost all
feeling not to admire. When Calvin took his leave of Strassburg, to return to
Geneva, they wanted to continue to him the privileges of a freeman of their
town, and the revenues of a prebend, which had been assigned to him; the former
he accepted, but absolutely refused the other. He carried one of the brothers
with him to Geneva, but he never took any pains to get him preferred to an
honorable post, as any other possessed of his credit would have done. He took
care indeed of the honor of his brother's family, by getting him freed from an
adultress, and obtaining leave to him to marry again; but even his enemies
relate that he made him learn the trade of a bookbinder, which he followed all
his life after.
The Rev. Dr. Wisner, in his late discourse at Plymouth, on
the anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims, made the following assertion:
"Much as the name of Calvin has been scoffed at and loaded with reproach by many
sons of freedom, there is not an historical proposition more susceptible of
complete demonstration than this, that no man has lived to whom the world is
under greater obligations for the freedom it now enjoys, than John Calvin."
CHAPTER XIV
An Account of the Persecutions in Great Britain and
Ireland, Prior to the Reign of Queen Mary I
Gildas, the most ancient British writer extant, who lived
about the time that the Saxons left the island of Great Britain, has drawn a
most shocking instance of the barbarity of those people.
The Saxons, on their arrival, being heathens like the Scots
and Picts, destroyed the churches and murdered the clergy wherever they came:
but they could not destroy Christianity, for those who would not submit to the
Saxon yoke, went and resided beyond the Severn. Neither have we the names of
those Christian sufferers transmitted to us, especially those of the clergy.
The most dreadful instance of barbarity under the Saxon
government, was the massacre of the monks of Bangor, A.D. 586. These monks were
in all respects different from those men who bear the same name at present.
In the eighth century, the Danes, a roving crew of
barbarians, landed in different parts of Britain, both in England and Scotland.
At first they were repulsed, but in A.D. 857, a party of
them landed somewhere near Southampton, and not only robbed the people but
burned down the churches, and murdered the clergy.
In A.D. 868, these barbarians penetrated into the center of
England, and took up their quarters at Nottingham; but the English, under their
king, Ethelred, drove them from their posts, and obliged them to retire to
Northumberland.
In 870, another body of these barbarians landed at Norfolk,
and engaged in battle with the English at Hertford. Victory declared in favor of
the pagans, who took Edmund, king of the East Angles, prisoner, and after
treating him with a thousand indignities, transfixed his body with arrows, and
then beheaded him.
In Fifeshire, in Scotland, they burned many of the
churches, and among the rest that belonging to the Culdees, at St. Andrews. The
piety of these men made them objects of abhorrence to the Danes, who, wherever
they went singled out the Christian priests for destruction, of whom no less
than two hundred were massacred in Scotland.
It was much the same in that part of Ireland now called
Leinster, there the Danes murdered and burned the priests alive in their own
churches; they carried destruction along with them wherever they went, sparing
neither age nor sex, but the clergy were the most obnoxious to them, because
they ridiculed their idolatry, and persuaded their people to have nothing to do
with them.
In the reign of Edward III the Church of England was
extremely corrupted with errors and superstition; and the light of the Gospel of
Christ was greatly eclipsed and darkened with human inventions, burdensome
ceremonies and gross idolatry.
The followers of Wickliffe, then called Lollards, were
become extremely numerous, and the clergy were so vexed to see them increase;
whatever power or influence they might have to molest them in an underhand
manner, they had no authority by law to put them to death. However, the clergy
embraced the favorable opportunity, and prevailed upon the king to suffer a bill
to be brought into parliament, by which all Lollards who remained obstinate,
should be delivered over to the secular power, and burnt as heretics. This act
was the first in Britain for the burning of people for their religious
sentiments; it passed in the year 1401, and was soon after put into execution.
The first person who suffered in consequence of this cruel
act was William Santree, or Sawtree, a priest, who was burnt to death in
Smithfield.
Soon after this, Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, in
consequence of his attachment to the doctrines of Wickliffe, was accused of
heresy, and being condemned to be hanged and burnt, was accordingly executed in
Lincoln's Inn Fields, A.D. 1419. In his written defense Lord Cobham said:
"As for images, I understand that they be not of belief,
but that they were ordained since the belief of Christ was given by sufferance
of the Church, to represent and bring to mind the passion of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and martyrdom and good living of other saints: and that whoso it be,
that doth the worship to dead images that is due to God, or putteth such hope or
trust in help of them, as he should do to God, or hath affection in one more
than in another, he doth in that, the greatest sin of idol worship.
"Also I suppose this fully, that every man in this earth is
a pilgrim toward bliss, or toward pain; and that he that knoweth not, we will
not know, we keep the holy commandments of God in his living here (albeit that
he go on pilgrimages to all the world, and he die so), he shall be damned: he
that knoweth the holy commandments of God, and keepeth them to his end, he shall
be saved, though he never in his life go on pilgrimage, as men now use, to
Canterbury, or to Rome, or to any other place."
Upon the day appointed, Lord Cobham was brought out of the
Tower with his arms bound behind him, having a very cheerful countenance. Then
was he laid upon a hurdle, as though he had been a most heinous traitor to the
crown, and so drawn forth into St. Giles's field. As he was come to the place of
execution, and was taken from the hurdle, he fell down devoutly upon his knees,
desiring Almighty God to forgive his enemies. Then stood he up and beheld the
multitude, exhorting them in most godly manner to follow the laws of God written
in the Scriptures, and to beware of such teachers as they see contrary to Christ
in their conversation and living. Then was he hanged up by the middle in chains
of iron, and so consumed alive in the fire, praising the name of God, so long as
his life lasted; the people, there present, showing great dolor. And this was
done A.D. 1418.
How the priests that time fared, blasphemed, and accursed,
requiring the people not to pray for him, but to judge him damned in hell, for
that he departed not in the obedience of their pope, it were too long to write.
Thus resteth this valiant Christian knight, Sir John
Oldcastle, under the altar of God, which is Jesus Christ, among that godly
company, who, in the kingdom of patience, suffered great tribulation with the
death of their bodies, for His faithful word and testimony.
In August, 1473, one Thomas Granter was apprehended in
London; he was accused of professing the doctrines of Wickliffe, for which he
was condemned as an obstinate heretic. This pious man, being brought to the
sheriff's house, on the morning of the day appointed for his execution, desired
a little refreshment, and having ate some, he said to the people present, "I eat
now a very good meal, for I have a strange conflict to engage with before I go
to supper"; and having eaten, he returned thanks to God for the bounties of His
all-gracious providence, requesting that he might be instantly led to the place
of execution, to bear testimony to the truth of those principles which he had
professed. Accordingly he was chained to a stake on Tower-hill, where he was
burnt alive, professing the truth with his last breath.
In the year 1499, one Badram, a pious man, was brought
before the bishop of Norwich, having been accused by some of the priests, with
holding the doctrines of Wickliffe. He confessed he did believe everything that
was objected against him. For this, he was condemned as an obstinate heretic,
and a warrant was granted for his execution; accordingly he was brought to the
stake at Norwich, where he suffered with great constancy.
In 1506, one William Tilfrey, a pious man, was burnt alive
at Amersham, in a close called Stoneyprat, and at the same time, his daughter,
Joan Clarke, a married women, was obliged to light the fagots that were to burn
her father.
This year also one Father Roberts, a priest, was convicted
of being a Lollard before the bishop of Lincoln, and burnt alive at Buckingham.
In 1507 one Thomas Norris was burnt alive for the testimony
of the truth of the Gospel, at Norwich. This man was a poor, inoffensive,
harmless person, but his parish priest conversing with him one day, conjectured
he was a Lollard. In consequence of this supposition he gave information to the
bishop, and Norris was apprehended.
In 1508, one Lawrence Guale, who had been kept in prison
two years, was burnt alive at Salisbury, for denying the real presence in the
Sacrament. It appeared that this man kept a shop in Salisbury, and entertained
some Lollards in his house; for which he was informed against to the bishop; but
he abode by his first testimony, and was condemned to suffer as a heretic.
A pious woman was burnt at Chippen Sudburne, by order of
the chancellor, Dr. Whittenham. After she had been consumed in the flames, and
the people were returning home, a bull broke loose from a butcher and singling
out the chancellor from all the rest of the company, he gored him through the
body, and on his horns carried his entrails. This was seen by all the people,
and it is remarkable that the animal did not meddle with any other person
whatever.
October 18, 1511, William Succling and John Bannister, who
had formerly recanted, returned again to the profession of the faith, and were
burnt alive in Smithfield.
In the year 1517, one John Brown (who had recanted before
in the reign of Henry VII and borne a fagot round St. Paul's,) was condemned by
Dr. Wonhaman, archbishop of Canterbury, and burnt alive at Ashford. Before he
was chained to the stake, the archbishop Wonhaman, and Yester, bishop of
Rochester, caused his feet to be burnt in a fire until all the flesh came off,
even to the bones. This was done in order to make him again recant, but he
persisted in his attachment to the truth to the last.
Much about this time one Richard Hunn, a merchant tailor of
the city of London, was apprehended, having refused to pay the priest his fees
for the funeral of a child; and being conveyed to the Lollards' Tower, in the
palace of Lambeth, was there privately murdered by some of the servants of the
archbishop.
September 24, 1518, John Stilincen, who had before
recanted, was apprehended, brought before Richard Fitz-James, bishop of London,
and on the twenty-fifth of October was condemned as a heretic. He was chained to
the stake in Smithfield amidst a vast crowd of spectators, and sealed his
testimony to the truth with his blood. He declared that he was a Lollard, and
that he had always believed the opinions of Wickliffe; and although he had been
weak enough to recant his opinions, yet he was now willing to convince the world
that he was ready to die for the truth.
In the year 1519, Thomas Mann was burnt in London, as was
one Robert Celin, a plain, honest man for speaking against image worship and
pilgrimages.
Much about this time, was executed in Smithfield, in
London, James Brewster, a native of Colchester. His sentiments were the same as
the rest of the Lollards, or those who followed the doctrines of Wickliffe; but
notwithstanding the innocence of his life, and the regularity of his manners, he
was obliged to submit to papal revenge.
During this year, one Christopher, a shoemaker, was burnt
alive at Newbury, in Berkshire, for denying those popish articles which we have
already mentioned. This man had gotten some books in English, which were
sufficient to render him obnoxious to the Romish clergy.
