Chapter XI

THE ATTACK OF 1530. (AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, AND OCTOBER.)

[Sidenote: ARREST OF THE FISCAL MANDOLLA.]

Bonivard's arrest was not an isolated act, but the first skirmish of a general engagement. The duke and the bishop were reconciled, and their only thought was how they could reduce Geneva by force of arms. A singular resolution for a pastor! Fortunately for him, the Genevans gave him a pretext calculated in some measure to justify his warlike cure of souls.

The iniquitous conduct of the Duke of Savoy towards Bonivard refuted the unjust accusations brought against him, and the Genevans at once manifested their sympathy with the unhappy prisoner of Chillon. They were indignant at the duke's violation of the safe-conduct that he himself had given. 'You see his bad faith,' they said. Thinking that when the innocent were put in prison, it was time to punish the guilty, they determined to have their revenge.

There was at Geneva a man named Mandolla, a procurator-fiscal and thorough-going partisan of the duke and the bishop. 'He was a bastard priest of evil name and fame,' say the chronicles of the times, 'who indulged in exactions, and in plundering and arbitrarily imprisoning those who displeased him.' The vicar-general, Messire de Gingins, abbot of Bonmont, an upright and benevolent man, often remonstrated with him, but Mandolla answered him with insolence. Nor was this all; for, having the temporal authority under his jurisdiction, he was continually intriguing to deliver up Geneva to the duke. The citizens, irritated at these encroachments on their rights, addressed several strong remonstrances to the abbot of Bonmont against the foreign priest who was trying to rob them of their independence. It was a serious accusation: Mandolla's conscience told him it was just; he took the alarm, and, wishing to escape justice, hastily quitted Geneva, and fled for refuge to the castle of Peney.

The Genevans now complained louder than ever. 'Remove this thorn from the city,' said they to the vicar-general. The abbot acknowledged the justice of their demand, and the council, the guardians of the rights of the city, came to his assistance; for they recollected how, at the election of the syndics in 1526, that man had intrigued to carry the list which contained the name of the infamous Cartelier. Some armed men were sent to the castle of Peney, where they seized Mandolla, bound him to a horse, as Lévrier and Bonivard had been bound, and on the 24th of June he was brought back to Geneva, surrounded by guards who led him to prison. A procurator-fiscal treated like a criminal! it was a thing unprecedented. The people stopped in the streets as he passed, and looked at him with astonishment. The unhappy Mandolla's mind was in a state of great confusion. He wondered if they would avenge on him the deaths of Lévrier and Berthelier and the captivity of Bonivard. He felt that he was guilty, but trusted in his powerful protectors. His friends did not, indeed, lose a moment, but wrote to the bishop, who was at Arbois.

[Sidenote: THE BISHOP PLOTS AGAINST GENEVA.]

Mandolla had hardly been three days in prison, when 'a severe and threatening letter' from the bishop arrived at Geneva. The prelate was indignant that the citizens should dare lay hands upon a clerk, who was one of his officers, and especially on that fiscal who, as Bonivard says, _brought the water to his mill_. 'Not content with the unseasonable innovations you have made in our jurisdiction,' he wrote to the syndics on the 27th of June, 'you have caused our procurator to be arrested in the discharge of his functions.... And you do not like to be called traitors!... We condemn the outrage as much as if you had done it to our own person. Set our fiscal at liberty, without any damage to his person; make amends for the outrage you have committed; otherwise we shall employ all the means God has placed in our hands to obtain vengeance.' The council were greatly astonished on reading this letter: 'The bishop forgets,' they said, 'that this is a case simply of robbery and treason. How long has it been the custom to threaten with the vengeance of God and man the magistrates who prosecute a thief?'—'My lord,' answered the magistrates, 'Mandolla you well know to be a traitor and a robber.' And, giving no heed to the episcopal summons, they drew up an indictment against the fiscal. When this was told to La Baume, he could not contain himself. His twofold title of prince and bishop filled him with pride, and he could not bear the thought that these citizens of Geneva disregarded his orders.

This affair only served to hasten the execution of his plans. His mind was full of bitterness on account of the heresy he had discovered in the city, and he thought but of punishing those whom he looked upon as traitors. It did not occur to the bishop that Geneva, after undergoing a great transformation, was one day to become the most active focus of the Reform. But, without foreseeing such a future, he thought that if the Reformation were established there, as at Zurich and Berne, the provinces of Savoy, and others besides, would erelong fall a prey to the contagion. He made up his mind to oppose it in every way, and it must be confessed that he had a right to do so; but two things are to be regretted: the unholy mixing up of the catholic cause with that of a traitor and thief, and the means that the prelate employed.

