Chapter XIV

AN HEROIC RESOLUTION AND A HAPPY DELIVERANCE.
(AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER, 1534.)

The friends of independence and of the Reformation had better grounded anxieties than those of the nuns of St. Claire: they understood that the attack had only been adjourned, and that they must hold themselves ready for severe struggles. Accordingly, Geneva mustered all her forces. ‘Let those who are abroad return home,’ said the Council: but alas! two of the most intrepid were in the prisons of the French primate, and about to be sent to the stake. The sentence condemning Baudichon de la Maisonneuve and his friend to death had been pronounced, as we have seen. They had been delivered by the priests to the secular arm, and were about to be executed, when a fresh attempt was made in their behalf.

[Sidenote: Tales About Parel.]

There was a patrician family in Berne, illustrious for its ancient nobility and valor, some of whose members had rendered signal services to France. In the 15th century, Nicholas of Diesbach, the avoyer, allied that puissant republic with Louis XI. against Charles the Bold, and had gained several victories over the Burgundian forces. At Pavia, in 1525, another of the family, John of Diesbach, commanded the Swiss auxiliary troops of France. Stationed on the right wing, at the head of 2,000 Helvetians, at first he drove back the imperialist infantry and cavalry. Francis I. was on the point of gaining the victory; but meanwhile his left wing had been annihilated; in that quarter Suffolk, the heir of the White Rose, the Duke of Lorraine’s brother, Nassau, Schomberg, La Tremouille, San Severino, and the veteran La Palisse, fell on the field of battle, and Montmorency was made prisoner. Nevertheless, the Swiss still held their ground manfully, when Alençon, the king’s brother-in-law, fleeing shamefully, and carrying after him part of the French men-at-arms, caused Diesbach’s soldiers, who were fighting at his side and already shouting victory, to waver. At that moment the lansquenets, commanded by the redoubtable Freundsberg, fell furiously on the Swiss and broke them. The Helvetians, seeing the Frenchmen retiring, believed they were to be sacrificed to the hatred of the Germans. John of Diesbach conjured and threatened them in vain; nothing could stop them. Then the valorous captain rushed forward alone against a battalion of lansquenets and fell dead. Bonnivet, in despair, stretched out his neck to the spears of the enemy, and was killed: and Francis I. who was the last to fight, yielded up his sword with a shudder to Lannoy.[616]

John of Diesbach had married a French lady, Mademoiselle de Refuge, to whom the king had promised a dowry of 10,000 livres, but had afterwards given her husband, as an equivalent, the lordship of Langes, which the latter had bequeathed to his wife. But in 1533 Francis I. had taken back the estate, without giving the promised dowry. The widow of the hero of Pavia, finding herself thus deprived of her property by the man for whom her husband had died, implored the intervention of Berne, and the chiefs of that republic had commissioned another Diesbach, Rodolph, to proceed to the court of France to support the just claims of his relation. Rodolph departed on the 12th of January, 1534, accompanied by George Schœner. This mission was destined to be of more importance to Geneva than to Berne.[617]

Rodolph of Diesbach himself was highly esteemed in France. He had passed his youth there, had studied at the University of Paris, and from 1507 to 1515 had taken part in the wars of Louis XII., and honorably distinguished himself. On his return to Berne, he was one of those who embraced the evangelical faith, and was often called to defend the interests of Geneva and the Reformation. While Rodolph was in France pleading the cause of his cousin, De la Maisonneuve and Janin were imprisoned at Lyons, and Diesbach received instructions from the lords of Berne to do all in his power to obtain their liberation from the king. He set about it with all the energy of a Bernese and a warrior; went to Blois, where Francis I. was then holding his court, and earnestly solicited the enlargement of the two evangelicals.[618] He regarded Baudichon de la Maisonneuve as his co-burgher and co-religionist, and saw clearly how useful his presence would be in Geneva. But, on the other hand, the catholic nobles and ultramontane priests urged the king to suffer the two Genevans to be burnt. How could Francis I., who had recently become the pope’s friend, and who had ordered the heretics in his kingdom to be brought to trial[619]—how could he save the heretics of Geneva? The friends as well as the enemies of the Reformation were in the keenest suspense. Weeks, and even months elapsed, without obtaining a decisive answer from the king.