Robert Silks, who had been condemned in the bishop's court
as a heretic, made his escape out of prison, but was taken two years afterward,
and brought back to Coventry, where he was burnt alive. The sheriffs always
seized the goods of the martyrs for their own use, so that their wives and
children were left to starve.
In 1532, Thomas Harding, who with his wife, had been
accused of heresy, was brought before the bishop of Lincoln, and condemned for
denying the real presence in the Sacrament. He was then chained to a stake,
erected for the purpose, at Chesham in the Pell, near Botely; and when they had
set fire to the fagots, one of the spectators dashed out his brains with a
billet. The priests told the people that whoever brought fagots to burn heretics
would have an indulgence to commit sins for forty days.
During the latter end of this year, Worham, archbishop of
Canterbury, apprehended one Hitten, a priest at Maidstone; and after he had been
long tortured in prison, and several times examined by the archbishop, and
Fisher, bishop of Rochester, he was condemned as a heretic, and burnt alive
before the door of his own parish church.
Thomas Bilney, professor of civil law at Cambridge, was
brought before the bishop of London, and several other bishops, in the Chapter
house, Westminster, and being several times threatened with the stake and
flames, he was weak enough to recant; but he repented severely afterward.
For this he was brought before the bishop a second time,
and condemned to death. Before he went to the stake he confessed his adherence
to those opinions which Luther held; and, when at it, he smiled, and said, "I
have had many storms in this world, but now my vessel will soon be on shore in
heaven." He stood unmoved in the flames, crying out, "Jesus, I believe"; and
these were the last words he was heard to utter.
A few weeks after Bilney had suffered, Richard Byfield was
cast into prison, and endured some whipping, for his adherence to the doctrines
of Luther: this Mr. Byfield had been some time a monk, at Barnes, in Surrey, but
was converted by reading Tyndale's version of the New Testament. The sufferings
this man underwent for the truth were so great that it would require a volume to
contain them. Sometimes he was shut up in a dungeon, where he was almost
suffocated by the offensive and horrid smell of filth and stagnant water. At
other times he was tied up by the arms, until almost all his joints were
dislocated. He was whipped at the post several times, until scarcely any flesh
was left on his back; and all this was done to make him recant. He was then
taken to the Lollard's Tower in Lambeth palace, where he was chained by the neck
to the wall, and once every day beaten in the most cruel manner by the
archbishop's servants. At last he was condemned, degraded, and burnt in
Smithfield.
The next person that suffered was John Tewkesbury. This was
a plain, simple man, who had been guilty of no other offence against what was
called the holy Mother Church, than that of reading Tyndale's translation of the
New Testament. At first he was weak enough to adjure, but afterward repented,
and acknowledged the truth. For this he was brought before the bishop of London,
who condemned him as an obstinate heretic. He suffered greatly during the time
of his imprisonment, so that when they brought him out to execution, he was
almost dead. He was conducted to the stake in Smithfield, where he was burned,
declaring his utter abhorrence of popery, and professing a firm belief that his
cause was just in the sight of God.
The next person that suffered in this reign was James
Baynham, a reputable citizen in London, who had married the widow of a gentleman
in the Temple. When chained to the stake he embraced the fagots, and said, "Oh,
ye papists, behold! ye look for miracles; here now may you see a miracle; for in
this fire I feel no more pain than if I were in bed; for it is as sweet to me as
a bed of roses." Thus he resigned his soul into the hands of his Redeemer.
Soon after the death of this martyr, one Traxnal, an
inoffensive countryman, was burned alive at Bradford in Wiltshire, because he
would not acknowledge the real presence in the Sacrament, nor own the papal
supremacy over the consciences of men.
In the year 1533, John Frith, a noted martyr, died for the
truth. When brought to the stake in Smithfield, he embraced the fagots, and
exhorted a young man named Andrew Hewit, who suffered with him, to trust his
soul to that God who had redeemed it. Both these sufferers endured much torment,
for the wind blew the flames away from them, so that they were above two hours
in agony before they expired.
In the year 1538, one Collins, a madman, suffered death
with his dog in Smithfield. The circumstances were as follows: Collins happened
to be in church when the priest elevated the host; and Collins, in derision of
the sacrifice of the Mass, lifted up his dog above his head. For this crime
Collins, who ought to have been sent to a madhouse, or whipped at the cart's
tail, was brought before the bishop of London; and although he was really mad,
yet such was the force of popish power, such the corruption in Church and state,
that the poor madman, and his dog, were both carried to the stake in Smithfield,
where they were burned to ashes, amidst a vast crowd of spectators.
There were some other persons who suffered the same year,
of whom we shall take notice in the order they lie before us.
One Cowbridge suffered at Oxford; and although he was
reputed to be a madman, yet he showed great signs of piety when he was fastened
to the stake, and after the flames were kindled around him.
About the same time one Purderve was put to death for
saying privately to a priest, after he had drunk the wine, "He blessed the
hungry people with the empty chalice."
At the same time was condemned William Letton, a monk of
great age, in the county of Suffolk, who was burned at Norwich for speaking
against an idol that was carried in procession; and for asserting, that the
Sacrament should be administered in both kinds.
Sometime before the burning of these men, Nicholas Peke was
executed at Norwich; and when the fire was lighted, he was so scorched that he
was as black as pitch. Dr. Reading standing before him, with Dr. Hearne and Dr.
Spragwell, having a long white want in his hand, struck him upon the right
shoulder, and said, "Peke, recant, and believe in the Sacrament." To this he
answered, "I despise thee and it also;" and with great violence he spit blood,
occasioned by the anguish of his sufferings. Dr. Reading granted forty days'
indulgence for the sufferer, in order that he might recant his opinions. But he
persisted in his adherence to the truth, without paying any regard to the malice
of his enemies; and he was burned alive, rejoicing that Christ had counted him
worthy to suffer for His name's sake.
On July 28, 1540, or 1541, (for the chronology differs)
Thomas Cromwell, earl of Essex, was brought to a scaffold on Tower-hill, where
he was executed with some striking instances of cruelty. He made a short speech
to the people, and then meekly resigned himself to the axe.
It is, we think, with great propriety, that this nobleman
is ranked among the martyrs; for although the accusations preferred against him,
did not relate to anything in religion, yet had it not been for his zeal to
demolish popery, he might have to the last retained the king's favor. To this
may be added, that the papists plotted his destruction, for he did more towards
promoting the Reformation, than any man in that age, except the good Dr.
Cranmer.
Soon after the execution of Cromwell, Dr. Cuthbert Barnes,
Thomas Garnet, and William Jerome, were brought before the ecclesiastical court
of the bishop of London, and accused of heresy.
Being before the bishop of London, Dr. Barnes was asked
whether the saints prayed for us? To this he answered, that "he would leave that
to God; but (said he) I will pray for you."
On the thirteenth of July, 1541, these men were brought
from the Tower to Smithfield, where they were all chained to one stake; and
there suffered death with a constancy that nothing less than a firm faith in
Jesus Christ could inspire.
One Thomas Sommers, an honest merchant, with three others,
was thrown into prison, for reading some of Luther's books, and they were
condemned to carry those books to a fire in Cheapside; there they were to throw
them in the flames; but Sommers threw his over, for which he was sent back to
the Tower, where he was stoned to death.
Dreadful persecutions were at this time carried on at
Lincoln, under Dr. Longland, the bishop of that diocese. At Buckingham, Thomas
Bainard, and James Moreton, the one for reading the Lord's Prayer in English,
and the other for reading St. James' Epistles ion English, were both condemned
and burnt alive.
Anthony Parsons, a priest, together with two others, was
sent to Windsor, to be examined concerning heresy; and several articles were
tendered to them to subscribe, which they refused. This was carried on by the
bishop of Salisbury, who was the most violent persecutor of any in that age,
except Bonner. When they were brought to the stake, Parsons asked for some
drink, which being brought him, he drank to his fellow-sufferers, saying, "Be
merry, my brethren, and lift up your hearts to God; for after this sharp
breakfast I trust we shall have a good dinner in the Kingdom of Christ, our Lord
and Redeemer." At these words Eastwood, one of the sufferers, lifted up his eyes
and hands to heaven, desiring the Lord above to receive his spirit. Parsons
pulled the straw near to him, and then said to the spectators, "This is God's
armor, and now I am a Christian soldier prepared for battle: I look for no mercy
but through the merits of Christ;
He is my only Savior, in Him do I trust for salvation;" and
soon after the fires were lighted, which burned their bodies, but could not hurt
their precious and immortal souls. Their constancy triumphed over cruelty, and
their sufferings will be held in everlasting remembrance.
Thus were Christ's people betrayed every way, and their
lives bought and sold. For, in the said parliament, the king made this most
blasphemous and cruel act, to be a law forever: that whatsoever they were that
should read the Scriptures in the mother-tongue (which was then called
"Wickliffe's learning"), they should forfeit land, cattle, body, life, and
goods, from their heirs for ever, and so be condemned for heretics to God,
enemies to the crown, and most arrant traitors to the land.
CHAPTER XV
An Account of the Persecutions in Scotland During the Reign
of King Henry VIII
Like as there was no place, either of Germany, Italy, or
France, wherein there were not some branches sprung out of that most fruitful
root of Luther; so likewise was not this isle of Britain without his fruit and
branches. Amongst whom was Patrick Hamilton, a Scotchman born of high and noble
stock, and of the king's blood, of excellent towardness, twenty-three years of
age, called abbot of Ferne. Coming out of his country with three companions to
seek godly learning, he went to the University of Marburg in Germany, which
university was then newly erected by Philip, Landgrave of Hesse.
During his residence here, he became intimately acquainted
with those eminent lights of the Gospel, Martin Luther and Philip Melancthon;
from whose writings and doctrines he strongly attached himself to the Protestant
religion.
The archbishop of St. Andrews (who was a rigid papist)
learning of Mr. Hamilton's proceedings, caused him to be seized, and being
brought before him, after a short examination relative to his religious
principles, he committed him a prisoner to the castle, at the same time ordering
him to be confined in the most loathsome part of the prison.
The next morning Mr. Hamilton was brought before the
bishop, and several others, for examination, when the principal articles
exhibited against him were, his publicly disapproving of pilgrimages, purgatory,
prayers to saints, for the dead, etc.
These articles Mr. Hamilton acknowledged to be true, in
consequence of which he was immediately condemned to be burnt; and that his
condemnation might have the greater authority, they caused it to be subscribed
by all those of any note who were present, and to make the number as
considerable as possible, even admitted the subscription of boys who were sons
of the nobility.
