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Fisher

, George Park,

1827-

1909.

The re

formation

BY

CHARLES HODGE, D. D., LL. D.

OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SBMINARY.

Complete in three volumes, %vo, tinted ^aper, with att Index.

Price in doth as follows : —

Vol. I. — Theology f4-5o

Vol. II. — Anthropology 4.50

Vol. II I. — Soteriology and Eschatology s.oo

Index Volume i.oo

Price in half calf, per set, $22.50.

Sent post-paid on receipt of price by the publishers,

SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG, & CO.

654 Bkoadvv.^y, New York.

THE

/(2u^'. /^.WOyrfijjLiA^^

/(

REFORMATION.

BY

GEORGE P. FISHER, D. D.

PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY IN TAI a COLLEQE.

^;'^^*«-^x ^(n^>'^-<A^

NEW YORK:
SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG, AND CO.

1875.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, bj

ScniBNER, Armstrong, and Company,
•Ji ttie Ortlce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE :

iTEREOTTPED AND PRINTED Bl

U. 0. HOUOHTON AMD COMPANY.

TO

THEODORE DWIGHT WOOLSEY.

4 FilEND AND EXAMPLE OF ALL GOOD LEARNIXii.

THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED,

AS A TOKEN OF RESPECT AND AFFECTION

BY THE AUTHOR.

PEEFAOE.

This work has grown out of a course of lectures which
were given at the Lowell Institute in Boston early in the
spring of 1871. I may be permitted to say that when I
eno-aged to prepare these lectures, the subject was not
new to me ; and that the interval since they were de-
livered has been devoted to studies in the same field, the
results of which are incorporated in this volume. It has
appeared to me practicable to present to intelligent and
educated readers, within the compass of a volume like the
present, the means of acquainting themselves with the
origin and nature, the principal facts and characters of the
Reformation ; while, at the same time, through notes and
references, the historical student should be guided to fur-
ther researches on the various topics which are brought
under his notice. There are two features in the plan of
the present work to which it may not be improper to call
attention. With the religious and theological side of the
history of the period, I have endeavored to interweave and
to set in their true relation the political, secular or more
general elements, which had so powerful an influence in
determining the course of events. The attempt has also
been made to elucidate briefly, but sufficiently, points

VI PREFACE.

pertaining to the history of theological doctrine, an under-
standing of which is peculiarly essential in the study of
this period of history.

The authorities on which I have chiefly depended, are
indicated in the marginal references. The highest place
belongs to the wi'itings, and especially the correspondence
of the Reformers themselves. The letters of Luther, Me-
lancthon, Zwingle, Calvin ; the correspondence of the
English with the Helvetic Reformers during the reigns of
Henry VHL, Edward VI., and Elizabeth ; the correspon-
dence of Reformers in the French-speaking lands, in the
collection of M. Herminjard, afford the most vivid as well
as correct impression of the transactions in which their
authors bore a leading part. Works like the " Correspon-
dence of Philip H.," which M. Gachard — among his other
valuable contributions — has published from the archives
of Simancas, have cast much new light on another side of
the history of this era. Of the more recent historians,
there are two of whom I am bound to make special mention
in this place. The first is Ranke, whose admirable series
of works on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have
been constantly in my hands. The mingling of general
views with apposite and characteristic facts, lends to the
historical productions of this truly illustrious "writer a
pecuUar charm. The other historian is Gieseler, who pos-
sessed in an eminent degree the genius for accuracy,
which Gibbon ascribed to Tillemont, and whose investi-
gations, though extensive and profound upon every period
of Church History, are nowhere more instructive than
upon the period of the Reformation. It must be a matter
of sincere regret to all scholars that Neander did not live

PREFACE. VII

to carry forward his great work, the counterpart of Giese-
ler, into this period. His posthumous History of Doctrine
is quite brief in its treatment of the Protestant movement,
but is not wanting in striking suggestions. Perhaps I
should add to this short catalogue, the " Histoire de
France " of Henri Martin, which appears to me to be the
most satisfactory of the comprehensive works on the history
of that country.

There is one explanation further which I am anxious
to make respecting the design of this book. It is intended
in no sense as a polemical work. It has not entered into
my thoughts to inculcate the creed of Protestantism, or to
propagate any type of Christian doctrine ; much less to
kindle animosity against the Church of Home. Very
serious as the points of difference are which separate the
body of Protestants from the body of Roman Catholics,
the points on which they agree outweigh in importance the
points on which they differ. Whoever supposes that the
Reformers were exempt from grave faults and infirmities,
must either be ignorant of their history, or have studied
it under the influence of a partisan bias. Impartiality,
however, is not indifference ; and a frigid and carping
spirit, that chills the natural outflow of a just admiration,
may, equally with the spirit of hero-worship, hinder one
from arriving at the real truth, as well as the best lessons
of history.

Should this volume be used in the class-room, it may
be suggested to teachers that frequent reference should
be made to the Chronological Table in the appendix,
where contemporaneous events in the different countries
are grouped together. Dates are pretty thickly strewn

Vlll PREFACE.

through the text, but are given more fully in the Table
of Contents. In the List of Works, which follows the
Chronological Table, I have briefly characterized some of
the books to which the more advanced student would nat-
urally resort.

New Haven, Jan. 15, 1873.

NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

In two or three places only, in this volume, the term
" consubstantiation " is applied to the Lutheran doctrine
of the Eucharist; but the term is defined (p. 148) as
the co-presence of two substances, — a sense in which it
is allowed by the best Lutheran theologians. The atten-
tive reader of the last chapter will observe that the
effects which are there ascribed to the Reformation, are
not credited to the dogmatic system of Protestantism ex-
clusively, but to the Protestant religion, taken compre-
hensively. It is the genius and spirit of Protestantism,
as seen in the long processes of history, which are there
referred to. The place and the importance of the Re-
naissance are illustrated in various parts of the volume,
especially in the third chapter. The influence of the
Renaissance on modern culture is not underrated in this
work ; nor is the Renaissance confounded with the relig-
ious Reform. There is one other point which may deserve
a word of remark. The Church of the Middle Ages I do
not consider " a mitigated evil," but an incalculable bene-
fit to society. What is said of the Papacy should not be
understood of the Church, — the organized, collective in-
fluence of Christianity. But even the Papacy, as is
shown, was, in .the mediasval period, in many respects, a
beneficent institution.

COI^TENTS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION . THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE REFORMA-
TION.

FAGI.

Four principal events of modern history 1

Long historical preparation of these events .... 1

Agency of individuals not to be undervalued .... 2

Theories in respect to the Reformation 2

An astrological hy})othesis 2

Theory that it was a quarrel of monastic orders ... 3

That it was an academical dispute 4

That it was a new phase of the old conflict of Popes and Emperors 4
That it was an insurrection against authority : (advanced by Gui-

zot) *

That it was a transitional step towards Rationalism . . .6
The Reformation primarily a religious event .... 8
Judaizing character of mediajval Christianity : constant reaction

of the spiritual element .....•• 8

Protestantism positive as well as negative .... 9

It has an objective factor ^

It practically asserted the right of private judgment • . .10
It was a part of the general progress of society . . . • 10
General characteristics of the entire period .... 10
Two-fold aspect of the Reformation — religious, and political or

secular . . • • • • • • • • ^ ^

Chronological limits of the era 12

CHAPTER 11.

THE RISE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY AND ITS DECLINE
THROUGH THK CENTRALIZATION OF NATIONS.

Protestantism rejected priestly authority 13

The relation of sacerdotal authority to Papal supremacy . 14

X CONTENTS.

The new Dispensation spiritual, in contrast with the old . . 14
Absence of a mediatorial priesthood ..... 14

Officers of the primitive Church . . . . . . .15

Functions of a priesthood gradually associated with the ministry 16
Growth of a liierarchy . . . . . . . .16

Irenajus and TertuUian make the Church the door of access to

Christ (circa 200) . , . • . . . .17

Causes of the precedence of the See of Rome . . .17

Acknowledged in the East, because Rome is the capital ; claimed

in the West on account of Peter 20

Accession of Constantine (311) ; Church not merged in the State,

and why .......... 20

Power of the Emperors over the Church 21

Decline of the Empire increases the authority of the Roman

bishop .......... 21

Leo, the Great (440-461) 21

The Papacy exalted, yet endangered, by the fall of the Western

Empire (476) 21

Spread of Arianism and Mohammedanism . . . . .22
Fortunate alliance of the Papacy with the Franks (750) . 22

Rescue of the Papacy by Pepin and Charlemagne . . .23
Significance of the coronation of Charlemagne (800) . . 23
Effect of the fall of his Empire on the Papacy . . . .24
The Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals (circa 850) .... 24

Enforced by Nicholas I. (858-867) 25

Anarchy in Italy : the pei'iod of pornocracy : intervention of

Henry III. (1046) 25

Hildebrand (1073-1085) and his reforming plan: theory of the

Papacy and the Empire : their inevitable conflict . . 26

Advantages of the Papacy in this conflict . . . .27

Victory of the Popes ; Henry IV. , the Worms Concordat (1122) ;

Alexander III. (117 7) . 28

Culmination of Papal power ; InnocentHI. (1198-1216) . 29

His theory of the Papal office . . . . . . .29

Rise of the spirit of nationalism ; its various manifestations . 31
Benefits of the Papacy in the Middle Ages ; approach of another

era . . 32

National languages and literatures 33

Anti-hierarchical spirit of the vernacular writers . . .35

The same spirit in the Legists ...... 36

Reaction against the Papacy; Boniface VIIL (1294-1303) . . 36
Conflict of Boniface with Philip the Fair . . . .37

CONTENTS. XI

Declining prestige of the Papacy ; the Babylonian captivity

(1309-1377) 38

Character of the Papacy at Avignon ; Petrarch's testimony . 39

Opposition from Germany and England 39

The Monarchists against the Papists 40

Attacks upon Papal usurpations by writers ; Marsilius of Padua

and William of Occam 41

The Galilean or constitutional theory ; the Reforming Councils

(1409-1443) 43

Increasing sway of national and secular, in the room of ecclesias-
tical feelings, in the fifteenth century 44

Consolidation of monarchies; England, France, Spain . . 44
Secular and worldly character of the Popes . . . .44

Sixtus IV. (1471-84) ; Innocent VIII. (1484-92) ; Alexander VI.

(1492-1503) ; Julius 11. (1503-13) 45

Character of Leo X. (1513-21) ; judgment of Sarpi, Pallavicini,

Muratori, Guicciardini 46

The importance of the Popes, chiefly political . . .48

The concessions to them from Princes more apparent than real . 48
An illustration in the repeal of the Pragmatic Sanction (1516) 48
Domination of secular and political interests, seen in the contests

of Charles V. and Francis 1 49

The development of nationalism and the secularizing of the Pa-
pacy, at the beginning of the sixteenth century . . .50

CHAPTER in.

SPECIAL CAUSKS AND OMENS OF AN ECCLESIASTICAL REVOLU-
TION PRIOR TO THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

Mediaeval Christianity characterized by legalism . . .52
Forms of reaction against it : dissent fi-om dogmas ; attacks on

the usurpations and abuses of the clergy ; opposition to the

excessive esteem of ceremonies and austerities
Consequences of a possible increase of intelligence .
Two classes of forerunners of the Reformation
Anti-sacerdotal sects ......

The Catharists (Albigenses)

The Waldenses ; their origin (1170)

The Franciscan Spirituals ; the Fratricelli .

The Beguines and Beghards

What is indicated by the rise of these sects

xu

CONTENTS.

/

The conservative or Gallican Reformers 59

Radical Reformers; John Wickliffe (1324-1384) and his opin-
ions ..........

How he was protected ........

The Lollards

John Huss (1373-1415) ; his predecessors; Matthias of Janow

The character and principles of Huss .....

Huss and Wickliffe on the authority of prelates and magistrates

eJohn Wessel (1420-89) ; Luther's opiuion of him

Savonarola (1452-98)

The Mystics ; character of Mysticism .....

Mysticism among the Schoolmen ; Bernard, Bonaventura

John Tauler (1290-1361); the "German Theology" .

The " Imitation of Christ "

The Revival of Learning; begins in Italy, Dante (1265-1321) ;
Petrarch (1304-74); Boccaccio (1313-75) .

Spread of the literary spirit ; consequences to the Church

Benefits and faults of Scholasticism ; causes of its downfall

It had lost its vitality ; effect of Nominalism ....

Renewed study of the Fathers and of the Scriptures .

Sceptical spirit of Humanism in Italy ; influence of the classic
school on the Church of Italy ......

Semi-pagan tone of politics and ethics ; Macchiavelli (1469-1527) 73
' Religious tone of Humanism in Germany ; Reuchlin (1455-1522) 74

His victory over the Monks ......

Humanism and the Universities ; Wittenbei-g (1502)
w- Humanism in England ; Colet, Erasmus, More

The " Eutopia " ; its liberal ideas on Religion .

Erasmus (1467-1536) the leader of Humanism

His fame and acquirements .....

His " Praise of Folly "

His chastisement of ecclesiastical follies and abuses

His editions of the Fathers and of the New Testament

Diffusion of his writings ......

What may be inferred from their character and popularity
t Recapitulation ; symptoms of the rise of a new order of things

75
76
76
76
77
78
79
81
81
82
82
83

CONTENTS. XIU

CHAPTER IV.

LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION TO THE DIET OF

AUGSBURG, 1530.

Protestantism congenial to the German mind . . . .85
Luther the hero of the Reformation .... .87

His birth (1483) and parentage 87

Studies at Erfurt (1501-5) ; enters a convent (1505) . . 88

Made a Professor at Wittenberg (1508) 89

His literary and theological attainments 89

His religious experience 89

Sees that justification is by faith 91

Origin of indulgences ; the Scholastic doctrine . . . .92

Luther opposes the sale of indulgences by Tetzel (1516) . . 92
Luther posts his ninety-five Theses (1517) ; their contents . . 92
Their effect in Germany ........ 95

Attacks and replies ; he meets Cajetan at Augsburg (1518) . 96

Accedes to the truce offered by Miltitz (1519). . . . 97

The Leipsic Disputation (1519); Philip Melancthon . . .97
Melancthon's character ; Luther's geniality and humor . . 98
He asserts that the primacy of the Pope is jure hiimano . . 99

Effect of the Leipsic Disputation upon his studies and opinions 99

He appeals to the laity ; Address to the Nobles (1520) . .100

Writes " the Babylonian Captivity of the Church " (1520) . 100
Writes on the " Freedom of a Christian Man " (1520) . . 101
Is excommunicated ; burns the Papal bull (1520) . . . 101
Commotion produced in Germany ; he finds political, religious,

and literary allies 102

Uh-ich von Hutten (1488-1523) 102

Political condition of Germany ; weakness of the central govern-
ment 103

Abortive efforts under Maximilian (1493-1519) to organize the

Empire 104

Discontent and disorder ; complaints by the knights, the cities,

the peasantry 104

The election of Charles V. (1519) : consequent alarm in Eu-
rope 105

Rivalship of Charles V. and Francis L (1515-1547); its

grounds, the strength of the rivals respectively . . . 106
Character of Charles V. : his conduct in the affair of the Refor-
mation ......... . 107

XIV CONTENTS.

Luther summoned to the Diet of Worms (1521) ; his journey 108
Appears before the Diet; refuses to recant . . . .110

Placed under the ban of the Empire Ill

Alliance of the Emperor with Leo X. ; the terms of it . .111

Luther at the Wartburg (1521-22) 112

His occupations ; labors on the translation of the New Testa-
ment 112

Radical movement of Carlstadt : Luther returns to Wittenberg

(1522) 113

He restores order ; his vast labors 114

The Council of Regency declines to suppress Lutheranism . 1 14
The character of Pope Adrian VL (1522-23) and Pope Clement

VH. (1523-34) 115

Tlie Diet at Nuremberg (1524) ; remands the subject of the

Worms decree to the several princes . . . .115
Union of Catholic princes and bishops; division of the Nation . 115
Protestant League of Torgau (1526) . . . . .116
Battle of Pavia (1525) ; confederacy against Charles . . .116
The Diet of Spires (1526) refuses to enforce the Worms Edict 116
Sack of Rome and triumph of the Emperor (1527) . . . 117
Repressive action of the Diet of Spires (1529) ; the Protest . 117
Opposition of Luther to armed resistance . . . . .118
The Diet of Augsburg (1530) ; situation and spirit of Charles 118

The Augsburg Confession and Apology 119

Decree adverse to the Protestants 119

The courage and fidelity of the Elector John . . . .120
Luther at Coburg (1530) ; his correspondence . . .120

His marriage with Catharine von Bora (1525) . . . .123

His motives ; effect of his example 1 23

His controversy with King Henry Vin. (1522) . . . .124
The intemperance of Luther's langauge, how explained . . 125
His apologetic letter to Henry VnL (1525) . . . .126
The position of Erasmus in relation to the Lutheran move-
ment 127

His gradual estrangement from Luther and his cause . .129

Merits of the controversy ^ 131

Inability of Humanism to effect a Reform 132

The peasants' war (1525) ; how far owing to Protestantism . 133
Luther supports the princes 184

CONTENTS. TY

CHAPTER V.

THE GERMAN REFORMATION TO THE PEACE OF AUGSBURG :
ZWINGLE AND THE SWISS (GERMAN) REFORMATION.

The character of the Swiss ; they serve as mercenaries in the

armies of France and of the Pope 136

Birth of Zwingle (1484) ; his native character ; his education . 137
At Glarus (1506-16) he opposes the system of pensions and of

hired service under the French . . . . .138

At Einsiedehi (1516-18) preaches salvation by the grace of

Christ alone 139

Adopts the principle of the exclusive authority of the Bible . 139
Preaches against indulgences ; is established at Zurich (1519) . 139

His qualities as a man and a preacher 140

Public disputation (1523) ; the council of the city sustains him 141

His doctrines ; a second disputation 141

Zurich becomes a separate Protestant Church (1524) . . 141

Zwingle's " Commentary on True and False Religion " (1525) 142
His view respecting the salvation of the heathen . . .142
The Reformation in Basel (1529) ; Berne (1528) ; St. Gall (1528) ;

Schaffhausen (1529) 143

The ecclesiastical revolution is also a political one . . . 143
Contrast of Luther and Zwingle ; their religious experience . 144
Comparative conservatism of Luther ..... 144

Mingling of patriotism and religion in Zwingle . . .145
Luther led the resistance to the Church of Rome . . .146
The Eucharistic controversy between the Lutherans and the

Swiss ........... 147

History of the doctrine of the Eucharist . . . .147

Three opinions ; Luther, Zwingle, Calvin . . . . .148

Ground of Luther's vehemence against the Zwinglian doctrine 149

The Conference at Marburg (1529) 152

The result ; subsequent revival of the controversy (1543) . 153
Catastrophe of the Swiss Reformation ; war between the Cath-
olic and Protestant Cantons . . . . . .154

Deathof Zwingle (1531) 155

The Treaty of Peace ; Protestantism checked .... 156

Formation of the League of Smalcald (1531) .... 156

The Emperor disabled for ten years (J 532-42) from carrying

out the Augsburg Decree ....... 156

Catholic League (1538) 157

XVI CONTENTS.

Conferences of the opposing parties (1537-41) ; Contarini . . 157
The League of Smalcald, how weakened .... 158

Maurice of Saxony joins the Emperor (1546) .... 159

Last days of Luther 159

The relations of Luther and Melancthon to each other . .160
Melancthon's funeral address on Luther (1546) . . . 162
Luther's power and influence ; remarks of Dollinger . . . 163
The Smalcaldic war (1546-47) ; defeat of the Protestants atMuhl-

berg (1547) 164

The Augsburg Interim (1548) ; Charles's plan of pacification . 164
He is disappointed ; action of the Council of Trent . . 164
L^nion of Paul in. and Francis L against him (1547) . .165

Resistance to the Augsburg Interim in North Germany ; the

Leipsic Interim (1548) 165

Better prospects of Protestantism . . . . . .156

Maurice turns against Charles ; drives him out of Innspruck

(1552) 167

Treaty of Passau (1552) . . . . . . 167

Peace of Augsburg (1555) ; the Jus reformandi : the Ecclesiasti-
cal Reservation 168

Abdication of Charles (1556) 168

CHAPTER VI.

THE REFORMATION IN THE SCANDINAVIAN KINGDOMS, IN THE
SLAVONIC NATIONS, AND IN HUNGARY.

Spread of the Reformation ; agency of Germans ; influence of

Wittenberg .... .... 170

The Scandinavian kingdoms; the Union of Calmar (1397) . 170
Christian II. of Denmark (1513-23) favors Protestantism, then

draws back 1 70

He is deposed and succeeded by Frederic I. (1523-33) . . 171
Spread of Lutheranism in Denmark in his reign . . . 1 73
Under Chi'istian III. the Reformation is legalized . . . 1 73
Constitution of the Danish Protestant Church . . . .173
Democratic movements in Liibeck and other cities, in connection

with the Reformation . . . . . . .175

Establishment of Protestantism in Norway (1537) . . . 175
Olaf and Laurence Petersen preach Protestantism in Sweden

(1519) 176

Gustavus Vasa (1523-60) favors it 176

CONTENTS. XVll

£t is adopted at the Diet of Westeras (1527) . . , . 177
What was done witli ecclesiastical property . . . ,177
Failure of subsequent efforts to restore Catholicism . 177

Effect of the execution of Huss in Bohemia (1415) . . .177
Hussite movement was both religious and national . . 178

The demand of the cup for the laity ; history of the practice of

witholding it . . . . . . . . .178

The Prague University declares for the Utraquists . . 179
Division of the Utraquists ; the Taborites . . . . .179

Ziska (1360-1424) their leader 180

The Articles of Prague, the platform of the Utraquists (1421) . 180
Three Crusades fail to subdue them ..... 181

They are heard at the Council of Basel (1433) . . . .181

'Tlie Compactata . . . . . . . . '182

Conflict of Calixtines and Taborites 182

The rise of the Brethren in Unity (circa 1450) . . .182
Favorable reception of Lutheranism by the Hussites . . .183
The Utraquists refuse to join Ferdinand in the Smalcaldic war 183
Subsequent persecution of Bohemian Protestants . . . 185
Religious condition of Poland at the time of the Reformation . 185
How Protestantism was introduced . . . . . .185

The spread of the new doctrine in Polish Prussia and in Livonia

(1524) 185

Sigismund H. (1548-72) favorable to it 186

Religious dissension among Protestants : spread of Unitarianism 186

John h Lasco (1499-1560) 187

Union of Lutherans, Calvinists, and Brethren, in the Synod of

Sendomir (1570) 187

Equality of rights granted to all the Churcheg .... 188
The Reformation introduced into Hungary .... 188
Effect of the civil war (1526) upon its progress .... 189
Strife between the Calvinists and Lutherans . . .190

CHAPTER VIL

JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

Calvin belongs to the second generation of Reformers . .192

His birth (1509), family, and education 192

Studies at Paris; studies law at Orleans and Bourges . .193

His mental power and habits of study ..... 192
Publishes Seneca's treatise on " Clemency " (1532) ; his motive 1P4
b

jcviii CONTENTS.