[Sidenote: THE BISHOP APPEALS TO THE KNIGHTS.]

These means he sought in violence. In order to punish the huguenots he must have allies. Where could he look for them except among the knights of the Spoon? As prince and bishop of Geneva, he would give a shape to this fraternity, and organise it against his own episcopal city. He forthwith entered into communication with its principal leaders: John de Viry, sire of Alamogne; John Mestral, sire of Aruffens; John de Beaufort, baron of Rolle; Francis, sire of St. Saphorin; the sire of Genthod, a village situated between Geneva and Versoix; and especially Michael, baron of La Sarraz, whom the bishop called 'his dearly beloved cousin.' Without waiting for these powerful lords to attack the city, he began to carry on a little war himself. He put into prison two Genevan cattle-dealers, who chanced to be in the territory of St. Claude; ordered the Genevan _goats and cows_ to be seized, which were grazing on the hills of Gex; and posted armed men on all the roads leading from Geneva to Lyons, with instructions to stop his _subjects_ and their friends, and to seize their goods.[830]

After this little war, the bishop turned his thoughts to the great one. At first he wished to set in motion his own vassals, friends, and allies on the western slopes of the Jura. 'Brother,' said he to the Baron of St. Sorlin, 'call out our Burgundians.' His negotiations with La Sarraz, Viry, and others having succeeded, he issued a general appeal to the knights of the Spoon. 'Gentlemen and neighbours of my episcopal city,' he said, 'I have been informed of your friendly disposition to aid me in punishing my rebellious subjects of Geneva. And now, knowing that it will be a meritorious work before God and the world to do justice upon such evil-doers, I pray and require you to be pleased to help me in this matter.' Many of these gentlemen crossed the Jura to come to an arrangement with him, and filled Arbois with their indignation.

The 20th of August was an important day at the residence of the prince-bishop; he had determined to make war upon his flock, and this moment had been chosen for the declaration. Pierre de la Baume was not so cruel as his predecessor, the bastard of Savoy; but his irritation was now at its height. If he chanced to meet any Genevans who addressed him in respectful language, he would smile graciously upon them, but 'it was all grimace,' says the pseudo-Bonivard.[831] When they had quitted him, La Baume once more indulged in angry and threatening words. The convents, the commandery of Malta, and the college of the canons of Arbois were still more violent in their complaints. On the 20th of August a meeting took place at the priory. The knights of the Spoon, who had found the wine of Arbois excellent, arrived with their swords, their coats of mail, and their cloaks. The bishop, proud of having such defenders, invited them near the chair where he was seated, and graciously handed them their commissions to make war upon his subjects. 'We, Pierre de la Baume,' they ran, 'bishop and prince of Geneva, having regard to the insolence, rebellion, treason, and conspiracies that some of our subjects of Geneva are daily committing against us and our authority ... imprisoning our subjects and our officers without orders, assuming our rights of principality, and threatening to do worse; ... being resolved _to maintain our Church in her authority and to uphold our holy faith_, have commissioned and required our friends and relatives to aid us in punishing the rebels, and, if need be, to proceed by force of arms.' (Here follow the names of these friends, the Baron of La Sarraz, and the other lords mentioned above.) The prelate ended the document by a declaration that these gentlemen 'had full authority from him, and that, in confirmation, he had written these letters with his own hand at Arbois, on this 20th of August in the year 1530.' He had signed the papers: _Bishop of Geneva_. The gentlemen thanked the prelate, promised to do all in their power, and, quitting Franche-Comté, returned to their castles to make ready for the campaign, repeating to one another, as they rode along, that it was very necessary to maintain _the authority of the Roman Church_ in Geneva, and to uphold _the holy faith_, and seeming very proud that such was the object of the crusade they were about to undertake.[832]

[Sidenote: LUTHERANS IMPRISONED.]

The bishop's alarm was not without foundation. The huguenots, even those most inclined to protestantism, did not possess much evangelical light; they were struck rather with the superstitions of Rome than with their own sins and the grace of God. There were nevertheless some Genevans and a few foreigners living in Geneva, who displayed great zeal, and replied to the bishop's violence by going about from place to place seeking to enlighten souls. The gentlemen of Savoy, who had just made an alliance with the bishop, had seen this with their own eyes. 'They enter the cottages, and even venture into our castles,' said the knights, 'everywhere preaching what they call the Word of God.' The peasants listened rather favourably to the addresses of these evangelists; but, says Balard, 'the gentlemen could not be prevented from taking vengeance on such excesses.' When any of these daring pioneers of the Reformation arrived at a castle, or even at the village or town which depended on it, the lord, exasperated that the heretics should dare come and preach their doctrines to his servants and vassals, seized them and threw them into his dungeons.