So anxious was this bigoted and persecuting prelate for the
destruction of Mr. Hamilton, that he ordered his sentence to be put in execution
on the afternoon of the very day it was pronounced. He was accordingly led to
the place appointed for the horrid tragedy, and was attended by a prodigious
number of spectators. The greatest part of the multitude would not believe it
was intended he should be put to death, but that it was only done to frighten
him, and thereby bring him over to embrace the principles of the Romish
religion.
When he arrived at the stake, he kneeled down, and, for
some time prayed with great fervency. After this he was fastened to the stake,
and the fagots placed round him. A quantity of gunpowder having been placed
under his arms was first set on fire which scorched his left hand and one side
of his face, but did no material injury, neither did it communicate with the
fagots. In consequence of this, more powder and combustible matter were brought,
which being set on fire took effect, and the fagots being kindled, he called
out, with an audible voice: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! How long shall
darkness overwhelm this realm? And how long wilt Thou suffer the tyranny of
these men?"
The fire burning slow put him to great torment; but he bore
it with Christian magnanimity. What gave him the greatest pain was, the clamor
of some wicked men set on by the friars, who frequently cried, "Turn, thou
heretic; call upon our Lady; say, Salve Regina, etc." To whom he replied,
"Depart from me, and trouble me not, ye messengers of Satan." One Campbell, a
friar, who was the ringleader, still continuing to interrupt him by opprobrious
language; he said to him, "Wicked man, God forgive thee." After which, being
prevented from further speech by the violence of the smoke, and the rapidity of
the flames, he resigned up his soul into the hands of Him who gave it.
This steadfast believer in Christ suffered martyrdom in the
year 1527.
One Henry Forest, a young inoffensive Benedictine, being
charged with speaking respectfully of the above Patrick Hamilton, was thrown
into prison; and, in confessing himself to a friar, owned that he thought
Hamilton a good man; and that the articles for which he was sentenced to die,
might be defended. This being revealed by the friar, it was received as
evidence; and the poor Benedictine was sentenced to be burnt.
Whilst consultation was held, with regard to the manner of
his execution, John Lindsay, one of the archbishop's gentlemen, offered his
advice, to burn Friar Forest in some cellar; "for," said he, "the smoke of
Patrick Hamilton hath infected all those on whom it blew."
This advice was taken, and the poor victim was rather
suffocated, than burnt.
The next who fell victims for professing the truth of the
Gospel, were David Stratton and Norman Gourlay.
When they arrived at the fatal spot, they both kneeled
down, and prayed for some time with great fervency. They then arose, when
Stratton, addressing himself to the spectators, exhorted them to lay aside their
superstitious and idolatrous notions, and employ their time in seeking the true
light of the Gospel. He would have said more, but was prevented by the officers
who attended.
Their sentence was then put into execution, and they
cheerfully resigned up their souls to that God who gave them, hoping, through
the merits of the great Redeemer, for a glorious resurrection to life immortal.
They suffered in the year 1534.
The martyrdoms of the two before-mentioned persons, were
soon followed by that of Mr. Thomas Forret, who, for a considerable time, had
been dean of the Romish Church; Killor and Beverage, two blacksmiths; Duncan
Simson, a priest; and Robert Forrester, a gentleman. They were all burnt
together, on the Castle-hill at Edinburgh, the last day of February, 1538.
The year following the martyrdoms of the before-mentioned
persons, viz. 1539, two others were apprehended on a suspicion of heresy;
namely, Jerome Russell and Alexander Kennedy, a youth about eighteen years of
age.
These two persons, after being some time confined in
prison, were brought before the archbishop for examination. In the course of
which Russell, being a very sensible man, reasoned learnedly against his
accusers; while they in return made use of very opprobrious language.
The examination being over, and both of them deemed
heretics, the archbishop pronounced the dreadful sentence of death, and they
were immediately delivered over to the secular power in order for execution.
The next day they were led to the place appointed for them
to suffer; in their way to which, Russell, seeing his fellow-sufferer have the
appearance of timidity in his countenance, thus addressed him: "Brother, fear
not; greater is He that is in us, than He that is in the world. The pain that we
are to suffer is short, and shall be light; but our joy and consolation shall
never have an end. Let us, therefore, strive to enter into our Master and
Savior's joy, by the same straight way which He hath taken before us. Death
cannot hurt us, for it is already destroyed by Him, for whose sake we are now
going to suffer."
When they arrived at the fatal spot, they both kneeled down
and prayed for some time; after which being fastened to the stake, and the
fagots lighted, they cheerfully resigned their souls into the hands of Him who
gave them, in full hopes of an everlasting reward in the heavenly mansions.
An Account of the Life,
Sufferings, and Death of Mr. George Wishart, Who Was Strangled and Afterward
Burned, in Scotland, for Professing the Truth of the
Gospel
About the year of our Lord 1543, there was, in the
University of Cambridge, one Master George Wishart, commonly called Master
George of Benet's College, a man of tall stature, polled-headed, and on the same
a round French cap of the best; judged to be of melancholy complexion by his
physiognomy, black-haired, long-bearded, comely of personage, well spoken after
his country of Scotland, courteous, lowly, lovely, glad to teach, desirous to
learn, and well traveled; having on him for his clothing a frieze gown to the
shoes, a black millian fustian doublet, and plain black hosen, coarse new canvas
for his shirts, and white falling bands and cuffs at his hands.
He was a man modest, temperate, fearing God, hating
covetousness; for his charity had never end, night, noon, nor day; he forbare
one meal in three, one day in four for the most part, except something to
comfort nature. He lay hard upon a puff of straw and coarse, new canvas sheets,
which, when he changed, he gave away. He had commonly by his bedside a tub of
water, in the which (his people being in bed, the candle put out and all quiet)
he used to bathe himself. He loved me tenderly, and I him. He taught with great
modesty and gravity, so that some of his people thought him severe, and would
have slain him; but the Lord was his defense. And he, after due correction for
their malice, by good exhortation amended them and went his way. Oh, that the
Lord had left him to me, his poor boy, that he might have finished what he had
begun! for he went into Scotland with divers of the nobility, that came for a
treaty to King Henry.
In 1543, the archbishop of St. Andrews made a visitation
into various parts of his diocese, where several persons were informed against
at Perth for heresy. Among those the following were condemned to die, viz.
William Anderson, Robert Lamb, James Finlayson, James Hunter, James Raveleson,
and Helen Stark.
The accusations laid against these respective persons were
as follow: The four first were accused of having hung up the image of St.
Francis, nailing ram's horns on his head, and fastening a cow's tail to his
rump; but the principal matter on which they were condemned was having regaled
themselves with a goose on fast day.
James Reveleson was accused of having ornamented his house
with the three crowned diadem of Peter, carved in wood, which the archbishop
conceived to be done in mockery to his cardinal's cap.
Helen Stark was accused of not having accustomed herself to
pray to the Virgin Mary, more especially during the time she was in childbed.
On these respective accusations they were all found guilty,
and immediately received sentence of death; the four men, for eating the goose,
to be hanged; James Raveleson to be burnt; and the woman, with her sucking
infant, to be put into a sack and drowned.
The four men, with the woman and the child, suffered at the
same time, but James Raveleson was not executed until some days after.
The martyrs were carried by a great band of armed men (for
they feared rebellion in the town except they had their men of war) to the place
of execution, which was common to all thieves, and that to make their cause
appear more odious to the people. Every one comforting another, and assuring
themselves that they should sup together in the Kingdom of Heaven that night,
they commended themselves to God, and died constantly in the Lord.
The woman desired earnestly to die with her husband, but
she was not suffered; yet, following him to the place of execution, she gave him
comfort, exhorting him to perseverance and patience for Christ's sake, and,
parting from him with a kiss, said, "Husband, rejoice, for we have lived
together many joyful days; but this day, in which we must die, ought to be most
joyful unto us both, because we must have joy forever; therefore I will not bid
you good night, for we shall suddenly meet with joy in the Kingdom of Heaven."
The woman, after that, was taken to a place to be drowned, and albeit she had a
child sucking on her breast, yet this moved nothing in the unmerciful hearts of
the enemies. So, after she had commended her children to the neighbors of the
town for God's sake, and the sucking bairn was given to the nurse, she sealed up
the truth by her death.
Being desirous of propagating the true Gospel in his own
country George Wishart left Cambridge in 1544, and on his arrival in Scotland he
first preached at Montrose, and afterwards at Dundee. In this last place he made
a public exposition of the Epistle to the Romans, which he went through with
such grace and freedom, as greatly alarmed the papists.
In consequence of this, (at the instigation of Cardinal
Beaton, the archbishop of St. Andrews) one Robert Miln, a principal man at
Dundee, went to the church where Wishart preached, and in the middle of his
discourse publicly told him not to trouble the town any more, for he was
determined not to suffer it.
This sudden rebuff greatly surprised Wishart, who, after a
short pause, looking sorrowfully on the speaker and the audience, said: "God is
my witness, that I never minded your trouble but your comfort; yea, your trouble
is more grievous to me than it is to yourselves: but I am assured to refuse
God's Word, and to chase from you His messenger, shall not preserve you from
trouble, but shall bring you into it: for God shall send you ministers that
shall fear neither burning nor banishment. I have offered you the Word of
salvation. With the hazard of my life I have remained among you; now you
yourselves refuse me; and I must leave my innocence to be declared by my God. If
it be long prosperous with you, I am not led by the Spirit of truth; but if
unlooked-for troubles come upon you, acknowledge the cause and turn to God, who
is gracious and merciful. But if you turn not at the first warning, He will
visit you with fire and sword." At the close of this speech he left the pulpit,
and retired.
After this he went into the west of Scotland, where he
preached God's Word, which was gladly received by many.
A short time after this Mr. Wishart received intelligence
that the plague had broken out in Dundee. It began four days after he was
prohibited from preaching there, and raged so extremely that it was almost
beyond credit how many died in the space of twenty-four hours. This being
related to him, he, notwithstanding the importunity of his friends to detain
him, determined to go there, saying: "They are now in troubles, and need
comfort. Perhaps this hand of God will make them now to magnify and reverence
the Word of God, which before they lightly esteemed."