His conversion (1532) 15*

His reserve and love of retirement 196

Obliged to fly from Paris (1533); at Angouleme ; at Beam;

returns to Paris 196

Obli"-ed again to fly, on account of placards against the mass

(1535) 196

His first theological work ; the " Psychopannychia " (1534) . 197
At Basel (1535) ; studies Hebrew; writes the "Institutes " . 197

His motive in composing this work 197

His characteristics as a writer and a man . • , • • • 198
His adoption of the Bible as the sole standard of doctrine . 199
His conception of the Church and reverence for it . . . 200

His doctrine of predestination 200

. 201

202

. 202

203

. 204

. 205

. 205

206

. 206

. 207

Is attaclied to the doctrine on practical grounds
His opinion compared with that of Augustine

His ability as a commentator

Not an extremist in respect to forms and rites

The acerbity of his temper

His piety tinged with the Old Testament spirit

His homage to law and sense of the exaltation of Grod

Less broad in his sympathies than Luther

His greatness of mind and of character

Visits the court of the Duchess of Ferrara (1536) •

Stops at Geneva on his return (1536) 207

Geneva subject to Savoy ; achieves its independence (1533) . 208

Protestant influences from Berne 208

Expulsion of the Bishop from Geneva and establishment of Prot-
estantism (1535) 209

Farel (1489-1565) ; his- history and character; his preaching at

Geneva 209

Discontent there with the new ecclesiastical system . . 210

State of morals 210

Farel moves Calvin to remain and assist him (1536) . . 211

Strict regulations of Church discipline 212

Opposition to them 212

The preachers refuse to administer the Sacrament . . . 213
They are banished by the citizens (1538) .... 213
Calvin resides at Strasburg ; attends the German religious Con-
ferences (1539-1541) 213

His opinion of Luther ; his relations to Melancthon . . 214

His marriage 215

Is recalled to Geneva (1541), and why ..... 216

CONTENTS. XIX

His letter to Sadolet 216

His reluctance to return 217

The Genevan civil and ecclesiastical system . . . .217
The Little Council ; the Consistory ..... 218
Vigilant supervision of the people by preachers and eldei's . 219

The Venerable Company 219

Calvin takes part in framing the civil laws . . . .219

How the preachers were chosen ...... 219

Disaffection arises ; the Libertines ...... 220

Combination of different classes of Calvin's opponents . . 221
Severity of the Genevan laws ....... 221

Religious intolerance ; its history . . . . . . 222

Practiced in the Middle Ages 223

The Reformers did not advocate toleration .... 224
Conflicts of Calvin and efforts to intimidate him . . . 225
Bolsec banished (1551) for assailing the doctrine of predestina-
tion 225

Expulsion of Castellio (1544) 226

Michael Servetus ; his history and character .... 226
His book on the " Errors of the Trinity " (1531) . . .227
His second book — the " Restoration of Christianity " . . 228
Tried for heresy before a Roman Catholic Court at Vienne . 228

Proof furnished from Geneva . . . . . .228

He escapes and comes to Geneva (1553) 229

Is arrested and tried ........ 229

Is convicted and burned at the stake • . . . . .230

Agency of Calvin in the transaction ; verdict of Guizot . 231

The execution of Servetus generally approved . . . .232

Further efforts of the Libertines; their final overthrow (1555) 233
Calvin's multiplied labors and vast influence . . . 234

His last years ; the variety of his employments ; his infirmities of

body 235

His last illness (1564) ; his interview with the Council . . 236
His interview with the preachers . . . . . .237

Estimate of his character ....... 238

Calvinism lays emphasis on the sovereignty of God . . . 239
Why favorable to civil liberty ...... 239

I does not surrender the government of the Church to the civil

authority .......... 239

Its church organization is republican 240

It dwarfs earthly sovereignty by exalting the divine . . • 240
Compared with Romanism in its view of the civil authority . 243

XX CONTENTS.

CHAPTER Vin.

THE REFORMATION IN PRANCE.

Tliii Sorbonne and Parliament oppose doctrinal innovations . 242
Effect of the repeal of the Pi'aguiatic Sanction (151G) . 242

Refoi-m emanates from Humanism 242

Francis I. (1515-47); the patron of learning and art . . 213
Lefevre (1450-1536), the Father of the Reformation ; hiss*»udies

and writings 243

His mystical turn ; his pupil, Bri9onnet .... 244

Hostility of the Sorbonne and of Parliament to Lefevre and his

school 244

Heresy suppressed in Meaux (1525) ..... 245
Margaret, Queen of Navarre (1492-1549) ; her sympathy with

the Mystical School 245

Her writings ; she favors the Protestants without joining them 246
Francis I. opposes the Sorbonne ; supports his sister . . .247
Changes his course ; engages in persecution .... 248

Doubtful position of Fi-ance respecting the Reformation . . 248
Rome, Renaissance, the Reformation ; the three rivals . . 249
Why Calvinism was disliked ....... 250

Spirit of Loyola and the Catholic Reaction .... 250

Rabelais (1483-1553) 250

Vacillation of Francis L and its consequences . . .251
He persecutes the Protestants (1534) ; courts the alliance of the

Lutheran princes . . • 252

Spread of Protestantism in France in his reign . . . 253

Influence of Geneva and of Calvin 253

Henry II. (1547-59) ; his hostility to the Reformation . . 254

Its progress 254

The Calvinists hold a general Synod (1559) .... 255
Persecution afler the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis ; death of

Henry IL (1559) 255

Heroism of the sufferers 256

How the Huguenots became a political party .... 256
Catharine de Medici ; her relations to Henry and his mistress ;

and her character 257

Francis II. (1559-60) is controlled by the Guises ; their history

and character 257

Discontent of the Bourbons and Chatillons .... 258
Connection of the great nobles with the Calvinists . . . 25S

CONTENTS. XXI

Calvin preaches to them submission ; their patience . . . 260
The conspiracy of Amboise (1560) ..... 260

Its consequences ; the Edict of Roraorantin (1560) . . . 261
Coligny supports the petition of the Protestants for liberty of

worship . . . . . . . . . .262

The States General called together at Orleans (1560) . . 26 -^
Arrest of Conde ; Navarre placed under surveillance . . 262
Plot for the extirpation of Protestantism . . . . .262

Frustrated by the death of Francis n. (1560) . . .263

Catharine de Medici ; her virtual guardianship of Charles IX.

(1560-74), and regency 263

Influence of L'Hospital ........ 263

Strength of the Protestants . 264

Guise, Montmorenci, and St. Andre form the Triumvirate . 264

The Colloquy at Poissy (1561) ; Beza 265

The Edict of St. Germain (1562) grants a measure of tolera-
tion 266

ITie Massacre of Vassy (1562) begins the civil wars . . . 267

The Huguenots fought in self defense 268

Siege of Rouen; battle of Dreux (1562); assassination of

Guise (1563) 269

The Edict of Amboise (1563) ; the character of it • . 269

The Huguenots take up arms ; Peace of Longjumeau (1568) . 270

Conference at Bayonne (1565) 270

Renewal of the war under Spanish influence ; battles of Jarnac

and Moncon tour (1569) 271

Treaty of St. Germain (1570) ; reasons that influenced the Court
to make peace ; fortified towns placed in the hands of the
Huguenots . . . . . . . . .272

Political crisis in Europe ; will France make war on Spain ? .272
Proposal that Henry of Navarre shall marry Margaret of Val-

ois 273

Coligny comes to Court ; his character 273

The origin of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew (1572) . . 273

Had it been planned earlier ? 275

Joy at Madrid and at Rome 277

Effect of the massacre on the surviving Huguenots . . .277
The party of the Politiques or Liberal Catholics is formed . 277

Organization of the League .278

Position of Henry IIL (1574-89) 278

Excommunication of Navarre and Conde by Sixtus V. (1585) . 279
War of the " Three Henries " (1586) 275

XXll

CONTENTS.

Assassination of the Guises by order of Henry III. (1588) . 279
He joins the army of Henry of Navarre .... 279

Henry HI. is assassinated (1589) 280

Henry IV. ; his war with the League ; the battle of Ivry (1590) 280
His contest with Alexander of Parma (1592) . . . 280

Abjuration of Henry IV. ; its motives (1593); its effect . . 281
Character of this act . . . . . . . .282

Other misfortunes of the Huguenots 283

The administration of Henry IV. ; the Edict of Nantes (1598) 283
The Huguenots become an isolated and defensive party . . 284

CHAPTER IX.

THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

Prosperity and Intel hgence of the people of the Netherlands . 285

Relation of the Netherlands to the German Empire . . . 286

Influences favorable to Protestantism ..... 286
Persecuting edicts of Charles V. (1521 seq.) . . . .287

Martyrdoms at Brussels (1523) ; Luther's hymn . . . 287

Continued persecution by Charles V. ; number of martyrs . 288

Abdication of Charles V. (1555) 289

Fanatical and despotic character of Philip II. (1555-98) . . 289

His unpopularity in the Netherlands 290

The great nobles ; Orange, Egmont 290

Margaret of Parma is made Regent (1559) ; her character . 291

Granvelle ; his character 292

Conduct of the government is placed in his hands . . . 292
Philip keeps in the Netherlands Spanish regiments . . .292

He creates new bishoprics 292

Design of these measures ........ 292

Character of the nobles ; William of Orange . . . 293

Philip renews the persecuting Edicts 294

The Inquisition and its cruelties 294

Orange and Egmont complain of Granvelle to the King . 295

How far Granvelle was responsible .... 295

He leaves the country (1564) 296

Speech of William of Orange against the policy of the govern-
ment 296

Egmont goes to Spain to enlighten the King . . . .297
He is duped by the assurances of Philip • . . .297

Effect of the continued cruelties 297

CONTENTS. Xxiii

The "Compromise" (1566) 297

The Regent allows Protestant preaching outside of the cities 298
Philip promises to mitigate his policy ; the proof of his per-
fidy 298

Tconoclasm (1566) 29S

The Regent makes a truce with the Confederacy of Nobles . 30G

Orange leaves the country . • 300

Vengeance of Philip ; mission of the Duke of Alva (1567) , 301
He arrests Egmont and Horn ; the " Council of Blood " , 302

Alva defeats Louis of Nassau ; Egmont and Horn are beheaded

(1568) 303

Alva's plan of taxation (1569) 303

The spirit of resistance is awakened ...... 304

The " Sea-beggars ; " they capture Briel (1572) . . , 304
Holland and Zealand adopt a free constitution ; Orange made

Stadtholder (1572) 304

Alva detested by the people ; he is recalled (1573) . . 305

Requesens succeeds him (1573) ...... 305

Growth of a Protestant state under Orange .... 305

Flanders and Brabant invoke his help ; the Pacification of Ghent

(1576) 306

''oe

. 306
306

. 307
307

. 308
309

. 309

Don John^ucceeds Requesens (1576) ....

Division between the Southern and Northern Provinces
Alexander of Parma succeeds Don John (1578)
The Utrecht Union formed in the North (1579)
Outlawry of William of Orange (1580) ; his " Apology "
His character ........

His assassination (1584) ......

The Catholic Provinces submit to Parma .

Philip's intention to remove him ; death of Parma (1592) , 310

Rise of the Dutch Republic ; disasters of Philip and of Spain . 311

The Anabaptists 311

rVevalence of Calvinism 311

The Calvinists do not adopt the principle of toleration . . 312
Difference between Protestants and Catholics in respect to in-
tolerance . . . . . . . . . .313

William of Orange advocates religious liberty . . . 313
Controversy on the relation of the Church to the civil au-
thority 314

Germs of the Arminian controversy . . . . .31.''

XXIV

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER X.

THE REFORMATION IN EXGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

Ena:-

LoUards numerous at the beginning of the sixteenth century

Influence of the Revival of learning ....

Cardinal Wolsey a friend of learning

Tyndale (d. 1536) and Frith (d. 1533) .

The peculiarity of the English Reformation

No prominent leaders as on the Continent

Henry VHI. seeks a divorce from Clement VH. (1527)

Henry reduces the power of the Pope and the clergy in
land .........

Revives the statute of " prtBniunire" (1531)

Addressed by the clergy as Head of the English Church

Is divorced and marries Anne Boleyn (1532)

The act of Supremacy (1534) .....

Abolishing of the monasteries (1536)

A Catholic and a Protestant party in the Council and in the
Church ..........

Cranmer leads the Protestant party ; his character .

Thomas Cromwell ; Gardiner ....

The English Bible issued by the King's authority

The Ten Articles (1536)

The Rebellion of 1536

The Catholic party in the ascendency; the Six Articles (1539)

The Fall of Cromwell (1540)

Antagonism of the two parties after Henry's death (1547)

Protestantism prevails under Edward VI

Cranmer reinforced by theologians from the Continent

The Book of Common Prayer (1548, 1552) ; the Articles of Re-
ligion (1552)

The progress too rapid for the popular feeling ....

Fall of the Protector Somerset (1551)

Revival of the ecclesiastical statutes ......

Reactionary movement under Mary (1553-58)

Restoration of the Catholic system ; her marriage with Philip
H. (1554)

Martyrdom of Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer (1555-56)

The character of Cranmer .......

Unpopularity of Mary and its causes .....

Extreme demands of Pope Paul IV

316

316
316
317
317
318
318

319
320
320
320
321
321

321
322
322
323
323
323
324
324
325
325
326

326
326
326
327
327

327
328
328
329
329

CONTENTS. XXV

Accession of Elizabeth (1558) ; her conservative Protestant-
ism 331

Revision of the Articles (1563) 331

Act of Supremacy and Acts of Uniformity (1559) ; Court of

High Commission (1583) 331

Treatment of the Catholics ....... 331

Distinction between the Anglican Church and the Protestant

Churches on the Continent ...... 332

Little controversy on Episcopacy in the first age of the Refor-
mation 332

Fraternal relation of the English and the Continental Churches 332
Cranmer asserts the parity of the clergy .... 333

Testimony of Lord Bacon ; position of Hooker (1553-1600) . 334
Agreement of the Anglican and Continental Churches on pre-
destination ......... 335

The Augustinian and Calvinistic doctrine compared . . .337
Influence of Calvin and of his writings in England . . 338

Anglican divines not rigid predestinarians .... 338

Anglican doctrine Calvinistic on the Eucharist . . . 340
This doctrine expressed in the Articles . . . . .341

The Puritan objections to the vestments .... 342

Views of Jewel and other Elizabethan bishops .... 343

The Queen's opposition to changes in the ritual . . . 344
Her enforcement of uniformity ....... 345

Cartwright an advocate of Presbyterianism (1572) . . 345

The bearing of his principles on the Queen's Supremacy . . 346
Rise of the Independents ; their pi-inciples . . . . 347

Hooker on Church government and on the relation of Church

and State 347

I Merits of the controversy of the Anglicans and Puritans . 349
Lord Bacon's review of it . . . . . . . . 349

wNo iconoclasm in England ....... 350

Connection of the Scottish Reformation with Elizabeth . .351
Character of the Scottish nobility ; of the commons . . 352
The clergy ignorant and vicious ; their wealth .... 352

Treatment of Protestantism under the Regent Mary (1554-60) 353
Return of Knox from the Continent (1559) .... 353

The education of Knox ; begins to preach ; a captive in France

(1547) 354

He resides at Geneva (1556-59) ; his "Monstrous Regimen of

Women" 355

The Covenant of the Lords of the Congregation (1557) . . 355

XXrvi CONTENTS.

The preaching of Knox ; iconocLasm ..... 355
Elizabeth sends troops to aid the lords (1560) .... 356
Death of the Queen-Regent (1560) ; legal establishment of Prot-
estantism (1560) 356

The ecclesiastical property, how used . . . . .357

Return of Mary, Queen of Scots, from France (1561); her

character 357

She does not resist Protestantism ; grounds of her policy . . 358
Knox's opposition to the mass in her Chapel (1561) . . 359
Conference of Knox and the Queen ...... 360

Their debate on the " regimen of women " . . . .361

On the right of subjects to resist their sovereign . . . 362

Knox's opinion of Mary 363

He preaches against the dancing at Holyrood ; another confer-
ence with Mary 364

The people suppress the mass in the western districts (1563) . 3G4
Knox delends their conduct in a conversation with the Queen . 364
Knox arraigned for convening her lieges .... 366

He describes his examination before her and the Privy Council . 367
Knox's public prayer for the Queen and the realm . . 367

He considers toleration of Catholic worship a sin . . . 368

Mary's marriage with Darnley (1565) 369

It displeases Elizabeth ; Mary's hopes centre in Spain and the

Guises .......... 369

Murder of Rizzio by Darnley and the jealous nobles (1566) . 370
Mary's repugnance to Darnley and attachment to Bothwell . 3 72
Circumstances preceding the murder of Darnley . . .372
Abduction of the Queen by Bothwell (1567) . . . .374

He is divorced from his wife and marries Mary (1567) . . 375
She surrenders to the lords at Carberry Hill (1567) . . . 375

The problem of the " casket letters " 376

Mary abdicates in favor of her son; makes Murray regent (1567) 37f
Constitution of the Kirk ; the Second Book of Discipline

(1577-81) 378

Full establishment of the Presbyterian system (1592) . . 380
Mary escapes from Lochleven (1568) ; is defeated at Langside

(1568) ; a prisoner in England ...... 380

Hostility of the Catholic Reaction to Elizabeth . . .381

She sends help to the Netherlands (1585) 382

Execution of Mary (1587) 382

Defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588) 382

CONTENTS. XXVll

Protestantism in Ireland 383

Effect of the Catholic Reaction on the Irish .... 384
Lord Bacon on the way to treat Ireland .... 384

CHAPTER XI.

THE REFORMATIOX IN ITALY AXD SPAIN ; THE COUNTER-REF-
ORMATION IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

Resistance to Protestantism organized in Italy and Spain . . 385
Political condition of Italy in its bearing on Protestantism . 385
The corruption of the Church understood by Italians . . 386

Arnold of Brescia (d. 1155) 386

Dante (1265-1321) attacks the temporal power, but not the Cath-
olic dogmas . . . • 387

His ideal of the restored Empire 388

How Boccaccio (1313-75) treats the Church and the clergy . 388
The spirit of the Renaissance ; Laurentius Valla (d. 14G5) . 389
The service of Humanism and its limits ; the academies . . 390
Diffusion of Lutheran writings in Italy ..... 390

Pi'otestantism in Italy a thing of degrees 391

The Oratory of Divine Love ; Contarini .... 392

The reformed opinions in Ferrara ; the Duchess Renee (1527) . 392
Protestantism in other cities . . . . . . . 393

In Naples; Juan Valdez (circa 1530) 394

Ochino and Peter Martyr 394

Paleario's treatise on the " Benefits of Christ " . . . . 396

The Sacramentarian dispute ....... 395

Paul in. (1534-49) favors the Catholic reforming party (1537) 395

Contarini at Ratisbon (1541) 396

Caraffa leads the rigidly orthodox party of reform . . . 396

New orders; the Theatins (1524) 397

Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) founds the order of the Jesuits

(1540) 398

His book of " Spiritual Exercises " 399

The constitution of the Jesuit order 400

The Council of Trent (1545-1563) 400

Its definitions are anti-Protestant 401

Its practical work in the way of reform ..... 402
The Council serves to consolidate the Catholic Church . . 402
The Inquisition ; its history ; the Spanish Inquisition . . 403
The Inquisition in Italy (1543), how organized .... 404
Fhght of Ocliino (1542), Peter Martyr (1542), Vergerio (1.J48) 404

XXVlll CONTENTS.

Persecution of Protestants 405

Suppression of Books ; the Index Prohibitorius (1557) . 405

The Index Expurgatorius . . . . . . • . 40G

Persecution of Evangelical Catholics ..... 406

Extirpation of Protestantism in Italy ..... 406

Introduction of Protestantism into Spain .... 406

Converts to Protestantism at Seville and Valladolid . . . 407
Reception of the doctrine of Justification by Faith . . 408

^t/^osf/a/e (1559-60) 408

Success of the Inquisition ....... 409

Persecution of the Evangelical Catholics ; Carranza (1558-1576) 409
Attitude of the Popes in respect to the Catholic Reaction ; Paul

IV. (1555-59) ; Pius IV. (1559-65) ; Pius V. (1566-72) . 411
Sixtus V. excommunicates Henry IV. (1585), and supports the

League 412

Change in the intellectual spirit of Italy; Tasso (1544-95) ; the

new schools of painting ....... 412

Carlo Borromeo's private virtues and Christian work (1538-84) 413

The Jesuits as educators 413

They extend their influence in Europe . . . . .414
Countries recovered to the Church of Rome .... 414
Causes of the check of Protestantism ; Macaulay's discussion .415

The crystallizing of parties 415

Political arrangements 416

The removal of abuses in the Church of Rome . . . 417
Protestants waste their strength in contests with one another .417
The better organization of the Roman Catholics . . . 417
They use the varieties of talents ancLcharacter . . . .418
More rooted attachment in Southern Europe to the Church of

Rome 418

Discord arises in the Roman Catholic Party; its effect . .419

CHAPTER Xn.

THE STRUGGLE OP PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH
CENTURY.

Reverses experienced by the CathoUc Reaction . . . 421

Principal topics to be considered 421

Failure of Charles V. to subjugate the Protestants . . 422

Eflect of the Peace of Augsburg (1555) ; Philip II. not sup-
ported by Ferdinand I. and Maximilian II. . . .422
Their successors under the sway of the Jesuits and the Catholic

Reaction . 423

CONTENTS. XXIX

Origin of the lUirty Years' War (1618-1648) . . . .423
The Evangelical Union (1 608) ; the Catholic League led by

Maximilian of Bavaria (1609) 424

The Bohemians revolt against Ferdinand II ; give their crown

to Frederic V., the Elector Palatine (1619) . . .424

Bigotry of Ferdinand II., and of the Elector . . . 425

Defeat of the Bohemians; conquest of the Palatinate (1622) • 425
Triple alliance for the restoration of the Elector (1625) . 425

Failure of the Danish intervention (1626-1629) . . .426

Wallenstein delivers Ferdinand from subjection to the League 426
The constitution of the armies; the miseries of the war . 426

Victoriesof Wallenstein and of Tilly (1626-29) . . .427
The Edict of Restitution (1629) ; the removal of Wallenstein

(1630) 427

Intervention of Gustavus Adolphus (1630) ; his character and

motives 428

Victories of Gustavus; Wallenstein reappointed (1632); the

battle of Lutzen (1632) 429

Influence of Richelieu (1624-1642) ; ground of French inter-
vention .......... 429

The death of Wallenstein (1634) 430

Predominance of Richelieu in the conduct of the Avar (1634) . 431

The struggle protracted, and why 431

The Peace of Westphalia (1648) 432

Position of England under the Stuarts .... 433

Widening gulf between Anglicans and Puritans . . . 433

Hostility of James I. (1603-25) to the Puritans; the Hampton

Court Conference (1604) 434

Charles I. (1625-49) ; his arbitrary system of government . 436

Archbishop Laud (1633) 436

The League and Covenant of the Scots (1638) . . .437

The war between King and Parliament (1642) . . . 437
The Westminster Assembly ; parties in it (1642) . . . 437
Establishment of Presbyterianism ; how limited . . . 438
Cromwell (1653-58) and the Independents . . . .439

The settlers of New England (1620) 440

Their ecclesiastical system 440

Distinction between the Massachusetts and Plymouth settlers 440
Protestantism in Europe protected by Cromwell . . .441
Restoration of Charles IL (1660) ; how effected . . .441

The Presbyterians are deceived by the King .... 442

The Savoy Conference (1661) 442

Ejection of the Puritan ministers (1662) .... 443

XXX CONTENTS.

Demoralization of the English Court ...... 443

Alliance of Charles II. and Louis XIV. (1670) . . .443
Real designs of Charles betrayed ...... 444

James II. (1685-88) ; the Court of High Commission (1686) 444
He endeavors to win the support of the Puritans (1687) . 444

The Revolution of 1688 444

The Act of Toleration ........ 445

Failure of the Comprehension Bill ...... 445

Permanent establishment of Presbyter! anism in Scotland (1690) 446
Persecution of the Covenanters under James II. . . .447

Effect of Henry IV.'s death (1589) on the French policy . . 447
Revolt of the Huguenots (1621) ; its causes and effect . . 447
Louis XIH. (1610-1643) ; the aims of Richelieu (1624-42) . 448
His domestic policy ; his destruction of the Huguenot power

(1628) 449

Louis XIV. (1651-1715) ; his designs in respect to France and

to foreign powers ........ 450

The Assembly of 1682 ; the Four Propositions of Galilean

liberty 450

Adjustment with Innocent XII. (1691-1700) ; the work of Bos-
suet 451

Jansenism .......... 451

Declining reputation of the Jesuits ; Pascal (1623-62) . . 452
Suppression of Port Royal 1710; persecution of the Jansenists 452
Persecution of the Huguenots; Revocation of the Edict of

Nantes (1685) 453

Its effect on France ......... 454

Wars kindled by the ambition of Louis XIV. . . . 455

William of Orange (1650-1702), his antagonist . . .456

The result 456

Prostration of the Catholic Reaction ...... 456

Feebleness of the Papacy 457

Effect of the persecution of the Jansenists on the Catholic

Church 457

Approach of the era of revolutions 458

CHAPTER XIH.

THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

Two fundamental principles of Protestantism .... 459
No controversy between the two parties on the Trinity and

Atonement ...... . . 459

CONTENTS.

