A history of the Huguenots. A new ed., continued to the present time

Preface

The volume now presented to the Public comprises the History of the Huguenots during the Sixteenth Century, (published in 1829,) and the continuation of the same subject to 1838, which appeared within the last year. The whole has been carefully revised, with considerable additions.

Yet although no pains have been spared to render this Publication complete, it is obvious that its very nature excluded minute detail on incidents not connected with the general history. Many episodes concerning the biography of eminent Huguenots might have been interwoven, but for the limits which the Author had laid down for his undertaking. His views are amply explained in the original Preface, (which is reprinted,) and in the following passages which introduced his last work.

" The vicissitudes which befell the French Protestants, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, embrace a series of most affecting incidents, which have tended to produce important political results; and in addition to the innate interest of the occurrences, a connected narrative has an additional claim on attention, from the almost general silence of French authors. Before the Revolution of 1789, a succinct history of the Huguenots would assuredly have been branded as libellous, and the few works composed in reference thereto were either printed clandestinely, or in foreign countries.

"With respect to the violence and persecutions of 1815, the difficulty experienced by the Author in procuring exact information" proves the want of a general detail, and renders the present publication more necessary, the events of that terrible period being known to very few persons. Even among well-informed Frenchmen, there are many whose knowledge of the troubles of Nismes is limited to a few striking incidents.

" In composing the accounts of that comparatively recent time, the Author has been favoured with ihe acquaintance and correspondence of several inhabitants of iv

PREFACE.

Nismes — both Catholic and Protestant — some of them victims of what has been often represented as the effect of political reaction. He has also enjoyed the inappreciable advantage of submitting his statement to individuals, qualified by their official experience to correct any erroneous assertions.

" Conscious of an honest endeavour to relate the truth impartially, unbiassed by national or religious prejudice, the Author is nevertheless aware that his unceremonious strictures upon certain functionaries will ensure him the animadversions of a powerful party. The interesting narrative of the events of Nismes in 1830, by the pastor Frossard, although composed with studied moderation, has been disdainfully treated as a libel — the present volume therefore can hardly escape censure. The most careful investigations may have left the Author in some instances under a wrong impression ; but if errors exist in consequence, they are unintentional. Amenable to the tribunal of criticism, he Will respect its verdict ; and if any admirer of those principles, which desolated the south of France in 1815, will indicate mis-statements, and assist in establishing the facts, his suggestions shall be cheerfully attended to, in the event of a future edition."

No attempt at refutation has come to the Author's knowledge, and he has consequently no justification to present on behalf of the latter period of his history. But with respect to the sixteenth century, he feels bound to offer some explanation, in reply to a charge of "careless examination of authorities," advanced in the British Critic for July, 1829.

Three particular instances are indicated by the reviewer. The first relates to the apocryphal character of Davila's account of the Legate Morosini's connivance, when Henry III. proposed to murder the Cardinal of Guise; which the critic observes " has been adopted without giving a hint that his story is naught." To this assertion the Author invites the reviewer's attention to the volume on which he was passing judgment, and he will find a note containing the reasons why Davila's version was preferred to that of Maimbourg.

The second article in the indictment is, " That the author has either mistaken or misrepresented the authority on which he relied," in narrating the minor circumstances that immediately followed the battle of .Tarnac. The critic's susceptibility is wounded by its appearing in these pages that the Duke of Anjou slept at Jarnac, in the same house where Conde had lodged the preceding night — and in addition, that the victor's bearing was indecorous and cruel; while it appears that, according to Davila, the duke entrd la medesima sera dtlla giornata viltoriosa in Giarnacco, without stating where he slept ; and with respect to his demeanour, non permcsse il dnca die a' cadaere di lui fosse asato scherno. To this the Author cannot advance a direct plea of not guilty ; because, unfortunately, the reference to Davila appears alone in the copy. The fact in itself is so trivial, that it

PREFACE.