Some envoys from Friburg who were going to Chambéry, having halted on the road at the castle of one of their friends, heard of these doings; it happened, too, that some of these huguenot prisoners (they may have come from Berne) were confined in the place at which they were stopping. As the Friburgers, although good catholics, were not in favour of employing brute force in matters of religion, they found means to touch the hearts of their persecutors, and succeeded in having these fervent evangelists set at liberty. They then continued their journey to Chambéry. But the duke had hardly given them audience before he said to them with bitterness: 'I have to complain, gentlemen, that you go about in search of prisoners in my country, and that the people of Geneva are trying to make my people as bad as themselves.... I will not put up with such disorders.... I cannot prevent my nobles from taking vengeance.'[833] But the Genevans were equally unwilling to submit to the ill-treatment to which some of their number had been exposed, and accordingly Robert Vandel and John Lullin were despatched in all haste to Berne and Friburg to urge on the arrival of these noble auxiliaries. It is probable, however, that certain serious rumours which were beginning to circulate in Geneva were the principal cause of their mission.[834]

It was the autumn of 1530, and as the chiefs of German catholicism had assembled at Augsburg to deliberate upon the means of destroying protestantism in the empire, the duke and the bishop, the two great enemies of Geneva, appointed a meeting at Gex, at the foot of the Jura, to deliberate on the means of expelling both liberty and the Gospel from the city of the Leman. 'Lutheranism is making considerable progress in Geneva,' said the bishop to the duke; 'attack the city; for my part I will employ in this work the revenues of my see and of my abbeys, and even all my patrimony.'[835] The duke might have had reasons for delaying the war. His brother-in-law the emperor, and the other catholic princes assembled at Augsburg, thought they could not be ready before the spring, and desired that protestantism should then be attacked on all points at once. But passion prevailed with Charles III. Aspiring to the sovereignty of Geneva, it was important for him to play the principal part in the attack against that city; and when once Geneva was taken, he would prove to all the world that, in accordance with the system of the cardinals, it would be necessary to establish there some ruler more powerful than a bishop, in order to prevent future revolts.[836]

[Sidenote: LA SARRAZ HEADS THE KNIGHTS.]

The Baron of La Sarraz was already at work; he was a man fitted to succeed Pontverre. Prejudiced like him against Geneva, liberty, and the Reformation, he was less noble, less virtuous, and less headstrong than that unhappy gentleman, but surpassed him in genius and in ability. He had sworn that either he or Geneva should give way and perish.... The oath was accomplished, but not in the manner he had anticipated. The knights of the Spoon, summoned by the bishop, excited by La Sarraz, supported by the fugitive mamelukes, and approved of by the duke, took the field immediately. They intercepted the provisions intended for Geneva, and sharp skirmishes occurred every day. If any citizen went beyond the walls to look after his farm or attend to his business, the knights would fall upon him and beat him, shut him up in one of their castle dungeons, and sometimes kill him. But all this was a mere prelude. The bishop came to an understanding with the Baron of La Sarraz, through his cousin, M. de Ranzonière. Another conference took place at Arbois towards the middle of September 1530. After a long conversation about the heresy and independence of Geneva, and the strange changes and singular perils to which that city and the surrounding provinces were exposed, they decided upon a general attack.[837]

On the 20th of September, the men-at-arms of the knights of the Spoon, the Burgundians of the bishop, and the ducal troops, made arrangements to surprise Geneva. On the 24th of September, some well-disposed people came and told the citizens that the Duke of Nemours was at Montluel in Bresse, three leagues from Lyons, with a large army. It was the Count of Genevois, younger brother of the Duke of Savoy, whom his sister, the mother of Francis I., had created Duke of Nemours in 1515. He was, as we have already remarked, an able man, and, even while courting the Genevans, desired nothing better than to destroy their city. His sister, Louisa of Savoy, whose hostile disposition towards the Gospel we have seen, thought it a very laudable thing to crush a place in which the protestants, persecuted by her in France, might find an asylum. The six captains of Geneva, on hearing this alarming intelligence, assembled their troops and addressed them in a touching proclamation. This was on Sunday, the 25th of September. 'We have been informed,' they said, 'that our enemies will attack us very shortly. We pray you therefore to forgive one another, and be ready to die in the defence of your rights.' The citizens unanimously replied to these noble words: 'We are willing to do so.'[838]

[Sidenote: TROOPS MARCH AGAINST GENEVA.]