XXXI

Their difference on the doctrine of sin 460

The Protestant doctrine of justification .... 460

The relation of ethics to religion ...... 461

Protestant doctrine of the exclusive authority of the Scriptures 462
Agreement of the Protestant Churches on this point . . 462
The two Protestant principles unite in one .... 463

Roman Catholic doctrine of justification .... 463

The Protestant doctrine respecting the Church .... 465

The Roman Catholic doctrine respecting the Church . . 465
Respecting tradition ......... 465

Respecting the sacraments ....... 466

Sense of the phrase, ex opere operato ..... 467

Modifications of the Roman Catholic view . . . .467

Roman Catholic doctrine of the priesthood .... 468

Protestants maintain a universal priesthood of believers . 468

Protestant view of the number and design of the sacraments . 469
Effect of the Protestant view of justification upon various dog-
mas and practices . . . . . . . .470

Protestant controversies on predestination 472

Arminianism and its leaders (1610) 472

Political division between Arminians and Calvinists in Holland 473

The Synod of Dort (1616) 474

Arminian view of original sin and of the atonement . . 474
General character of the Arminian theologians . . . .475

The Anabaptists . . . . . . . . .475

The Antitrinitarians of the age of the Reformation . .477

Rise of Unitarianism in Italy . . . . . .477

Faustus Socinus (1539-1604) .... . . 478

The Socinian theology . . . . . . . .479

Efforts to unite Lutherans and Calvinists . . . . 481

Efforts to unite Protestants and Roman Catholics . 481

The endeavors of Grotius (1642) ... . . 482

His doctrinal position ..... . 483

Leibnitz and Bossuet ..... . . 484

End of the efforts at reunion . . . 486

XXXll

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIV

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES AND THEIB
RELATION TO THE CIVIL AUTHORITY.

Organization of Protestantism not uniform in the different coun-
tries 487

Protestants united in opposing Church government by a priest-
hood 488

The principles of Luther respecting church polity . . . 489

Not reaUzed and why 489

Luther and Melancthon on the authority of civil rulers in the

Church 489

Two characteristic features of the Lutheran polity . . 491

Origin of consistories . . . . . . . .491

The Synod of Romberg in Hesse ...... 492

Luther's opinion of its plan of Church government . . . 493
Ecclesiastical government by princes in Lutheran states . . 494
Theories on which it was founded ...... 494

Church government in the Reformed Churches . . .495
Zwingle's system ......... 495

Calvin's theory of Church government . . . . .497

The civil authority bound to suppress error . . . . -19 7

The Presbyterian constitution in France and in Scotland . 498
The Anglican establishment ....... 499

Various theories ; Erastianism ; Hooker .... 500

Warburton's theory ; Coleridge's theory 501

Gladstone ; Chalmers ; Macaulay 502

Convocation in the English Church ...... 504

Bellarmine on the indirect authority of the Pope in relation to

the temporal power . . . . . . . .504

The Jesuits advocate popular sovereignty ..... 505

Protestants maintain the divine right of kings . . . 506

The system of the New England colonists . . . , 606

Distinction between Plymouth and Massachusetts . • .507

The New England Ecclesiastical System 508

Roger Williams advocates religious liberty (circa 1635) . . 508
The Roman Catholic Church in the United States . . . 509

CONTENTS.

XXXIU

CHAPTER XV.

THE RELATION" OK PROTESTANTISM TO CULTURE AND CIVILIZA-
TION.

Necessary to consider fjicts in connection with principles
General comparison of Catholic and Pi'otestant nations

Passage from Macaulay

Passage from Carlyle

Influence of Protestantism upon liberty .

Political effects of the Reformation ....

What Protestantism did for liberty in Europe

In the United States

Protestants have been guilty of persecution .
This admitted to be inconsistent with their principles
Roman Catholics, how far responsible now for persecution
Influence of the Reformation on literature and science
The complaints of Erasmus ....

Efiect of the extinction of Protestantism in Spain
Loss of intellectual freedom and activity
Efiect of the extinction of Protestantism in Italy
Decline of literature and art .
Persecution of Galileo ....

The grounds of his condemnation .
Literature in France .....

The Prohibitory and Expurgatory Indexes
Effect of the censorship of books, on Italy .
Censorship of books in Protestant countries .
The press in the Puritan period ; Milton .
The press after the Restoration
Education by the Jesuits and their scholarship
The reading of the Bible ; policy of the Church
Why the laity first neglected the Bible
Intellectual efiect of the reading of the Bible in Protestant
tries ......

Influence of the Reformation on English Literature

Religious tone of Elizabethan writers

Effect of the Reformation on the German intellect

Its intellectual effect in Holland and Scotland

Influence of the Reformation on Philosophy

The Reformers' opinion of Aristotle

Renovation of philosophy by Bacon and Des Cartes

Bacon's tendency congenial with Protestantism

of Rome

510
510
510
511
513
515
516
515
516
517
518
519
519
520
521
522
522
523
524
525
526
527
527
528
528
529
530
531

532
532
533
534
535
536
536
537
537

CONTENTS.

The Cartesian method in contrast with the INIediEEval

Personal history and relations of Des Cartes (1596-1650)

His system condemned by the Sorbonne

Influence of the Reformation on other sciences

Protestantism and the Fine Arts

Comparison of the German and the Latin nations

Art in the Netherlands

Effe(;t of the Reformation on Religion .

Religion essential to civilization

Origin of infidelity in Europe

Protestant dogmatism provokes a revolt

This is carried to an extreme . . . •

Rise and spread of Deism ....

Transition to Pantheism ....

Scepticism in Roman Catholic countries

German Rationalism ; its two forms

Rise of the Critical School ....

Deistic and Pantheistic Rationalism
Schleiermacher .......

Neander on the origin and types of Rationalism
Multiplying of Protestant sects ....

Its effects

Source of these divisions

Tendency to unity

Principle of progress in Protestantism
Protestant and Catholic Missions .
Christianity not hostile to culture
Error of the Middle Ages ....
Protestantism avoids it .... .

538
538
539
540
540
540
541
541
541
542
543
543
543
544
544
545
545
546
546
546
548
548
549
550
550
550
551
652
552

APPENDlA.

I. A Chkoxological Table .
II. A List of Books on the Reformation
INDEX

555
567
593

THE EEFORMATIOK

CHAPTER I.

mTEODUCTION : THE GENERAL CHARACTEE, OF THE
REFORMATION.

The four most prominent events of modern history are
the invasion of the barbarians, which blended the Ger-
man and Roman elements of civilization, and subjected
the new nations to the influence of Christianity ; the
crusades, which broke up the stagnation of European
society, and by inflicting a blow upon the feudal system
opened a path for the centralization of the nations and
governments of Europe ; the Reformation, in which re-
ligion was purified and the human mind emancipated
from sacerdotal authority ; and the French Revolution, a
tremendous struggle for political equality. The Refor-
mation, like these other great social convulsions, was long
in preparation. Of the French Revolution, the last upon
the list of historical epochs of capital importance, De
Tocqueville observes : " It was least of all a fortuitous
event. It is true that it took the world by surprise ; and
yet it was only the completion of travail most prolonged,
the sudden and violent termination of a work on which
ten genei'ations had been laboring." ^ The method of
Providence in history is never magical. In proportion to
the magnitude of the catastrophe are the length of time
and the variety of agencies which are employed in pro-

1 Ancien Regime et la Revolution (7th ed., 1866), p. 31.
1

2 THE REFCRMATION.

ducing it. Events, because they are unexpected and
startling, are not to be ascribed merely to some proxi-
mate antecedent. The Protestant movement is often
looked upon as hardly less preternatural and astonishing
than would be the rising of the sun at midnight. But
the more it is examined, the less does it Avear this mar-
velous aspect. In truth, never was a historical crisis
more elaborately prepared, and this through a train of
causes which reach back into the remote past. Nor is it
the fact that such events are wholly out of the reach of
human foresight ; they cast their shadows before ; they
are the object of presentiments more or less distinct,
sometimes of definite prediction. ^

But in avoiding one extreme we are not to fall into the
opposite. We must take into account the personal qual-
ities and the plastic agency of individuals not less than
the operation of general causes. Especially if a revolu-
tion in long established opinions and habits of feeling is
to take place, there must be individuals to rally upon ;
men of power who are able to create and sustain in
others a new moral life which they have first realized in
themselves.

Notwithstanding that three centuries have since elapsed,
the real origin and significance of the Reformation remain
a subject of controversy. The rapid spread of Luther's
opinions was attributed by at least one of his contem-
poraries " to a certain uncommon and malignant position
of the stars, which scattered the spirit of giddiness and

1 Twenty years before the accession of Louis XVI., Lord Chesterfield wrote:
"In short, all the symptoms which I have ever met with in histor\% previous to
great changes and revolutions in government, now exist and daily increase in
France." Chestertield's Letters (Dec. 25, 1753) ; quoted by Carlj'Ie, History of
the French Revolution, ch. ii. In the fifteenth century, there were able men
who looked forward to an ecclesiastical revolution. Cardinal Julian C;vsarini,
who as papal legate presided at the Council of Basle, in a letter to Pope Eugene
IV., in 1431, predicted a great uprising of the laity for the overthrow of a cor-
rupt clergy, and a heresy more formidable than that of the Bohemians. Epist.
1. Julian, Card., in the Opera yE«<ecB Sylvii, p. 66. It is given in part b^
Raynaldus. 1431, No. 22 : extracts in Gieseler, Period, iir. v. c. 1, § 132. n. 6.

THEORIES RESPECTING THE REFORMATION, 3'

innovation over the world." ^ Although the astrological
solution has no advocates left, it was not wholly implau-
sible in that age when the ancient art of foretelling the
future by an inspection of the stars counted among its
believers so accomplished a scholar as Melancthon, a
statesman as sagacious as Burleigh, and a far-sighted
ecclesiastic like Pope Paul III., " who appointed no im-
portant sitting of the consistory, undertook no journey,
without observing the constellations and choosing the day
which appeared to him recommended by their aspect." ^

But other explanations of the Protestant movement,
which are hardly less imaginary and inadequate, have
been gravely suggested. When the reigning Pope, Leo
X., heard of the commotion that had arisen in Saxony, he
pronounced it a squabble of monks. This judgment,
which, considering the time and the source from which it
came, may not occasion much surprise, is reechoed by
writers so antagonistic to one another in their spirit as
Bossuet and Voltaire : one the champion of the anti-

1 Jovius, Historia, Lut. 1553, p. 134; quoted by Robertson, History of Charles
v., book ii.

2 Ranke, History of the Popes (Mrs. Austin's transl.), i- 249, 263. On the
influence of astrology in Italy, from the thirteenth century, see Burckhardt,
Die Cultur d. Renaissance in Italien, p. 512 seq. In vain was it attacked by
Petrarch, and, in common with alchemy, denounced by some of the popes.
Melancthon professes his faith in astrology. Corpus Reformatorum, iii. 516.
But the free-thinking Pomponazzi, and the celebrated publicist Bodin, shared in
this credulity. (See Lecky, History of Rationalism in Europe, i. 284.1 Cecil
consulted astrology respecting Queen Elizabeth's marriage. In the sixteenth
century, the famous astrologist, Nostradamus, was patronized by Henry II.
and Charles IX., and was visited in his retreat at Salon by persons of the highest
distinction. Even the great astronomers, Tycho Brahe and Kepler, did not
give up the faith in astrology. The latter, from a study of the constellations
under which Wallenstein was born, described his character (Ranke, Geschichte
Wallensteins, p. 1). Wallenstein's own devotion to astrology is made familiar
by the dramas of Schiller. Lord Bacon, although he pronounces astrology
"so full of superstition that scarce anything sound can be discovered in it,"
would still " rather have it purified than altogether rejected," and admits into
"Sane Astrology," predictions of seditions, schisms, and " all commotions or
greater revolutions of things, natural as well as civil." Be Aug. Sclent., m.
iv. It is only as a branch of physics and on the basis of induction, howev ;i,
that he allows any place for astrology.

4 THE REFORMATION.

protestant theology, and the other the leader of the party
of free-thinkers in the last century.^ Even a living Ger-
man historian, a learned as well as brilliant writer, speaks
of the Reformation as an academical quarrel that served
as a nucleus for all the discontent of a turbulent age.^
It is true that an Augustinian monk began the conflict by
assailing certain practices of a Dominican, that each
found much support in his own order, and that the rival
universities of Wittenberg and Leipsic enlisted on oppo-
site sides in the strife. But these are mere incidents. To
bring them forward as principal causes of a mighty his-
toric change, is little short of trifling.^ A class of persons
dispose of the whole question in a summary manner by
calling the Reformation a new phase of the old conflict
which the Popes had waged with the Hohenstaufen Em-
perors ; of the struggle between civil and ecclesiastical
authority. But the Reformation was not confined to
Germany : it was a European movement that involved a
religious revolution in the Teutonic nations, and power-
fully affected the character and destiny of the Romanic
peoples among which it failed to triumph. Moreover,
while the political side of the Reformation is of great
importance, both in the investigation of the causes and
effects of Protestantism, this is far from being the exclu-
sive or even predominant element in the problem. Polit-
ical agencies were rather an efl&cient auxiliary than a
direct and principal cause.

Guizot has presented his views respecting the nature

1 Voltaire, Essai sur les Mmurs, ch. 127, Diet. Phil. (Art. Cllmat) ; Bossuet,
Variations dts Prot. ; CEuv)-es, v. 521. The same thing is said by Hume.
" Martin Luther, an Austin friar, professor in the University of Wittenberg,
resenting the affront put upon his order," etc. History of England, ch. xxix.

2 Leo, Universalr/eschichte, iii. c. 2.

3 There is not the slightest ground for the notion that Luther was actuated by
resentment at a slight upon his order. As if the disposal of indulgences were an
honor that he coveted ! But it is not true that this business had been usually
given to the Augiistinians. See Pallavicini, lib. i. c. 3, § 7 ; Waddington,
History of the, Reformation, i. 134. Tlie origin of this imputation of jealou.sy
\s traced bj' Giescler, Church Uistwy, iv. I. 1 § 1, n. 17.

THEORIES RESPECTING THE REFORxMATION. O

of the Reformation, in a lecture devoted to this topic. ^
The Reformation, in his judgment, was an effort to deliver
human reason from the bonds of authority ; " it was an
insurrection of the human mind against the absolute
power of the spiritual order." It was not an accident,
the result of some casual circumstance ; it was not simply
an effort to purify the Church. The comprehensive and
most powerful cause was the desire of the human mind
for freedom. Free thought and inquiry are the legiti-
mate product, the real intent of the movement. Such is
Guizot's interpretation. But he is careful to add that his
definition does not describe the conscious purpose of the
actors who achieved the revolution. The Reformation,
he says, " in this respect performed more than it under-
took, — more, probably, than it desired." " In point of
fact^ it produced the prevalence of free inquiry ; in point
of principle^ it believed that it was substituting a legiti-
mate for an illegitimate power." The distinction between
the conscious aims of the leaders in a revolution, and the
real drift and ultimate effect of their work ; between the
direct end which they endeavor to secure, and the deeper,
hidden impulse, the undercurrent by which they are
really impelled, is one that is proper to be made. It
would appear evident, also, that the overthrow of the
authority of the Church must affect the principle of au-
thority in general ; so far, at least, as eventually to lead
to a scrutiny of the foundations of authority wherever it
is assumed to exist. Yet we venture to consider the in-
terpretation of Guizot defective as confining the import
and effect of the Reformation within too narrow limits.
The Reformation claimed to be a reform of religion ; it
was certainly a religious revolution ; and religion is so
great a concern of man and so deep and pervasive in its
influence, that this distinctive feature of the Reformation
must be held to belong to its essential cliaracter. In

1 General History of Civilization in Europe, lect. xii.

6 THE REFORMATION.

other words, the ultimate motive and final effect is not lib-
erty alone, but the improvement of religion like^vise.^

There is a class of writers who would make the Refor-
mation a transitional era, paving the way for freethink-
ing or unbelief. "We might say that there are two classes
who advocate this view. On the one hand Roman
Catholic writers have frequently declared Protestantism
the natural parent of Rationalism ; and on the other
hand, Rationalists themselves, who reject Christianity as
a supernatural and authoritative system, have applauded
the Reformation as a step toward their position. Both
classes of critics proceed on the assumption, that the
Christian religion is so far coincident mth the mediaeval
system, that the fall of the latter logically carries with it
the abolition of the former. Time was required for these
latent tendencies of Protestantism to develop themselves ;
they were hidden from the eyes of the Reformers them-
selves ; but, it is alleged, they have since become appar-
ent. This character was imputed to Protestantism, on
its first appearance, by its enemies, and is often charged
upon it by its theological adversaries at the present day.^
Thus, Balmes, the author of an extensive work on the
comparative ejffects of Catholicism and Protestantism
upon civilization, maintains that the system which he
opposes leads to atheism.^ Another recent Catholic writer
affirms, that " the principle of Rationalism is inherent
in the very nature of Protestantism." * For the opinions

1 Elsewhere Guizot himself says that the Reformation was essentially and
from the very first a religious reform ; and that, as to polities, " they were its
necessary means but not its chief aim." — St. Louis and Calvin, p. 150.

'- Montaigne states that his father began to instruct his family in natural
theology, on the first appearance of Protestantism, from the belief that it would
lead to atheism. — £ssais, ii. xii.

3 Protestantism and Catholicism compared in their Effects on the Civilization
of Europe (English translation, Baltimore, 1851), p. 60, and the note, p. 428.

4 J. B. Robertson, Esq., in the Life of Dr. J. A. Miihler, prefixed to the Eng-
lish translation of MoUqt^s Symbolism, p. xxxiii. ButMilhler himself appears
to dissent from the usual Catholic representation on this point, and to regard
Rationalism as the opposite of primitive Protestantism. Part ii. § liv. In

RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO RATIONALISM. 7

of the free-thinking school on this point, we may refer
to the series of historical works by M. Laurent, which
contain much valuable information, especially upon the
Middle Ages.^ This writer holds that Christianity itself
13 to give place to a religion of the future, the precise
character of which he does not pretend to describe. He
declares that revealed religion stands or falls with the
Papacy, and that Protestantism "leads to the denial of
the fundamental dogmas of historical Christianity." ^
He hails the Reformation as an intermediate stage in the
progress of mankind to that higher plane where Chris-
tianity is to be superseded. Whether Protestantism fos-
ters infidelity or not is a question which can be more intel-
ligently considered hereafter. It may be observed here,
however, that the Reformers themselves considered that
their work arrested the progress of unbelief and saved the
religion of Europe. Luther says that such were the
ecclesiastical abuses in Germany that frightful disorders
would infallibly have arisen, that all religion would have
perished, and Christians have become Epicureans.^ The
infidelity that had taken root and sprung up in the strong-
holds of the Church, in connection with the revival of
classical learning, threatened to spread over Europe.
Melancthon, in a familiar letter to a friend, affirms that
far more serious disturbances — longe graviores tumultus
— would have broken out, if Luther had not appeared
and turned the studies of men in another direction.* The
Reformation brought a revival of religious feeling, and
resulted, by a reactionary influence, in a great quick-

another place, however, he finds in pantheism a logical result of Protestant
views of predestination. § 27.

1 The title of the series is Etudes stir VHistoire de VHumanite, par F. Lau-
rent, Professeur a I'Universit^ de Gand.

2 " Le protestantisme conduit a la negation des dogmes fondamentaux du
christianisme historique." — La Papaute et I'Emjni-e (Paris, 1860), p. 41.

* De Wette, Luther's Briefe, iii. 439.

* Ad Camerarium (1529), Corjms Ref., i. 1083. See the remarks of Ncander
WissenschaftUche Ahhnndl., p. 62.

0 THE REFORMATION.

ening of religious zeal within the Catholic body. Laurent
himself elsewhere affirms that in the sixteenth century,
rehgion was in a state of decadence and threatened with
ruin ; ^ that Luther effected a religious revolution in the
mind of an age that was inclined to infidelity and mov-
ing toward it at a rapid pace ; ^ that he was a reformer
for Catholicism as well as for Protestantism ; that the
Reformation was the foe of infidelity and saved the
Christian world from it. But we cannot pursue the topic
in this place. Let it suffice here to interpose a warning
against incautious generalization.

The Reformation, whatever may have been its latent
tendencies and ulterior consequences, was an event "\vithin
the domain of religion. From this point of view it must
first, and prior to all speculation upon its indirect and re-
mote results, be contemplated.

What was the fundamental characteristic of this revo-
lution? Before, a vast institution had been interposed
between the individual and the objects of religious faith
and hope. The Reformation changed all this ; it opened
to the individual a direct access to the heavenly good of-
fered him in the Gospel.

The German nations which established themselves on
the ruins of the Roman Empire, received Christianity
with docility. But it was a Christianity, which, though
it retained vital elements of the primitive doctrine, had
become transformed into an external theocracy with its
priesthood and ceremonies. It was under this mixed
system, this combination of the Gospel with character-
istic features of the Judaic dispensation, that the new
nations were trained. Such a type of Christianity had
certain advantages in relation to their uncivilized condition.
Its externality, its legal character, as well as its gorgeous
ritual, gave it a peculiar power over them. But all
through the Middle Ages, whilst the outward, theocritic

1 La Roforme, p. 447. 2 lUd., p. 434.

PROTESTANTISM HAS A POSITIVE SIDE. 9

element that had been grafted on Christianity developed
itself more and more in the polity and worship of the
Church, the reactionary operation of the primitive, spir-
itual idea of the kingdom of God was likewise more and
more manifest. Within the stately and imposing fabric
of the ecclesiastical system, there was a force, as it were,
imprisoned, struggling for freedom, and gradually acquir-
ing strength sufficient to break down the wall that con-
fined it. " The Reformation, viewed in its most general
character, was the reaction of Christianity as Gospel
against Christianity as law." ^ It must also be remem-
bered that with the traditional form of Christianity
" there was handed down, in the sacred text itself, a
source of divine knowledge not exposed in like manner
to corruption, from which the Church might learn how to
distinguish primitive Christianity from all subsequent ad-
ditions, and so carry forward the work of purifying the
Christian consciousness to its entire completion." ^

Protestantism, therefore, had a positive as well as a neg-
ative side. It had something to assert as well as some-
thing to deny. If it discarded one interpretation of
Christianity, it espoused another. Old beliefs were sub-
verted, not as an effect of a mere passion for revolt, but
through the expulsive power of deeper convictions, a
purer apprehension of truth. The liberty which the
Reformers prized first and chiefly was not the abstract
right to choose one's creed without constraint, but a Ub-
erty that flows from the unforced appropriation by the
soul, of truth in harmony with its inmost nature and its
conscious necessities.

It is evident, also, from the foregoing statement, that in
Protestantism there was an objective as well as a subjec-
tive factor. The new type of rehgion, deeply rooted

1 Ullman, Reformatoren vor der Reformation, i. p. xiii.

2 Neander, General History of the Christian Religion and Church (Torrey's
transl.), iii- 1 seq. The view taken in the paragraph above substantially ac-
cords with that of Neander in the passage referred to.

10 THE REFORMATION.

though it was in subjective impulses and convictions,
owed its being to the direct contact of the mind with the
Scriptures. In them it found alike its source and its
regulative norm. This distinguishes Protestantism, his-
torically considered, from all movements on the plane of
natural religion, and stamps upon it a distinctively Chris-
tian character. The new spiritual life had consciously its
fountain-head in the writings of the Prophets and Apos-
tles. There was no pretense of devising a new religion,
but only of reforming the old, according to its own au-
thoritative standards.

Yet the Protestant Reformers, in transferring their al-
legiance from the Church to the Word of God, practically
asserted a right of private judgment. Their proceeding
was founded on a subjective, personal conviction. Deny
to the mdividual this ultimate prerogative of deciding
where authority in matters of religion is rightfully placed,
and then what the acknowledged rule of faith means, and
their whole movement becomes indefensible, irrational.
Hence intellectual liberty, freedom of thought and in-
quiry, was a consequence of the Reformation, that could
not fail to be eventually reahzed.

But while the Reformation in its distinctive character
is a religious event, it is not an isolated phenomenon.
It is a part and fruit of that general progress of society
which marks the fifteenth century and the opening of the
sixteenth as the period of transition from the Middle
Ages to modern civilization.^ This was the period of
inventions and discoveries ; when the magnetic compass
coming into general use enabled adventurous mariners
to steer their vessels into remote seas ; when gunpowder
revolutionized the art of war by lifting the peasant to the
level of the knight ; when printing by movable types

1 Weber, Weltgeschichte, ix. 307. Duruy, Ilist. des Temps J/o(/cnies (1453-
1789), p. 1 seq. J. I. Ritter, Kirchengeschichte, p. 142 seq. Humboldt, Cos-
mot (Bohn's ed.), ii. 601, 673. 683.