V may appear pedantic to adduce a list of authorities. De Thou, lib. 45, sect. 4, is more laconic than Davila : — "Jlndinus victor Jarnacum venit ;" leaving it doubtful whether he reposed there or not: but that author describes the duke as juveniliter exu/tans, and afterwards alludes to the current report quasi ipsius jussu interfeclus essef. The Author is, however, of opinion that, having Brantome constantly before him, his statement was borrowed from the facetious Abbe, and that he inadvertently omitted to place his name in the margin. Brantome is well known to have considered a warrior's death one of the themes most worthy of contemplation ; and being a well-placed contemporary, his account is worth perusal. It is as follows : — " Pour tourner & Monsieur le Prince, estant mort, Monsieur n'en fut nullement marry, mais tres joyeux; car il avoit opinion qu'il luy en eust fait faire de mesme: car d'ennemy a grand ennemy il n'y a que se garder. Monsieur le voulut voir apres la battaille achevee; et son corps fut charge sur une vieille asnesse qui se trouva la apropos, plus par derision que pour autre sujet, et fut porte ainsi, bras et jambes pendantes, a Jarnac, en une salle basse sous celle de Monsieur et la chambre, on le dit prince le jour avant avoit loge. Quel changement ! comme a Courtras le roy de Navarre logea en la chambre de Monsieur de Joyeuse, ou il avoit couche le soir auparavant, et l'autre estoit estendu mort dessous. Si on leur eust dit a tous tels revers de fortune, ils ne l'eussent pas cru. Le dit prince demeura assez en spectacle a tous ceux du camp qui le voulurent aller voir." — Vie di M. le Prince de Conde.

The third instance adduced by the critic arose from an error in copying; for in this instance, the missing reference existed in the original MS., and the omission was discovered before the criticism was published. The reviewer observes (page 189) that, " unless the author has relied on other authorities than De Thou and Brantome, (and he has not cited any other,) he has fallen into very great inaccuracies in his transcription." In the statement thus commented upon, the Author had consulted also Le Discours du Hoi Henri J If. a un personnage d'honneur, &c. (Miron.) This piece is preserved in the Memoires d'Etat de Villeroy; and mentions large pictures, in which les execution* de la Saint Barthelemi, failes a Paris el autres lieux, etoient peintes an vif, et lea figures representees apres le nalurel, §-c.

The other strictures have been received with due deference, and if all the defects have not disappeared, it is less from a refractory feeling, than from the impossibility to re-write a long work.

The Author cannot refrain from expressing his acknowledgments to several friends for their assistance in the latter portion of the history. He is particularly indebted to the pastors Juillerat and Monod, for the details respecting Paul Rabaud and his sons: through their kindness, he has had the benefit of Madame Rabaut-

1*

VI

PREFACE.

Pomier's recollections; and some interesting facts have been supplied by Madame .luillerat, who received her religious instruction from Rabaut St. Etienne.

The Reverend Charles Cook, of Nismes, has also rendered the Author very valuable assistance, by making inquiries concerning 1815, of M. Cavalier, at that time Procureur-General, and subsequently Mayor of Nismes. His official character gave him great facility for being well acquainted with the events of that time : and he kept a regular journal, writing by night, at great peril of his life, the facts of each day, in the hope that some of the criminals might be brought to justice. But, unsupported as he was by the authorities, with the gens-d'armes abetting the assassins, he could do nothing. Two individuals, who successively filled his post, applied to M. Cavalier for a copy of his journal, but neither made any use of it. M. Cavalier's generous defence of the persecuted Protestants is the more praiseworthy, as he is a Roman Catholic, and had two brothers priests at the time. His testimony in favour of Lauze de Peret's statement justifies the frequent reference to that work in these pages; and his readiness to communicate the rich stores of his memory gives him a lasting claim on the Author's gratitude.

Paris. January, 1840.

EXTRACT FROM THE PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

In the vast range of subjects for the pen of the historian, one of the most interesting presents itself in the violent disputes which have from time to time occurred among the public teachers of religion. Their conflicting opinions have produced effects of such magnitude, that centuries have rolled away while they were still in operation. The partisans of opposite systems have considered it their duty to condemn, often to misrepresent, each other; strong efforts have been made to c all the public feelings into action, and a difference which ought to have been settled in a cloister or a consistory, has generally ended in the desolation of a kingdom. The more, therefore, we enlarge the sphere of our information upon this important subject, we shall be the more inclined to cultivate that enlightened humanity which inculcates indulgent sentiments towards every creed : such at least will be the consequence with all reflecting minds.