The next day, Monday, the 26th of September, a man of Granson, coming from Burgundy, confirmed the news of the danger impending over the city. 'Everything is in motion on our side,' he told them. 'M. de St. Sorlin has declared that _God and the world_ are enraged against Geneva (it was the favourite expression of his family); companies of arquebusiers are about to cross the Jura; the gentlemen of the Spoon are approaching with a large number of armed men, and the day after the feast of St. Michael they will enter Geneva by force, to kill the men, women, and children, and plunder the city.' The man of Granson, at the request of the syndics, hurried off to carry the news to Berne and Friburg.[839]

It was a singular thing, this expedition against Geneva in behalf of the _holy faith_, for there was not a church in the city where mass was not sung, and not one where the Gospel was preached. It was still a catholic city; but, we must confess, it contained little really worthy of the name, except old walls, old ceremonies, and old priests. Mass was performed, but the huguenots, instead of listening to it, walked up and down the aisles. The Reformation was everywhere in Geneva, and yet it was nowhere. The bishop, the duke, and even the emperor, who were not very acute judges, confounded liberty with the Gospel; and seeing that liberty was in Geneva, they doubted not that the Gospel was there also.

[Sidenote: GENEVA BLOCKADED.]

On Friday, the 30th of September, the enemy's army debouched on all sides of Geneva. The six captains of Geneva and their six hundred men got their arms ready. At this moment envoys arrived from Friburg, wishing to see, hear, and advise the councils. They had hardly entered the city, when the troops of Savoy, Burgundy, and Vaud were seen preparing to blockade it. A Friburg herald left immediately, to carry the news to his lords; but at Versoix the ducal soldiers were on their guard; the messenger was seized and conducted to the knight of the Spoon who commanded in the castle. It was to no purpose that he declared himself to be a Friburger: 'You wear neither the arms nor the colours of Friburg,' was the reply; 'go back to Geneva.' And as the herald insisted upon passing (he had had good reasons for not putting on his uniform), the knights maltreated him and drove him before them close up to the drawbridge of Geneva, insulting him from time to time in a very offensive manner. The night was then approaching; the steps of the horses and the shouts of the horsemen could be heard in the city; it was believed that the assault was about to be made, and some citizens ran off to ring the tocsin. The alarm continued through the night.

The enemy had pitched their camp at Saconnex, on the right bank of the Rhone and the lake, about half a league from Geneva, in the direction of Gex and the Jura. On Saturday, the 1st of October, they sallied forth early in the morning, pillaged the houses round the city, set fire to several farms, and returned to their camp: this was a petty prelude to the meditated attack. At this moment a second herald, coming from Friburg, was brought in. He had been stopped at Versoix, for nobody could pass that post in either direction. The Friburgers, uneasy at receiving no news from Geneva, had sent this man to learn whether their friends were really in danger or not. 'What is your business?' asked the officers. The herald, who had learnt the story of his colleague, had recourse to a stratagem which the usages of war justify, but christian truth condemns. 'I am ordered,' he said, 'to go and tell our ambassadors that they must return immediately; and that if Monsieur of Savoy needs the help of my lords of Friburg, they will assist him.' The Savoyards, delighted at the mission of the Friburger, hastened to set him at liberty; he went on to Geneva, and told the whole affair to the ambassadors of his canton. The latter, extremely pleased at his dexterity, asked him if he could once more make his way through the triple barrier that the cavaliers had raised between Geneva and Friburg. He was to report that the state of affairs was as bad as could be; and that Geneva, attacked by superior forces, was on the point of falling. 'We have no time to write,' they added, for they feared their letters would be intercepted; 'but we give you our rings as a token. Go speedily, and tell the lords of the two cities (Berne and Friburg), that if they wish to succour the city of Geneva, _they must do so now or_ _never_.' Prompt help from the Swiss could alone preserve the liberties of Geneva. The cunning Friburger departed; but even should he succeed in making his way through the Savoyard troops lying between Friburg and Geneva, what might not happen before a Swiss army could arrive?[840]

The next day, Sunday, the 2nd of October, the episcopal army was put in motion; it surrounded the city; a part of the Savoyard troops occupied the suburb of St. Leger and the monasteries of St. Victor and Our Lady of Grace; another part was drawn up opposite the Corraterie. The Genevans could no longer restrain themselves: the gates of the Corraterie were thrown open, and a number of the more intrepid sallied out upon the Savoyards, who received them with their arquebuses: one citizen was shot dead, and the others returned into the city. Erelong similar skirmishes took place on every side, and the trainbands of Geneva, firing upon the enemy from the wall, killed several of them. Masters of the suburbs, the Savoyard army waited until night to make the assault. _Death and plunder_ was the pass-word given by the leaders.