THE REFORMATION NOT AN ISOLATED EVENT. 11

furnished a new and marvelous means of diffusing knowl-
edge. It was the era of great nautical discoveries ; when
Columbus added another hemisphere to the world as
known to Europeans, and Vasco da Gama, sailing to In-
dia round the Cape of Good Hope, opened a new highway
for commerce. It was likewise the era when the heavens
were explored, and Copernicus discovered the true system
of the universe. Then, also, the masterpieces of ancient
sculpture and the literary treasures of antiquity were
brought forth from their tombs. It was the period of a
new life in art, the age of Raphael and Michael Angelo,
of Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Diirer. The revived
study of Greek and Latin literature was directing intel-
lectual activity into new channels. Equally momentous
was the change in the political life of Europe. Monarchy
having gained the victory over feudalism, the principal
kingdoms, especially France, Spain, and England, were
becoming consolidated. The invasion of Italy by Charles
VIIL, in 1494, commenced the wars of which Italy was at
once the theatre and the prize, and the conjfiicts of the
European States for the acquisition of territory or of as-
cendency over one another. To the intercourse of nations
by means of commerce, which had spread from Venice,
Genoa, and the towns of the Hanseatic League, through
the rest of Western Europe, was added the intercourse of
diplomacy. A state-system was growing up, in which
the several peoples were more closely connected by poHtical
relations. In the various changes by which the transi-
tional era is characterized, the Romanic peoples on the
whole took the lead. But the Reformation in religion
was not their work.

As Protestantism in its origin was not an isolated event,
so it drew after it political and social changes of the high-
est moment. Hence it presents a twofold aspect. On
the one hand, it is a transformation in the Church, in
which are involved contests of theologians, modifications

12 THE REFORMATION.

of creed and ritual, new systems of polity, an altered
type of Christian life. On the other hand, it is a great
transaction, in which sovereigns and nations bear a part ;
the occasion of wars and treaties ; the close of an old and
the introduction of a new period in the history of culture
and civilization.

The era of the Reformation, if we give to the term
this comprehensive meaning, embraces the interval be-
tween the posting of Luther's Theses, in 1517, and the
conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

CHAPTER IL

THE RISE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY AND ITS DECLINE
THROUGH THE CENTRALIZATION OF NATIONS.

One essential part of Protestantism was the abolition
of the authority of the hierarchical order, Bossuet has
remarked that if it is only abuses in the Church that
separate Protestants from Catholics, these abuses can be
remedied, and thus the ground of the existence of the
schism is taken away.^ But to say that the Reforma-
tion began in a protest against abuses of administration
is simply to say that Protestantism was not full-grown
at the start. In its mature form, as all the world knows,
the Reformation was a rejection of papal and priestly
authorit3\ In studying the movement, this is one of the
main points to which attention must be directed. In
inquiring into the causes of the Reformation, therefore,
we shall first review the rise and progress of the hier-
archical system, and show how it had been weakened in
the period immediately antecedent to the sixteenth cen-
tury. We shall then contemplate a variety of facts
which betokened a religious revolution and contributed
to produce it.

1 The extent of these abuses before the Reformation is admitted by the highest
Catholic authorities. Bellarmine says: " Annis aliquot, antequam Lutherana
et Calvinistica hseresis oriretur, nulla ferme erat, ut ii testautur, qui etiam
tunc virebant, nulla (inquam) prope erat in judiciis ecclesiasticis severitas, nulla
in moribus disciplina, nulla in sacris liferis eruditio, nulla in rebus divinis
reverentia, nulla propemodum jam erat religio." Opera, vi. 296; or Gerdesius
Hist. Evimtj. renovntt, i. 25. Pope Adrian VI. confessed to the Diet of Nu-
remberg in 1522 that the deepest corruption had infected the Holy See and
spread thence through the lower ranks of the clergy. Raynaldus, Annales, ann.
1522, No. 66; or Sleidan, l.iv. See, also, Bossuet, Variations des Prot., livr. i.
((Euvres, v. 519). The Letters of Erasmus abound in corroborative testimonies.

14 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

The idea of the authority of the sacerdotal order ia
separable from the idea of papal supremacy within it.
Yet, as a matter of fact, many of the causes that tended
to the overthrow of faith in the latter doctrine, operated
likewise to undermine the former. The keystone of the
arch could not be loosened mthout affecting the stability
of the whole structure. In the present chapter, the rise
and decline of the papal dominion will be the main sub-
ject of attention ; and in treating of the second branch of
the topic, the decline of the Papacy, we shall direct atten-
tion in particular to the influence of a cause which may
be denominated the spirit of nationalism.

The religion of the old dispensation is declared in the
Old Testament itself, by the prophets, to be rudimental
and introductory to a more spiritual system. This char-
acter of inwardness belongs to the religion of Christ,
which, for this reason, is fitted to be universal. Worship
is set free from legal restrictions, and from the external
and sensuous characteristics of the Jewish ritual. In one
grand feature, especially, is the religion of the New Tes-
tament distinguished from the preparatory system — the
absence of a mediatorial priesthood. The disciples were to
form a community of brethren, who should be associated
on a footing of equality, all of them being illuminated
and directed, as well as united, by the one Spirit. The
persevering efforts of the judaizing party to preserve the
distinctive features of the Jewish system and foist them
upon the Church, failed. The true, catholic interpreta-
tion of the Gospel, as giving liberty to the soul and dii-ect
access to God through the one high priest who super-
sedes all other priestly mediation — that interpretation
to which all of the Apostles assented in principle, but of
which Paul was so clear and steadfast an expounder — pre-
vailed in the Christian societies that were early scattered
over the Roman Empire. Their organization was simple.
The idea of a body in which, while all the members servo

PRIMITIVE CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 15

each other, they are still adapted to different functions,
for which they are severally designated by the ruling
principle — wliich, in the case of the Church, is the Di-
vine Spirit — lay at the root. As was natural, all of the
Christians in a town were united in one society, or ecclesia,
the old Greek term for an assembly legally called and
summoned. In each society there was a board of pastors,
called indifferently elders, presbyters — a name taken
from the synagogue — or bishops, overseers, a name given
by the Greeks to persons charged with a guiding over-
sight in civil administration. In the election of them,
the body of disciples had a controlling voice, although, as
long as the Apostles lived, their suggestions or appoint-
ments would naturally be accepted. These officers did
not give up, at first, their secular occupations ; they were
not even, at the outset, intrusted as a peculiar function
with the business of teaching, which was free to all and
specially devolved on a class of persons who seemed des-
ignated by their gifts for this work. The elders, with
the deacons wliose business it was to look after the poor
and to perform kindred duties, were the officers, to whom
each little community committed the lead in the manage-
ment of its affairs. The change that took place, either
(luring or soon after the age of the Apostles, by which
precedence was given in each board of pastors to one of
their number to whom the title of bishop was exclusively
appropriated, did not of itself involve any fundamental
alteration in the spirit or polity of the churches.^ But

1 The polity of the Church in the Apostolic age is admirably described by
Rothe, Die Anfdiige d. Christl. Kirche u. ihrer Verfassung (1837), although
Rothe's particular hypothesis respecting the origin of the Episcopate has found
little, if any favor. The Roman Catholic and Anglican view, that the Episco-
pate, as a distinct office, was ordained by the Apostles for the whole Church, is
maintained by Walter, Kirch cnrecht (13th ed., 1861). The counterpart, on the
Protestant side, of Walter's work is that of Richter, Kirchenrecht (7th ed., 1872).
There is an able historical Dissertation on the "Christian Ministry" by Prof.
Lightfoot, St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians (2d ed., 1869). The more usual
view of Protestants is advocated by Neander and Gieseler in their Church histo-
ries. See, also, Jacob, The Ecd. Polity of the Neio Testament (1872). The
controversial literature on the subject is enough to form a library.

16 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

as we approach the close of the second century we j6nd
marked changes, some of them of a portentous character ;
such as indicate that the process of externalizing the
Christian rehgion and the idea of the Church, has fairly
set in. The enlargement of the jurisdiction of bishops
by extending it over dependent churches in the neighbor-
hood of the towns, and the multiplying of church offices,
are chancres of less moment. But the officers of the Church
are more and more assuming the position of a distinct
order, which is placed above the laity and is the ap-
pointed medium of conveying to them grace. The con-
ception of a priesthood, after the Old Testament system,
is attaching itself to the Christian ministry. Along with
this gradual change there is an imperceptible yet grow-
ing departure from the fundamental doctrine of salva-
tion, as it had been set forth by Paul, and an adoption
of a more legal view, in which faith is identified with doc-
trinal belief, and hence is coupled with woi^ks, instead of
being their fruitful source. This doctrinal change and
this attributing of a priestly function and prerogative to
the clergy, were not in any considerable degree the re-
sult of efforts on the part of Jewish Christians and of
judaizing parties, which had been early overcome and
cast as heretical sects beyond the pale of the Church.
They were rather the product of tendencies in human
nature, which are liable to manifest themselves at any time,
and which serve to account in great part for the tenacious
adherence of the Jewish sectaries to their ritual. But
these tendencies were materially aided by the peculiar
circumstances in which the early Church was placed, of
which the abuse of the Pauline doctrine by Gnostic and
by Antinomian speculations was doubtless one. There
were causes which gave rise at once to the hierarchical
idea or doctrine and the hierarchical politj' . The perse-
cutions to which the Church was subject at the hands of
the Roman government, and still more the great conflict

GROWTH OF A HIERARCHY. 17

witli a swarm of heretical teachers who sought to amal-
gamate Christianity with various forms of Greek and
Oriental philosophy, suggested the need of a more com-
pact organization. The polity of the Church naturally
took a form corresponding to political models then exist-
uig. Confederated government was something familiar
to the Greek mind. The Church in the capital of a prov-
ince, with its bishop, easily acquired a precedence over the
other churches and bishops in the same district, and thus
the metropolitan system grew up. A higher grade of
eminence was accorded to the bishops and churches of
the principal cities, such as Rome, Alexandria, and Ephe-
sus; and thus we have the germs of a more extended
hierarchical sway.

Even as early as the latter part of the second century,
the Church has passed into the condition of a visible or-
ganized commonwealth. We find Irenaeus uttering the
famous dictum that where the Church is — meaning the
visible body with its clergy and sacraments — there is
the Spirit of God, and where the Spirit of God is, there is
the Church.^ To be cut off from the Church is to be sep-
arated from Christ. The Church is the door of access to
Him. We can also readily account fur the importance
that began to be attached to tradition ; for the defenders
of Christianity against Gnostical corruptions naturally
fell back on the historical evidence afforded by the pres-
ence and testimony of the leading churches which the
Apostles themselves had planted. Irenaeus and Tertul-
lian direct the inquirer to go to Corinth, Ephesus, Rome,
to the places where the Apostles had taught, and ascer-
tain whether the novel speculations of the time could
justly claim the sanction of the first disciples of Christ,
or had been transmitted from them.^ It is the pre-

i Adv. Hceres., iii. iii. § 1. Irenseus was Bishop of Lyons from 177 to 202.
2 Irenueus, Adv. Hmr., ill. iii. TertuUian, De Prmscript. Ilceret., c. xxxvi
TertuHian, a Presbyter at Carthage, died between 220 and 240.
2

18 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

eminence of Rome, as the custodian of traditions, that
Irenpeus means to assert in a noted passage in which he
exalts that Church.^ But this sort of preeminence might
contribute to prepare the way for another and a far dif-
ferent conception, which would connect itself with it.
The unity of the Church, this great visible society of
Christians, was realized in the unity of the sacerdotal
body. It was natural to seek and to find a head for this
body. And where should it be sought except at Rome,
the capital of the world, the seat of the principal Church,
where, as it was generally and perhaps truly believed,
Peter as well as Paul had perished as martyrs ? After
Peter came to be considered the chief of the Apostles,
and when, near the close of the second century, the idea
was suggested and became current that Peter had been
bishop of the Roman Church, a strong foundation was
laid in the minds of men for the recognition of the pri-
macy of that Church and of its chief pastor.^ The habit
of thus regarding the see of Rome, so far gains ground
that in tlie middle of the third century we find a Cyprian
whose zeal for episcopal independence would not tolerate
the subjection of one bishop to another, still speaking of
that see as the source of sacerdotal unity .^ The influ-
ences that gradually built up the primacy of the Roman
bishop, and had a special force of operation in the Western
Church, were multiform. Rome had a preeminence and
a grandeur in the estimation of men, such as no modern
cities, however splendid, have ever rivaled. To that cap-
ital the nations had been accustomed to look with awe.
Something of this reverence was easily transferred to the
Church which had its seat in the Eternal City. The cus-
tom of regarding the Roman Empire as a divinely consti-
tuted theatre for the Christian religion, which God had

. 1 Lib. III. iii. 2.

■■2 The first mention of Peter as Bishop of Rome is in the Clementine Homilieti
which were composed in the latter part of the second century.

8 Ep. Iv. ad Cornel.

PRECEDENCE OF THE ROMAN CHURCH. 19

moulded for this end by a long providential history, led
men to consider the capital of the Empire the predestined
metropolis of Christianity. In times of persecution, the
first intelligence of the gathering storm was often com-
municated from the Roman Church, whose bishops were
hkely to be the earliest victims. The Roman Church
was revered as the only apostolic see in the West. Many
of the churches of the West were planted by its agency ;
many received from it pecuniary aid. There were fewer
cities than in the East, and hence fewer competitors to dis-
pute the pretensions of the Roman bishop, and less room
for the development of the metropolitan system, which in
the East operated to a certain extent as a check upon
the ambition of any single prelate. From the beginning,
the Latin Church partook of the practical spirit of the
race among whom it was planted ; it kept on its path
more steadily, while the East, swayed by the speculative
spirit of the Greek, was convulsed by the great contro-
versies in theology, which mark especially the fourth and
fifth centuries. Through all the period of the Arian and
Nestorian conflicts, the Roman bishop stood sufficiently
apart from the contending parties to acquire great import-
ance in their eyes and to make his support coveted by
each of them. He was the powerful neutral whom it was
for the interest of all factions to conciliate. The desire to
gain the strength which the adhesion of so influential a
prelate must give, would induce partisans to resort to him
as an umpire, and to exalt his prerogative in flattering lan-
guage, such as under different circumstances they would
never have employed. At critical moments the Roman
bishop actually interposed with doctrinal formulas which
met with general acceptance ; the most memorable in-
stance being that of the CEcumenical Council of Chalce-
don (451), when the statement of the creed respecting the
person of Christ was substantially drawn from the letter
of Leo I. But how far the Eastern prelates were from

20 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

acknowledging the pretensions of the Roman bishop
was indicated at this very council, where a titulai and
honorary precedence was granted him, at the same time
that equality in other respects was claimed for the
Bishop of Constantinople, on account of his being bishop
of " New Rome." Leo was cut to the quick by this pro-
ceeding of the council, which placed his authority on so
precarious a foundation by making it dependent solely on
the political importance of the city where it was exerted.
He repels the declaration of the council with great
warmth, and asserts that the authority of spiritual Rome
is founded on the fact that it is the see of Peter. But
Leo does not renounce the advantages to be derived from
the commanding political position of Rome, but skillfully
interweaves this with the more vital consideration just
named. He claims that the Roman Empire was built up
with reference to Christianity, and that Rome, for this
reason, was chosen for the bishopric of the chief of the
Apostles. This idea as to the design of the Roman
Empire passed down to later times. It is implied in the
lines of Dante, where, speaking of Rome and the Empire,
he says : —

" Fur stabiliti per lo loco santo
U' siede il successor del maggior Piero." ^

K we watch the course of history for several centuries
after the second, we observe that the attempts of the
Roman bishops to exercise judicial or legislative functions
in relation to the rest of the Church, now succeed and
again are repulsed ; but on the whole, under all these
fluctuations, their power is increasing.

The accession of Constantine (311) found the Church
80 firmly organized under its hierarchy that it could not
be absolutely merged in the state, as might have been
the result had its constitution been different. But undei

1 "Were established as the holy place, wherein
Sits the successor of the greatest Peter."

Inferno, ii. 23-24.

AUGMENTED POWER OF ROMAN BISHOPS. 21

him and his successors, the supremacy of the state and
a large measure of control over ecclesiastical affairs were
maintained by the emperors. General councils, for ex-
ample, were convoked by them and presided over by
their representatives, and conciliar decrees published as
laws of the Empire. The Roman bishops felt it to be an
honor to be judged on\j by the emperor.^ In the
closing period of imperial history, the emperors favored
the ecclesiastical primacy of the Roman see, as a bond
of unity in the Empire. Political disorders tended to
elevate the position of the Roman bishop, especially
when he was a person of remarkable talents and energy.
In such a case the office took on new prerogatives. Leo
the Great (440-461), the first, perhaps, who is entitled
to be styled Pope, with the more modern associations of
the title, proved himself a pillar of strength in the midst
of tumult and anarchy. His conspicuous services, as in
shielding Rome from the barbarians and protecting its
inhabitants, facilitated the exercise of a spiritual jurisdic-
tion that stretched not only over Italy, but as far as
Gaul and Africa. To him was given by Valentinian III.
(445) an imperial declaration which made him supreme
over the Western Church.

The fall of the Western Empire (476) in one impor-
tant particular was of signal advantage to the popes : it
liberated them from subjection to the civil power. The
fate of the Eastern Church and of the see of Constantino-
ple might have been the fate of the Western Church and
of Rome, had its political situation been equally unpro-
pitious. The slavish condition to which the Roman
bishops were reduced in the brief period of the full
Greek rule in Italy, after the conquest of Justinian
(539-568), proves how closely the vigor and growth of
the papal institution were dependent on favor ng political
circumstances. From this ignoble servitude it was lib

' Gieseler, ii. i. 3, § 92.

22 RISE AND DECLINE ON THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

erated by the Lombard invasion, which broke down tlie
Greek power in the peninsuhi.

But the direct consequences of the fall of the Roman
dominion in the West had been disastrous to the Church
and to the Papacy.^ Christian Britain had been con-
quered by the heathen Saxons from the continent. Ari-
anisra had spread far and wide among the Germanic
tribes. The Greek Church, which became more and more
distinct from the Latin, in language, creed, and ritual,
attached itself with increasing loyalty to the Patriarch
of Constantinople. As Arianism was, step by step, dis-
placed by orthodoxy through the conquests of the Franks,
the authority of the Papacy was not proportionately ad-
vanced. Even the power of metropolitans in the differ-
ent countries sank, and the government of the Church
rested in the hands of the kings and of the aristocracy of
nobles and bishops. The bishops under the Merovingian
kings amassed wealth, but led unholy lives, with little
concern for the interests of religion. The disorder in the
Frank Church reached its height under Charles Martel.
At this time the heretical Lombards had founded their
kingdom in the heart of Italy; and the Arabs, having
carried their dominion over Africa and Spain, were ad--
vancing apparently to the conquest of Europe.

The fortunate alliance of the Papacy with the Franks
was the event on which its whole mediceval history turned.
They counted at their conversion, in the fifth century, only
about five thousand warriors. They gained the ascen-
dency over the Burgundians and Goths, and thus secured
the victory of the Catholic faith over the Arian type of
Christianity. This alone was an event of signal moment,
in its ultimate bearing on the papal dominion. Then
under Cluirles Martel, at Poitiers (732), they defeated the
Moslems who, in their victorious progress, were encircling
Christendom and threatening not only to crush the I'a-

1 1 Giesebrecht, Die Deutsche Kaiserzeit, i. 92.

THE PAPACY AND THE FRANKS. 23

pacy but even to extirpate Christianity itself. Under the
shield of the Franks, Boniface went forth to accomphsh
the conversion of the Germans ; himself an Anglo-Saxon,
of the nation Avliich had been won from heathenism by
missionaries sent directly from that pontiff whose reign
separates the ancient or classical from the mediaeval era
of the Church, Gregory the Great. The usurpation of
Pepin, the founder of the Carlovingian line, was hallowed
in the eyes of his subjects by the sanction obtained from
Pope Zacharias (750). The political renovation of the
Frankish monarchy was attended by an extension of the in-
fluence of the papal see. The Frankish Church was brought
into closer connection with Rome. The primacy of Peter
was universally recognized ; it even acquired, through the
labors of Boniface, a far higher significance than it had
ever before possessed.^ After the Lombards had wrested
from the Greeks their provinces in Italy, and were
threatening Rome, at a time, too, when, by the contro-
versy about the worship of images, the Western Church
was separated from the East and the Roman bishop was
left to protect himself, he turned to the Franks for assist-
ance against his heretical and aggressive neighbors. The
deliverance achieved first by Pepin (754-55), and then by
Charlemagne, resulted in the coronation of the latter, on
Christmas day, 800, in the Basilica of St. Peter by the
hands of the Pope. Thus Charles became in form what he
had made himself in fact, the Emperor of the West. The
idea of the perpetuity of the Roman Empire was never
lost from the minds of men. In the coronation of Charles,
the Pope virtually proceeded in the character of a represen-
tative of the Roman people, and his act signified the re-
vival of the Roman Empire. Charlemagne, while he
recognized the Pope as the spiritual head of the Church,
demeaned himself as a master in reference to him, as in
relation to his own bishops. But while the foundation

1 Giesebrecht, i. 97.

24 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

was laid for the papal kingdom in Italy by the grants of
Pepin and Charlemagne, a plausible ground was also fur-
nished for the subsequent claim that the Pope, by his
own authority, had transferred the Empire from the East
to the West, and selected the individual to fill the
throne.^ In later times the coronation of Charles lent
color to the pretended right of the pontiffs to exert a
governing influence in civil not less than in ecclesiastical
affairs.

As the divisions and conflicts of Charlemagne's em-
pire after his death tended to exalt the bishops who
were called in to act as umpires among rival aspirants or
courted for the religious sanction which they could give
to successful ambition, so did this era of disorder tend to
magnify the power of the recognized head of the whole
episcopate. In this period appeared the False or Pseudo-
Isidorian Decretals, which formuhzed, to be sure, ten-
dencies ah-eady rife, but still imparted to those tendencies
an authoritative basis and an augmented strength. The
False Decretals brought forward principles of ecclesiastical
law which made the Church independent of the State
and elevated the Roman See to a position unknown to
preceding ages. The immunity and high prerogatives
of bishops, the exaltation of primates, as the direct instru-
ments of the popes, above metropolitans who were closely
dependent on the secular rulers, and the ascription of the
highest legislative and judicial functions to the Roman
Pontiff, were among the leading features of this spurious
collection, which found its way into the codes of canon
law and radically modified the ancient ecclesiastical sys-
tem.^ There was only needed a pope of sufficient talents
and energy to give practical effect to these new princi-

1 For the history of the papal kingdom in Italy, see the work of Sugenheim,
Geschichte der Entstehung u. Ausbildung des Kirchenstaates (Leipzig, 1854);
also, a review of this work in the New Englander, vol. xxvi. (Jan. 1867).

2 On the date of the Pseudo-Isid. Decretals, see Niedner, Kirch engeschicktei
p. 396. They tirst appeared about the middle of the ninth century.

THE PAPACY AND THE EMPIRE. 25

pies ; and such a person appeared in Nicholas I. (858-
867). AvaiUng himself of a favorable juncture, he exer-
cised the discipline of the Church upon Lothair II., the
King of Lorraine, whom he forced to submit to the
papal judgment in a matrimonial cause, while he de-
posed the archbishops who had endeavored to baffle his
purpose. At the same time, Nicholas humbled Hincmar,
the powerful Archbishop of Rheiras, who had disregarded
the appeal which one of his bishops, Rothad of Soissons,
had made to Rome. Such exertions of power, for which
the False Decretals furnished a warrant, seem to antici-
pate the Hildebrandian age.

Anxious to deliver themselves from the control which
Charlemagne had established over them, the popes even
fomented the discord among the Prankish princes ; but the
anarchical condition into which the Empire ultimately fell,
left the Papacy, for a century and a half, the prey of
Italian factions, by the agency of which the papal office
was reduced to a lower point of moral degradation than
it ever reached before or since.^ This era — during a con-
siderable portion of which harlots disposed of the papal
office, and their paramours wore the tiara — Avas inter-
rupted by the intervention of the German sovereigns
Otho I. and Otho III. ; with the first of whom the Holy
Roman Empire, in the sense in which the name is used
in subsequent ages, the secular counterpart of the Pa-
pacy, takes its origin.^ The pontiffs preferred the sway
of the emperors to that of the lawless Italian barons.'
This dark period was terminated by Henry III., who
appeared in Italy at the head of an army, and, in 1046,
at the Synod of Sutri, which he had convoked, dethroned

1 The degradation of the Papacy in this period is depicted in the darkest
colors by the Roman Catholic annalist, Baronius. Annales, x. 650 seq. He even
infers a special divine preservation of the Church and of the Holy See.

2 Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, p. 80. This admirable work deser\-es to b«
read by every student of history.

8 Von Raumer, Geschichte der Ilohenstaufen, i. 20.

26 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

three rival popes, and raised to the vacant office one of
his own bishops.