The work now submitted to the public is one, which in its progress offered endless opportunities for polemical discussion ; but for the writer to have availed himself of them would have been at once imprudent and unwise. While recording

PREFACE.

vii the wild rage of religious persecution, and the (rightful excesses of religious zeal, he has abstained from partiality and controversy : his duty has been to narrate the truth without becoming the accuser or the champion of either of the contending parties, whose disputes no good mind can reflect upon without wishing they should be set at rest for ever.

The Author has in no case been tempted by prejudice or party feeling to give a colouring to facts which the truth would not warrant: he has laid them before the reader with that attention to accuracy which can alone give value to history, and the want of which can never be compensated by any charms of eloquence, or flights of imagination. Unhappily there is enough in the history of religious factions to excite the reader's indignaton without any effort to that purpose on the part of the writer. In contemplating these events, we must make due allowance for the barbarous period when they occurred ; congratulate ourselves that we live in an era of religious liberty ; and rejoice in the progress of those principles which give assurance, that the altar of the God of mercy will never again be reddened by the brand of the bigot, nor stained with the blood of the martyr.

The period which occupies these volumes has engaged the attention of many writers. The sixteenth century is justly styled the Age of Persecution: individual experience was at that time very eventual ; and contemporaries, in their private memoirs, have left abundant materials for examination and inquiry. The century that followed was the Age of Controversy. Numerous works upon ecclesiastical history then made their appearance; and the auto-biographies of the preceding times beheld a progeny of histories of particular events, persons, and parties.

But those histories were written in a controversial spirit ; and it is therefore presumable that an account, divested of all theological discussion, would be both useful and interesting.

The object of this work is to give a clear detail of the circumstances connected with the troubles generally called the religious wars of France. Those events are interwoven with our own history, and are frequently referred to in the present day. Among the many works which relate to the Huguenots, there is scarcely one that comprises the whole in a connected narrative ; and not one, in the English language at least, that is exclusively historical.

The facts prove (and, therefore, the assertion is not partial) that the church of Rome both instigated and promoted the persecutions of the Huguenots. If we compare the preaching of the Reformation in England with its introduction into France, we cannot fail to observe, that though the circumstances of those kingdoms were widely different the consequences were the same; similar in character, though differing in degree. The priests were unwilling to resign their authority.

viu

PREFACE.

and persecutions arose in butli countries; but, happily, the struggle which our forefathers had to maintain was shortened by the difference between Henry VIII. and the Pope, and the circumstances which sprang out of that quarrel. Had so powerful a stimulus operated on the sovereigns of France, the Vatican could not have had such influence on their decisions; and the troubles of that country would have been settled without difficulty, at any rate without the delay of half a century.

/Wis, March. 1*29

Contents

Page ,

Preface . . . . iii I

Contents ix

Chapter II

The Reformation preached in France — The Huguenots, or Protestants, are persecuted hy Francis I. — Massacres at Merindole and Cabiieres.

At the eventful period which now occupies our attention, two illustrious women were very instrumental in the encouragement of the Reformation; they were Renee, Duchess of Ferrara, daughter of Lewis XII. ; and Margaret, Queen of Navarre, sister of Francis I., and mother of the celebrated Jane d'Albret.

The Duchess of Ferrara, with a vigorous mind, indulged in the prevailing subject of inquiry, and listened with attention to the preachers of the new doctrines. But the vicinity of her husband's dominions to Rome, made him fearful of exciting the temporal, as well as the spiritual wrath of his neighbour, and the duchess was compelled to dissemble her sentiments during his life. When she became a widow, she resolved on returning to France; she resided at the castle of Montargis, not far from Paris; and in the midst of their persecution, she constantly afforded an asylum to the Huguenots*

The Queen of Navarre, without embracing openly the new opinions, contented herself for a long time with pro-

* Gibbon. Antiquities of the House of Brunswick ; atvd Brantome, vol. i. p. 3'i8.