[Sidenote: A Terrible Necessity.]

Geneva was greatly agitated during this long delay; but the absence of the two energetic huguenots did not hinder the work from being pursued with resolution. The magistrates desired to take and execute promptly the supreme measures rendered necessary by the danger of the country. A terrible and inexorable necessity continually rose before their minds. To save Geneva, a great portion of it must be destroyed.

The city was at that time composed of two parts: the city proper and the four suburbs. The suburb of the Temple, or _Aigues Vives_ (Eaux Vives), stood on the left shore of the lake, and took its name from the church of St. John of Rhodes, which stood there.[620] The suburb of Palais lay to the left, on the picturesque banks of the Rhone; that of St. Leger extended from the city to the bridge thrown over the icy torrent of the Arve; and that of St. Victor, in which the monastery of that name was situated, stretched from Malagnou to Champel. This town beyond the walls not only had as many houses as the one within, but covered a far more extensive surface, and contained over six thousand inhabitants.

On the 23d August the Two Hundred members of the Great Council received a summons, bearing the words: ‘In consequent of urgent affairs of the city.’[621] Every one understood what they meant. The premier-syndic proposed to build up some of the gates, and to set a good guard; but added, that such measures alone were not sufficient; that, as the suburbs were very extensive, the enemy could establish himself in them; and that it was necessary unhesitatingly to knock down all the houses, barns, and walls, beginning with the nearest. Many were struck with grief when they heard the proposition. What a resolution! what a disaster! With their own hands the citizens were to destroy those peaceful homes in which their childhood had played, where they had been born, and where those whom they loved had died; and a great part of the population would have no other shelter left them than the vault of heaven. Yet the Two Hundred did not hesitate. The friends of the Reformation, in whose eyes the Gospel had shone with all its brightness, were prepared for the greatest sacrifices so that they might preserve it. Those who were not touched by religious motives were carried away by patriotic enthusiasm. ‘It is better to lose the hand than the arm ... the suburbs than the city,’ exclaimed the citizens. The resolution was agreed to; and without any delay—for the matter was urgent—the very same day, after dinner, the four syndics, accompanied by Aimé Levet and five other captains of the city, ‘went to give orders for the destruction of the suburbs.’ There were cries and tears here and there, but nearly all had formed the resolution to lay their goods, although with trembling hands, upon the altar of their country and their faith.

It must be done, for every day the danger appeared to draw nearer. The Genevese ambassadors at Berne wrote to the Council: ‘Be on your guard.’ Acts of violence and trifling skirmishes announced more serious combats. On the 14th of August, Richerme, a merchant of Geneva, returning from Lyons, was seized, dragged successively to three of the bishop’s castles, and put to the torture. On the 25th, Chabot, another citizen, was stopped at the Mont de Sion, taken to the castle of Peney, and also put to the torture; but the judges, wishing to give a proof of their good nature, added: ‘Do not let his bones be broken or his life endangered.’ They soon brought in a new prisoner.

[Sidenote: The Embroiderer Of Avignon.]