The imperial office had passed into the hands of the
German kings, and they, like their Carlovingian prede-
cessors, rescned the Papacy from destruction. We have
reached the period when Hildebrand (1073-1085) ap-
peared Avith his vast reforming plan. While he aimed at
a thorough reformation of morals and a restoration of
ecclesiastical order and discipline, he coupled with this
laudable project the fixed design to subordinate the State
to the Church, and to subject the Chuich to the absolute
authority of the Pope.^ The prosecution of this enter-
prise, in which good and evil were almost inseparably
blended, by Hildebrand himself, and by a series of able
and aspiring pontiffs who trod in his footsteps, occasioned
the conflict between the Papacy and the Empire.

This conflict, with which mediaeval history for several
centuries resounds, was an inevitable consequence of the
feudal system. The dependence of ecclesiastical princes
upon their sovereign, and hence his right to invest them
with the badges of their office, must be maintained ; other-
wise the kingdom would be divided against itself. On
the contrary, such a relation on the part of bishops, in-
dependently of simony and kindred corruptions which were
connected with the control of secular rulers over the ap-
pointment of ecclesiastics, was naturally deemed fatal to
the unity of the sacerdotal body. To fix the bounds of
authority between the two powers, the Papacy and the
Empire, to whom the government of the world was sup-
posed to be committed by the ordinance of heaven, was
impracticable without a contest. That the Emperor was
commissioned to preside over the temporal affairs of men,
while the Pope was to glide and govern them in things
spiritual, was too vague a criterion for defining the limits

1 Gregory's system is well described by Voigt, Jlildehrand als Papst Gregch
ritu der Siebente, u. sein Zeitalter (Weimar, 1846), p. 171 seq.

STRUGGLE WITH THE EMPIRE. 27

of jurisdiction. The coordination, the equihbriura of the
two powers, was a relation with which, on the supposition
that it were practicable, neither party would be content.
It was a struggle on both sides for universal monarchy.
Consequently our sympathies can be given without re-
serve to neither party, or rather they must be given to
each so far as each labored to curb the encroachments and
prevent the undue predominance of the other. Neither
aimed at the destruction, but each at the subjugation, of
the other. It was a battle where society would have
equally suffered from the complete and permanent triumph
of either contestant.

The Papacy had great advantages for prosecuting the
warfare against the Empire, even apart from the force of
the religious sentiments which the head of the Church
could more easily invoke in his favor. There was an in-
congruity between the station attributed to the Emperor
and the fact that his actual dominion was far from being
coextensive with Christendom. He could assert nothing
more than a shadowy, theoretical supremacy over the
other kingdoms of Western Europe. The Pope, on the
contrary, was everywhere the acknowledged head of Latin
Christianity. If a jealousy for their own rights might
tempt other kings to make common cause with the Em-
peror against papal aggressions, this feeling would be
neutralized by the danger to other sovereigns that would
follow from the triumph and undisputed exaltation of the
Empire, Few kings were possessed of the magnanimity
of St. Louis of France, who exerted all the powers of
peaceful remonstrance to protect Frederic 11. from the
implacable vindictiveness of Gregory IX. Moreover, the
relation of the German emperors to the hierarchy of
their kingdom was quite different from that held by
Charlemagne, who acted the part of an ecclesiastical as
well as a civil ruler. An indispensable and effective sup-
port the popes found in the German princes themselves,

28 RISE AND DECLINE Or THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

the great vassals of the Empire, and in their disposition
to put checks upon the power of their sovereigns. The
same cause which impeded the emperors in acting upon
Italy, aided the popes in acting upon Germany. The
strength of the popes lay in the intestine divisions which
they could create there. The attempt of Gregory VII.
to dethrone Henry IV. would have been utterly hopeless
but for the disaffection which the arbitrary conduct of
Henry had provoked among his own subjects. On the
contrary, the municipal spirit of liberty in the Italian
cities, and their determined struggle for independence,
provided the popes with potent allies against the imperial
authority. The pontiffs were able to present themselves
in the attractive light of champions of popular freedom
in its battle with despotism. The crusades gave the
popes the opportunity to come forward as the leaders of
Christendom, and turn to their own account the religious
enthusiasm which spread as a fire over Europe. The im-
mediate influence of this great movement was seen in the
augmented power of the pontiffs, and the diminished
strength of the imperial cause. ^

The Papacy was victorious in the protracted struggle
with the Empire. The humiliation of Henry IV., whom
Hildebrand kept waiting for three winter days, in the
garb of a penitent, in the yard of the castle at Canossa,
whatever might be the disgrace which it inflicted upon
the imperial cause, was but the politic act of a passionate
young ruler, who saw no other way of regaining the alle-
giance of his subjects (1077). When the lifting of the
excommunication was found not to include the full resto-
ration of his rights as a sovereign, he took up arms with
an energy and success that showed how little his spirit
was broken by the indignities to which he had submitted.
The Worms Concordat which Calixtus II. concluded with
Henry V. in 1122, and which provided both for a secular
1 See Gieseler, iii. iii. 1, § 48.

HEIGHT OF PAPAL POWER. 29

and a spiritual investiture, was a marked, though not a
fully decisive, triumph of the Papacy. It was a great
step towards complete emancipation from imperial sway.^
But the acknowledgment which Frederic Barbarossa made
of his sin and error to Alexander III. at Venice, in 1177,
after a contest for imperial prerogatives which that mon-
arch had kept up for nearly a generation, was an impres-
sive indication of the side on which the victory was to
rest. The triumph of the Papacy appeared complete
when Gregory X. (1271-1276) directed the electoral
princes to choose an emperor within a given interval,
and threatened, in case they refused to comply with the
mandate, to appoint, in conjunction with his cardinals,
an emperor for them ; and when Rudolph of Hapsburg,
whom they proceeded to choose, acknowledged in the
most unreserved and submissive manner the Pope's su-
premacy.

It was during the progress of the struggle with the
Empire, that the papal power may be said to have cul-
minated. In the eighteen years (1198-1216) in which
Innocent III. reigned, the papal institution shone forth
in full splendor.2 The enforcement of celibacy had
placed the entire body of the clergy in a closer relation to
the sovereign pontiff. The Vicar of Peter had become
the Vicar of God and of Christ. The idea of a theocracy
on earth, in which the Pope should rule in this character,
fully possessed the mind of Innocent, who united to the
courage, pertinacity, and lofty conceptions of Gregory
VII., a broader range of statesmanlike capacity. In his
view tlie two swords of temporal and ecclesiastical power
had both been given to Peter and to his successors, so
that the earthly sovereign derived his prerogative from
the head of the Church. The king was to the Pope as
the moon to the sun - — a lower luminary shining with

1 Giesebrecht, i. 917.

2 Hurter, Geschichte Papst Innocent d. Driften, 3 vols. (1841).

30 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL fflERARCHY.

borroAved light. Acting on this theory, he assumed the
post of arbiter in the contentions of nations, and claimed
the right to dethrone kings at his pleasure. Thus he
interposed to decide the disputed imperial election in Ger-
many ; and when Otho IV., the emperor whom he had
placed in power, proved false to his pledges respecting the
papal see, he excommunicated and deposed him, and
brought forward Frederic II. in his stead. In his conflict
with J jhn, King of England, Innocent laid his kingdom
under an interdict, excommunicated him, and finally gave
his dominions to the sovereign of France ; and John,
after the most abject humiliation, received them baCk in
fee from the Pope. In the Church he assumed the char-
acter of universal bishop, under the theory that all epis-
copal power was originally deposited in Peter and his
successors, and communicated through this source to
bishops, who were thus only the vicars of the Pope, and
might be deposed at will. To him belonged all legis-
lative authority, councils having merely a deliberative
power, while the right to convoke them and to ratify or
annul their proceedings belonged exclusively to him. He
alone was not bound by the laws, and might dispense
with them in the case of others. Even the doctrine of
papal infallibility began to spread, and seems implied, if
not explicitly avowed, in the teaching of the most eminent
theologian of the age, Thomas Aquinas. The ecclesias-
tical revolution by which the powers that of old had been
distributed through the Church were now absorbed and
concentrated in the Pope, was analogous to the political
change in which the feudal system gradually gave place
to monarchy. The right to confirm the appointment of
all bishops, the right even to nominate bishops and to
dispose of all benefices, the exclusive right of absolution,
canonization, and dispensation, the right to tax the
churches — such were some of the enormous preroga-
tives, for the enforcement of which papal legates, clothed

DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAY SPIRIT. 31

with ample powers, were sent into all the countries oj
Europe, to override the authority of bishops and of local
ecclesiastical tribunals. The establishment of the famous
mendicant orders of St. Francis and St. Dominic raised
up a swarm of itinerant preachers who were closely
attached to the Pope, and ready to defend papal pre-
rogatives and papal extortions against whatever opposi-
tion might arise from the secular clergy. Gaining a foot-
hold in the universities, they defined and defended in
lectures and scholastic systems that conception of the pa-
pal institution in which all these usurpations and abuses
were contained.

But at the same time that the Papacy was achieving
its victory over the Empire, a power was at work in the
bosom of society, which was destined to render that vic-
tory a barren one, and to wrest the sceptre from the hand
of the conqueror. This power may be described as
nationalism, or the tendency to centralization, which in-
volved an expansion of intelligence and an end of the
exclusive domination of religious and ecclesiastical in-
terests.^ Tne secularizing and centralizing tendency,
a necessary step in the progress of civilization, was a
force adverse to the papal dominion. The enfranchise-
ment of the towns, which dates from the eleventh cen-
tury, and the growth of their power ; the rise of com-
merce ; the crusades, which in various ways lent a power-
ful impulse to the new crystallization of European
society; the conception of monarchy in its European
form, which entered the minds of men as early as the
twelfth century — these are some of the principal signs of
the advent of a new order of things. Before the end of

1 "The gradual but slow reaction of the national feeling (des staatlichen
Geistes) against ecclesiastical government in Europe (europiiische Kirchenrecht),
is, in general, the most weiglity element in the history of the ISIiddle Age; it
appears in every period under different forms and names, particularly in tho
struggle about investitures and the conflict of the Hohenstaufen, is continued in
the Reformation, in the French Revolution, and is still visible in the most re-
cent Concordats and in the antagonisms of our own time." — Gregorovius, G*-
tchichte der Sfadt Rom im MUtdalter, v. 561.

32 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

the tliirteentli century, the Last Syrian town in tlio hands
of the Christians was yielded to the Saracens, and the
pecuhar enthusiasm which had driven multitudes by an
irresistible force to the conquest of the holy places had
vanished. The struggle of the Papacy with the Empire
liad been really itself a contest between the ecclesiastical
and the lay elements of society. The triumph of the Pa-
pacy had been owing to the peculiar constitution and in-
trinsic weakness of the German monarchy. It had been
effected by the aid of the German princes ; but they, in
their turn, were found ready to resist papal encroach-
ments. From the t^me of the barbarian invasions,
Europe had formed, so to speak, one family, united by
the bond of religion, under the tutelage of the Papacy.
All other influences tended to division and isolation.
The empire of Charlemagne formed but a temporary
breakwater in opposition to these tendencies. The Ger-
man spirit of independence was unfavorable to political
unit3^ The feudal system was an atomic condition of
political society. In this state of things, the Church,
through its hierarchical organization under one chief, did
a beneficent work for civilization by fusing the peoples,
as far as its influence went, into a single community, and
subjecting them to a uniform training. The mediasval
Papacy, whatever evils may have been connected with it,
saved Europe from anarchy and lawlessness. " Provi-
dence might have otherwise ordained, but it is impossible
for man to imagine by what other organizing or consoli-
dating force, the commonwealth of the Western nations
cuuld have grown up to a discordant, indeed, and con-
flicting league, but still to a league, with that unity and
conformity of manners, visages, laws, religion, which have
made their rivalries, oppugnancies, and even their long,
ceaseless wars, 6n the whole to issue in the noblest,
highest, most intellectual form of civilization known to
man.^ " But the time must come for the diversifying of

1 Miliuaii, Ilistury of Latin Christianity, ii. 43. See also iii. 360.

THE VERNACULAR LITERATURE. 38

this unity, for the development of the nations in their
separate individuality. Tliis was a change equally indis-
pensable.

The development of the national languages which fol-
lows the chaotic period of the ninth and tenth centuries,
is an interesting sign of that new stage in the advance-
ment of civilization, upon which Europe was preparing to
enter. It is worthy of notice that the earliest vernacular
literature in Italy, Germany, France, and England in-
volved to so great an extent satires and invectives against
ecclesiastics. Many of the writers in the living tongues
were laymen. A class of lay readers sprang up, so that
it was no longer the case that " clerk " was a synonym for
one who is able to read and write. " The greater part
of literature in the Middle Ages," says Hallam, " at least
from the twelfth century, may be considered as artillery
leveled against the clergy."^ In Spain, the contest with
the Moors infused into the earliest literary productions
the mingled sentiments of loyalty and religion. ^ But in
Germany the minnesingers abound in hostile allusions to
the wealth and tyranny of ecclesiastics. Walter von der
Vogelweide, the greatest of the lyric poets of his time,
a warm champion of the imperial side against the popes,
denounces freely the riches and usurpations of the
Church.^ It is true that the brute epic, of which Rey-
nard the Fox may be considered the blossom, which
figures largely in the early literature of Germany and
the neighboring countries, was not didactic or satirical
in its design.* But it was later converted into this use
and turned into a vehicle for chastising the faults of
priests and monks. ^ The Provencal bards were bold and

'^Literature of Europe, i. 150.
2 Ticknor, History of Spanish Literature, i. 103.

8 Kurtz, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur, i. 48 seq., where passages
are given.
1 Vilmar, Gsch. d. deutsch. Lit., p. 296 seq.
6 See Gervinus, Gsch. d. deutsclLen Lit., i. 141.

34 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

unsparing in their treatment of the hierarchy until they
were silenced by the Albigensian crusade. In Italy,
Dante and Petrarch signalized the beginning of a
national literature by their denunciation of the vices and
usurpations of the Papacy ; while in the prose of
Boccacio the popular religious teachers are a mark for
unbounded ridicule. English poetry begins with con-
temptuous and indignant censure of the monks and
higher clergy, with the boldest manifestations of the
anti-hierarchical tendency. " Teutonism," says Milman,
"is now holding its first initiatory struggle with Latin
Christiamt5\" ^ " The Vision of Piers' Ploughman," by
William Langland, which bears the date of 1362, is
from the pen of an earnest reformer who values reason
and conscience as the guides of the soul, and attributes
the sorrows and calamities of the world to the wealth
and worldly temper of the clergy, and especially of the
mendicant orders.^ The poem ends with an assertion of
the small value of popes' pardons and the superiority of
a righteous life over trust in indulgences. " Pierce the
Plovighman's Crede," is a poem from another hand, and
supposed to have been written in 1394. The poet intro-
duces a plain man who is acquainted ^vith the rudi-
ments of Christian knowledge and wants to learn his
creed. He applies successively to the four orders of
mendicant friars, who give him no satisfaction, but rail at
each other, and are absorbed in riches and sensual indul-
gence. Leaving them, he finds an honest ploughman, who
inveighs against the monastic orders and gives him the
instruction which he desires.^ The author is an avowed

1 History of Latin Christianity, viii. 372. la this and in the three preced-
ing chapters, Milman gives an interesting description of tlie early vernacular
literatures. In ch. iv. he speaks of the satirical Latin poems that sprang up
among the clergy and within the walls of convents

2 The poem is amsng the publications of the Early English Text Society. It
is anal-zed in the preface of Part I. Text A. See also, Warton, History of
English Poetry, sect. viii. (vol. ii. 44).

<i The poem is published by the Early English Text Society (18G7). Warton,
sect. ix. (ii. 87).

THE VERNACULAR LITERATURE. 35

WicklifRte. Chaucer, in the picture of social life which
he has drawn in the " Canterbury Tales," shows himself
in full accord ^vith Wickliffe in the hostility to the men-
dicant friars. Chaucer reserves his admiration for the
simple and faithful parish priest, " rich in holy thought
and work ; " the higher clergy he handles in a genuine
anti-sacerdotal spirit. In the " Pardoner," laden with
his rehcs, and with his wallet

" Brimful of pardons, come from Rome all hot,"

he depicts a character who even then excited scorn and
reprobation.

It is curious to observe in many of the early writers
who have been referred to, how reverence for religion and
for the Church is blended with bitter censure of the ar-
rogance and wealth of ecclesiastics ; how the spiritual
office of the Pope is distinguished from his temporal
power. In the one character he is revered, in the other
he is denounced. The fiction of Constantine's donation
of his western dominions to Pope Silvester, which was
current in the Middle Ages, accounted for all the evils of
the Church, in the judgment of the enemies of the tem-
poral power. There was the source of the pride and
wealth of the popes. Dante adverts to it in the lines :

"Ah, Constantine, of how much ill was mother,
Not thy conversion, but that marriage-dower.
Which the first wealthy father took from thee." ^

And in another place, he refers to Constantine, who

"Became a Greek by ceding to the Pastor,"

and says of him in Paradise,

" Now knoweth he how all the ill deduced
From his good action is not harmful to him.
Although the world thereby may be destroyed." ^

1 Inf. xix. 115. " Ahi, Costantin, di quanto mal fu matre,

Non la tua conversion, ma quella dote
Che date prese il primo ricco patre ! "

2 Parad. xx. 58. " Ora conosce come '1 mal, dedutto

Dal suo bene operar, non gli k nocivo,
Avvegna che sia '1 mondo indi distrutto."

36 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

We find a like lament respecting the fatal gift to Sil-
vester, in the Waldensian poem, " The Noble Lesson."
Walter von der Vogelweide makes the angels, when Con-
stantine endowed Silvester with worldly power, cry out
with grief ; and justly, he adds, since the popes were to
use that power to ruin the emperors and to stir up the
princes against them.^ These bitter lamentations con-
tinue to be heard from advocates of reform, until the tale
of the alleged donation was discovered to be destitute of
truth.2

The anti-hierarchical spirit was powerfully reinforced
by the legists. From the middle of the thirteenth cen-
tury the University of Bologna rose in importance as the
great seat of the revived study of Roman jurisprudence.
As Paris was the seminary of theology, Bologna was the
nursery of law. Law was cultivated, however, at other
universities.^ That a class of laymen should arise who
were devoted to the study and exposition of the ancient
law was in itself a significant event. The legists were
the natural defenders of the state, the powerful auxilia-
ries of the kings.* Their influence was in opposition to
feudalism and on the side of monarchy, and j)laced bul-
warks round the civil authority in its contest against the
encroachments of the Church. The hierarchy were con-
fronted by a body of learned men, the guardians of a
venerable code, who claimed for the kings the rights of
Csesar, and could bring forward in opposition to the can-
ons of the Church canons of an earlier date.^

The effectual reaction against the Papacy dates from
the reign of Boniface VIII. , who cherished to the full

1 Kurtz, Gsch. d. deutsch. Lit., i. 50. The sonnet — "DerPfaffen wahl " —
is given by Kurtz, p. 56.

2 The first public and formal exposure of the fiction was made by Laurentius
Valla in the fifteenth century.

8 Savigny, Geschichte des rom. Recht., iii. ]52seq.
■* Laurent, Feodalite et I'j^glise, p. G30.
6 Milman, vi. 241.

CONFLICT OF PHILIP VI. AND BONIFACE Vin. 37

extent the theories of Hildebrand and Innocent III., but
was destitute of their sagacity and practical wisdom.^
The resistance that he provoked sprang from the spirit
which we have termed nationalism. The contest in
which the Hohenstaufen had perished, was taken up by
the King of France, the country which throughout the
Middle Ages had been the most faithful protector of the
Papacy, and whose royal house had been established by
the popes on an Italian throne as a bulwark against the
Empire. It was ordained that their protectors should be-
come their conquerors.^ The conflict of Boniface with
Philip the Fair is of remarkable interest for many rea-
sons. One source of Boniface's anger was the levying
by Philip of extraordinary taxes on the clergy and his
prohibiting of the exportation of gold and silver from
his kingdom. Another point, in the highest degree in-
teresting, is the manner in which the rights of the laity
in relation to the clergy come up for discussion. One de-
fining characteristic of the Protestant Reformation was
the release of the laity from subserviency to clerical con-
trol. There is something ominous in the opening words
which give its title to one of the famous bulls of this
pontiff : Clericis laieos. It begins with reminding Philip
that long tradition exhibits laymen as hostile and mis-
chievous to clergymen. Not less significant, in the light
of subsequent history, is one of the responses of Philip
to the Pope's indignant complaints, in which the king
afiirms that " Holy Mother Church, the Spouse of Christ,
is composed not only of clergymen, but also of laymen ; "
that clergymen are guilty of an abuse when they try to
appropriate exclusively to themselves the ecclesiastical

1 Drumann, Gsch. Bonifadus des Achten {Ho2.) An apologetic biographer
of Boniface is Tosti, Sturia di Bonifucio VIII. e de' suoi te injn {lSi6). In
the same vein is the article of Wiseman (in review of Sismondi), Essays on
Various Subjects, iii. 161 seq. Schwab, in the (Roman Catholic) QuartaU
schrift (1846, No. 1), considers that Tosti and Wiseman are unduly biased in
favor of Boniface. His reign was from 1294: to 1303.

2 Gregorovius, Geschichte d. Stadt Rom im Mittehdter, v. 560.

38 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

liberty with which the grace of Christ has made us free ;
that Clirist himself commanded to render to Caasar the
things that are Casar's. More remarkable still is the
fact that Philip twice summoned to his support the es-
tates of his realm, and that the nation stood firmly by its
excommunicated sovereign. The pontifical assertions in
regard to the two swords, the supremacy of the ecclesias-
tical over the temporal power, and the subjection of
every creature to the Pope, who judges all and is judged
by none, were met by a determined resistance on the
part of the French nation. When Boniface summoned
the French clergy to Rome to sit in judgment on the
king, the act aroused a tempest of indignation. The
Papal Bull, snatched from the hand of the Legate, was
publicly burned in Notre Dame, on the 11th of February,
1302. The clergy of France addressed to the incensed
pontiff a denial of his proposition that in secular matters
the Pope stands above the King. Finally all France
united in an appeal to a general council. It was by two
laymen, William of Nogaret, keeper of the king's seal,
and Sciarra Colonna, that the personal attack was made
on Boniface at Anagni, which resulted shortly afterwards
in his death (1303).

We have now reached the point when the prestige of
the Papacy began to wane as rapidly as, in the preceding
centuries, it had grown. This fall was due to the
expansion of intelligence, to the general change in society
to which reference has been made. But it was acceler-
ated by influences which were subject, to a considerable
extent, to the control of the popes themselves. It is the
period of the Babylonian captivity, or the long resi-
dence of the popes at Avignon, and of the great schism.^
During a great part of this period the Papacy was.
enslaved to France, and administered in the interest of
the French court. This situation impelled the popes to
unjust and aggressive measures toward Germany, Eng-

LOSS OF PRESTIGE. 39

land, and other Catholic countries, measures which could
not fail to provoke earnest resentment. France was will-
ing, as long as the Papacy remained her tool, to indulge
the popes in extravagant assertions of authority, which
could only have the effect to aggravate the opposition on
the part of other nations. The revenues of the court
at Avignon were supplied by means of extortions and
usurpations which had been hitherto without example.
The multiplied reservations of ecclesiastical offices, even
of bishoprics and parishes, which were bestowed by the
popes upon unworthy persons, or given in commeiidam
to persons already possessed of lucrative places ; the
claim of the first fruits or annates — a tribute from
new holders of benefices — and the levying of burdensome
taxes upon all ranks of the clergy, especially those of the
lower grades, were among the methods resorted to for
replenishing the papal treasury. The effect of these
various forms of ecclesiastical oppression upon pubhc
opmion was the greater, when it was known that the
wealth thus gained went to support at Avignon an ex-
tremely luxurious and profligate court, the boundless im-
morality of which has been vividly depicted by Petrarch,
an eye-witness.

The attempt of John XXII. to maintain the absolute
supremacy of the Pope over the Empire and to deprive
Louis of Bavaria of his crown, that he might place it on
the head of the King of France, had an effect in Ger-
many analogous to that produced in France by the con-
flict of Boniface and Philip. The imperial riglits found
the boldest defenders. At length, in 1338, the electoral
princes solemnly declared that the Roman king receives
his appointment and authority solely from the electoral
college.

In England, from the Constitutions of Clarendon under
Henry II., in 1164, there had been manifest a disposition
to limit the jurisdiction and set bounds to the encroach-

40 RISK AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

ments of the Church, and especially to cui'tail foreign
ecclesiastical interference in the affairs of the kingdom.^
Now that the Papacy had become the instrument of
France, this spirit of resistance was naturally quickened.
Two important statutes of Edward III. were the con-
sequence : the statute of provisors, which devolved on
the King the right to fill the Church offices that had
been reserved to the Pope ; and the statute of pra^mu-
nire, which forbade subjects to bring, by direct prosecu-
tion or appeal, before any foreign tribunal, a cause that
fell under the King's jurisdiction.