The situation of Geneva became more critical every hour. In the evening, just as the bell was ringing for vespers, there was a gleam of light in the stormy sky. Ambassadors arrived from Berne; they had passed through the enemy's lines, doubtless in consequence of their diplomatic character. They immediately visited their Friburg colleagues, who made known to them all their fears: 'Yet a few hours more,' they said, 'and Romish despotism will perhaps triumph over the Genevese liberties.' The Swiss did not lose a moment, but despatched a herald, post-haste, to demand immediate support. A part of the defenders of Geneva went to their homes to take some slight repose.

[Sidenote: NIGHT ASSAULT.]

The night closed in, but a bright moon permitted every movement to be observed which took place without the city. At midnight the moon set: darkness and silence for some time reigned upon the walls. This was the hour fixed for the assault. The bands of Savoy and Burgundy and the knights of the Spoon moved forward without noise, and soon reached the ditch, in readiness to attack the city. It was easy for them to break in the gates and to scale the walls. The sentries on the ramparts listened, and tried to make out the movements of the enemy. The Genevans were all determined to sacrifice their lives, but they were too few to defend their homes against such an army. They had to fear enemies still more formidable. It was asserted that the governor of the Low Countries, the pope, the Dukes of Lorraine and Gueldres, and the King of France were all pushing forward troops against the city. The alarm had been given in the courts of Europe by a recent act of the Landgrave of Hesse. He was negotiating a treaty with the cantons of Zurich and Basle, by the terms of which each of the contracting parties was bound to support the others in case of violence against the cause of the Gospel. 'Might not Philip do the same with Berne and Geneva?' said some. 'Might not the latter city become an asylum of the Reformation in the south, for the populations of the Latin tongue?... No time must be lost in destroying it.'[841]

People were talking of these things at Augsburg. The protestant princes and doctors had quitted that city, where the famous diet had just ended: a month had been given them to become reconciled with Rome. But Charles V., who did not reckon much upon this _entente cordiale_ between the pope and Luther, had declared that he would terminate the controversy with the sword, and had given orders to raise a powerful army to crush both protestants and protestantism: that, however, was not to be done before the spring of next year. One day, when the emperor was conversing about Geneva with Duke Frederick and other catholic princes,[842] despatches were brought him announcing the march of different armed bodies against Geneva. Charles always displayed a prudence and reserve in his plans, which proceeded as much from nature as from habit. As his faculties had been developed slowly, he had accustomed himself to ponder upon everything with close attention; he had decided in particular that not a shot ought to be fired in Europe against the protestants before the spring of 1531, and had instructed his brother-in-law of Savoy to that effect. Accordingly, when he learnt, in October, that an attack was preparing against Geneva, he gave utterance to his vexation. 'Ha!' he exclaimed, 'the Duke of Savoy is beginning this business too soon!'[843] 'These words give cause for reflection,' said the deputies of Nuremberg, who reported them to their senate. After Geneva, their own turn would come, no doubt.

[Sidenote: MYSTERIOUS RETREAT OF THE SAVOYARDS.]

Meanwhile, about one o'clock on a pitch-dark night, the troops of the duke, the bishop, and the knights of the Spoon had come up close to the ditch. But, strange to say, they remained inactive. They neither broke down the gates nor mounted the walls: on the contrary, 'the nearer they approached,' says Balard, who was in the city, '_the more their hearts failed them._' Besides the knights of Vaud and the leaders of the Burgundian bands, there were in the besieging army a certain number of officers holding their commissions immediately from his highness the duke. On a sudden these Savoyard captains drew back; they moved away, and left the others at the edge of the ditch. This unexpected defection surprised every one: the soldiers asked what it meant.... The troops fell into disorder, a panic soon ran through their ranks, and in a moment there was a general flight, their only exploit being the plundering of the suburbs.

The officers of Savoy, as they retired, said that the duke 'had commanded them to withdraw under pain of death.' He had indeed received the emperor's orders not to begin the war before the spring; but he could not resolve to arrange his plans in harmony with those of his illustrious ally. Always anxious to make himself master of Geneva, he had let things take their course. A more pressing message from the emperor had arrived. The duke, much vexed, had communicated it with a bad grace to his captains. Had it only reached them at the moment they were making the attack? or did they hesitate at the very time when, blinded by hatred, they were about to escalade the walls in defiance of the orders of the puissant emperor? Had their courage failed them at the last step? This seems the most probable conclusion. There is, however, a certain mystery in the whole incident which it is difficult to penetrate. Geneva, alone in the presence of a gallant and numerous army, was defended during this memorable night by an unknown and invisible power. The Genevans believed it to be the hand of the Almighty. Did they not read in Scripture that a city, inhabited by the people of God, having been compassed by horses, and chariots, and a great host, the mountain round about was miraculously filled with horses and chariots of fire in far greater numbers?[844] None of these indeed had been seen upon the Alps, but the arm of the Lord had put the enemy to the rout. 'The bark of God's miracles' had been once more saved in the midst of the breakers. The citizens reiterated in their homes, in the streets, and in the council, the expression of their gratitude. 'Ah!' said syndic Balard, 'the faint heart, the sudden discouragement of those who had conspired against the city, came from the grace and pity of God!'[845]