HUGUENOTS PERSECUTED BY FRANCIS I.

tecting the learned men of that party, and giving them shelter in her states from the cruel death which awaited them in France. By degrees, however, she changed her opinions so much, that the constable Montmorency, discoursing with Francis upon the means of extirpating heresy, had no hesitation in saying, " that if he wished it to be exterminated, he must begin with the court and his relatives, naming the queen, his sister." Francis answered, " Do not speak to me upon that matter, she loves me too well to think otherwise than I approve of."*

It was under such auspices that John Cauvin, or Calvin, began to preach the gospel. He was born at Noyon, in Picardy, in 1509, and was ordained a priest at sixteen years of age: he had received his religious instruction principally from a relation named Olevitane, who inhabited one of the valleys of Piedmont, and had translated the Scriptures into French in 1520. Bucer and Melancthon had visited France just before, and created a taste for reform. f A Protestant congregation was established at Meaux the following year, and the doctrines of the Huguenots,f (the name by which they were subsequently called,) made so much progress, that the clergy were alarmed, and made such representations to Francis I, that from being rather favourably inclined towards the Reformation, they persuaded him to become a cruel persecutor.

An edict against the heretics was published the 9th of June, 1523, and the congregation of Meaux was dispersed. Some fled to Metz, others to Switzerland, and their minister, John Leclerc, became a martyr : he was tortured in a most horrible manner, and his mangled body was then burned.

The Jesuit Fleury mentions this persecution, in the following unfeeling terms: — " From time to time some false prophet appeared upon the scene, to publish his fanaticism, or sound the disposition of the court. But repression was prompt: it cost dear to one Berquin of Arras ; to Jean Leclerc, a wool-carder of Meaux ;$ and to

* Biantome, vol. i. p. 335 (fie de Margaret!)

t Maimbnurg complains of Ihese pretended doctors taking the insolent liberty of interpreting Hie Bible in a sense different from the Catholic church.— Hist, du Calvanisme, liv. 1, p. 10. Paris 1682.

t See Appendix, No. III.

§ Leclerc was banished from Meaux for calling the pope Antichrist; he was burnt at Metz, in 1523, for breaking an image; Berquin suffered at Paris, 152U. Benoit, Hist, de I' Edit de JfanUs' vol. i. p. 8.

Jacques Pavane, a clothier of Boulogne, for having spoken under pretended inspiration. They were all burnt alive ; and a dread of the fire silenced the spirit of several oracfts. History mentions these despicable names, doubtless to perpetuate the reproach of their birth or their impiety, rather than to celebrate these vile founders of the Calvanistic church."*

These martyrdoms were followed by many others ; and such havoc was made among the Huguenots, that an annual procession was instituted to render thanks to the Almighty that they had got rid of the heretics. It would be a painful task to give an account of the many examples of constancy on one side, and Satanic rage on the other; so numerous were the cases which occurred, that to describe them would convert this work into a martyrology ; one circumstance, however, cannot be passed in silence, as it shows what encouragement was personally afforded to the murderous zeal of the priests by Francis I. When Dymond Levoy was burned with five others in 1528, that king went bare-headed to witness the execution, and was accompanied by a procession of priests and monks.f

Francis, Cardinal de Tournon, Archbishop of Lyons, was at this period the king's principal adviser. He is celebrated as a negotiator and statesman, but especially as a persecutor. Born in 1489, at Tournon, in the Vivarais, he entered an Augustine monastery at the age of twelve; and in his twenty-eighth year was elevated to the archbishopric of Embrun. During the captivity of Francis I. he was frequently consulted on public affairs, and was commissioned to negotiate for that monarch's liberty: from that time he possessed the king's entire confidence. He passed successively to the sees of Bourges, Auch, and Lyons ; and was raised to the dignity of cardinal in 15304

He was long employed in attempts to reconcile the King of England with the pope ; and was subsequently engaged in negotiations with Charles V. But when the return of peace, in 1538, gave him

* Hist, du Cardinal de Tournun, par le P. Charles Fleury, de la compagnie de Jesus, p 215. Paris, 1728. This violent writer must not be confounded with Claude Fleury, author of the Hist. Eccelsiastique.

t See Beza, D'Aubigne, and De Thou for an account of these martyrdoms. Even Maimbourg adds his testimony to the " rigouis exercised against these pretended martyrs."— Hist, du Calvanisme, liv. 1.

t Biographie Umverselle, art. Tournon.