In this contest of the fourteenth century, " monarchy "
was the watchword of the adversaries of the Papacy, the
symbol of the new generation who were breaking loose
from the dominant ideas of the Middle Ages. " The mon-
archists rose against the papists." ^ In France it was the
rights of the throne and its independence of the Church
which were maintained by the jurists, and by the school-
men, as John of Paris and Occam, who came to their
help. In Germany it was the old imperial rights as de-
fined in the civil law, and as preceding even the exist-
ence of the Church, that were defended. In opposition
to the pohtical ideas of his master in theology, Thomas
Aquinas, Dante wrote his noted treatise on monarchy,
in advocacy of Ghibelline principles, against the claims
of the popes to temporal power. Apart from the great
influence of this book, and outside of Italy, the question
of the origin of the Empire and the nature of monarchy
in general, led to earnest investigation. In Germany
especially, legists and theologians immersed themselves
in historical and critical inquiries upon the foundation
of civil authority, and the ground on which papal inter-
ferences with secular government professed to repose.

1 The Constitutions of Clarendon are fully described by Renter, Gesckich «
Alexanders d. Dritten u. d. Kircke seiner Zeit., 3 vols. (18G0.)
* Gregorovius, vi. 124.

THE MONARCHISTS AND THE PAPISTS. 41

These writers did not stop with confuting the notion
that the Empire was transferred by papal authority from
the East to the West. The celebrated work of Marsilius
of Padua, the " Defensor Pacis," went beyond the ideas of
the age, and assailed even the spiritual authority of the
Roman bishop. It denied that Peter was supreme over
the other Apostles, and even denied that he can be proved
to have ever visited Rome. This work maintained the
supreme autliority of a general council. The Minorites,
or schismatical Franciscans, who insisted on the rule of
poverty as binding on the clergy, and accused John
XXII. of heresy for rejecting their principle, contended
on the same side. William of Occam seconded Marsilius
in a treatise entitled, " Eight Questions on the Power of
the Pope." Occam, like Dante, rested his denial of the
validity of the alleged donation of Constantine on the
ground that an emperor had no right to renounce the in-
alienable rights of the Empire. He placed the Emperor
and the General Council above the Pope, as his judges.
Coronation, he said, was a human ceremony, which any
bishop could perform. " These bold writings attacked the
collective hierarchy in all its fundamental principles ; they
inquired, with a sharpness of criticism before unknown,
into the nature of the priestly office ; they restricted
the notion of heresy, to which the Church had given so
wide an extension ; they appealed, finally, to the Holy
Scripture, as the only valid authority in matters of faith.
As fervent monarchists, these theologians subjected the
Church to the State. Their heretical tendencies an-
nounced a new process in the minds of men, in which
the unity of the Catholic Church went down." It is to be
observed that among the principal literary champions of
Louis of Bavaria there was found a representative of
each of the cultivated nations of the West.^

* Gregorovius, vi. 129, 130. Copious extracts from the Defensor Pad$,
which was the joint production of Marsilius of Padua and John of Jandun,
the Emperor Louis's physician, are given by Gieseler, iii. iv. c. 1, § 99, n. 15.

■12 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

During the schism which ensued upon the election of
Urban VI. in 1378, there was presented before Christen-
dom the spectacle of rival popes imprecating curses
upon each other ; each with his court to be maintained
by taxes and contributions, which had to be largely in-
creased on account of the division. When men were com-
pelled to choose between rival claimants of the office, it
was inevitable that there should arise a still deeper inves-
tigation into the origin and grounds of papal authority.
Inquirers reverted to the earlier ages of the Church, in
order to find both the causes and the cure of the dreadful
evils under which Christian society was suffering. More
than one jurist and theologian called attention to the am-
bition of the popes for secular rule and to their oppressive
domination over the Church, as the prime fountain of
this frightful disorder.

We have now to glance at the vigorous and prolonged
endeavors, which proved for the most part abortive, to
reform the Church " in head and members." Princes
intervened to make peace between popes, as popes had
before intervened to make peace between princes.' It is
the era of the Reforming Covmcils of Pisa, Constance, and
Basel, when, largely under the lead of the Paris theolo-
gians, a reformation in the morals and administration of
the Church was sought through the agency of these
great assemblies.^ The theory on which D'Ailly, Ger-
8on, and the other leaders who cooperated with them,
proceeded, was that of episcopal, as contrasted with pa-
pal, supremacy. The Pope was primate of the Church,
but bishops derived their authority and grace for the dis-
charge of their office, not from him, but from the same
source as that from which he derived his powers. The
Church, when gathered together by its representatives in
a general council, is the supreme tribunal, to which the
Pope himself is subordinate and amenable. Their aim

1 Laurent, Ln Eefarnie, p. 2J. 2 (1409-1443.)

THE REFORMING COUNCILS. 43

was to reduce him to the rank of a constitutional instead
of an absolute monarch. The GalKcan theologians held
to an infallibihty residing somewhere in the Chiirch ;
most of them, and ultimately all of them, placing this
infallibility in oecumenical councils. The flattering hopes
under which the Council of Pisa opened its proceedings,
were doomed to disappointment, in consequence of the
reluctance of the reformers to push through their meas-
ures without a pope, and the failure of Alexander V. to
redeem the pledges which he had made them prior to
his election. Moreover, the schism continued, with three
popes in the room of two. The Council of Constance
began under the fairest auspices. The resolve to vote by
nations was a significant sign of a new order of things,
and crushed the design of the flagitious Pope John
XXIII. to control the assembly by the preponderance
of Italian votes. Solemn declarations of the supremacy
and authority of the Council were adopted, and were
carried out in the actual deposition of the infamous Pope.
But the plans of reform were mostly wrecked on the same
rock on which they had broken at Pisa. A pope must be
elected ; and Martin V. , once chosen, by skillful manage-
ment and by separate arrangements with different princes,
was able to undo, to a great extent, the salutary work of
the Council, and even before its adjournment to reassert
the very doctrine of papal superiority which the Council
had repudiated. The substantial failure of this Council,
the most august ecclesiastical assemblage of the Middle
Ages, to achieve reforms which thoughtful and good men
everywhere deemed indispensable, was a proof that some
more radical means of reformation would have to be
adopted. But another grand effort in the same direction
was put forth ; and the Council of Basel, notwithstanding
that it adopted numerous measures of a beneficent charac-
ter, which were acceptable to the Catholic nations, had at
last no better issue ; for most of the advantages that were

44 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

granted to them and the concessions that were made by
the popes, especially to Germany, they contrived after-
ward, by adroit diplomacy, to recall.

If we look at the condition of Europe in the fifteenth
century, after the time of the schism and the reforming
councils, we observe that political considerations have
sway, in the room of distinctively ecclesiastical motives
and feelings.^ National rivalries and the ambition of
princes are everywhere prominent. The sovereigns of
Europe are endeavoring to augment their power at the
expense of the Church, especially by taking into their
hands ecclesiastical appointments. It was during the
fifteenth century that the European monarchies were ac-
quiring a firm organization. In England the wars of the
Roses ended with the accession of Henry VII., and in his
son and successor the rights of both lines were united.
In France the century of strife with England had been
followed by the reduction of the great feudatories to sub-
jection to the crown. In Spain, Castile and Aragon were
united by the marriage of their sovereigns, and their
kingdom was consolidated by the conquest of Granada.

At this critical epoch, when it would have been in the
highest degree difiicult for pontiffs devoted to the inter-
ests of religion to breast the dominant spirit of national-
ism, it appeared to be the sole ambition of a series of
popes to aggrandize their families or to strengthen the
states of the Church. No longer absorbed in any grand
public object, like the crusades, they plotted and fought
to build up principalities in Italy for their relatives. To
the furtherance of such worldly schemes, they often applied
the treasures which they procured by taxing the Church
and from the sale of church ofl&ces. The vicious character
of several of them augmented the scandal which this cor-

1 The controversy, during this period, between the advocates of the aristo-
tratic or Galilean and of the papal systems, is described, with copious citations
from the polemical writers who participated in it, by Gieseler, Church Uistory
III. V. i. § 136.

MORAL FALL OF THE PAPACY. 45

rupt policy created. Sixtus IV., aiming to found a prin-
cipality for his nephew — or, according to Machiavelli,
his illegitimate son Girolamo Riario — favored the con-
spiracy against the lives of Julian and Lorenzo de Medici,
which resulted in the assassination of the former on the
steps of the altar, during the celebration of high mass.
He then joined Naples in making war on Florence. In
order to gain Ferrara for his nephew, he first incited
Venice to war ; but when his nephew went over to the
side of Naples, the Pope forsook his Venetian allies and
excommunicated them. Little regard was paid to this
act, and his consequent chagrin hastened his death. In-
nocent VIII., besides advancing the fortunes of seven
illegitimate children, and waging two wars with Naples,
received an annual tribute from the Sultan for detaining
his brother and rival in prison, instead of sending him to
lead a force against the Turks, the enemies of Christen-
dom. Alexander VI., whose wickedness brings to mind
the dark days of the Papacy in the tenth century, occu-
pied himself in building up a principality for his favorite
son, that monster of depravity, Caesar Borgia, and in
amassing treasures, by base and cruel means, for the sup-
port of the licentious Roman Court. He is said to have
died of the poison which he had caused to be prepared
for a rich cardinal, who bribed the head cook to set it be-
fore the Pope himself. If Julius II. satisfied the ambi-
tion of his family in a more peaceable way, he still found
his enjoyment in war and conquest, and made it his sole
task to extend the States of the Church. He organized
alliances and defeated one enemy after another, forcing
Venice to succumb, and not hesitating, old man as he was,
to take the field himself, in winter. Having brought in
the French, and joined the league of Cambray for the sake
of subduing Venice, he called to his side the Venetians
for the expulsion of the French (1510).^

I Germany embodied its complaints against the c( rrupt and extortionate ad-

46 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

This absorption of the popes in selfish and secular
schemes was not in an age of ignorance, but just at the
period when learning had revived and when Europe had
entered upon an era of inventions and discoveries which
were destined to put a new face upon civilization. The
demoralized condition of the Church was a fact that
could not fail to draw to itself general attention.

Leo X., made a cardinal at the age of thirteen and
pope at thirty-seven, whose pontificate was to be signal-
ized by the beginning of the Reformation, was free from
the revolting vices which had degraded several of his
near predecessors, and from the violent and belligerent
temper of Julius II., who immediately preceded him.^
Yet the influence of his character and j>olicy was calcu-
lated to strengthen the disaffection toward the Papacy.
Sarpi, in his " History of the Council of Trent," after prais-
ing the learning, taste, and liberality of Leo, remarks with
fine wit, that " he would have been a perfect Pope, if he
had combined with these qualities some knowledge of the
affairs of religion and a greater inclination to piety, for
neither of which he manifested much concern." ^ Even
Pallavicini, the opponent of Sarpi, laments that Leo called
about him those who were rather familiar with the fables
of Greece and the delights of the poets than with the
history of the Church and the doctrine of the fathers.
He deplores the devotion of Leo to profane studies, to
hunting, jesting, and pageants ; to employments ill suited
to his exalted office. If he had been surrounded by theo-

ministration of Julius, as related to that country, in Gravamina. A revolt against
ecclesiastics, or a great defection from the Roman Church, like that of the Bo-
hemians, were declared to be imminent, if these evils were not corrected.
— Gieseler, iii. v. 1, § 135, n. 8.

1 There is no ground for believing the scandalous charges of immorality whicli
have been made against him. They are brought together from the original
sources in Bayle's Dictionary.

2 "E sarebbe state un perfetto Pontefice, se con queste avesse congiunto qualche
cognizione delle cose della religione, ed aliquanto piu d'inclinazione alia pieta,
dell' una e dell' altra delle quali non mostrava aver gran cura." Istoria del Con-

CHARACTER OF LEO X. 47

logians, Pallavicini thinks that he would have been more
cautious in distributing indulgences and that the heresies
of Luther might, perhaps, have been quickly suppressed
by the writings of learned men.^ The Italian historians
Muratori and Guicciardini, in connection with their praise
of Leo, state the misgivings that were felt by wise men
at the costly pomp which he displayed at his coronation,
and censure his laxity in the administration of his office.^
The chief pastor of the Church was seen to give himself
up to the fascinations of literature, art, and music. In his
gay and luxurious court, religion was a matter of subord-
mate concern. Vast sums of money which were gathered
from Christian people were lavished upon his relatives.®
Leo's influence fostered what Ranke has well called " a
sort of intellectual sensuality."

It is true that occasionally the interests of sovereigns
moved them tacitly to admit pretensions on the side of
the popes, that were fast becoming obsolete. In 1452,
Nicholas V. granted to Alphonso, King of Portugal, the
privilege of subduing and reducing to perpetual servitude,
Saracens, Pagans, and other infidels and enemies of Christ,
and of appropriating to himself all of their kingdoms,
territories, and property of whatever sort, public and pri-
vate ; and two years afterwards, by the same " apostoKc
authority," he bestowed on him the new discoveries on
the western coast of Africa. Alexander VI., in virtue of
rights derived from Peter to the Apostolic See, assumed

cilio TricL, lib. i. (torn. i. 5). Not very different is the estimate of a modem
Catholic writer : "Er besass herrliche Eigenschaften des Geistes und Herzens
eine feine Bildunj!^, Kenntniss und Liebe fiir Kunst und Wissenschaft ; aber
fiir einen Papst war erviel zu vergniigungsiichtig, verschwenderisch und lander-
siichtig." J. I. Ritter, Kii'chtnyeschichle, ii. 143.

1 Istorla di Concillo di Trento, torn. i. lib. i. c. ii.

2 Muratori, Annali d^ Italia, torn. xiv. 156. Guicciardini, Istorla d' Italia,
torn. vi. p. 81. See, also, torn. vii. pp. 108, 109.

8 Ranke, Deutsche Geschichte, i. 255. Roseoe (Life of Leo X., iv. eh. xxiv. )
defends him against the imputation of unchastity, but does not conceal the
pleasure he took in buffoonery, and mildly regrets his double-dealing in his in-
tercourse with sovereigns.

48 RISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

to give away, " of his mere liberality," to Ferdinand and
Isabella, all the newly discovered regions of America,
from a line stretching one hundred leagues westward of
the Azores, and extending " from the arctic to the ant-
arctic pole." Afterwards Ferdinand allowed to the King
of Portugal that this line should run three hundred and
seventy, instead of one hundred leagues to the west of the
Azores. But the importance of the popes in this period
was chiefly dependent on their temporal power in Italy,
and on the political combinations which they were able
to organize. The concessions which they obtained from
princes were often of more apparent than real conse-
quence. This fact is illustrated in the surrender of the
Pragmatic Sanction by Francis I. to Leo X. (1516).

In 1438, after the Council of Basel had passed its re-
forming measures, Charles VII. assembled the clergy of
France in a great Synod at Bourges. Nearly two cen-
turies before, that devoted son of the Church, Louis IX.,
— St. Louis of France — had issued the famous Prag-
matic Sanction, the charter of Galilean liberties, by which
interference with free elections to benefices in France, and
exactions and assessments of money on the part of the
popes, except on urgent occasions, and with the king's
consent, were forbidden. With this example before them,
the Synod of Bourges asserted the rights of national
churches, not only above the Pope, but also above the
Council, a part but not all of whose reformatory decrees
it adopted. It declared the Pope subject to a general
council, and bound to convoke a council every ten years.
The right of nomination to benefices was denied to the
Pope, except in a few instances specially reserved, and
appeals to him were restricted to the gravest cases.
Among the provisions of the Bourges Sanction was the
denunciation of annates and first-fruits as simon3^ The
efforts of Pius II. and Paul II. to procure the repeal of
the Pragmatic Sanction were steadily resisted by the

SECULAR SPIRIT OF THE PAPACY. 49

Parliament of Paris. When, therefore, Leo X. succeeded
in obtaining from Francis I., after his victorious campaign
in Italy, the abandonment of the Sanction, it seemed to
be a great advance on the side of the Papacy. In reality,
however, although the Gallican Church was robbed of its
liberties, the Pope gained only the annates, while the
power of nominating to the great benefices fell to the
king. Moreover, the coercion that was required to bring
the Parhament to register the new Concordat, and the
indignation which it awakened throughout France, proved
that it resulted from no change in the sentiments of the
nation.

The long struggle of Francis I. and Charles V., and
the way in which it affected the fortunes of Protestantism,
afford a constant illustration of the predominance which
had been gained by secular and political, over purely
ecclesiastial interests. There were critical moments when
not only the king and the emperor, but the Pope also,
were led from motives of pohcy to become the virtual
allies of the Protestant cause.

It is a striking incident, and yet illustrative of the
spirit of the age, that the Emperor Maximilian sent word
to the Elector Frederic of Saxony to take good care of Lu-
ther— " we might, perhaps, have need of him some time
or other." ^ For fear that Charles V. would be too much
strengthened by the destruction of the Protestant League
of Smalcald, Pope Paul III. recalled the troops which he
had lent to the Emperor, and encouraged Francis I. to
prosecute his design of aiding the Protestants. The Pope
sent a message to the French king, " to help those who
were not yet beaten." At the moment when the Protes-
tant cause might seem to be on the verge of extinction,
the Pope and the King of France appear as its defenders.
Francis even sought to make the Turks his allies in his
struggle against the Emperor. What a change was this

1 Ranke, Deutsch. Gsch., i. 216; Hutory of the Popes, i S6.
4

50 EISE AND DECLINE OF THE PAPAL HIERARCHY.

from the days when the princes and nations of Europe
were banded together, at the call of the Church, to wrest
the holy places from the infidels ! ^

Thus, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, there
are two facts which arrest attention : —

First, the development and cojisolidation of the nations,
in their separate individuality, each with its own lan-
guage, culture, laws, and institutions, and animated by a
national spirit that chafed under foreign ecclesiastical con-
trol.

Secondly, the secularizing of the Papacy. The popes
had virtually renounced the lofty position which they still
assumed to hold, and which, to a certain extent, they had
once really held, of moral and religious guardians of so-
ciety. As temporal rulers, they were immersed in politi-
cal contests and schemes of ambition. To further these,
they prostituted the opportunities afforded by their spir-
itual function, and by the traditional reverence of men,
which, though weakened, was still powerful, for their
episcopal authority. It was unavoidable that they and
their office vnth. them, should sink in public esteem.
" During the Middle Ages," says Coleridge, the Papacy
was another name " for a confederation of learned men
in the west of Europe against the barbarism and igno-
rance of the times. The Pope was the chief of this con-
federacy ; and, so long as he retained that character, his
power was just and irresistible. It was the principal
means of preserving for us and for all posterity all that
we now have of the illumination of past ages. But as
soon as the Pope made a separation between his character
as premier clerk in Christendom and as a secular prince —
as soon as he began to squabble for towns and castles —
then he at once broke the charm, and gave birth to a
revolution." " Everywhere, but especially throughout
the North of Europe, the breach of feeling and sympathy

1 Ranke, Deutsch. Gsch., i. 83.

SECULAR SPIRIT OF THE PAPACY. 51

went on widening ; so that all Germany, England, Scot-
land, and other countries, started, like giants out of their
sleep, at the first blast of Luther's trumpet." ^

1 Table Talk (July 24, 1830). Almost the same statement as to the moral
fall of the Papacy is made by a fair-minded Catholic historian. He traces its
decline from the Babylonian captivity, through the period of the Reforming
Councils, and the reign of J-i'.i'is 11. and the popes of the house of Medici.
" Bis dahin hatten die Piipste durch ihr Vermittleramt liber den Fiirsten ges-
tanden; jetztaber steliten sie sich denselben gleich und erweckten, durch ihre
Liinder- und Kriegslust, Neid und Hass gegen sich. So war die ganze moral-
ische Kraft, wodurch Rom seit vier Jahrhunderten die Welt beherrscht hatte,
untergraben, und es bediirfte nur eines kriiftigen Stosses, um sie iiber den
HaufeQ zu werfen." J. I. Ritter, Kirchengeschichte, ii. 143.

CHAPTER III.

SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF AN ECCLESIASTICAL
REVOLUTION PRIOK TO THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

The mediaeval type of religion, in contrast with prim
itive Christianity, is pervaded by a certain legalism.
Everything is prescribed, reduced to rule, subjected to
authority. Mediaeval Catholicism may be contemplated
under the three departments of dogma, of polity, and
of Christian life, under which modes of worship are
included.^ Under this last comprehensive rubric, mon-
asticism, for example, which springs out of a certain con-
ception of the Christian life, belongs. The dogmatic sys-
tem, as elaborated by the schoolmen from the materials
furnished by tradition and sanctioned by the Church,
constituted a vast body of doctrine, which every Chris-
tian was bound to accept in all its particulars. The
polity of the Church lodged all government in the hands
of a superior class, the priesthood, who were the com-
missioned, indispensable almoners of divine grace. The
worship centered in the sacrifice of the mass, a constantly
repeated miracle wrought by the hands of the priest.
In the idea of the Christian life, the visible act was made
to count for so much, ceremonies were so multiplied and
so highly valued, that a character of externality was
stamped upon the method of salvation. Salvation, in-
stead of being a purely gratuitous act, flowing from the
mercy of God, was connected with human merit. The
quantitative, as opposed to the quahtative standard of

1 UUmann, Reformatoren vor der Reformation, i. p. 13 seq.

A SPIRITUAL REACTION. 53

excellence, the disposition to lay stress on performances
and abstinences, instead of the spirit or principle at the
foundation of the whole life, lay at the root of celibacy
and the monastic institution. The masses, pilgrimages,
fastings, flagellations, prayers to saints, homage to their
relics and images, and similar features so prominent in
mediaeval piety, illustrate its essential character. Chris-
tianity was converted into an external ordinance, into a
round of observances.^

The reaction which manifested itself from time to time
within the Church, anterior to the Reformation, might
have a special relation to either of the constituent
elements of the mediseval system, or it might be directed
against them all together. It might appear in the form
of dissent from the prevailing dogmas, especially from
the doctrine of human merit in salvation ; it might be
leveled against the priesthood as usurping a function not
given them in the Gospel, and as departing in various
ways from the primitive idea of the Christian ministry ;
it might take the form of an explicit or indirect resist-
ance to the exaggerated esteem of rites and ceremonies
and austerities. In either of these directions the spirit-
ual element of Christianity, which had become overlaid
and cramped by traditions, might appear as an antago-
nistic or silently renovating force. A general progress of
intelligence, especially if it should lead to the study of
early Christianity, would tend to the same result.

The forerunners of the Reformation have been prop-
erly divided into two classes.^ The first of them con-
sists of the men who, in the quiet path of theological
research and teaching, or by practical exertions in behalf
of a contemplative, spiritual tone of piety, were under-
mining the traditional system. The second embraces the

1 Tliis fact is well presented by UUman, Reformatoren vor der Reformatii^,
i. p. xiii. seq., p. 8 seq.
* UUmann, i. p. 15 seq.

54 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

names of men who are better known, for the reason that
they attempted to carry out their ideas practically in the
way of effecting ecclesiastical changes. The first class
are more obscure, but were not less influential in prepar-
ing the ground for the Reformation. Protestantism was
a return to the Scriptures as the authentic source of
Christian knowledge and to the principle that salvation,
that inward peace, is not from the Church or from human
works ethical or ceremonial, but through Christ alone,
received by the soul in an act of trust. Whoever,
whether in the chair of theology, in the pulpit, through
the devotional treatise, or by fostering the study of lan-
guages and of history, or in perilous combat with ecclesi-
astical abuses, drew the minds of men to the Scriptures
and to a more spiritual conception of religion, was, in a
greater or less measure, a reformer before the Reforma-
tion.

In the preceding chapter we have reviewed the rise of
the hierarchical order, and have noticed one of the main
causes, the tendency to centralization, the spirit of na-
tionalism, which had weakened the authority of the
clergy, and especially, at the beginning of the sixteenth
century, had materially reduced the power of the
Papacy.

We have now to direct attention to various special
causes and omens of an approaching revolution, which
would affect not only the polity but the entire religious
system of the mediaeval Church.