Here he was with joy received by the godly. He chose the
east gate for the place of his preaching; so that the healthy were within, and
the sick without the gate. He took his text from these words, "He sent His word
and healed them," etc. In this sermon he chiefly dwelt upon the advantage and
comfort of God's Word, the judgments that ensue upon the contempt or rejection
of it, the freedom of God's grace to all His people, and the happiness of those
of His elect, whom He takes to Himself out of this miserable world. The hearts
of his hearers were so raised by the divine force of this discourse, as not to
regard death, but to judge them the more happy who should then be called, not
knowing whether he should have such comfort again with them.
After this the plague abated; though, in the midst of it,
Wishart constantly visited those that lay in the greatest extremity, and
comforted them by his exhortations.
When he took his leave of the people of Dundee, he said
that God had almost put an end to that plague, and that he was now called to
another place. He went from thence to Montrose; where he sometimes preached, but
he spent most of his time in private meditation and prayer.
It is said that before he left Dundee, and while he was
engaged in the labors of love to the bodies as well as to the souls of those
poor afflicted people, Cardinal Beaton engaged a desperate popish priest, called
John Weighton, to kill him; the attempt to execute which was as follows: one
day, after Wishart had finished his sermon, and the people departed, a priest
stood waiting at the bottom of the stairs, with a naked dagger in his hand under
his gown. But Mr. Wishart, having a sharp, piercing eye, and seeing the priest
as he came from the pulpit, said to him, "My friend, what would you have?" and
immediately clapping his hand upon the dagger, took it from him. The priest
being terrified, fell to his knees, confessed his intention, and craved pardon.
A noise was hereupon raised, and it coming to the ears of those who were sick,
they cried, "Deliver the traitor to us, we will take him by force"; and they
burst in at the gate. But Wishart, taking the priest in his arms, said,
"Whatsoever hurts him shall hurt me; for he hath done me no mischief, but much
good, by teaching more heedfulness for the time to come." By this conduct he
appeased the people and saved the life of the wicked priest.
Soon after his return to Montrose, the cardinal again
conspired his death, causing a letter to be sent him as if it had been from his
familiar friend, the laird of Kennier, in which it was desired with all possible
speed to come to him, as he was taken with a sudden sickness. In the meantime
the cardinal had provided sixty men armed to lie in wait within a mile and a
half of Montrose, in order to murder him as he passed that way.
The letter came to Wishart's hand by a boy, who also
brought him a horse for the journey. Wishart, accompanied by some honest men,
his friends, set forward; but something particular striking his mind by the way,
he returned, which they wondering at, asked him the cause; to whom he said, "I
will not go; I am forbidden of God; I am assured there is treason. Let some of
you go to yonder place, and tell me what you find." Which doing, they made the
discovery; and hastily returning, they told Mr. Wishart; whereupon he said, "I
know I shall end my life by that bloodthirsty man's hands, but it will not be in
this manner."
A short time after this he left Montrose, and proceeded to
Edinburgh, in order to propagate the Gospel in that city. By the way he lodged
with a faithful brother, called James Watson of Inner-Goury. In the middle of
the night he got up, and went into the yard, which two men hearing they
privately followed him. While in the yard, he fell on his knees, and prayed for
some time with the greatest fervency, after which he arose, and returned to his
bed. Those who attended him, appearing as though they were ignorant of all, came
and asked him where he had been. But he would not answer them. The next day they
importuned him to tell them, saying "Be plain with us, for we heard your
mourning, and saw your gestures."
On this he with a dejected countenance, said, "I had rather
you had been in your beds." But they still pressing upon him to know something,
he said, "I will tell you; I am assured that my warfare is near at an end, and
therefore pray to God with me, that I shrink not when the battle waxeth most
hot."
Soon after, Cardinal Beaton, archbishop of St. Andrews,
being informed that Mr. Wishart was at the house of Mr. Cockburn, of Ormistohn,
in East Lothian, applied to the regent to cause him to be apprehended; with
which, after great persuasion, and much against his will, he complied.
In consequence of this the cardinal immediately proceeded
to the trial of Wishart, against whom no less than eighteen articles were
exhibited. Mr. Wishart answered the respective articles with great composure of
mind, and in so learned and clear a manner as greatly surprised most of those
who were present.
After the examination was finished, the archbishop
endeavored to prevail on Mr. Wishart to recant; but he was too firmly fixed in
his religious principles and too much enlightened with the truth of the Gospel,
to be in the least moved.
On the morning of his execution there came to him two
friars from the cardinal; one of whom put on him a black linen coat, and the
other brought several bags of gunpowder, which they tied about different parts
of his body.
As soon as he arrived at the stake, the executioner put a
rope round his neck and a chain about his middle, upon which he fell on his
knees and thus exclaimed:
"O thou Savior of the world, have mercy upon me! Father of
heaven, I commend my spirit into Thy holy hands."
After this he prayed for his accusers, saying, "I beseech
thee, Father of heaven, forgive them that have, from ignorance or an evil mind,
forged lies of me: I forgive them with all my heart. I beseech Christ to forgive
them that have ignorantly condemned me."
He was then fastened to the stake, and the fagots being
lighted immediately set fire to the powder that was tied about him, which blew
into a flame and smoke.
The governor of the castle, who stood so near that he was
singed with the flame, exhorted the martyr, in a few words, to be of good cheer,
and to ask the pardon of God for his offences. To which he replied, "This flame
occasions trouble to my body, indeed, but it hath in nowise broken my spirit.
But he who now so proudly looks down upon me from yonder lofty place (pointing
to the cardinal) shall, ere long, be ignominiously thrown down, as now he
proudly lolls at his ease." Which prediction was soon after fulfilled.
The hangman, that was his tormentor, sat down upon his
knees, and said, "Sir, I pray you to forgive me, for I am not guilty of your
death." To whom he answered, "Come hither to me." When that he was come to him,
he kissed his cheek, and said: "Lo, here is a token that I forgive thee. My
heart, do thine office." And then he was put upon the gibbet and hanged, and
burned to powder. When that the people beheld the great tormenting, they might
not withhold from piteous mourning and complaining of this innocent lamb's
slaughter.
It was not long after the martyrdom of this blessed man of
God, Master George Wishart, who was put to death by David Beaton, the bloody
archbishop and cardinal of Scotland, A.D. 1546, the first day of March, that the
said David Beaton, by the just revenge of God's mighty judgment, was slain
within his own castle of St. Andrews, by the hands of one Leslie and other
gentlemen, who, by the Lord stirred up, brake in suddenly upon him, and in his
bed murdered him the said year, the last day of May, crying out, "Alas! alas!
slay me not! I am a priest!" And so, like a butcher he lived, and like a butcher
he died, and lay seven months and more unburied, and at last like a carrion was
buried in a dunghill.
The last who suffered martyrdom in Scotland, for the cause
of Christ, was one Walter Mill, who was burnt at Edinburgh in the year 1558.
This person, in his younger years, had traveled in Germany,
and on his return was installed a priest of the Church of Lunan in Angus, but,
on an information of heresy, in the time of Cardinal Beaton, he was forced to
abandon his charge and abscond. But he was soon apprehended, and committed to
prison.
Being interrogated by Sir Andrew Oliphant, whether he would
recant his opinions, he answered in the negative, saying that he would 'sooner
forfeit ten thousand lives, than relinquish a particle of those heavenly
principles he had received from the suffrages of his blessed Redeemer.'
In consequence of this, sentence of condemnation was
immediately passed on him, and he was conducted to prison in order for execution
the following day.
This steadfast believe in Christ was eighty-two years of
age, and exceedingly infirm; whence it was supposed that he could scarcely be
heard. However, when he was taken to the place of execution, he expressed his
religious sentiments with such courage, and at the same time composure of mind,
as astonished even his enemies. As soon as he was fastened to the stake and the
fagots lighted, he addressed the spectators as follows: "The cause why I suffer
this day is not for any crime, (though I acknowledge myself a miserable sinner)
but only for the defense of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ; and I praise God
who hath called me, by His mercy, to seal the truth with my life; which, as I
received it from Him, so I willingly and joyfully offer it up to His glory.
Therefore, as you would escape eternal death, be no longer seduced by the lies
of the seat of Antichrist: but depend solely on Jesus Christ, and His mercy,
that you may be delivered from condemnation." And then added that he trusted he
should be the last who would suffer death in Scotland upon a religious account.
Thus did this pious Christian cheerfully give up his life
in defense of the truth of Christ's Gospel, not doubting but he should be made
partaker of his heavenly Kingdom.
CHAPTER XVI
Persecutions in England During the Reign of Queen
Mary
The premature death of that celebrated young monarch,
Edward VI, occasioned the most extraordinary and wonderful occurrences, which
had ever existed from the times of our blessed Lord and Savior's incarnation in
human shape. This melancholy event became speedily a subject of general regret.
The succession to the British throne was soon made a matter of contention; and
the scenes which ensued were a demonstration of the serious affliction in which
the kingdom was involved. As his loss to the nation was more and more unfolded,
the remembrance of his government was more and more the basis of grateful
recollection. The very awful prospect, which was soon presented to the friends
of Edward's administration, under the direction of his counsellors and servants,
was a contemplation which the reflecting mind was compelled to regard with most
alarming apprehensions. The rapid approaches which were made towards a total
reversion of the proceedings of the young king's reign, denoted the advances
which were thereby represented to an entire resolution in the management of
public affairs both in Church and state.
Alarmed for the condition in which the kingdom was likely
to be involved by the king's death, an endeavor to prevent the consequences,
which were but too plainly foreseen, was productive of the most serious and
fatal effects. The king, in his long and lingering affliction, was induced to
make a will, by which he bequeathed the English crown to Lady Jane, the daughter
of the duke of Suffolk, who had been married to Lord Guilford, the son of the
duke of Northumberland, and was the granddaughter of the second sister of King
Henry, by Charles, duke of Suffolk. By this will, the succession of Mary and
Elizabeth, his two sisters, was entirely superseded, from an apprehension of the
returning system of popery; and the king's council, with the chief of the
nobility, the lord-mayor of the city of London, and almost all the judges and
the principal lawyers of the realm, subscribed their names to this regulation,
as a sanction to the measure. Lord Chief Justice Hale, though a true Protestant
and an upright judge, alone declined to unite his name in favor of the Lady
Jane, because he had already signified his opinion that Mary was entitled to
assume the reins of government. Others objected to Mary's being placed on the
throne, on account of their fears that she might marry a foreigner, and thereby
bring the crown into considerable danger. Her partiality to popery also left
little doubt on the minds of any, that she would be induced to revive the
dormant interests of the pope, and change the religion which had been used both
in the days of her father, King Henry, and in those of her brother Edward: for
in all his time she had manifested the greatest stubbornness and inflexibility
of temper, as must be obvious from her letter to the lords of the council,
whereby she put in her claim to the crown, on her brother's decease.