HUGUENOTS PERSECUTED BY FRANCIS I.

leisure to attend to the internal affairs of France, all his efforts were devoted to the suppression of heresy ; which object he pursued to the end of his life, although the decease of his patron Franeis, deprived him of the means of entirely accomplishing, it.

The influence of such a man was unfortunate for the Protestants, who were recovering from the consternation caused by the first persecution. The Q,ueen of Navarre openly encouraged the Reformation, and gave the Protestant ministers a refuge in Beam: she even appointed a Calvanist, named Roussel, to the bishopric of Oloron; and united her influence with that of the Duchess d'Estampes, to give the king a favourable impression of the reformed religion.* By their persuasions, Francis was induced to hear a sermon preached by Lecoq, curate of St. Eustache. He publicly professed Catholicism and a hatred of Luther; " but," observes Maimbourg, " he preached the doctrines of Zuinglius, and the king could not at first discern the venom concealed in his fine phrases." The cardinals of Lorrainf and Tournon compelled Lecoq to make a public recantation of his errors; but the Queen of Navarre was not discouraged; she extolled the merits of Melancthon, and persuaded the king to invite him to a conference with the French divines, upon the best means of restoring harmony in the church.f

Melancthon being renowned for learning and .eloquence, the Catholic clergy were alarmed in the same degree that the Protestants were elated at the prospect of his visit. Tournon, however, succeeded in changing the king's opinions, by a scheme, described by Maimbourg, as worthy of immortality. He entered the royal apartment, reading, or pretending to read, a work of St. Irenaeus. Francis inquired what book engaged him, and the cardinal instantly directed his attention to a page, where Irenaeus had given full scope to his feelings against heretics; showing that the apostles would not even frequent any public place where they were admitted. Tournon then expressed his grief that with such examples, the eldest son of the church should have sent for an

* Mirapnu, Hist, des Troubles de Beam, p. 107. t John, Cardinal of Lorrain, brother of Claude, Duke of Guise.

X Maimbourg, Hist, du Calvinisme, liv. 1. p. 26.

heresiarch, the most celebrated of Luther's disciples. His observations produced the intended effect : Francis revoked the invitation of Melancthon ; protested upon oath, that he would never desert the Catholic faith ; and issued orders to prosecute the heretics with rigour. Upon which the learned father observes: — "This sudden and generous resolution was like a thunderbolt to the Protestants, who had no idea of such a reverse under the protection of the Q.ueen of Navarre."*

In the meanwhile, Calvin was diligently employed preaching at Bourges and Ligneres ; and it was not until the danger was most imminent that he retired from ■France. He took refuge in Italy with the Duchess of Ferrara, but persecution followed him, and he went into Germany. Passing through Geneva, in 1536, he was induced to remain there by the persuasions of William Farel, who, like himself, had been compelled to quit his native land, on account of his religion. Calvin became the head of the church at Geneva, and wrote there his Christian Institutes, which he dedicated to Francis I., imploring his compassion for the Protestants.t Cardinal Tournon represented to that monarch, that the dedication of such a work was an outrage on the royal majesty, and the religion of his ancestors. The book tended to increase, rather than to diminish the rage of persecution in the king's breast ; influenced by the cruel suggestions of the clergy, he gave fresh orders for punishing the Calvinists wherever they could be found, and persons were employed to hunt after them : it was even declared a crime to pray in French. :f Numbers of pious men and women were burned alive ; and as the speeches delivered by the martyrs at the stake became a powerful means of conversion, measures were taken to prevent them from addressing the spectators.

Tournon's orders were rigorously executed. To use his biographer's expression, " it was as dangerous to converse in secret, as to discuss in public. Nothing escaped this great man, who seemed to

* Maimbourg, Hist, du Calvinisme, liv. 1, p. 29.

t The Abbe Anquetil, in his work entitled Esprit dc la Ligue, considers this publication as the grand support of the heresy, for it systematized the doctrines of the Protestants, and enabled the different congregations to keep together, even if their minister were taken from them.

X Hist, du Concile de Trenle. p. 95.