The citizens wished to open the gates and follow in pursuit of the enemy; but the ambassadors of Berne and Friburg restrained them. The flight was so extraordinary that these warlike diplomatists feared that it was a stratagem. 'You do not know,' they said, 'how great is the cunning of the enemy. Wait until you receive help from our masters, which we hope will soon arrive.'

[Sidenote: FIFTEEN THOUSAND SWISS ARRIVE.]

In fact, fifteen thousand of those soldiers who were the terror of Europe were then entering the Pays de Vaud with ten pieces of cannon and colours flying, and were marching to Geneva. Some of the citizens regretted the arrival of these troops, who came (they said) when they were not wanted, and who would be an expense to the city; but the more far-sighted thought their presence still necessary. The enemies of the new order of things still threatened Geneva on every side, and were even in Geneva, always ready to renew the attack. It was necessary to put a stop to the violence of these feudal lords and the intrigues of the monks; it was necessary to free the country once for all from the robbers who spread desolation all around; and the Swiss army was looked upon as called to accomplish this work. This was also what the Bernese and Friburgers said, and they spared no pains to deliver the inhabitants of the shores of the Leman from their continual alarms. They did no harm to the peasants, except that they 'lived upon the good man;'[846] but they captured, plundered, and burnt the castles of the knights of the Spoon. The garrisons fled at their approach, carrying away baggage, treasures, and artillery across the lake to Thonon: boats were continually passing from one shore to the other. The priests and friars were not looked upon with very friendly eyes by the _Lutherans_, and here and there they had their gowns torn; but not one of them was wounded. One hundred and twenty Genevans, encouraged by this news, put to flight at Meyrin eight hundred soldiers of Savoy and Gex.

At noon on Monday, the 10th of October, the Swiss army, with the avoyer D'Erlach at its head, marched into Geneva. But where could they put fifteen thousand soldiers in that little city? The citizens received a great number; a part were quartered in the convents. 'Come, fathers, make room,' said the quartermasters to the Dominicans. The monks gave up their dormitories very unwillingly; but that did not matter: six companies, '_all Lutherans_,' were lodged in the convent, and two hundred horses were turned loose in their burial-ground to feed upon the grass. The Augustine and Franciscan monasteries, as well as the houses of the canons and other churchmen, were also filled with troops. These men carried on the controversy in their own fashion—that is, in a military and not an evangelical manner. A great number of them had to bivouac in the open air. The Bernese artillerymen, who were posted round the Oratory, situated between the city and Plainpalais, felt cold during the night. They first began to examine the chapel, and then entered it, and took away the altar and the wooden images, with which they made a good fire. They were not, however, yet at their ease: these rough Helvetians, having no desire to lie down or to remain standing all night, broke up a large cross, and with the fragments made seats on which they sat round the fire. Some Friburgers, observing what they considered to be a sacrilege, went up to the Bernese and reprimanded them sharply, asking them why they did not go and look for wood somewhere else. 'The wood from the churches is usually very dry,' coolly answered the artillerymen. These catholic Friburgers were no doubt superstitious; but perhaps the Bernese were not very pious, and most of them, while destroying the _idols_ without, left those standing that were within.

[Sidenote: THE NUNS OF ST. CLAIRE.]