When this happened, the nobles, who had associated to
prevent Mary's succession, and had been instrumental in promoting, and, perhaps,
advising the measures of Edward, speedily proceeded to proclaim Lady Jane Gray,
to be queen of England, in the city of London and various other populous cities
of the realm. Though young, she possessed talents of a very superior nature, and
her improvements under a most excellent tutor had given her many very great
advantages.
Her reign was of only five days' continuance, for Mary,
having succeeded by false promises in obtaining the crown, speedily commenced
the execution of her avowed intention of extirpating and burning every
Protestant. She was crowned at Westminster in the usual form, and her elevation
was the signal for the commencement of the bloody persecution which followed.
Having obtained the sword of authority, she was not sparing
in its exercise. The supporters of Lady Jane Gray were destined to feel its
force. The duke of Northumberland was the first who experienced her savage
resentment. Within a month after his confinement in the Tower, he was condemned,
and brought to the scaffold, to suffer as a traitor. From his varied crimes,
resulting out of a sordid and inordinate ambition, he died unpitied and
unlamented.
The changes, which followed with rapidity, unequivocally
declared that the queen was disaffected to the present state of religion. Dr.
Poynet was displaced to make room for Gardiner to be bishop of Winchester, to
whom she also gave the important office of lord-chancellor. Dr. Ridley was
dismissed from the see of London, and Bonne introduced. J. Story was put out of
the bishopric of Chichester, to admit Dr. Day. J. Hooper was sent prisoner to
the Fleet, and Dr. Heath put into the see of Worcestor. Miles Coverdale was also
excluded from Exeter, and Dr. Vesie placed in that diocese. Dr. Tonstall was
also promoted to the see of Durham. These things being marked and perceived,
great heaviness and discomfort grew more and more to all good men's hearts; but
to the wicked great rejoicing. They that could dissemble took no great care how
the matter went; but such, whose consciences were joined with the truth,
perceived already coals to be kindled, which after should be the destruction of
many a true Christian.
The next victim was the amiable Lady Jane Gray, who, by her
acceptance of the crown at the earnest solicitations of her friends, incurred
the implacable resentment of the bloody Mary. When she first mounted the
scaffold, she spoke to the spectators in this manner: "Good people, I am come
hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same. The fact against the
queen's highness was unlawful, and the consenting thereunto by me: but, touching
the procurement and desire thereof by me, or on my behalf, I do wash my hands
thereof in innocency before God, and the face of you, good Christian people,
this day:" and therewith she wrung her hands, wherein she had her book. Then
said she, "I pray you all, good Christian people, to bear me witness, that I die
a good Christian woman, and that I do look to be saved by no other mean, but
only by the mercy of God in the blood of His only Son Jesus Christ: and I
confess that when I did know the Word of God, I neglected the same, loved myself
and the world, and therefore this plague and punishment is happily and worthily
happened unto me for my sins; and yet I thank God, that of His goodness He hath
thus given me a time and a respite to repent. And now, good people, while I am
alive, I pray you assist me with your prayers." And then, kneeling down, she
turned to Feckenham, saying, "Shall I say this Psalm?" and he said, "Yea." Then
she said the Psalm of Miserere mei Deus, in English, in a most devout manner
throughout to the end; and then she stood up, and gave her maid, Mrs. Ellen, her
gloves and handkerchief, and her book to Mr. Bruges; and then she untied he
gown, and the executioner pressed upon her to help her off with it: but she,
desiring him to let her alone, turned towards her two gentlewomen, who helped
her off therewith, and also with her frowes, paaft, and neckerchief, giving to
her a fair handkerchief to put about her eyes.
Then the executioner kneeled down, and asked her
forgiveness, whom she forgave most willingly. Then he desired her to stand upon
the straw, which doing, she saw the block. Then she said, "I pray you, despatch
me quickly." Then she kneeled down, saying, "Will you take it off before I lay
me down?" And the executioner said, "No, madam." Then she tied a handkerchief
about her eyes, and feeling for the block, she said, "What shall I do? Where is
it? Where is it?" One of the standers-by guiding her thereunto, she laid her
head upon the block, and then stretched forth her body, and said, "Lord, into
Thy hands I commend my spirit;" and so finished her life, in the year of our
Lord 1554, the twelfth day of February, about the seventeenth year of her age.
Thus died Lady Jane; and on the same day Lord Guilford, her
husband, one of the duke of Northumberland's sons, was likewise beheaded, two
innocents in comparison with them that sat upon them. For they were both very
young, and ignorantly accepted that which others had contrived, and by open
proclamation consented to take from others, and give to them.
Touching the condemnation of this pious lady, it is to be
noted that Judge Morgan, who gave sentence against her, soon after he had
condemned her, fell mad, and in his raving cried out continually to have the
Lady Jane taken away from him, and so he ended his life.
On the twenty-first day of the same month, Henry, duke of
Suffolk, was beheaded on Tower-hill, the fourth day after his condemnation:
about which time many gentlemen and yeomen were condemned, whereof some were
executed at London, and some in the country. In the number of whom was Lord
Thomas Gray, brother to the said duke, being apprehended not long after in North
Wales, and executed for the same. Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, also, very narrowly
escaped.
John Rogers was educated at Cambridge, and was afterward
many years chaplain to the merchant adventurers at Antwerp in Brabant. Here he
met with the celebrated martyr William Tyndale, and Miles Coverdale, both
voluntary exiles from their country for their aversion to popish superstition
and idolatry. They were the instruments of his conversion; and he united with
them in that translation of the Bible into English, entitled "The Translation of
Thomas Matthew." From the Scriptures he knew that unlawful vows may be lawfully
broken; hence he married, and removed to Wittenberg in Saxony, for the
improvement of learning; and he there learned the Dutch language, and received
the charge of a congregation, which he faithfully executed for many years. On
King Edward's accession, he left Saxony to promote the work of reformation in
England; and, after some time, Nicholas Ridley, then bishop of London, gave him
a prebend in St. Paul's Cathedral, and the dean and chapter appointed him reader
of the divinity lesson there. Here he continued until Queen Mary's succession to
the throne, when the Gospel and true religion were banished, and the Antichrist
of Rome, with his superstition and idolatry, introduced.
The circumstance of Mr. Rogers having preached at Paul's
cross, after Queen Mary arrived at the Tower, has been already stated. He
confirmed in his sermon the true doctrine taught in King Edward's time, and
exhorted the people to beware of the pestilence of popery, idolatry, and
superstition. For this he was called to account, but so ably defended himself
that, for that time, he was dismissed. The proclamation of the queen, however,
to prohibit true preaching, gave his enemies a new handle against him. Hence he
was again summoned before the council, and commanded to keep his house. He did
so, though he might have escaped; and though he perceived the state of the true
religion to be desperate. He knew he could not want a living in Germany; and he
could not forget a wife and ten children, and to seek means to succor them. But
all these things were insufficient to induce him to depart, and, when once
called to answer in Christ's cause, he stoutly defended it, and hazarded his
life for that purpose.
After long imprisonment in his own house, the restless
Bonner, bishop of London, caused him to be committed to Newgate, there to be
lodged among thieves and murderers.
After Mr. Rogers had been long and straitly imprisoned, and
lodged in Newgate among thieves, often examined, and very uncharitably
entreated, and at length unjustly and most cruelly condemned by Stephen
Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, the fourth day of February, in the year of our
Lord 1555, being Monday in the morning, he was suddenly warned by the keeper of
Newgate's wife, to prepare himself for the fire; who, being then sound asleep,
could scarce be awaked. At length being raised and awaked, and bid to make
haste, then said he, "If it be so, I need not tie my points." And so was had
down, first to bishop Bonner to be degraded: which being done, he craved of
Bonner but one petition; and Bonner asked what that should be. Mr. Rogers
replied that he might speak a few words with his wife before his burning, but
that could not be obtained of him.
When the time came that he should be brought out of Newgate
to Smithfield, the place of his execution, Mr. Woodroofe, one of the sheriffs,
first came to Mr. Rogers, and asked him if he would revoke his abominable
doctrine, and the evil opinion of the Sacrament of the altar. Mr. Rogers
answered, "That which I have preached I will seal with my blood." Then Mr.
Woodroofe said, "Thou art an heretic." "That shall be known," quoth Mr. Rogers,
"at the Day of Judgment." "Well," said Mr. Woodroofe, "I will never pray for
thee." "But I will pray for you," said Mr. Rogers; and so was brought the same
day, the fourth of February, by the sheriffs, towards Smithfield, saying the
Psalm Miserere by the way, all the people wonderfully rejoicing at his
constancy; with great praises and thanks to God for the same. And there in the
presence of Mr. Rochester, comptroller of the queen's household, Sir Richard
Southwell, both the sheriffs, and a great number of people, he was burnt to
ashes, washing his hands in the flame as he was burning. A little before his
burning, his pardon was brought, if he would have recanted; but he utterly
refused it. He was the first martyr of all the blessed company that suffered in
Queen Mary's time that gave the first adventure upon the fire. His wife and
children, being eleven in number, ten able to go, and one sucking at her breast,
met him by the way, as he went towards Smithfield. This sorrowful sight of his
own flesh and blood could nothing move him, but that he constantly and
cheerfully took his death with wonderful patience, in the defense and quarrel of
the Gospel of Christ."
Mr. Saunders, after passing some time in the school of
Eaton, was chosen to go to King's College in Cambridge, where he continued three
years, and profited in knowledge and learning very much for that time. Shortly
after he quitted the university, and went to his parents, but soon returned to
Cambridge again to his study, where he began to add to the knowledge of the
Latin, the study of the Greek and Hebrew tongues, and gave himself up to the
study of the Holy Scriptures, the better to qualify himself for the office of
preacher.
In the beginning of King Edward's reign, when God's true
religion was introduced, after license obtained, he began to preach, and was so
well liked of them who then had authority that they appointed him to read a
divinity lecture in the College of Forthringham. The College of Fothringham
being dissolved he was placed to be a reader in the minster at Litchfield. After
a certain space, he departed from Litchfield to a benefice in Leicestershire,
called Church-langton, where he held a residence, taught diligently, and kept a
liberal house. Thence he was orderly called to take a benefice in the city of
London, namely, All-hallows in Bread-street. After this he preached at
Northhampton, nothing meddling with the state, but boldly uttering his
conscience against the popish doctrines which were likely to spring up again in
England, as a just plague for the little love which the English nation then bore
to the blessed Word of God, which had been so plentifully offered unto them.