MASSACRE AT MER1ND0LE.

multiply himself, in order to discover artifice or punish temerity; so that foreign princes were accustomed to say, that he alone was equal to an inquisition in France."*

But cruel as was the general persecution of the Huguenots throughout France, it appears almost nothing compared with the massacre of the inhabitants of Merindole and Cabrieres. They were the descendants of the ancient Vaudois, who had taken refuge in different countries, and amongst others in the mountains of Dauphiny; where they procured the means of subsistence by unwearied industry. Directly they heard of the Reformation in France, they declared the Huguenots to be their brethren; and the identity of their faith drew upon them the same kind of vengeance. They were summoned by the parliament of Aix on account of their religion, but were restrained from appearing by the imminent danger which would attend their compliance. It was then decreed that they should be exterminated as rebels, their goods confiscated, their houses destroyed, and that even the trees of their plantations should be dug up.t During the life of the President Chassante this horrible sentence was not executed ; but his successor, the Baron d'Oppede, obtained from Francis I. permission to carry it into execution, which he did with the troops returning from Italy ; and to prevent the charge of having highly coloured this tale of wo, the account is taken from a Catholic writer, who will not be suspected of exaggeration.}

" Uninterrupted executions, however, did not arrest the progress of the seduction ; the innovators continued to increase, although the sword of justice was constantly hanging over their heads; at length, in 1545, Francis I. gave permission to employ the aid of arms against' them. It was granted at the solicitation of the Baron d'Oppede, first president of the parliament of Aix, a violent and sanguinary man, who revived against the Vaudois, assembled in the vaileys of the Alps on the side of Provence, a decree of that parliament given five years before. Every thing was horrible and cruel, says the historian De Thou, in the sentence pro.

* Charles Fleury, ut antca, p. 214. t Decree, dated Idlh November, 1540, Hist, du Calvinismc. liv. 2.

J Abbj Anquetil, Esprit dela I.igue, vol. i. p. 14, ctsrq nounced against them, and every thing was still more horrible and more cruel in the execution. Twenty-two towns or villages were burned or sacked with an inhumanity, of which the history of the most barbarous people hardly presents examples. The unfortunate inhabitants, surprised during the night, and pursued from rock to rock by the light of the fires which consumed theirdwellings, frequently escaped one snare only to fall into another ; the pitiful cries of the old men, the women, and the children, far from softening the hearts of the soldiers, mad with rage like their leaders, only set them on following the fugitives, and pointed out the places whither to direct their fury. Voluntary surrender did not exempt the men from execution, nor the women from excesses of brutality, which make nature blush. It was forbidden under pain of death, to afford them any refuge. At Cabrieres, one of the principal towns of that canton, they murdered more than 700 men in cold blood ; and the women who had remained in their houses, were shut up in a barn, filled with straw, to which they set fire: those who attempted to escape by the window were driven back with swords and pikes; finally, according to the tenor of the sentence, the houses were razed, the woods cut down, and the fruit trees pulled up; and in a short time this country, so fertile and so populous, became uninhabited and uncultivated. Historians agree that on this occasion the orders of Francis were exceeded ; and many add that this prince when dying, enjoined his son severely to punish the guilty."*

De Thou, in his history, states more than has been related by the Abbe Anquetil, for he says that previous to permitting this horrible affair, Francis commanded William Du Bellay, to make inquiry respecting the doctrines and morals of these people, and that he had sufficient evidence of their innocence and piety, with the exception of their holding in horror the superstitions of the church of Rome. But what was the result of this inquiry and report? only a delay of three months, which was allowed them to amend themselves in ; with the threat, that if they still persisted in their error at the

* Maimboiirp, in describing this massacre, says, thai above '.MM persons were killed, and !)0il houses were plundered, and ihen destroyed. Hist. du. Cahintimt, liv. i.

REIGN OF HENRY II.

expiration of that period, the punishment would be inflicted on them.*

The following account of this persecution is from a source beyond suspicion — a report to the Jicademie des Inscriptions, on the preliminaries of the execution at Cabrieres and Merindole.f The Vaudois of the latter place had petitioned the parliament of Aix. The perusal of this document, observes the reporter, brought tears into our eyes; we notice at the commencement, a confession entirely Calvinistic; such doctrine having been either derived from Valdo, or communicated by the preachers of Geneva. The Vaudois offered to renounce all opinions contrary to the Scriptures; but the parliament replied, that as they were notorious heretics, they must abjure ; for there was no alternative.