Webpage Fox-5 Page 9 TO INDEX
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;
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 is 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.
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 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 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 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 Xist, but with this
additional piece of artifice: the cardinal assured them that the inhabitants of 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 Xist.
The cardinal, having gained his point by deluding the people of one town, sent for troops of soldiers, with a view to murder those of the other. He, accordingly, despatched the soldiers into the woods, to hunt down the inhabitants of 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 contest, 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 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 Xist were no sooner exterminated, than those of La Garde
engaged the attention of the cardinal and viceroy.
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
with 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
(idolatry)
· 4. That they did not confess, and receive . (kiss of the devil) - absolution
· 5. That they did not
believe in purgatory, or pay (extortion)
- 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:
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 income, 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 burned 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.
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.
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.
(This is but a pebble of what that beast himself will receive in disgrace a thousand fold)
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, but 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 has 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 remonstrance's were in vain, and they were given to
understand that the edict was absolute.
Some
were weak enough to go to
mass, (idolatry)
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, (become devils) 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 as devils, 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 whatsoever,
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 became devils
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 hell
(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 her, 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 (hell) (mass)? will you
(violate God's command)
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 counselor 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
seer
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.
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 Calvin
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;
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 hid 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 (animals)
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
secondo, one
of the duke of
savoy's officers, he delivered them up to the soldiery, who cut
off the woman's breasts, and the man's nose, and then shot them both through the
head.
Anthony Guigo, a Protestant, of a wavering disposition, went to Periero, with an intent to renounce his religion and embrace popery. This design he communicated to some priests, who highly commended it, and a day was fixed upon for his public recantation. In the meantime, Anthony grew fully sensible of his perfidy, and his conscience tormented him so much night and day that he determined not to recant, but to make his escape.
This he effected, but being soon missed and
pursued, he was taken. The troops on the way did all they could to bring him
back to his design of recantation; but finding their endeavors ineffectual, they
beat him violently on the road. When coming near a precipice, he took an
opportunity of leaping down it and was dashed to pieces.
A
Protestant gentleman, of considerable fortune, at Bobbio, being nightly provoked
by the insolence of a priest, retorted with great severity; and among other
things, said, that the pope was
antichrist, mass idolatry, purgatory a farce,
and absolution a cheat. To be revenged, the priest hired five desperate
ruffians, who, the same evening, broke into the gentleman's house, and seized
upon him in a violent manner. The gentleman was terribly frightened, fell on his
knees, and implored mercy; but the desperate ruffians despatched him without the
least hesitation.
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:
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 depravations, 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
Protestants proceeded on their march, and the troops of La Torre, on their
approach, made a furious sally, but were repulsed with great loss, and compelled
to seek shelter in the town. The governor now only thought of defending the
place, which the Protestants began to attack in form; but after many brave
attempts, and furious assaults, the commanders determined to abandon the
enterprise for several reasons, particularly, because they found the place
itself too strong, their own number too weak, and their cannon not adequate to
the task of battering down the walls.
This
resolution taken, the Protestant commanders began a masterly retreat, and
conducted it with such regularity that the enemy did not choose to pursue them,
or molest their rear, which they might have done, as they passed the defiles.
The
next day they mustered, reviewed the army, and found the whole to amount to four
hundred and ninety-five men. They then held a council of war, and planned an
easier enterprise: this was to make an attack on the commonalty of Crusol, a
place inhabited by a number of the most bigoted roman
catholics, and who had
exercised, during the persecutions, the most unheard-of cruelties on the
Protestants.
The
people of Crusol, hearing of the design against them, fled to a neighboring
fortress, situated on a rock, where the Protestants could not come to them, for
a very few men could render it inaccessible to a numerous army. Thus they
secured their persons, but were in too much hurry to secure their property, the
principal part of which, indeed, had been plundered from the Protestants, and
now luckily fell again to the possession of the right owners. It consisted of
many rich and valuable articles, and what, at that time, was of much more
consequence, viz., a great quantity of military stores.
The
day after the Protestants were gone with their booty, eight hundred troops
arrived to the assistance of the people of Crusol, having been despatched from
Lucerne, Biqueras, Cavors, etc. But finding themselves too late, and that
pursuit would be vain, not to return empty handed, they began to plunder the
neighboring villages, though what they took was from their friends. After
collecting a tolerable booty, they began to divide it, but disagreeing about the
different shares, they fell from words to blows, did a great deal of mischief,
and then plundered each other.
On
the very same day in which the Protestants were so successful at Crusol, some
papists marched with a design to plunder and burn the little Protestant village
of Rocappiatta, but by the way they met with the Protestant forces belonging to
the captains, Jahier and Laurentio, who were posted on the hill of Angrogne. A
trivial engagement ensued, for the roman
catholics, on the very first attack,
retreated in great confusion, and were pursued with much slaughter. After the
pursuit was over, some straggling papist
troops meeting with a poor peasant, who
was a Protestant, tied a cord round his head, and strained it until his skull
was quite crushed.
Captain
Gianavel and Captain Jahier concerted a design together to make an attack upon
Lucerne; but Captain Jahier, not bringing up his forces at the time appointed,
Captain Gianavel determined to attempt the enterprise himself.
He,
therefore, by a forced march, proceeded towards that place during the whole, and
was close to it by break of day. His first care was to cut the pipes that
conveyed water into the town, and then to break down the bridge, by which alone
provisions from the country could enter.
He
then assaulted the place, and speedily possessed himself of two of the outposts;
but finding he could not make himself master of the place, he prudently
retreated with very little loss, blaming, however, Captain Jahier, for the
failure of the enterprise.