The queen's party who were there, and heard him, were
highly displeased with him for his sermon, and for it kept him among them as a
prisoner. But partly for love of his brethren and friends, who were chief actors
for the queen among them, and partly because there was no law broken by his
preaching, they dismissed him.
Some of his friends, perceiving such fearful menacing,
counselled him to fly out of the realm, which he refused to do. But seeing he
was with violence kept from doing good in that place, he returned towards
London, to visit his flock.
In the afternoon of Sunday, October 15, 1554, as he was
reading in his church to exhort his people, the bishop of London interrupted
him, by sending an officer for him.
His treason and sedition the bishop's charity was content
to let slip until another time, but a heretic he meant to prove him, and all
those, he said, who taught and believed that the administration of the
Sacraments, and all orders of the Church, are the most pure, which come the
nearest to the order of the primitive Church.
After much talk concerning this matter, the bishop desired
him to write what he believed of transubstantiation. Lawrence Saunders did so,
saying, "My Lord, you seek my blood, and you shall have it: I pray God that you
may be so baptized in it that you may ever after loathe blood-sucking, and
become a better man." Upon being closely charged with contumacy, the severe
replies of Mr. Saunders to the bishop, (who had before, to get the favor of
Henry VIII written and set forth in print, a book of true obedience, wherein he
had openly declared Queen Mary to be a bastard) so irritated him that he
exclaimed, "Carry away this frenzied fool to prison."
After this good and faithful martyr had been kept in prison
one year and a quarter, the bishops at length called him, as they did his
fellow-prisoners, openly to be examined before the queen's council.
His examination being ended, the officers led him out of
the place, and stayed until the rest of his fellow-prisoners were likewise
examined, that they might lead them all together to prison.
After his excommunication and delivery over to the secular
power, he was brought by the sheriff of London to the Compter, a prison in his
own parish of Bread-street, at which he rejoiced greatly, both because he found
there a fellow-prisoner, Mr. Cardmaker, with whom he had much Christian and
comfortable discourse; and because out of prison, as before in his pulpit, he
might have an opportunity of preaching to his parishioners. On the fourth of
February, Bonner, bishop of London, came to the prison to degrade him; the day
following, in the morning the sheriff of London delivered him to certain of the
queen's guard, who were appointed to carry him to the city of Coventry, there to
be burnt.
When they had arrived at Coventry, a poor shoemaker, who
used to serve him with shoes, came to him, and said, "O my good master, God
strengthen and comfort you." "Good shoemaker," Mr. Saunders replied, "I desire
thee to pray for me, for I am the most unfit man for this high office, that ever
was appointed to it; but my gracious God and dear Father is able to make me
strong enough." The next day, being the eighth of February, 1555, he was led to
the place of execution, in the park, without the city. He went in an old gown
and a shirt, barefooted, and oftentimes fell flat on the ground, and prayed.
When he was come to nigh the place, the officer, appointed to see the execution
done, said to Mr. Saunders that he was one of them who marred the queen's realm,
but if he would recant, there was pardon for him. "Not I," replied the holy
martyr, "but such as you have injured the realm. The blessed Gospel of Christ is
what I hold; that do I believe, that have I taught, and that will I never
revoke!" Mr. Saunders then slowly moved towards the fire, sank to the earth and
prayed; he then rose up, embraced the stake, and frequently said, "Welcome, thou
cross of Christ! welcome everlasting life!" Fire was then put to the fagots,
and, he was overwhelmed by the dreadful flames, and sweetly slept in the Lord
Jesus.
John Hooper, student and graduate in the University of
Oxford, was stirred with such fervent desire to the love and knowledge of the
Scriptures that he was compelled to move from thence, and was retained in the
house of Sir Thomas Arundel, as his steward, until Sir Thomas had intelligence
of his opinions and religion, which he in no case did favor, though he
exceedingly favored his person and condition and wished to be his friend. Mr.
Hooper now prudently left Sir Thomas' house and arrived at Paris, but in a short
time returned to England, and was retained by Mr. Sentlow, until the time that
he was again molested and sought for, when he passed through France to the
higher parts of Germany; where, commencing acquaintance with learned men, he was
by them free and lovingly entertained, both at Basel, and especially at Zurich,
by Mr. Bullinger, who was his singular friend; here also he married his wife,
who was a Burgonian, and applied very studiously to the Hebrew tongue.
At length, when God saw it good to stay the bloody time of
the six articles, and to give us King Edward to reign over this realm, with some
peace and rest unto the Church, amongst many other English exiles, who then
repaired homeward, Mr. Hooper also, moved in conscience, thought not to absent
himself, but seeing such a time and occasion, offered to help forward the Lord's
work, to the uttermost of his ability.
When Mr. Hooper had taken his farewell of Mr. Bullinger,
and his friends in Zurich, he repaired again to England in the reign of King
Edward VI, and coming to London, used continually to preach, most times twice,
or at least once a day.
In his sermons, according to his accustomed manner, he
corrected sin, and sharply inveighed against the iniquity of the world and the
corrupt abuses of the Church. The people in great flocks and companies daily
came to hear his voice, as the most melodious sound and tune of Orpheus' harp,
insomuch, that oftentimes when he was preaching, the church would be so full
that none could enter farther than the doors thereof. In his doctrine he was
earnest, in tongue eloquent, in the Scriptures perfect, in pains indefatigable,
in his life exemplary.
Having preached before the king's majesty, he was soon
after made bishop of Gloucester. In that office he continued two years, and
behaved himself so well that his very enemies could find no fault with him, and
after that he was made bishop of Worcester.
Dr. Hooper executed the office of a most careful and
vigilant pastor, for the space of two years and more, as long as the state of
religion in King Edward's time was sound and flourishing.
After he had been cited to appear before Bonner and Dr.
Heath, he was led to the Council, accused falsely of owing the queen money, and
in the next year, 1554, he wrote an account of his severe treatment during near
eighteen months' confinement in the Fleet, and after his third examination,
January 28, 1555, at St. Mary Overy's, he, with the Rev. Mr. Rogers, was
conducted to the Compter in Southwark, there to remain until the next day at
nine o'clock, to see whether they would recant. "Come, Brother Rogers," said Dr.
Hooper, "must we two take this matter first in hand, and begin to fry in these
fagots?" "Yes, Doctor," said Mr. Rogers, "by God's grace." "Doubt not," said Dr.
Hooper, "but God will give us strength;" and the people so applauded their
constancy that they had much ado to pass.
January 29, Bishop Hooper was degraded and condemned, and
the Rev. Mr. Rogers was treated in like manner. At dark, Dr. Hooper was led
through the city to Newgate; notwithstanding this secrecy, many people came
forth to their doors with lights, and saluted him, praising God for his
constancy.
During the few days he was in Newgate, he was frequently
visited by Bonner and others, but without avail. As Christ was tempted, so they
tempted him, and then maliciously reported that he had recanted. The place of
his martyrdom being fixed at Gloucester, he rejoiced very much, lifting up his
eyes and hands to heaven, and praising God that he saw it good to send him among
the people over whom he was pastor, there to confirm with his death the truth
which he had before taught them.
On February 7, he came to Gloucester, about five o'clock,
and lodged at one Ingram's house. After his first sleep, he continued in prayer
until morning; and all the day, except a little time at his meals, and when
conversing such as the guard kindly permitted to speak to him, he spent in
prayer.
Sir Anthony Kingston, at one time Dr. Hooper's good friend,
was appointed by the queen's letters to attend at his execution. As soon as he
saw the bishop he burst into tears. With tender entreaties he exhorted him to
live. "True it is," said the bishop, "that death is bitter, and life is sweet;
but alas! consider that the death to come is more bitter, and the life to come
is more sweet."
The same day a blind boy obtained leave to be brought into
Dr. Hooper's presence. The same boy, not long before, had suffered imprisonment
at Gloucester for confessing the truth. "Ah! poor boy," said the bishop, "though
God hath taken from thee thy outward sight, for what reason He best knoweth, yet
He hath endued thy soul with the eye of knowledge and of faith. God give thee
grace continually to pray unto Him, that thou lose not that sight, for then
wouldst thou indeed be blind both in body and soul."
When the mayor waited upon him preparatory to his
execution, he expressed his perfect obedience, and only requested that a quick
fire might terminate his torments. After he had got up in the morning, he
desired that no man should be suffered to come into the chamber, that he might
be solitary until the hour of execution.
About eight o'clock, on February 9, 1555, he was led forth,
and many thousand persons were collected, as it was market-day. All the way,
being straitly charged not to speak, and beholding the people, who mourned
bitterly for him, he would sometimes lift up his eyes towards heaven, and look
very cheerfully upon such as he knew: and he was never known, during the time of
his being among them, to look with so cheerful and ruddy a countenance as he did
at that time. When he came to the place appointed where he should die, he
smilingly beheld the stake and preparation made for him, which was near unto the
great elm tree over against the college of priests, where he used to preach.
Now, after he had entered into prayer, a box was brought
and laid before him upon a stool, with his pardon from the queen, if he would
turn. At the sight whereof he cried, "If you love my soul, away with it!" The
box being taken away, Lord Chandois said, "Seeing there is no remedy; despatch
him quickly."
Command was now given that the fire should be kindled. But
because there were not more green fagots than two horses could carry, it kindled
not speedily, and was a pretty while also before it took the reeds upon the
fagots. At length it burned about him, but the wind having full strength at that
place, and being a lowering cold morning, it blew the flame from him, so that he
was in a manner little more than touched by the fire.
Within a space after, a few dry fagots were brought, and a
new fire kindled with fagots, (for there were no more reeds) and those burned at
the nether parts, but had small power above, because of the wind, saving that it
burnt his hair and scorched his skin a little. In the time of which fire, even
as at the first flame, he prayed, saying mildly, and not very loud, but as one
without pain, "O Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me, and receive my soul!"
After the second fire was spent, he wiped both his eyes with his hands, and
beholding the people, he said with an indifferent, loud voice, "For God's love,
good people, let me have more fire!" and all this while his nether parts did
burn; but the fagots were so few that the flame only singed his upper parts.