The Genevans anxiously looked about for quarters for their guests, being unwilling to leave these confederates without shelter, who had quitted everything for them. As the city was not large enough, the country was laid under contribution. At the extremity of a fine promontory which stretches from the southern shore into the lake, at Belle Rive, about a league from the city, stood a convent of Cistercian nuns, staunch partisans of the duke, and who were suspected of intriguing in his favour, and of having been greatly delighted when the Savoyard army had beleaguered the city not long before. 'Come with us,' said certain young huguenots to a Swiss company bivouacking in the open air; 'we will provide you comfortable quarters, situated in a beautiful locality.' They marched off immediately. The nuns, whose hearts palpitated with fear, were on the watch, and, looking from their windows, they saw a body of soldiers advancing by the lake. Hastily throwing off their conventual dress, they disguised themselves and took refuge in the neighbouring cottages. At last the troop arrived. Were the Genevans and Bernese irritated by this flight, or did they intend to follow the custom of burning the houses of those who plotted against the State? We cannot tell; but, be that as it may, they set fire to the convent, not, however, to the church, and the house itself suffered but little, for the nuns returned to it soon after. When the flames were seen from Geneva, they occasioned much excitement; but nothing could equal that of the sisters of St. Claire.[847] The poor nuns, huddling together in their garden, looked at the fire with terror, and exclaimed: 'It is a sword of sorrow to us, like that which pierced the Virgin.' They ran backwards and forwards, they entered the church, they returned to the garden, and fell down at the foot of the altar, and then, looking again at the flames, devoutly crossed themselves. 'We must depart,' they said, and immediately the best scholars among them drew up, as well as their emotion permitted, a humble petition addressed to the syndics. 'Fathers and dear protectors,' said they, 'on our bended knees and with uplifted hands, we, being greatly alarmed, entreat you by the honour of our Redeemer, of his virgin mother, of Monsieur St. Pierre, and Madame St. Claire, and all the saints of paradise, to be pleased to allow us to go out from your city in safety.' Three of the most devout members of the council went to the convent to comfort them. 'Fear nothing,' they said, 'for the city has not the least intention of becoming Lutheran.'[848]

A certain consideration was shown towards the sisters, by requiring them to find quarters for only twenty-five soldiers, all Friburgers, 'good catholics,' says one of the nuns, 'and hearing mass willingly.' But alas! the mass did not make them more merciful. 'They were as thievish as the others,' says the same nun. Shortly after their arrival they threatened to break down the doors and the walls, if the nuns did not supply them with as much to eat and drink as they wanted. It is true that the sisters put the soldiers upon spare diet, giving them only a few peas.[849] This little garrison, however, was of advantage to the church of St. Claire: it was the only place in Geneva where the Roman worship was performed. The Friburgers, at the request of the sisters, took post at the door, and prevented the _heretics_ from entering, but gave admission _by order_ to all the priests and monks of Geneva who showed themselves. The latter came dressed as laymen, carrying their robes under their arms; they went into the vestry, put on their clerical costume, entered the chapel, drew up round the altar, and chanted mass _in pontificalibus_. When the service was over, the nuns congratulated each other: 'What glory Madame St. Claire has over Madame Magdalen, Monsieur St. Gervais, and even M. St. Pierre!' It was a great consolation and indescribable honour to them.

The mass, however, was not to have all its own way in Geneva. The Bernese desired to have the Word of God preached; consequently, on Tuesday, the 11th of October, they proceeded to the cathedral with their evangelical almoner, and ordered the doors to be opened. Some of them went into the tower and rang the episcopal bells, after which the almoner went up into the pulpit, read a portion of Scripture, and preached a sermon. A great number of Genevans had gone to the church and watched this new worship from a distance. They did not fully understand it; but they saw that the reading of God's Word, its explanation, and prayer were the essential parts, and they liked that better than the Roman form. From that time, the evangelical service was repeated daily, and 'no other bell, little or big, rang in Geneva.' The priests consoled themselves by thinking that 'the accursed minister preached in German.' The _German_, however, went further: he had brought with him some copies of the Holy Scriptures in French, and French translations of several of the writings of Zwingle, Luther, and other reformers; and when the Genevans who had heard him without understanding him went to pay him a visit, he gave them these books, after shaking hands with them, and in this way prepared their minds for the work of the Reformation.

[Sidenote: CASTLES TAKEN AND BURNT.]

While these books might be producing some internal good, the Genevans were anxious for another reform. They wished to purge the country of the outrages, robberies, and murders which the nobility in the neighbourhood of Geneva, still more than those in the Pays de Vaud, had made the peaceful burghers endure so long. This also was a reform, though different from that of Luther and Farel. 'Come along with us,' they said to the terrible bands of Friburg and Berne, 'and we will lead you to these brigands' nests.' The Swiss troops, guided by the Genevans, appeared successively before the castles of Gaillard, Vilette, Confignon, Sacconex, and others. They captured and set fire to many of these haunts, where the noble robbers had so often hidden their plunder and their prey. The terror of the partisans of the old order of things now became extreme. The sisters of St. Claire thought that everything was on fire round Geneva. 'Look!' said they, standing on the highest part of their garden, 'look! although the weather is fair, the sky is darkened by the smoke.' They fancied it was the last day. 'Of a surety,' they added, 'the elements are about to be dissolved.' The desolation was still greater in the country. The captain-general had issued an order forbidding all marauding, but the soldiers rarely attended to it. The peasantry were seen running away like sheep before the wolf; the gentlemen hid themselves in the woods or the mountains; and several noble dames, who had taken refuge in miserable huts, 'were brought to bed there very wretchedly.'[850]