There was an embroiderer at Avignon, ‘so superstitious in fasting,’ that he had sometimes gone several days without eating or drinking. The poor artisan, having received the Gospel, had ceased to attend mass, and had consequently been sent to prison. The churchmen asked him how long it was since he had been present at the sacrifice of the altar. ‘Three years,’ he replied; ‘and with my own will neither myself nor any of my family would ever have gone there.’ When they heard him talk in this way, the priests did not dare put him to death, for they thought him mad. Six months afterwards there came a great pestilence; every one fled, and the prison-doors were left open: ‘seeing which the pious embroiderer went out.’ He thirsted for the Gospel, and knowing that there were great preachers at Geneva, he took the road to that city. His travelling expenses were not great: ‘he had been accustomed to go from Avignon to Lyons, more than sixty French leagues, for a _sol-de-roi_,’ says Froment. At last he reached the valley of the Leman, alone and a fugitive, but joyfully anticipating the words of life that he was soon to hear. Suddenly he was surrounded by a troop of horsemen, who asked him roughly: ‘Where are you going?’ ‘To Geneva.’ ‘What to do?’ The embroiderer answered frankly and courteously, as was his custom, ‘I am going to hear the Gospel preached; will you not go and hear it also?’ ‘No, indeed,’ answered the men. He began to press them: ‘Go, I entreat you,’ he said. ‘I am surprised at you: you are so near, and I am come expressly all the way from Avignon to hear it. I entreat you to come.’ ‘March, rascal!’ they cried, ‘and we will teach you to hear those devils of Geneva.’ They took him to Peney, and, on reaching the castle, said to him: ‘We will give you three strappadoes in the name of the three devils you wished to go and hear preach.’ Having tied his hands behind his back, they raised him to the top of a long beam of wood, and let him fall suddenly to within two feet of the ground. ‘That is in the name of Farel,’ they cried; then came one for Froment, and another for Viret. The poor fellow, all bruised as he was, getting on his legs as well as he could, again looked at his tormentors, and, touched with love for them, repeated, in a persuasive tone: ‘Come along with me and hear the Gospel.’ The indignant Peneysans answered roughly: ‘March back quickly to the place from whence you came,’ which he would not do for anything they could do to him. ‘He is out of his mind,’ they said; and, taking him for an idiot, they let him go. The poor man reached Geneva at last, and was lodged for nearly two months, says Froment, ‘with the author of this book, to whom he related the whole matter.’[622]

Such deeds of violence showed the Genevans that there was no time to lose. In the month of August the resolutions of the Council followed one another rapidly. On the 18th they ordered that the church and priory of St. Victor should be demolished; on the 23d, that all the houses, barns, and walls in the suburbs should be pulled down; and that a certain number of Swiss veteran soldiers should be enrolled who should be fed and lodged by the rich in turn; on the 24th, that all absentees should be summoned to return for the defence of the city; on the 1st of September, that it should be fortified on the side of the lake; on the 11th, that the trees around the walls which might screen the approach of the enemy should be cut down; and on the 13th, that every man should begin to pull down his house within two days, that is, by the 15th of September.[623]

The calamity then appeared before them as imminent and inexorable, and with all its coarser and sad realities. The weaker minds were distressed, the more excitable gave way to anger. In the suburbs there was much clamor. What! the houses to be levelled to the ground, like those of traitors, and that too by the very hands of the inhabitants! The priests shuddered at the thought that the churches of St. Victor, St. Leger, and of the Knights of Rhodes were to be destroyed. Discontented citizens pointed coolly to the solidity of the condemned edifices, and declared that it would not be possible to pull them down. And, finally, the chiefs of the catholic party, foreseeing that the measures which were to be the salvation of Reform would be the ruin of popery, determined to make a vigorous demonstration against them.

Thirty of the most notable catholics, headed by Anthony Fabri, one of the family of the celebrated Bishop Waldemar, and Philip de la Rive, waited upon the council. Fabri, who had been elected spokesman, was calm, but by his side stood De Muro (du Mur), who was much excited. ‘We demand that the suburbs be left in their present condition, as being beautiful, convenient, and more useful to the city than if they were destroyed.’ The council, whom it pained to impose such a sacrifice, reserved the power of compensating the greatest sufferers, but held to their orders. ‘I crave permission to leave the city,’ said De Muro, ‘with eight hundred of my co-burghers, for this demolition is an act of hostility against us.’[624]

[Sidenote: Baudichon Liberated.]

At the very time when certain of the citizens were threatening to leave Geneva, the friends of independence desired all the more to see the return of those who were away. There was one in particular whose decision and courage were appreciated by all. Suddenly, on the 26th of September, the very day when De Muro had used that threatening language, a report circulated through the city that Baudichon de la Maisonneuve and his companion had been set at liberty.