The third fire was kindled within a while after, which was
more extreme than the other two. In this fire he prayed with a loud voice, "Lord
Jesus, have mercy upon me! Lord Jesus receive my spirit!" And these were the
last words he was heard to utter. But when he was black in the mouth, and his
tongue so swollen that he could not speak, yet his lips went until they were
shrunk to the gums: and he knocked his breast with his hands until one of his
arms fell off, and then knocked still with the other, while the fat, water, and
blood dropped out at his fingers' ends, until by renewing the fire, his strength
was gone, and his hand clave fast in knocking to the iron upon his breast. Then
immediately bowing forwards, he yielded up his spirit.
Thus was he three quarters of an hour or more in the fire.
Even as a lamb, patiently he abode the extremity thereof, neither moving
forwards, backwards, nor to any side; but he died as quietly as a child in his
bed. And he now reigneth, I doubt not, as a blessed martyr in the joys of
heaven, prepared for the faithful in Christ before the foundations of the world;
for whose constancy all Christians are bound to praise God.
Dr. Rowland Taylor, vicar of Hadley, in Suffolk, was a man
of eminent learning, and had been admitted to the degree of doctor of the civil
and canon law.
His attachment to the pure and uncorrupted principles of
Christianity recommended him to the favor and friendship of Dr. Cranmer,
archbishop of Canterbury, with whom he lived a considerable time, until through
his interest he obtained the living at Hadley.
Not only was his word a preaching unto them, but all his
life and conversation was an example of unfeigned Christian life and true
holiness. He was void of all pride, humble and meek as any child; so that none
were so poor but they might boldly, as unto their father, resort unto him;
neither was his lowliness childish or fearful, but, as occasion, time, and place
required, he would be stout in rebuking the sinful and evildoers; so that none
was so rich but he would tell them plainly his fault, with such earnest and
grave rebukes as became a good curate and pastor. He was a man very mild, void
of all rancor, grudge or evil will; ready to do good to all men; readily
forgiving his enemies; and never sought to do evil to any.
To the poor that were blind, lame, sick, bedrid, or that
had many children, he was a very father, a careful patron, and diligent
provider, insomuch that he caused the parishioners to make a general provision
for them; and he himself (beside the continual relief that they always found at
his house) gave an honest portion yearly to the common almsbox. His wife also
was an honest, discreet, and sober matron, and his children well nurtured,
brought up in the fear of God and good learning.
He was a good salt of the earth, savorly biting the corrupt
manners of evil men; a light in God's house, set upon a candlestick for all good
men to imitate and follow.
Thus continued this good shepherd among his flock,
governing and leading them through the wilderness of this wicked world, all the
days of the most innocent and holy king of blessed memory, Edward VI. But on his
demise, and the succession of Queen Mary to the throne, he escaped not the cloud
that burst on so many beside; for two of his parishioners, Foster, an attorney,
and Clark, a tradesman, out of blind zeal, resolved that Mass should be
celebrated, in all its superstitious forms, in the parish church of Hadley, on
Monday before Easter. This Dr. Taylor, entering the church, strictly forbade;
but Clark forced the Doctor out of the church, celebrated Mass, and immediately
informed the lord-chancellor, bishop of Winchester of his behavior, who summoned
him to appear, and answer the complaints that were alleged against him.
The doctor upon the receipt of the summons, cheerfully
prepared to obey the same; and rejected the advice of his friends to fly beyond
sea. When Gardiner saw Dr. Taylor, he, according to his common custom, reviled
him. Dr. Taylor heard his abuse patiently, and when the bishop said, "How darest
thou look me in the face! knowest thou not who I am?" Dr. Taylor replied, "You
are Dr. Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, and lord-chancellor, and yet but
a mortal man. But if I should be afraid of your lordly looks, why fear ye not
God, the Lord of us all? With what countenance will you appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, and answer to your oath made first unto King Henry
VIII, and afterward unto King Edward VI, his son?"
A long conversation ensued, in which Dr. Taylor was so
piously collected and severe upon his antagonist, that he exclaimed: "Thou art a
blasphemous heretic! Thou indeed blasphemest the blessed Sacrament, (here he put
off his cap) and speakest against the holy Mass, which is made a sacrifice for
the quick and the dead." The bishop afterward committed him into the king's
bench.
When Dr. Taylor came there, he found the virtuous and
vigilant preacher of God's Word, Mr. Bradford; who equally thanked God that He
had provided him with such a comfortable fellow-prisoner; and they both together
praised God, and continued in prayer, reading and exhorting one another.
After Dr. Taylor had lain some time in prison, he was cited
to appear in the arches of Bow-church. Dr. Taylor being condemned, was committed
to the Clink, and the keepers were charged to treat him roughly; at night he was
removed to the Poultry Compter.
When Dr. Taylor had lain in the Compter about a week on the
fourth of February, Bonner came to degrade him, bringing with him such ornaments
as appertained to the massing mummery; but the Doctor refused these trappings
until they were forced upon him.
The night after he was degraded his wife came with John
Hull, his servant, and his son Thomas, and were by the gentleness of the keepers
permitted to sup with him.
After supper, walking up and down, he gave God thanks for
His grace, that had given him strength to abide by His holy Word. With tears
they prayed together, and kissed one another. Unto his son Thomas he gave a
Latin book, containing the notable sayings of the old martyrs, and in the end of
that he wrote his testament:
"I say to my wife, and to my children, The Lord gave you
unto me, and the Lord hath taken me from you, and you from me: blessed be the
name of the Lord! I believe that they are blessed which die in the Lord. God
careth for sparrows, and for the hairs of our heads. I have ever found Him more
faithful and favorable, than is any father or husband. Trust ye therefore in Him
by the means of our dear Savior Christ's merits: believe, love, fear, and obey
Him: pray to Him, for He hath promised to help. Count me not dead, for I shall
certainly live, and never die. I go before, and you shall follow after, to our
long home."
On the morrow the sheriff of London with his officers came
to the Compter by two o'clock in the morning, and brought forth Dr. Taylor; and
without any light led him to the Woolsack, an inn without Aldgate. Dr. Taylor's
wife, suspecting that her husband should that night be carried away, watched all
night in St. Botolph's church-porch beside Aldgate, having her two children, the
one named Elizabeth, of thirteen years of age (whom, being left without father
or mother, Dr. Taylor had brought up of alms from three years old), the other
named Mary, Dr. Taylor's own daughter.
Now, when the sheriff and his company came against St.
Botolph's church, Elizabeth cried, saying, "O my dear father! mother, mother,
here is my father led away." Then his wife cried, "Rowland, Rowland, where art
thou?"-for it was a very dark morning, that the one could not well see the
other. Dr. Taylor answered, "Dear wife, I am here"; and stayed. The sheriff's
men would have led him forth, but the sheriff said, "Stay a little, masters, I
pray you; and let him speak to his wife"; and so they stayed.
Then came she to him, and he took his daughter Mary in his
arms; and he, his wife, and Elizabeth kneeled down and said the Lord's Prayer,
at which sight the sheriff wept apace, and so did divers others of the company.
After they had prayed, he rose up and kissed his wife, and shook her by the
hand, and said, "Farewell, my dear wife; be of good comfort, for I am quiet in
my conscience. God shall stir up a father for my children."
All the way Dr. Taylor was joyful and merry, as one that
counted himself going to a most pleasant banquet or bridal. He spake many
notable things to the sheriff and yeomen of the guard that conducted him, and
often moved them to weep, through his much earnest calling upon them to repent,
and to amend their evil and wicked living. Oftentimes also he caused them to
wonder and rejoice, to see him so constant and steadfast, void of all fear,
joyful in heart, and glad to die.
When Dr. Taylor had arrived at Aldham Common, the place
where he should suffer, seeing a great multitude of people, he asked, "What
place is this, and what meaneth it that so much people are gathered hither?" It
was answered, "It is Aldham Common, the place where you must suffer; and the
people have come to look upon you." Then he said, "Thanked be God, I am even at
home"; and he alighted from his horse and with both hands rent the hood from his
head.
His head had been notched and clipped like as a man would
clip a fool's; which cost the good bishop Bonner had bestowed upon him. But when
the people saw his reverend and ancient face, with a long white beard, they
burst out with weeping tears, and cried, saying: "God save thee, good Dr.
Taylor! Jesus Christ strengthen thee, and help thee! the Holy Ghost comfort
thee!" with such other like good wishes.
When he had prayed, he went to the stake and kissed it, and
set himself into a pitch barrel, which they had put for him to stand in, and
stood with his back upright against the stake, with his hands folded together,
and his eyes towards heaven, and continually prayed.
They then bound him with the chains, and having set up the
fagots, one Warwick cruelly cast a fagot at him, which struck him on his head,
and cut his face, sot hat the blood ran down. Then said Dr. Taylor, "O friend, I
have harm enough; what needed that?"
Sir John Shelton standing by, as Dr. Taylor was speaking,
and saying the Psalm Miserere in English, struck him on the lips: "You knave,"
he said, "speak Latin: I will make thee." At last they kindled the fire; and Dr.
Taylor holding up both his hands, calling upon God, and said, "Merciful Father
of heaven! for Jesus Christ, my Savior's sake, receive my soul into Thy hands!"
So he stood still without either crying or moving, with his hands folded
together, until Soyce, with a halberd struck him on the head until his brains
fell out, and the corpse fell down into the fire.
Thus rendered up this man of God his blessed soul into the
hands of his merciful Father, and to his most dear Savior Jesus Christ, whom he
most entirely loved, faithfully and earnestly preached, obediently followed in
living, and constantly glorified in death.
William Hunter had been trained to the doctrines of the
Reformation from his earliest youth, being descended from religious parents, who
carefully instructed him in the principles of true religion.
Hunter, then nineteen years of age, refusing to receive the
communion at Mass, was threatened to be brought before the bishop; to whom this
valiant young martyr was conducted by a constable.
Bonner caused William to be brought into a chamber, where
he began to reason with him, promising him security and pardon if he would
recant. Nay, he would have been content if he would have gone only to receive
and to confession, but William would not do so for all the world.
Upon this the bishop commanded his men to put William in
the stocks in his gate house, where he sat two days and nights, with a crust of
brown bread and a cup of water only, which he did not touch.
At the two days' end, the bishop came to him, and finding
him steadfast in the faith, sent him to the convict prison, and commanded the
keeper to lay irons upon him as many as he could bear. He continued in prison
three quarters of a year, during which time he had been before the bishop five
times, besides the time when he was condemned in the consistory in St. Paul's,
February 9, at which time his brother, Robert Hunter, was present.