The
papists being informed that Captain Gianavel was at Angrogne with only his own
company, determined if possible to surprise him. With this view, a great number
of troops were detached from La Torre and other places: one party of these got
on top of a mountain, beneath which he was posted; and the other party intended
to possess themselves of the gate of St. Bartholomew.
The
papists thought themselves sure of taking Captain Gianavel and every one of his
men, as they consisted but of three hundred, and their own force was two
thousand five hundred. Their design, however, was providentially frustrated, for
one of the popish soldiers imprudently blowing a trumpet before the signal for
attack was given, Captain Gianavel took the alarm, and posted his little company
so advantageously at the gate of St. Bartholomew and at the defile by which the
enemy must descend from the mountains, that the roman
catholic troops failed in
both attacks, and were repulsed with very considerable loss.
Soon after, Captain Jahier came to Angrogne, and joined his forces to those of Captain Gianavel, giving sufficient reasons to excuse his before-mentioned failure. Captain Jahier now made several secret excursions with great success, always selecting the most active troops, belonging both to Gianavel and himself. One day he had put himself at the head of forty-four men, to proceed upon an expedition, when entering a plain near Ossac, he was suddenly surrounded by a large body of horse.
Captain Jahier and his men fought desperately, though
oppressed by odds, and killed the commander-in-chief, three captains, and
fifty-seven private men, of the enemy. But Captain Jahier himself being killed,
with thirty-five of his men, the rest surrendered. One of the soldiers cut off
Captain Jahier's head, and carrying it to Turin, presented it to the duke of
Savoy, who rewarded him with six hundred ducatoons.
The
death of this gentleman was a signal loss to the Protestants, as he was a real
friend to, and companion of, the reformed Church. He possessed a most undaunted
spirit, so that no difficulties could deter him from undertaking an enterprise,
or dangers terrify him in its execution. He was pious without affectation, and
humane without weakness; bold in a field, meek in a domestic life, of a
penetrating genius, active in spirit, and resolute in all his undertakings.
To
add to the affliction of the Protestants, Captain Gianavel was, soon after,
wounded in such a manner that he was obliged to keep his bed. They, however,
took new courage from misfortunes, and determining not to let their spirits
droop attacked a body of popish troops with great intrepidity; the Protestants
were much inferior in numbers, but fought with more resolution than the papists,
and at length routed them with considerable slaughter. During the action, a
sergeant named Michael Bertino was killed; when his son, who was close behind
him, leaped into his place, and said, "I have lost my father; but courage,
fellow soldiers, God is a father to us all."
Several
skirmishes likewise happened between the troops of La Torre and Tagliaretto, and
the Protestant forces, which in general terminated in favor of the latter.
A
Protestant gentleman, named Andrion, raised a regiment of horse, and took the
command of it himself. The seer 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
arranged his men:
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 benefit 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 intrusted to them; and that, for the future, she would
only make her confession to God.
From
this spirited speech, and the great noise made in consequence of the countess's
situation, the inquisitors thought it most prudent to dismiss both her and her
husband, lest the people might be incensed, and what she said might lessen the
credit of confession. They were, therefore, both discharged, but bound to appear
whenever they should be called upon.
Besides
those already mentioned, such was the inveteracy of the jesuits against the
Quietists, that, within the space of a month, upwards of two hundred persons
were put into the inquisition; and that method of devotion which had passed in
Italy as the most elevated to which mortals could aspire, was deemed heretical,
and the chief promoters of it confined in a wretched dungeon.
In
order, if possible, to extirpate Quietism, the inquisitors sent a circular
letter to cardinal
cibo, as the chief minister, to disperse it through Italy. It
was addressed to all prelates, informed them, that whereas many schools and
fraternities were established in several parts of Italy, in which some persons,
under the pretence of leading people into the ways of the Spirit, and to the
prayer of quietness, instilled into them many abominable heresies, therefore a
strict charge was given to dissolve all those societies, and to oblige the
spiritual guide to tread in the known paths; and, in particular, to take care
that none of that sort should be suffered to have the direction of the
nunneries. Orders were likewise given to proceed, in the way of justice, against
those who should be found guilty of these abominable errors.
After this a strict inquiry was made into all the nunneries of Rome, when most of their directors and confessors were discovered to be engaged in this new method. It was found that the Carmelites, the nuns of the conception, and those of several other convents, were wholly given up to prayer and contemplation, and that, instead of their beads, and the other devotions to saints, or images, they were much alone, and often in the exercise of mental prayer; that when they were asked why they had laid aside the use of their beads and their ancient forms, their answer was that their directors had advised them so to do.
Information of
this being given to the inquisition, they sent orders that all books written in
the same strain with those of Molinos and petrucci
should be taken from them,
and that they should be compelled to return to their original form of devotion.
The
circular letter sent to cardinal
cibo, produced but little effect, for most of
the Italian bishops were inclined to Molinos' method. It was intended that this,
as well as all other orders from the inquisitors, should be kept secret; but
notwithstanding all their care, copies of it were printed, and dispersed in most
of the principal towns in Italy. This gave great uneasiness to the inquisitors,
who used every method they could to conceal their proceedings from the knowledge
of the world. They blamed the cardinal, and accused him of being the cause of
it; but he retorted on them, and his secretary laid the fault on both.
During
these transactions, Molinos suffered great indignities from the officers of the
inquisition; and the only comfort he received was from being sometimes visited
by father
petrucci.
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.