Although certain accusations have been brought against them, the nuns of St. Claire were sincere in their devotion, and moral in their conduct; and while the dissolute friars kept silence, these superstitious but virtuous women appeared to stand alone by the side of popery in its agony. Desiring to appease the wrath of heaven, they made daily processions in their garden, barefooted in the white frost, chanting low the litanies of the Virgin and the saints 'to obtain mercy.' They passed all the night in vigils, 'praying to God in behalf of his holy faith and the poor world.' After matins they lighted the tapers, and scourged themselves; then bending to the earth, they exclaimed: _Ave, benigne Jesu!_ 'hail, gentle Jesus!' Sister Jeanne affirms that by these means they worked miracles. Indeed, one of the _mahometists_ (huguenots), having flung a consecrated wafer into a cemetery, it could not be found again: 'the angels had carried it away and put it in some unknown place.'[851] It was not very miraculous that so small an object could not be found among the grass and between the graves of a cemetery. A miracle more real was worked.

The Duke of Nemours, brother of the Duke of Savoy, who, as we have seen, had come from France with his men-at-arms to attack Geneva, laid aside his warlike humour when he found the Swiss in the city, and, wishing to conciliate the Genevans, repeated to all who came near him that he had never intended to do them any harm, and would punish severely everybody who was guilty of violence towards them. A truce was concluded at St. Julien. The definitive treaty of peace was referred to a Swiss diet to be held at Payerne. The bishop released the merchants, the cows, and the goats he had seized, and the Genevans set Mandolla at liberty; 'but,' adds Bonivard, 'I was not taken out of Chillon.'[852]

[Footnote 830: _Journal de Balard_, pp. 274-280. Registres du Conseil des 23 juin; 5, 8, 19 juillet; 9 août. Bonivard, _Chroniq._ ii. p. 576. Galiffe fils, _Besançon Hugues_, pp. 398, 399. Gautier MS.]

[Footnote 831: MS. _Hist. of Geneva_ in the Berne library, erroneously ascribed to Bonivard.]

[Footnote 832: _Journal de Balard_, pp. 274-280. Registres du Conseil des 23 juin; 5, 8, 19 juillet; 9 août. Bonivard, _Chroniq._ ii. p. 576. Galiffe fils, _Besançon Hugues_, pp. 398, 399. Gautier MS.]

[Footnote 833: _Journal de Balard_, p. 280.]

[Footnote 834: Roset MS. _Chroniq._ liv. ii. ch. xlix. Registres du Conseil du 4 juillet et du 12 août.]

[Footnote 835: Bonivard, _Chroniq._ ii. pp. 577, 578. Besson, _Mémoires du Diocèse de Genève_, p. 62. Gautier MS.]

[Footnote 836: See vol. i. p. 69.]

[Footnote 837: Gautier MS. Besson, _Mémoires du Diocèse de Genève_. Galiffe fils, _Besançon Hugues_, p. 400. Bonivard, _Chroniq._ ii. pp. 577, 578.]

[Footnote 838: _Journal de Balard_, p. 286.]

[Footnote 839: Ibid. p. 287.]

[Footnote 840: _Journal de Balard_, p. 289.]

[Footnote 841: Sleidan, _Hist. de la Réformation_, liv. vii. _Journal de Balard_, p. 289.]

[Footnote 842: 'Als der Kayser mit Herzog Friedrichen und andern Fürsten des Krieges vor Genf zu reden worden.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 421.]

[Footnote 843: 'Hat der Kayser unter andern in Französisch geredet: Ey, der Herzog hat die Sache zu früh angefangen.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 421.]

[Footnote 844: 2 Kings vi. 17.]

[Footnote 845: _Journal de Balard_, pp. 289, 290.]

[Footnote 846: 'Ils vivaient sur le bon homme.' _Bon homme_ was a term applied by the nobles to the peasantry. Hence the war of _Jacques Bon-homme_ in France.]

[Footnote 847: Their convent was in the upper part of the city where the palace of justice now stands, in the Bourg de Four.]

[Footnote 848: La Sœur J. de Jussie, pp. 11-14.]

[Footnote 849: La Sœur J. de Jussie, p. 18.]

[Footnote 850: La Sœur J. de Jussie, p. 21.]

[Footnote 851: La Sœur J. de Jussie, pp. 23-25.]

[Footnote 852: Ibid. pp. 20-25. Bonivard, _Chroniq._ ii. p. 586. Gautier MS.]