Then the bishop, calling William, asked him if he would
recant, and finding he was unchangeable, pronounced sentence upon him, that he
should go from that place to Newgate for a time, and thence to Brentwood, there
to be burned.
About a month afterward, William was sent down to
Brentwood, where he was to be executed. On coming to the stake, he knelt down
and read the Fifty-first Psalm, until he came to these words, "The sacrifices of
God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not
despise." Steadfast in refusing the queen's pardon, if he would become an
apostate, at length one Richard Ponde, a bailiff, came, and made the chain fast
about him.
William now cast his psalter into his brother's hand, who
said, "William, think on the holy passion of Christ, and be not afraid of
death." "Behold," answered William, "I am not afraid." Then he lifted up his
hands to heaven, and said, "Lord, Lord, Lord, receive my spirit;" and casting
down he head again into the smothering smoke, he yielded up his life for the
truth, sealing it with his blood to the praise of God.
This worthy and learned prelate, the bishop of St. David's
in Wales, having in the former reign, as well as since the accession of Mary,
been remarkably zealous in promoting the reformed doctrines, and exploding the
errors of popish idolatry, was summoned, among others, before the persecuting
bishop of Winchester, and other commissioners set apart for the abominable work
of devastation and massacre.
His principal accusers and persecutors, on a charge of
praemunire in the reign of Edward VI were George Constantine Walter, his
servant; Thomas Young, chanter of the cathedral, afterward bishop of Bangor,
etc. Dr. Farrar ably replied to the copies of information laid against him,
consisting of fifty-six articles. The whole process of this trial was long and
tedious. Delay succeeded delay, and after that Dr. Farrar had been long unjustly
detained in custody under sureties, in the reign of King Edward, because he had
been promoted by the duke of Somerset, whence after his fall he found fewer
friends to support him against such as wanted his bishopric by the coming in of
Queen Mary, he was accused and examined not for any matter of praemunire, but
for his faith and doctrine; for which he was called before the bishop of
Winchester with Bishop Hooper, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Bradford, Mr. Saunders, and
others, February 4, 1555; on which day he would also with them have been
condemned, but his condemnation was deferred, and he sent to prison again, where
he continued until February 14, and then was sent into Wales to receive
sentence. He was six times brought up before Henry Morgan, bishop of St.
David's, who demanded if he would abjure; from which he zealously dissented, and
appealed to Cardinal Pole; notwithstanding which, the bishop, proceeding in his
rage, pronounced him a heretic excommunicate, and surrendered him to the secular
power.
Dr. Farrar, being condemned and degraded, was not long
after brought to the place of execution in the town of Carmathen, in the
market-place of which, on the south side of the market-cross, March 30, 1555,
being Saturday next before Passion Sunday, he most constantly sustained the
torments of the fire.
Concerning his constancy, it is said that one Richard
Jones, a knight's son, coming to Dr. Farrar a little before his death, seemed to
lament the painfulness of the death he had to suffer; to whom the bishop
answered that if he saw him once stir in the pains of his burning, he might then
give no credit to his doctrine; and as he said, so did he maintain his promise,
patiently standing without emotion, until one Richard Gravell with a staff
struck him down.
Rawlins White was by his calling and occupation a
fisherman, living and continuing in the said trade for the space of twenty years
at least, in the town of Cardiff, where he bore a very good name amongst his
neighbors.
Though the good man was altogether unlearned, and withal
very simple, yet it pleased God to remove him from error and idolatry to a
knowledge of the truth, through the blessed Reformation in Edward's reign. He
had his son taught to read English, and after the little boy could read pretty
well, his father every night after supper, summer and winter, made the boy read
a portion of the Holy Scriptures, and now and then a part of some other good
book.
When he had continued in his profession the space of five
years, King Edward died, upon whose decease Queen Mary succeeded and with her
all kinds of superstition crept in. White was taken by the officers of the town,
as a man suspected of heresy, brought before the Bishop Llandaff, and committed
to prison in Chepstow, and at last removed to the castle of Cardiff, where he
continued for the space of one whole year. Being brought before the bishop in
his chapel, he counselled him by threats and promises. But as Rawlins would in
no wise recant his opinions, the bishop told him plainly that he must proceed
against him by law, and condemn him as a heretic.
Before they proceeded to this extremity, the bishop
proposed that prayer should be said for his conversion. "This," said White, "is
like a godly bishop, and if your request be godly and right, and you pray as you
ought, no doubt God will hear you; pray you, therefore, to your God, and I will
pray to my God." After the bishop and his party had done praying, he asked
Rawlins if he would now revoke. "You find," said the latter, "your prayer is not
granted, for I remain the same; and God will strengthen me in support of this
truth." After this, the bishop tried what saying Mass would do; but Rawlins
called all the people to witness that he did not bow down to the host. Mass
being ended, Rawlins was called for again; to whom the bishop used many
persuasions; but the blessed man continued so steadfast in his former profession
that the bishop's discourse was to no purpose. The bishop now caused the
definitive sentence to be read, which being ended, Rawlins was carried again to
Cardiff, to a loathsome prison in the town, called Cockmarel, where he passed
his time in prayer, and in the singing of Psalms. In about three weeks the order
came from town for his execution.
When he came to the place, where his poor wife and children
stood weeping, the sudden sight of them so pierced his heart, that the tears
trickled down his face. Being come to the altar of his sacrifice, in going
toward the stake, he fell down upon his knees, and kissed the ground; and in
rising again, a little earth sticking on his face, he said these words. "Earth
unto earth, and dust unto dust; thou art my mother, and unto thee I shall
return."
When all things were ready, directly over against the
stake, in the face of Rawlins White, there was a stand erected, whereon stepped
up a priest, addressing himself to the people, but, as he spoke of the Romish
doctrines of the Sacraments, Rawlins cried out, "Ah! thou wicked hypocrite, dost
thou presume to prove thy false doctrine by Scripture? Look in the text that
followeth; did not Christ say, 'Do this in remembrance of me?'"
Then some that stood by cried out, "Put fire! set on fire!"
which being done, the straw and reeds cast up a great and sudden flame. In which
flame this good man bathed his hands so long, until such time as the sinews
shrank, and the fat dropped away, saving that once he did, as it were, wipe his
face with one of them. All this while, which was somewhat long, he cried with a
loud voice, "O Lord, receive my spirit!" until he could not open his mouth. At
last the extremity of the fire was so vehement against his legs that they were
consumed almost before the rest of his body was hurt, which made the whole body
fall over the chains into the fire sooner than it would have done. Thus died
this good old man for his testimony of God's truth, and is now rewarded, no
doubt, with the crown of eternal life.
George Marsh, born in the parish of Deane, in the county of
Lancaster, received a good education and trade from his parents; about his
twenty-fifth year he married, and lived, blessed with several children, on his
farm until his wife died. He then went to study at Cambridge, and became the
curate of Rev. Lawrence Saunders, in which duty he constantly and zealously set
forth the truth of God's Word, and the false doctrines of the modern Antichrist.
Being confined by Dr. Coles, the bishop of Chester, within
the precincts of his own house, he was dept from any intercourse with his
friends during four months; his friends and mother, earnestly wished him to have
flown from "the wrath to come;" but Mr. Marsh thought that such a step would ill
agree with that profession he had during nine years openly made. He, however,
secreted himself, but he had much struggling, and in secret prayer begged that
God would direct him, through the advice of his best friends, for his own glory
and to what was best. At length, determined by a letter he received, boldly to
confess the faith of Christ, he took leave of his mother-in-law and other
friends, recommending his children to their care and departed for Smethehills,
whence he was, with others, conducted to Lathum, to undergo examination before
the earl of Derby, Sir William Nores, Mr. Sherburn, the parson of Garpnal, and
others. The various questions put to him he answered with a good conscience, but
when Mr. Sherburn interrogated him upon his belief of the Sacrament of the
altar, Mr. Marsh answered like a true Protestant that the essence of the bread
and wine was not at all changed, hence, after receiving dreadful threats from
some, and fair words from others, for his opinions, he was remanded to ward,
where he lay two nights without any bed.
On Palm Sunday he underwent a second examination, and Mr.
Marsh much lamented that his fear should at all have induced him to prevaricate,
and to seek his safety, as long as he did not openly deny Christ; and he again
cried more earnestly to God for strength that he might not be overcome by the
subtleties of those who strove to overrule the purity of his faith. He underwent
three examinations before Dr. Coles, who, finding him steadfast in the
Protestant faith, began to read his sentence; but he was interrupted by the
chancellor, who prayed the bishop to stay before it was too late. The priest
then prayed for Mr. Marsh, but the latter, upon being again solicited to recant,
said he durst not deny his Savior Christ, lest he lose His everlasting mercy,
and so obtain eternal death. The bishop then proceeded in the sentence. He was
committed to a dark dungeon, and lay deprived of the consolation of any one (for
all were afraid to relieve or communicate with him) until the day appointed came
that he should suffer. The sheriffs of the city, Amry and Couper, with their
officers, went to the north gate, and took out Mr. George Marsh, who walked all
the way with the Book in his hand, looking upon the same, whence the people
said, "This man does not go to his death as a thief, nor as one that deserveth
to die."
When he came to the place of execution without the city,
near Spittal-Boughton, Mr. Cawdry, deputy chamberlain of Chester, showed Mr.
Marsh a writing under a great seal, saying that it was a pardon for him if he
would recant. He answered that he would gladly accept the same did it not tend
to pluck him from God.
After that, he began to speak to the people showing the
cause of his death, and would have exhorted them to stick unto Christ, but one
of the sheriffs prevented him. Kneeling down, he then said his prayers, put off
his clothes unto his shirt, and was chained to the post, having a number of
fagots under him, and a thing made like a firkin, with pitch and tar in it, over
his head. The fire being unskillfully made, and the wind driving it in eddies,
he suffered great extremity, which notwithstanding he bore with Christian
fortitude.
When he had been a long time tormented in the fire without
moving, having his flesh so broiled and puffed up that they who stood before him
could not see the chain wherewith he was fastened, and therefore supposed that
he had been dead, suddenly he spread abroad his arms, saying, "Father of heaven
have mercy upon me!" and so yielded his spirit into the hands of the Lord. Upon
this, many of the people said he was a martyr, and died gloriously patient. This
caused the bishop shortly after to make a sermon in the cathedral church, and
therein he affirmed, that the said 'Marsh was a heretic, burnt as such, and is a
firebrand in hell.' Mr. Marsh suffered April 24, 1555.
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