Rodolph of Diesbach and George Schœner had not ceased to implore the king’s intervention. Although the prince, who in a few months was to fill the streets of his capital with strappadoes and burning piles, did not feel any very sincere compassion for the two heretics, still he desired to conciliate the favor of the Swiss, and perhaps not being much inclined to restore her estates to John of Diesbach’s widow, he was not sorry to give the Bernese some other satisfaction. The cause of justice triumphed at last. Moved by Diesbach’s earnest solicitations, Francis I. granted the release of the prisoners. The two Bernese, instead of ‘tarrying to turn from side to side to the helps of this world,’ acknowledged the protection of God. ‘We have obtained their liberty,’ said the ambassadors, ‘God having given them to us.’[625] They started immediately for Lyons, furnished with letters under his Majesty’s seal, which they presented to the authorities in whose guard the prisoners were kept ‘until they should be burnt, as was the practice in those days.’[626] The gates of the prison were opened; De la Maisonneuve and Janin were given up to the Bernese. At the news of such an unprecedented act, the officials, inquisitors, and canons of St. John were amazed; all the priests of Lyons were sorely vexed, and the archbishop of Geneva still more so; but they were forced to be patient.[627] As for the prisoners, they knew that if God delivers his servants, it is not with the intent that they should abandon what they have begun. Instead of saying, when they were restored to liberty, Let us remain for a time in the shade, lest we be exposed to new dangers, they desired to work with greater zeal at the emancipation of their country. They travelled from Lyons to Geneva with the two lords of Berne, and were once more within the walls of that ancient city.

[Sidenote: The Prisoners Restored.]

There was still so much uneasiness felt about them, that on the 16th of September, when the news spread that some Bernese gentlemen had arrived at the hostelry of the Tour Perse[628] with Baudichon and Collonier, many persons would hardly believe it. God gave the Genevans more than they hoped for. When friends who have been supposed lost are found again, those who had sorrowed over their bereavement run to meet them, and feel an inexpressible satisfaction as they look at them. So it happened at Geneva when the two prisoners returned. There was great joy in the city: many gave thanks to God that ‘the violent course of the wolves who would have devoured the best sheep of the flock had been frustrated,’ and praised the King of France because he valued the arquebuses of the Swiss more than the paternosters of the priests.

Desirous of showing the ambassadors a mark of respectful gratitude, the four syndics and the councillors, with their ushers and serjeants, proceeded on the 17th of September to the Tour Perse[629] to hold an official sitting, at which the transfer of the prisoners was to be made. The chief magistrates of the republic having taken their seats in one of the large rooms, according to the usual order, Rodolph of Diesbach and G. Schœner entered, accompanied by the captives. Those noble gentlemen explained that they had come from Lyons and the court of France; that with God’s aid they had obtained the release of the two Genevans; that, according to rule, they ought to deliver the prisoners into the hands of the magnificent lords of Berne, to whose intervention their deliverance was due;[630] that they yielded, however, to the wishes of Baudichon and Collonier, who preferred to remain in the city of Geneva;[631] and that they only wanted a guarantee that the Council would be willing to produce them before Messieurs of Berne, whenever the latter demanded them.[632] The Genevese magistrates thanked the lords of Berne, and gave the required guarantee in writing.[633]

At last De la Maisonneuve was free: he could return to his wife and children, and converse with his friends. The latter were never tired of listening to him: the particulars of his imprisonment, his examinations, and his dangers possessed the liveliest interest for them. Froment especially, who was fond of a gossip,[634] asked him many questions. ‘As Baudichon told me,’ we read in his _Gestes_, ‘all that could not be done without great expense, and his captivity cost him one thousand and fifty crowns of the sun.’[635]

A letter from Francis I. completed this episode in the history of the Reformation. Four days after the prisoners had been restored to their homes, that prince wrote to the syndics at Geneva:—[636]

‘To our very dear and good friends the lords of Geneva:

‘Very dear and good friends,—You know how, at your earnest prayer
and request, and also at that of our very dear and great friends,
confederates, allies, and gossips, the lords of the city and canton
of Berne, we have restored and sent back certain prisoners who had,
in this our kingdom, used words respecting the faith, such and of
such consequence, that therefore they had been condemned to death.
This we were right willing to do; for the affection we have to
gratify you and the said lords of Berne, as well in this respect as
in all others that may be possible to us, having perfect confidence
that you are willing to do the like for us. For this cause, having
been advertised that you have detained in prison in your city a monk
our subject, Guy Furbity by name, of the order of Preaching Friars,
for having held certain language and dogmatized things touching the
faith of the Church, which did not seem good to you, and for which
he is about to be brought to trial, we desire to pray you right
affectionately by these presents, that, showing towards us
reciprocal pleasure, you would immediately release the said Furbity
our subject, without further proceedings against him for the reasons
aforesaid. By so doing you will please us very agreeably. Praying
the Creator to guard you, our very dear and good friends, in his
most holy keeping. Written at Blois the xxist day of September, one
thousand v hundred xxxiiij.

‘FRANÇOYS. BRETON.’

[Sidenote: Furbity Set At Liberty.]

Francis I. said: I send you back two prisoners, return me one. That seemed just and natural, yet the petty republic did not yield to the demand of the puissant king of France. The Council desired to follow conscientiously the legal course, and the rules of diplomacy. They found that the two cases were not identical; and as the Dominican had been imprisoned at the instance of the lords of Berne, it was agreed to ask their opinion first. The favor of the house of Valois could not make the magistrates of Geneva yield, even after the extraordinary boon they had just received: they desired, above all things, to follow the principles admitted in politics, and act justly towards the Bernese. Furbity was set at liberty at the beginning of 1536.

To have imprisoned the Dominican at all for preaching was a fault, and to keep him in prison was another; but in each case the fault was that of the age. With this reserve, we may pay to the courage of the weak the honor that is due to them. It is a noble thing in small states to hold firm to their principles in the presence of powerful empires, when they do so without presumption. And not only is it noble, it is salutary also, and invests them with a moral force which guarantees their existence. The petty republics of Switzerland and Geneva in particular have given more signal examples than that which has just been recorded.

Footnote 616:

Narrative of Pescara and Freundsberg. _Histoire de la Suisse_, by Jean
de Muller, continued by MM. Gloutz-Blotzheim, J. J. Hottinger,
Monnard, and L. Vulliemin.

Footnote 617:

MS. chronicles of the Diesbach family at Berne.

Footnote 618:

Registre du Conseil de Genève, 17 September, 1534.

Footnote 619:

‘_Faire et perfaire le procès des hérétiques._’—Letter to the Bishop
of Paris.

Footnote 620:

Near the Pré l’Évêque.

Footnote 621:

Registre du Conseil _ad diem_.

Footnote 622:

Froment, _Actes et Gestes Merveilleux de la Cité de Genève_, pp. 174,
175.

Footnote 623:

Council Registers under the dates mentioned.

Footnote 624:

Registre du Conseil du 14 Septembre, 1534.

Footnote 625:

‘Deo dante illorum relaxationem obtinuerunt.’ Registres du Conseil du
14 Septembre, 1534.

Footnote 626:

Note by Flournois on the corresponding passage of the Council
Registers.

Footnote 627:

Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, p. 244.

Footnote 628:

Registre du Conseil du 17 Septembre, 1534.

Footnote 629:

‘In domo turris Perse.’ Registre du Conseil du 17 Septembre, 1534.

Footnote 630:

’Illos debere magnificis Dominis Bernatibus præsentari.’—_Ibid._

Footnote 631:

‘Dicti Baudichon et Collonier optant potius in hac civitate expectare,
quod alibi.’—_Ibid._

Footnote 632:

‘Petunt cautionem de repræsentando eosdem.’—_Ibid._

Footnote 633:

‘Super quo factum remersiationibus.’—_Ibid._

Footnote 634:

Bonnet, _Lettres Françaises de Calvin_, ii. p. 575.

Footnote 635:

Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, p. 244.

Footnote 636:

Archives of Geneva, No. 1054, year 1534.