I. Among these phenomena is to be mentioned the rise
of anti-sacerdotal sects which sprang up as early as the
eleventh century, but flourished chiefly in the twelfth and
thirteenth. These indicated a wide-spread dissatisfaction
with the worldliness of the clergy, and with prelatical
government in the Church. There were individuals, like
Peter of Bruys, himself a priest, and Henry the Deacon,
a monk of Clugny, who, in the earlier part of the twelfth

ANTI-SACERDOTAL SECTS. 55

century, made a great disturbance in Southern France by
vehement invectives against the immoralities of the priest-
hood and their usurped dominion. The simultaneous ap-
pearance of persons of this character, whose impassioned
harangues won for them numerous adherents, shows that
the popular reverence for the clergy was shaken. Con-
spicuous among the sectaries of this period are the
Catharists, who were found in several countries, but
were most numerous in the cities of North Italy and of the
south of France. The dualism of the ancient Manicheans
and of the later Paulicians — the theory that the empire
of the world is divided between two antagonistic princi-
ples — together with the asceticism that grows out of it,
reappears in a group of sects, which wear different names
in the various regions where they are found. ^ They are
characterized in common by a renunciation of the au-
thority of the priesthood. In Southern France, where
they acquired the name of Albigenses, they were well
organized, and were protected by .powerful laymen. The
poems of the troubadours show to what extent the clergy
had fallen into disrepute in this wealthy and flourishing
district.'"^ In the extensive, opulent, and most civilized
portion of France, which formed the dominion of the
Count of Toulouse, the old religion was virtually sup-
planted by the new sect. The Albigensian preachers, who
mingled with their heterodox tenets a sincere zeal for
purity of life, were heard with favor by all classes. The
extirpation of this numerous and formidable sect was ac-

1 Upon the origin and mutual relation of these sects, their tenets, and their
relation to the earlier dualistic Ifieresies, see Neander, Church Ilisfonj, iv. 552,
seq.; Gieseler, Kirchengeschichte, ui. iii. 7, §87; Milman, History of Latin
Christianity, v. 156 seq.; Baur, Kirchengeschichte, iii. 489 seq.; Schmidt.
Hist, et Doctrine de la Secte des Cathares (Paris, 1849), and article " Katharer '■
in Herzog's Real-Encychpadie ; Hahn, Geschichte d. Ketzer iin Mittelnlter, i. ;
Maitland, Facts and Documents illustratire of the History, etc., of the Albi-
genses and the Waldenses (18.32); also, Eight Essays- ("LonA. 1852). Schmidt
attempts to disprove the historic connection of the Catharists with the Paulicians
as well as with the Manicheans.

2 Milman, Latin Christianity, v. 164. See also p. 1-37.

56 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

complished only through a blood}'^ crusade, that was set
on foot under the auspices of Innocent III., and was fol-
lowed by the efforts of the Inquisition, which here had its
beginning.^ The Albigenses, in their opposition to the
authority of ecclesiastical tradition and of the hierarchy,
and in their rejection of pilgrimages and of certain prac-
tices, like the worship of saints and images, anticipated
the Protestant doctrine ; although in other respects their
creed is even more at variance with the spirit of Protes-
tantism than is that of their opponents. It is interesting
to observe that at the moment when the Papacy appeared
to be at the zenith of its power, a rebellion broke out,
which could only be put down by a great exertion of
military force, and by brutalities which have left an in-
delible stain upon those who instigated them.^

The Waldenses, a party not tainted with Manichean
doctrine, and distinct from the Catharists, arose in 1170,
under the lead of Peter Waldo, of Lyons. Finding them-
selves forbidden to preach in a simple manner, after the
example of the Apostles, the " Poor Men of Lj^ons," as
they were styled, made a stand against the exclusive right
of the clergy to teach the Gospel. Although the Waldenses
are not of so high antiquity as was often supposed, since
they do not reach further back than Waldo, and although
they were far less enlightened as to doctrine than they be-
came after they had been brought in contact with Protes-
tantism, yet their attachment to the Scriptures, and their
opposition to clerical usurpation and profligacy, entitle
them to a place among the precursors of the Reformation.^

1 "It was a war," says Guizot, "between feudal France and municipal
France." Ilistoi-y of Civilization, lect. x.

2 The distinguislied Catholic theologian, Hefele, in the Kirchen-Lexikon,
art. "Albigenses," endeavors to lessen the responsibility of the Pope and the ec-
clesiastical authorities for the Albigensian massacres. But this is possible only
to a very limited extent. It was not until frightful atrocities had been com-
mitted, that an attempt was made to curb the ferocity which had been excited
by the most urgent appeals.

8 The })rincipal works which have served to settle disputed points respecting

ANTI-&ACERDOTAL SECTS. 67

Wherever they went, they kindled among the people the
desiie to read the Bible. The principal theatre of their
labors was Milan, and other places in the north of Italy
and the south of France, where the hierarchy had a
weaker hold on the people, and where many who were
disgusted ^th the priesthood were likewise repelled by
the obnoxious theology of the Catharists.

The departure of the Franciscans from the rule of
poverty led the stricter party in that order to break off ;
and all efforts to heal the schism proved ineffectual. The
Spirituals, as the stricter sect were called, in their zeal
against ecclesiastical corruption did not spare the Roman
Church ; and they, especially the lay brethren among
them, the Fratricelli, were delivered over to the Inquisi-
tion.

At the end of the twelfth century there were formed
in the Netherlands societies of praying women, calling
themselves Beguines, who led a life of devotion without
monastic vows. Similar societies of men, who were called
Beghards. were afterwards formed. Many of both classes,
for the sake of protection, connected themselves ^vith the
Tertiaries of the monastic orders. Many, following the
rule of poverty, became mendicants akng the Rhine and,
perhaps, through the influence of the sect of the Free
Spirit — a Pantheistic sect — adopted heretical opinions ;
so that the names Beguine and Beghard, outside of the
Netherlands, became synonymous with heretic. A swarm
of enthusiasts and fanatics, known by these appellations,
cherished a sincere hostility to the corrupt administration
of the Church.

the Waldenses are Dieckhoff, Die Waldenser im Mittdalter (1851); Herzog
Die romanischen Wnlchnser (1853). Herzog has brought forward new infor-
mation in his article on the Waldenses in his Real-Encychipddie. The lately
discovered manuscript of the Nobla Leyczon renders it highly probable that
this poem was composed in the fifteenth century. On the date of the other
Waldensian writings, and the interpolations which they have suffered, see Her
zog's article. That the Waldenses have no existence prior to Waldo is cod
ceded at present by competent scholars.

58 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

The existence and the number of this species of secta-
ries, whom the Inquisition could not extirpate, and who,
it should be observed, were mostly plain and unlearned
people, prove that a profound dissatisfaction with the
existing order of things, and a deep craving, mingled
though it was with ignorance and superstition, for the
restoration of a more simple and apostolic type of •Chris-
tianity, had penetrated the lower orders of society. For-
merly they who were offended by the wealth and worldly
temper of the clergy, had found relief by retreating to
the austerities of monastic life within the Church. But
the monastic societies, each in its turn, as they grew
older, fell into the luxurious ways from which their foun-
ders had been anxious to escape. Now, as we approach
the epoch of the Reformation, we observe the tendency
of this sort of disaffection to embody itself in sects which
assume a questionable or openly inimical attitude towards
the Church. Yet it is well that the ecclesiastical revolu-
tion was not left for them to accompHsh, but was reserved
for enlightened and sober-minded men, who would know
how to build up as well as to destroy.

II. The Conservative Reformers, the champions of the
liberal, episcopal, or Galilean, as contrasted with the
papal conception of the hierarchy ; the leaders in the
reforming councils, both by what these eminent men
achieved and by what they failed to achieve, prepared
the way for the great change from which they themselves
would have recoiled in dismay. In carrying forward their
battle they were led to expose with unsparing severity
the errors and crimes, as well as the enormous usurpations
of authority, with which the popes were chargeable. This
could not but essentially lower the respect of men for the
papal office itself. At the same time the discomfiture of
these reformers, as far as their principal attempt is con-
cerned, to reform the Church " in head and members," a
discomfiture effected by the persistency and dexterity of

RADICAL REFORMERS. 59

the popes and their adherents, could not fail to leave the
impression on many minds that a more stringent remedy
would have to be sought for the unbearable grievances
under which the Church labored. It must not be for-
gotten, however, that Gerson, D'Ailly, and their compeers,
were as firmly wedded to the doctrine of a priesthood in
the Church, and to the traditional dogmatic system, as
were their opponents. At Constance, the Paris theo-
logians almost outstripped their papal antagonists in the
violent treatment of Huss during the sessions of the Coun-
cil, and in the alacrity with which they condemned him
and Jerome of Prague to the stake. It was a reforma-
tion of morals, not of doctrine, at which they aimed ; the
distribution, but not the destruction of priestly authority.
III. But there were individuals before, and long before
the time of Luther, who are appropriately called radical
reformers ; men who, in essential points, anticipated the
Protestant movement. There were conspicuous efforts
which, if they proved to a considerable extent abortive
at the moment, left seed to ripen afterwards, and were
the harbinger of more effectual measures. Of all this
class of reformers before the Reformation, John Wick-
liffe is the most remarkable.^ Living in the midst of
the fourteenth century, nearly a hundred and fifty years
before Luther ; not an obscure or illiterate man, but a
trained theologian, a Professor at Oxford ; not hiding
his opinions, but proclaiming them with boldness ; he,
nevertheless, took the position not only of a Protestant,
but, in many important particulars, of a Puritan. In his
principal work he affirms that no writing, not even a
papal decree, has any validity further than it is founded
on the Holy Scriptures ; he denies transubstantiation, and

1 Life and Sufferings of John WicMif, by J. Lewis (Oxford, 1820); Life oj
Wicklif by Charles Webb Le Bas (1846); John de Wydiffe, a Monograph,
by Robert Vaughan, D. D. (London, 1853); Weber, Geschichte der akatholis'
chen Kirchen u. Secten von Gross- Br ittanien, i. 62 seq. ; Hardwick, History oj
the Christian Church : Jliddle Age, p. 402 seq.

60 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

attributes the origin of this dogma to the substitution ol
a belief in papal declarations for belief in the Bible ;
he asserts that in the primitive Church there were but
two sorts of clergy ; doubts the Scriptural warrant for the
rites of confirmation and extreme unction ; would have
all interference with civil affairs and temporal authority-
interdicted to the clergy ; speaks against the necessity of
auricular confession ; avers that the exercise of the power
to bind and loose is of no effect, save when it is conformed
to the judgment of Christ ; is opposed to the multiplied
ranks of the clergy, popes, cardinals, patriarchs, monks,
canons, and the rest ; repudiates the doctrine of indul-
gences and supererogatory merits, the doctrine of the
excellence of poverty, as that was held and as it lay at
the foundation of the mendicant orders ; and he sets him-
self against artificial church music, pictures in worship,
consecration with the use of oil and salt, canonization,
pilgrimages, church asylums for criminals, celibacy of the
clergy .1 Almost every distinguishing feature of the
mediaeval and papal church, as contrasted with the Prot-
estant, is directly disowned and combated by Wickliffe.
How was it possible that he could do this so long, in that
age, with comparative impunity, and die at last in his
bed, when so many whom he immeasurably outstripped
in his reformatory ideas paid for their dissent with their
lives ? The reason is found partly in the fact that he
identified himself with the University of Oxford, and
with the secular or parish clergy in their struggle against
the aspiring mendicant orders, and still more in the fact
that he stood forth in the character of a champion of civil
and kingly authority, against ecclesiastical encroachments.
He was protected by Edward IH., whose cause against
papal tyranny he had supported ; and after Edward's
death, by powerful nobles. He was strong enough to

1 Large extracts from the Trinlogus are in Gieseler, iii. iv. 8. § 125. n. 1. An
analysis of it is given in Turner, History of England, v.

RADICAL REFORMERS. 61

withstand the opposition to his work of translating the
Bible, and publicly to defend the right of the people to
have the Scriptures in their own tongue. Not until the
reign of Henry V., when the relation of the kings to the
clergy was changed, was the persecution of the Wick-
liffites, or Lollards, as they were called, vigorously under-
taker . They were not exterminated ; but the principles
of Wickliffe continued to have adherents in the poor and
obscure classes in England, down to the outbreaking of
the Protestant movement. It is remarkable that Wick-
liffe predicted that among the monks themselves there
would arise persons who would abandon their false inter-
pretations of Christianity, and, returning to the original
religion of Christ, would build up the Church in the
spirit of Paul.^

In the same rank with Wickliffe stands the name of
John Huss.^ Before him in Bohemia there had appeared
Militz and Conrad of Waldliausen, preachers animated
with the fiery zeal of prophets, and lifting up their
voices, in the face of persecution, against the corruption
of religion.^ Still more was Huss uidebted to Matthias
of Janow, whose ideas respecting the Church and the
relations of clergy to laity involved the germs of changes
more radical than he himself perceived. Huss was
strongly influenced, likewise, by the wi'itings of Wick-

1 The following passage is from the Trialogus: " Suppono autem quod aliqui
fratres, quos Deus docere dignatur, ad religionem priitifevam Christi devotius
convertentur, et relicta sua perfidia, sive obtenta sive petita Antichristi licentia,
redibunt libere ad religionem Christi primsevam, et tunc aBditicabunt ecclesiam
sicut Paulas." See Neander, v. 172.

'■^ Hisforia et Momimenta Jo. Hus et Hieroii. Prngensis (1715); Palacky,
Documenta Magistri J. Hus, and tlie Gesckichte Bohmens by the same
author; Neander, Church History, v. 235 seq. ; Gillett, Life and Times oj
John Huss {1S.11); the works of Van der Hardt and Lenfant upon the Coun-
cil of Constance; L. Krummel, Gesckichte d. Bohmisch. Reformat, im XV.
Jahrh. (1866); Wessenberg, Die grossen Kirchenversammlungen des XV.
u. XVI. Jahrh. (vol. ii. 1840); Czerwenka, Gsch. der Evang. Kirche in
Bohmen, 2 vols. Leipzig, 1869-70.

3 Neander, v. 173 seq. ; Jordan, Vorlaufer des Hussitenthums in Bohmen
Leipzig, 1846).

62 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

liffe, and was active in disseminating them. The Bo-
hemian reformer had less theological acumen than the
English, with whom he agreed in his advocacy of pliilo-
sophical realism and predestination ; nor did he go so far
on the road of doctrinal innovation ; since Huss, to the
last, was a believer in transubstantiation. But in his
conception of the functions and duties of the clergy, in
his zeal for practical holiness, and in his exaltation of
the Scriptures above the dogmas and ordinances of the
Church, in moral excellence and heroism of character,
Huss was outdone by none of the reformers before or
since. Luther, when he was a monk, accidentally fell
upon a volume of the sermons of Huss, in the convent
Ubrary of Erfurt, and was struck with wonder that
the author of such sentiments as they contained should
have been put to death for heresy. In the attitude
which Huss assumed before the Council of Constance,
there was involved the assertion of one of the distinctive
principles of Protestantism — that of the right of private
judgment. He was commanded to retract his avowals of
opinion, and this he refused to do until he could be con-
vinced by argument and by citations from Scripture that
his opinions were erroneous. That is, he went behind
the authority of the Council. This itself, in their eyes,
amounted to flagrant heresy, and was sufficient to con-
demn him. It was a repudiation, on his side, of the
principle of Church authority, which was a vital part of
the ecclesiastical system. The cruel execution of Huss
(1415) and of Jerome, especially as the former had
rested on the Emperor's safe-conduct, excited a storm of
wrath among their countrymen and adherents.'^ Bohe-

1 That there was no violation of the safe-conduct is assumed by Palacky,
Gsch. Bohmens, and is maintained by Hefele, ConciUengeschickte, vii. For a
review of Hefele and a discussion of this point, see Neio Englander, April, 1870.
One of the principal offenses of Huss, in the eyes of the Council and of many
writers since, was the doctrine, imputed to him, that prelates and magistrates,
geparated from Christ by mortal sin, really cease to be invested with their

RADICAL REFORMERS. 63

niia was long the theatre of violent agitation and of civil
war. Repeated crusades were undertaken against the
Hussites, but resulted in the defeat of the assailants.
More pacific measures, coupled with internal conflicts
in their own body, finally reduced their strength and
left them a prey to their persecutors ; but the Bohe-
mian brethren, an offshoot from the more radical of the
Hussite parties, continued to exist in separation from
the Church ; and in their confessions, drawn up at the
beginning of the sixteenth century, they reject transub-
stantiation, purgatory, and the worship of saints.

Other names exist, less renowned than those of Wick-
liffe and Huss, but equally deserving to be inscribed
among the heralds of the Reformation. Among them is
John Wessel, who was connected at different times with
the Universities of Cologne, Louvain, Paris, and Heidel-
berg, as a teacher of theology, and died in 1489.^ He
set forth in explicit and emphatic language the doctrine
of justification by faith alone. Against the alleged in-
fallibility of bishops and pontiffs, he avers that many of
the greatest popes have fallen into pestilent errors both
of doctrine and practice; giving as examples, Benedict
Xin., Boniface IX., John XXIII., Pius II., and Sixtus
IV. It has been said that there is scarcely a funda-
mental tenet of the reformers which Wessel did not avow.
Luther, in his preface to a collection of several of Wes-

offices. This was thought to strike at the foundations of all civil and ecclesi-
astical authority. But Huss explained to the Council that, in his view, such
persons are still to be recognized quoad offidum, though not quoad meritum.
They are destitute of the ethical character that forms the moral essence of the
office, though still exercising its functions. See, on this important question,
Palacky, iii. i. 353; Krummel, p. 519; Wessenburg, ii. 171; also, Hefele, Con~
cUkngeschichte, vii. i. 163. To Wickliffe were imputed similar opinions.
Only those in a state of grace, he held, can possess property; others may
occupy but not have. — Gieseler, iii., iv. c. viii. § 125, n. 18; Schruckh^
Kirchenyescliichte, xxxiv. 536.

1 The career of VVessel and his priniriples are fully described by Ullmann,
vol. ii. pp. 287-642. For the reformatory opinions of John of Goeh and
John of Wesel, see Ullmann, and Gieseler, ni. v. 5, § 153.

64 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

sel's treatises, declares him to have been a man of admi-
rable genius, a rare and great soul, and so far in accord
with him as to doctrine, that if he had read sooner the
works of Wessel, it might have been plausibly said by his
enemies that he had borrowed everything from them.

A man whose doctrinal position was far less diverse
from the current system, but who must be ranked among
the noted precursors of the Reformation, is Savonarola.^
From 1489 to his death in 1498, he lived at Florence,
and for a while, by the force of his intellectual and
moral character, and by his commanding eloquence, ex-
erted a ruling influence in the affairs of the city. He
was largely instrumental in the expulsion of the house
of Medici from Florence. Against their tyranny and
the immoralities which they fostered he directed from
the pulpit his sharp invectives. On the invasion of
the French under Charles VIII., which Savonarola had
predicted, he was able, through the personal respect,
amounting to awe, with which he inspired the king, to
render important services to Florence. His position
there resembled that which Calvin long maintained at

1 The two principal German biographies of Savonarola are by Rudelbach
(Hamburg, 1835), and Meier (Berlin, 1836), the former of which treats prin-
cipallj' of Savonarola's doctrine, the latter of the events of his career. From
the French we have Jerome Savonarola, sa Vie, ses Predications, ses Ecrits,par
F. T. Perrens (Paris, 1853). An extremely valuable life of Savonarola is that
by Villari — La Storia de Girolamo Savonarola e de' suoi tempi, narrata da
Pasquale Villari con I'ainto di nuovi documenti (Firenze, 1859). Villari, in
his Prcfazione, criticizes the previous biographers, including the English work
by Madden. He considers that Rudelbach and others have exaggerated the
Protestant tendencies of the great Dominican ; that he adhered substantially
to the dogmatic system of the Church, though hostile to papal absolutism.
Villari vindicates him against the common imputation of a demagogical tem-
per and exhibits him as a thorough patriot. He also shows that Savonarola's
vacillation under torture was only in reference to the source of his prophecies,
whether natural or supernatural ; a point on which he had cherished no uniform
conviction. An instructive and brilliant article by Milman (written prior to
the publication of Villari's Life) appeared in the Quarterly Review (1859). It
is found in Milnian's Essays (London, 1870). Romola, by George Eliot (Mrs.
Lewes), one of the most remarkable novels of the present day, presents a
striking picture of Savonarola and of Florentine life in his time.

THE MYSTICS. 65

Geneva. A Dominican, stimulated to stricter asceticism
by the demoralized condition of the Church and of so-
ciety, he poured out his rebukes without stint, until the
political and religious elements that were combined
against him, effected his destruction.^ He had pro-
nounced the excommunication, which was issued against
him by the flagitious Alexander VI., void, had declared
that it was from the devil, and he had continued to
preach against the papal prohibition. In prison he com-
posed a tract upon the fifty-first psalm, in which he
comes so near the Protestant views of justification, that
Luther published it with a laudatory preface. Savona-
rola did not despair of the cause for which he laid down
his life, but predicted a coming Reformation.

IV. We turn now to another class of men who power-
fully, though indirectly, paved the way for the Protes-
tant Revolution — the Mystics.^

Mysticism had developed itself all through the scholas-
tic period, in individuals of profound religious feeling, to
whom the exclusively dialectical tendency was repugnant.
Such men were St. Bernard, Bonaventura, and the school
of St. Victor. Anselm himself, the father of the school-
men, mingled with his logical habit a mystical vein, and
this combination was in fact characteristic of the best of
the scholastic theologians. But with the decline of
scholasticism, partly as a cause and partly as an effect,
mysticism assumed a more distinct shape. The charac-
teristic of the mystics is the life of feeling ; the prefer-
ence of intuition to logic, the quest for knowledge
through light imparted to feeling rather than by pro-

1 For an example of his denunciation of the venality and other sins of the
clergy, see Villari, ii. 80: " Vendono i benefizi, vendono i sacramenti, ven-
dono le messe dei matrimonii, vendono ogni cosa," etc.

2 Upon the Mystics, besides Ullmann's work, Die Reformatoren vor der Re-
formation, and Neander, v. 380 seq., see C. Schmidt, Etudes sur le Mysticisme
Allemandau XIV. siecle (18471; Helfferich, Die christl. Mystik (1842); Noack,
Gsch. d. Mystik (1853); R. A. Vaughan, Hours with the Mystics (1S5Q).

5

66 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

cesses of the intellect ; the indwelling of God in the
soul, elevated to a holy calm by the consciousness of His
presence ; absolute self-renunciation and the absorption
of the human will mto the divine ; the ecstatic mood.
The theory of the mystic may easily slide into panthe-
ism, where the union of the human spirit with the divine
is resolved into the identification of the two.^ This ten-
dency is perceptible in one class of the ante-Protestant
mystics, of which Master Eckart is a prominent repre-
sentative. He was Provincial of the Dominicans for
Saxony ; the scene of his labors was in the neighborhood
of the Rhine, and he died about 1329. AffiHated so-
cieties calling themselves the Friends of God, although
they formed no sect, grew up in the south and west of
Germany and in the Netherlands. They made religion
centre in a calm devoutness, in disinterested love to God
and in labors of benevolence. It was in Cologne, Stras-
burg, and in other places in the neighborhood of the *
Rhine, that the preachers of this class chiefly flourished.
Of them the most eminent is John Tauler (1290-1361),
Doctor sublimis et illuminatus, as he was styled, a
pupil of Eckart, but an opposer of pantheism and a
preacher of evangelical fervor.^ To him Luther errone-
ously ascribed the little book which emanated from some
member of this mystical school, called "The German
Theology," a book which Luther published anew in 1516,
and from which he said that, next to the Bible and St.
Augustine, he had learned more than from any other
book of what God, Christ, man, and all things are. The
mystics were eagerly heard by thousands who yearned

1 On the nature of mysticism, see Ritter, Gsch. d. christl. Philosophie, iv. 626
seq. Ritter explains especially the ideas of Gerson. See also, Hase, Hutterut
Redivivus.

2 C. Schmidt, Johannes Tauler von Strashurg (1841); Life of Tauler, with
Twenty-Jive of his Sermons, translated from the German by Susanna Wink-
worth, to which are added a preface by Rev. C. Kingsley, and an introduction
by Rev. R. D. Hitchcock, D. D. (New York, 1858).

THE REVIVAL OF LEARNING. 67

for a more vital kind of religion than the Church had
afforded them. The " Imitation of Christ," by Thomas
a Kempis, a work which has probably had a larger circu-
lation than any other except the Bible, is a fine example
of the characteristic spirit of the mystical school.^ The
reformatory effect of the mystics was twofold: they
weakened the influence of the scholastic system and
called men away from a dogmatic religion to something
more inward and spiritual ; and their labors, likewise,
tended to break up the excessive esteem of outward
sacraments and ceremonies. Standing within the Church
and making no quarrel with it, they were thus preparing
the ground, especially in Germany, through the whole of
the fourteenth century, for the Protestant reform. With
these pioneers of reform, and not with men like Huss and
Wickliffe, the religious training of Luther and his great
movement have a direct historical connection.

V. An event of signal importance, as an indispensable
prerequisite and means of a reformation in religion, was
the revival of learning. This great intellectual change
emanated from Italy as its fountain. During the Middle
Ages, in the midst of prevailing darkness and disorder,
Italy never wholly lost the traces of ancient civilization.
" The night which descended upon her was the night of
an Arctic summer. The dawn began to re-appear before
the last reflection of the preceding sunset had faded from
the horizon." 2 The three great writers, Dante, Pe-
trarch, and Boccaccio, introduced a new era of culture.
To the long neglect which the classic authors had
suffered, Dante refers, when he says of Virgil that he

" Seemed from long continued silence hoarse." ^

The mind of Italy more and more turned back upon ita

1 Upon the authorship of this work, see Gieseler, iii. v. 4. § 146; U.'lmana,
ii. 711 seq. ; Schmidt in Herzog's Real-Encycl.

2 Macaulay, Essay on Maccliiavelli. Essays, i. (New York, 1861..
8 Inf., i. 63. " Chi per lungo silenzio parea fioco."

68 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

ancient history and literature. The study of the Roman
classics became a passion. No pains and no expense were
spared in recovering manuscripts and in collecting libra-
ries. Princes became the personal cultivators and pro-
fuse patrons of learning. The same zeal extended itself
to Greek literature. The philosophers and poets of an-
tiquity were once more read with delight in their own
tongues. The capture of Constantinople by the Turks,
in 1453, brought a throng of Greek scholars, with their
invaluable literary treasures, to Italy, and gave a fresh
impulse to the new studies. From Italy, the same
literary spirit spread over the other countries of Europe.
The humanities — grammar, rhetoric, poetry, eloquence,
the classical authors — attracted the attention of the
studious everywhere.

" Other futures stir the world's great heart,
Europe is come to her majority,
And enters on the vast inheritance
Won from the tombs of mighty ancestors.
The seeds, the gold, the gems, the silent harps
That lay deep buried with the memories of old renown."

" For now the old epic voices ring again.
And vibrate with the heat and melody,
Stirred by the warmth of old Ionian days.
The martyred sage, the attic orator.
Immutably incarnate, like the gods,
In spiritual bodies, winged words.
Holding a universe impalpable,
Find a new audience." i

This movement brought with it momentous conse-
quences in the field of rehgion. It marked the advent of
a new stage of culture, when the Church was no longer
to be the sole instructor ; when a wider horizon was to
be opened to the human intellect — an effect analogous
to that soon to be produced by the grand geographical
discovery of a new hemisphere. Christianity was to come
into contact with the products of the intellect of the an-

1 George Eliot's Spanish Gypsy, pp. 5, 6.

THE DOWNFALL OF SCHOLASTICISM. 69

cient nations, and to assimilate whatever might not be
ahen to its own nature.

For several hundred years the Scholastic philosophy and
theology had reigned with an almost undisputed sway.
When the Schoolmen arose with their methods of logical
analysis and disputation, the old compilations or books of
excerpts from the Fathers, out of which theology, for a
number of centuries, had been studied, quickly became
obsolete, and the adherents of the former method were
utterly eclipsed by the attractiveness of the new science.
Young men by thousands flocked after the new teachers.
From about the middle of the eleventh century Scholasti-
cism had been dominant. Nor was this era without fruit.
As a discipline for the intellect of semi-civilized peoples ;
as a counterpoise to the tendencies to enthusiasm and
superstition which were rife in the Middle Ages ; as a
means of reducing to a regular and tangible form the
creed of the Church, so that it could be examined and
judged, the scholastic training and the intellectual prod-
ucts of it were of high value.^ But the narrowness and
other gross defects of the scholastic culture were laid
bare by the incoming of the new studies. The barbarous
style and the whole method of the Schoolmen became
obnoxious and ridiculous in the eyes of the devotees of
classical learning. The extravagant hair-splitting of
Scotus and Durandus, when compared with the nobler
method of the philosophers of antiquity, excited disdain.
The works of Aristotle, which were now possessed in
their own language, exposed blunders in the translation
and interpretation of him, which brought disgrace upon
the Schoolmen. Their ignorance of history, their uncriti-
cal habit, their overdrawn subtlety and endless wrang-
ling, made them objects of derision ; and as the School-
men had once supplanted the Compilers, so now the race
of syllogistic reasoners were, in their turn, laughed off the
stage by the new generation of classical scholars.

1 Gieseler, Dogmengeschichte, p. 472 seq.

70 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

But the fall of Scholasticism did not take place until it
had run its course and lost its vitality. The essential
principle of the Schoolmen was the correspondence of
faith and reason ; the characteristic aim was the vindica-
tion of the contents of faith, the articles of the creed,
on grounds of reason. This continued to be the charac-
ter of Scholasticism, although the successors of Anselm
did not, like him, aspire to establish the positive truths of
Christianity by arguments independent of revelation.
" Fides quaerit intellectum " was ever the motto. There
were individuals, as Abelard in the twelfth century, and
Roger Bacon in the thirteenth, who seem restive under
the yoke of authority, but who really differ from their
contemporaries rather in the tone of their mind than in
their theological tenets. Scholasticism, when it gave up
the attempt to verify to the intelligence what faith re-
ceived on the authority of the Church, confessed its own
failure. This transition was made by Duns Scotus. It
was Occam, the pupil of Scotus, by whom the change was
consummated. He was the leading agent in reviving
Nominalism. Although both Wickliffe and Huss were
Realists, it was Nominalism that brought Scholasticism to
an end. In giving only a subjective validity to general
notions and to reasonings founded on them, in seeking to
show that no settled conclusions can be reached on the
path of rational inquiry and argument, and in leaving no
other warrant for Church dogmas except that of authority,
a foundation was laid for scepticism. The way was paved
for the principle which found a distinct expression in the
fifteenth century, that a thing may be true in theology
and false in philosophy. Occam was a sturdy opponent
of the temporal power of the popes, a defender of the in-
dependence of the civil authority as related to them.
When he suggests propositions at variance with ortho-
doxy and argues for them, he saves himself from the
imputation of heresy by professing an absolute submission

THE MULTIPLICATION OF BOOKS. 71

to authority ; but it is difficult to believe these profes-
sions perfectly sincere. Nominalism necessarily tended to
encourage, also, an empirical method, an attention to the
facts of nature and of inner experience, in the room of the
logical fabric which had been subverted. The scholastic
philosophy, when it came to affirm the dissonance of
reason and the creed, dug its own grave. It may be
mentioned here that Luther in his youth was a diligent
student of Occam. From Occam he derived defenses, as
to another Nominalist, D'Ailly, he owed the suggestion,
of his doctrine of the Lord's Supper.^

But other effects of a more positive character than the
downfall of Scholasticism flowed from the renovation of
learning. The Fathers were brought out of their ob-
scurity, and their teachings might be compared with the
dogmatic system which professed to be founded upon
them, but which had really, in its passage through the
mediaeval period, taken on features wholly unknown to
the patristic age. More than this, the Scriptures of the
Old and New Testament, the primitive documents of the
Christian religion, were brought forward in the original i
tongues, to serve as a touchstone by which the prevailing'
doctrinal and ecclesiastical system must be tested. The
newly invented art of printing, an art which almost im-
mediately attained a high degree of perfection, in connec-
tion with the hardly less important manufacture of paper
from linen, stimulated, at the same time that it fed, the
appetite for literature. It is evident that the freshly
awakened thirst for knowledge, with the abundant means
for gratifying it, must produce a wide-spread ferment. A

1 On Occam, see Baur, Dogmengeschichte, ii. 236 seq. ; Dorner, Entwicke-
lungsgsch, von der Person Christi, ii. 447 seq.; Ritter, Gsch. d. christl. Phil., iv.
574 seq.; Haureau, De la Phil. Scholasttque, t. ii. ; Herzog, Real-Enc. d. Theol.
art. " Occam " and " Schol. Phil."

- Rettberg, Occam und Luther, Studien u. Kritiken, 1831, 1. Dorner, ii. Of 7
" Diu multumque legit scripta Occam. Hujus acumen anteferebat Tliomje Jt
Scoto." Melancthon, Vita Lutheri, v.

72 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

movement had begun, in the presence of which Latin
Christianity, that vast fabric of piety and superstition, of
reason and imagination, would not be left undisturbed.

From the beginning of the humanistic revival, it as-
sumed, north of the Alps, especially in Germany, charac-
teristics different from those which pertained to it in Italy.
In Italy the Humanists were so smitten with antiquity,
so captivated with ancient thought, as to look with indif-
ference and, very frequently, with a secret scepticism,
upon Christianity and the Church.^ Even an Epicurean
infidehty as to the foundations of religion, which was
caught from Lucretius and from the dialogues of Cicero,
infected a wide circle of literary men. Preachers, in a
strain of florid rhetoric would associate the names of
Greek and Roman heroes with those of apostles and saints,
and with the name of the Saviour himself. If an example
of distinguished piety was required, reference would be
made to Nunia Pompilius. So prevalent was disbelief
respecting the fundamental truths of natural religion that
the Council of the Lateran, under Leo X., felt called upon
to affirm the immortality and individuality of the soul.
The revival of literature in Italy was thus, to a consider-
able degree, the revival of paganism. When we look at
the poets and rhetoricians, we should suppose that the
gods of the old mythology had risen from the dead, while
in the minds of thinking men Plato and Plotinus had sup-
planted Paul and Isaiah. If in the Florentine school of
Platonists, under the lead of Marsilius Ficinus, a more
believing temper prevailed, yet these mingled freely with
Christian tenets fancies borrowed from the favorite phi-
losophy. I, It is not meant that religion was driven out by
humanism. The spirit of religion had vanished to a great
extent before, and Humanism took possession of vacant
ground.^ Under the influence of the classic school, says
Guizot, the Church in Italy " gave herself up to all the

1 Voigt, Die Wiederhehbung d. classischen AUerthums, p. 475 seq.

THE LITERATI OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 73

pleasures of an indolent, elegant, licentious civilization ;
to a taste for letters, the arts, and social and physical
enjoyments. Look at the way in which the men who
played the greatest political and literary parts at that
period passed their lives — Cardinal Bembo, for example,
— and you will be surprised by tlie mixture which it ex-
hibits of luxurious effeminacy and intellectual culture,
of enervated manners and mental vigor. In surveying
this period, indeed, when we look at the state of opinions
and of social relations, we might imagine ourselves living
among the French of the eighteenth century. There was
the same desire for the progress of intelligence, and for
the acquirement of new ideas ; the same taste for an
agreeable and easy life, the same luxury, the same licen-
tiousness ; there was the same want of political energy
and of moral principles, combined with singular sincerity
and activity of mind. The literati of the fifteenth cen-
tury stood in the same relation to the prelates of the
Church as the men of letters and philosophers of the
eighteenth did to the nobility. They had the same
opinions and manners, lived agreeably together, and gave
themselves no uneasiness about the storms that were
brewing round them. The prelates of the fifteenth cen-
tury, and Cardinal Bembo among the rest, no more fore-
saw Luther and Calvin than the courtiers of Louis XIV.
foresaw the French Revolution. The analogy between
the two cases is striking and instructive." ^

The semi-pagan spirit was not confined to elegant lit-
erature. It entered the sphere of politics and practical
morals, and in this department found a systematic ex-
pression in " The Prince " of Macchiavelli. This work,
which was intended neither as a satire, nor as an expo-
sure of king-craft for the warning of the people, but as a
serious code of political maxims, sets at defiance the prin-
ciples of Christian morality. The only apology that can

^ Guizot, Hist, of Civilization, lect. xi.

74 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

be made for it is that it simply reflects the actual prac-
tice of that age, the habitual conduct of rulers, in which
treachery and dissimulation were accounted a merit. ^
Macchiavelli was a patriot, he was at heart a republican,
but he seems to have concluded that Italy had no hope
save in a despot, and that all means are justifiable which
are requisite or advantageous for securing an end. Yet
he was supported and held in esteem by Leo X. and
Clement VII., and inscribed his flagitious treatise to
young Lorenzo de Medici. The political condition of Italy
favored the growth of a public opinion, in which the vices
recommended in " The Prince " were looked upon not only
without disapprobation, but as commendable qualities in
a statesman .2

~-P In Germany, on the contrary, from the outset, the new
learning was cultivated in a religious spirit. It kindled
the desire to examine the writings of the Fathers and to
study earnestly the Scriptures. Reuchlin, the recognized
leader of the German Humanists, considered that his
greatest work, his most durable monument, was his
Hebrew Grammar. His battle with the monks is a de-
cisive event in the combat of the new era with the old.
Reuchlin had studied Greek at Paris and Basel ; he had
lectured in various schools and universities ; had been em-
ployed in important offices by princes ; had visited Rome
on official business ; at Florence had mingled ^vith PoU-
tian, Pico de Mirandola, Marsilius Ficinus ; had devoted
himself enthusiastically to the study of Hebrew, not only
as the language of the Scriptures, but also because he
supposed himself to find in the Kabbala corroboration and
illustration of Christian doctrines. He was everywhere
famous as a scholar. The Dominicans of Cologne, Avith
Hoogstraten, an ignorant prior, at their head, vexed at

1 See the remarks of Wheaton, Elements of International Law, i. pp. 18, 19
^ See Macaulay's Essay, Macchiavelli.

THE HUMANISTS. 75

Reuchlin's refusal to support them in their project for
destroying Judaism by burning all the Hebrew literature
except the Old Testament — a project to which they had
been incited by Pfefferkorn, a converted Jew — put forth
a resolute and malignant effort to get him convicted of
heresy or force him to retract his published opinions.
Finding that soft words and reasonable concessions were
unavailing, he took up the contest in right earnest, and,
being supported by the whole Humanist party, which
rallied in defense of their chief, he at length succeeded,
though not without passing through much anxiety and
peril, in achieving a victory. By it the scale was turned
against the adversaries of literature. The scholars van-
quished the monks. In this conflict Reuchlin was effi-
ciently aided by Francis of Sickingen and Ulrich von
Hutten, both of them quite disposed, if it was necessary,
to make use of carnal weapons against the hostile ecclesi-
astics. It was the alliance of the knights with the pio-
neers of learning. The Epistolce ohscurorum virorum^
composed by Hutten and others, are a scornful satire upon
the ignorance, bigotry, and intolerance of Hoogstraten and
the monks. ^ The applause that greeted the appearance
of these letters, in which the monks are held up to merci-
less ridicule, was a significant sign of the progress of in-
telligence (1516).

The Humanists were slow in gaining a foothold in the
universities. These establishments in Germany had been
founded on the model of Paris. Theology had the upper-
most seat, and the Scholastic philosophy was enthroned in
the chairs of instruction. In particular, Paris and Cologne
were the strongholds of the traditional theology. The
Humanists at length gained admission for their studies at
Heidelberg, Tiibingen, and some other places. In 1502,
the Elector Frederic of Saxony organized a university at

1 On this work see Baur, Kirchengeschichte, iv. 17, and Sir William Hamil-
ton, Discussions, etc. (1853).

76 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

Wittenberg. This new institution, which declared Au-
gustine to be its patron saint, was from the first favorable
to Biblical studies, and gave a hospitable reception to the
teachers of classical learning.^ Here was to be the hearth-
stone of the Reformation.

In other countries the cause of learning was advancing,
and brought with it increased liberality, and tendencies
to reform in religion. In 1498, Colet, the son of a
wealthy London merchant who had bee'a Lord Mayor of
the city, had returned from his studies in Italy, and was
expounding the Greek epistles of Paul at Oxford, to the
delight of all who aspired after the " new learning," and
the disgust and alarm of the devotees of the Scholastic
theology. He was joined by Erasmus, then thirty years
of age, of the same age as Colet, and not yet risen to fame,
but full of ardor in the pursuit of knowledge, and glad to
enter into the closest bonds of friendship and fellowship
with the more devout, if less brilliant and versatile, Eng-
lish scholar. To them was united a young man, Thomas
More, who was destined to the law, but whose love of
knowledge and sympathy with the advancing spirit of the
age, brought him into intimate relations with the two
scholars just named.^ Colet, More, and Erasmus contin-
ued to be friends and fellow-laborers in a common cause
to the end. Colet became Dean of St. Paul's, founded St.
Paul's school at his own expense, and boldly, yet with
gentleness, exerted his influence, not only in favor of clas-
sical and Biblical study, but also, not without peril to
himself, against superstition and in behalf of enlightened
views in religion. More followed the same path, and in
his " Utopia " he has a chapter on the religions of that
imaginary commonwealth, in which he represents that the

1 Von Raumer, Geschichte der Pcedogogih, iv. 34.

2 At Oxford, as at Paris and elsewhere, the adversaries of the " new learn-
ing " united in a hostility to the study of Greek. It reminds one of the an-
tipathy to the same study which existed among the conservative Romans when
Cicero was a youth. Forsyth, Life of Cicero, i. 20.

COLET, MOKE, AND ERASMUS. 77

people were debating among themselves " whether one
that were chosen by them to be a priest, would not be
thereby qualified to do all the things that belong to that
character, even though he had no authority derived from
the Pope." It was one of the ancient laws of the Utopians
that no one should be punished for his rehgion, but con-
verts were to be made to any faith only " by amicable and
modest ways, without the use of reproaches or violence."
They made confession, not to priests, but to the heads of
families. Their worship was in temples, in which were
no images, and where the forms of devotion were care-
fully framed m such a way as not to offend the feelings
of any class of sincere worshippers. In this work, as in
the sermons of Colet, even such as were preached before
Henry VIII., there was a plain exposure of the barbari-
ties and impolicy of war. In reference to what we terra
political and social science, there appear in the teachings
of Colet and More, and of their still more famous asso-
ciate, a humane spirit and a hostihty to tyranny and to
all oppressive legislation, which are not less consonant
with the spirit of the Gospel, than they were in advance
of the practice of the times.^

The foremost representative of Humanism, the incar-
nation, as it were, of its genius, was Erasmus.^ The
preeminence which he attained as a literary man is what
no other scholar has approached, unless it be Voltaire,
whom he resembled in the deference paid to him by the

1 The relations of Colet, More, and Erasmus, and the characteristic work of
each, are finely described in the truly interesting work of Seebohm, The Oxford
Reformers o/1498 (London, 1869).

- Opera, xi. vols., folio ed. (Clericus) 1703 There are lives of Erasmus by
LeClerc, Bayle, Knight, Burigny (Paris, 1757), Jortin (1758-60), Hess (Zurich,
1790), Adolf Miiller (1828), by Erhard in Ersch und Griihei-'s Encydopad.
(xxxvi.), and by others; a sketch by Nisard in his Etudes sur la Reiuussatice.
These biographies are criticized by Milman in his interestmg article on Eras-
mus, Quart. Rev., No. ccxi., reprinted in his Essays. Notwithstanding the.
unfavorable judgment of Johnson, Jortin's Life is anything but a " dull book."
Foi a scholar, notwithstanding its want of plan and of symmetry, it is one of
the most delightful of biographies.

78 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

great in worldly rank. Each was a wit and an iconoclast
in his own way, but their characters in other respects
were quite unlike.^ The fame of Erasmus was rendered
possible, in part, by the universal use of Latin, as the
common language of educated men ; a state of things of
which his want of familiarity with Itahan and English,
although he had sojourned in Italy and lived long in
England, is a curious sign. By the irresistible bent of
his mind, as well as by assiduous culture, Erasmus was
a man of letters. He must be that, whatever else he
failed to be. His knowledge of Greek was inferior to
that of his contemporary and rival, Budaeus ; he took no
pains to give his style a classical finish, and laughed at
the pedantic Ciceronians, who avoided all phraseology not
sanctioned by the best ancient authority, and sometimes
all words not found in their favorite author.^ He wrote
hastily : " I precipitate," he says, " rather than com-
pose." * Yet the wit and wisdom and varied erudition
which he poured forth from his full mind, made him
justly the most popular of writers. He sat on his throne,
an object of admiration and of envy. By his multifarious
publications and his wide correspondence with eminent
persons, ecclesiastics, statesmen, and scholars, his influence
was diffused over all Europe. In all the earlier part of
his career Erasmus struggled with indigence. His health
was not strong and he thought that he could not live upon
a little. His dependence upon patronage and pensions
placed fetters upon him, to some extent, to the end of his
life ; yet he loved independence, frequently chose to re-
ceive the attentions of the great at a distance from them,
and selected for his place of abode the city of Basel,
where he was free alike from secular and ecclesiastical
tyranny. Erasmus, by his writings and his entire per-

1 Coleridge has compared and contrasted them, The Friend, First Landing
Place: Essay i.

2 Jortin, ii. 74. 3 JUd., i. 152. * Ibid., i. 152.

ERASMUS. 79

Bonal influence, was the foe of superstition. In his early-
days he had tasted, by constraint, something of monkish
life, and his natural abhorrence of it was made more in-
tense by this bitter recollection and by the trouble it cost
him, after he had become famous, to release himself from
the thraldom to which his former associates were inclined
to call him back. In truth, he conducted a life-long war-
fare against the monks and their ideas and practices. His
" Praise of Folly " and, in particular, the " Colloquies,"
in which the idleness, illiteracy, self-indulgence, and arti-
ficial and useless austerities of " the religious," were
handled in the most diverting style, were read with in-
finite amusement by all who sympathized with the new
studies, and by thousands who did not calculate the effect
of this telling satire in abating popular reverence for the
Church. The " Praise of Folly " was written in 1510
or 1511, in More's house, for the amusement of his host
and a few other friends. Folly is personified, and repre-
sented as discoursing to her followers on the affairs of
mankind. All classes come in for their share of ridicule.
Grammarians and pedagogues, in the foetid atmosphere
of their schoolrooms, bawling at their boys and beating
them ; scholastic theologians, wrangling upon frivolous
and insoluble questions, and prating of the physical con-
stitution of the world as if they had come down from a
council of the gods — " with whom and whose conjectures
nature is mightily amused ; " monks, " the race of new
Jews," who are surprised at last to find themselves among
the goats, on the left hand of the Judge, faring worse
than common sailors and wagoners ; kings who forget
their responsibilities, rob their subjects, and think only of
their own pleasures, as hunting and the keeping of fine
horses ; popes who, though infirm old men, take the
sword into their hands, and " turn law, religion, peace,
and all human affairs upside down " — such are some of
the divisions ^f mankind who are held up to ridicule.

80 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

At this time Julius II. filled the papal chair, and all
readers of Erasmus must have recognized the portrait
which he drew of the warlike old pontiff. Erasmus did
not spare the legends of the saints, which formed so fair a
mark for the shafts of wit ; and by his observations on
the stigmata of St. Francis, offended the order of
which he was the almost adored founder. When re-
quested by a cardinal to draw up the lives of the Saints,
he begged to be excused ; they were too full of fables.^
His comments on misgovernment in the Church, on the
extortions and vices of the clergy, from the Pope down-
wards, were not the less biting and effective, for the hu-
morous form in which they were generally cast. Indeed,
as Coleridge has said, it is a merit of the jests of Erasmus
that they can all be translated into arguments. There
was what he called a " Pharisaic kingdom," and he would
never write anything, he said, that would give aid and
comfort to the defenders of it.^ In his own mind, he^
distinguished between the Church and the " Popish sect," j
as he designated, even in a letter to Melancthon, the sup-
porters of ecclesiastical abuses and tyranny.'"^ There
were, in his judgment, two evils that must be cut up by
the roots before the Church could have peace. The one ,
was hatred for the court of Rome, occasioned by her in- 1
tolerable avarice and cruelty ; the other was the yoke of
human constitutions, robbing the people of their religious i
liberty. He would have made the creed a very short '
one, limited to a few " plain truths contained in Scrip-
ture," and leaving all the rest to the individual judgment.
He thought that many things should be referred, not ac-
cording to the popular cry, to " the next general council,"
but to the time when we see God face to face.^ Partly
from the natural kindness of his temper, partly from his
liberal culture, and still more, perhaps, from a personal
appreciation of the difficulties and uncertainties of religious

1 Jortiii, i. 294, ii. U. 2 /bid., i. 284. « Ibid., i. 313. « ]i,i,i, i. 265.

THE WRITINGS OF ERASMUS. 81

doctrine, tie went beyond abnost every otber eminent man
of his age in his bking for rebgious bberty. He was con-
scious that without the practice of a pretty wide toleration
on the part of rulers in Church and State, he would him-
self fare ill. He was, in fact, obbged to be constantly on
his defense against charges of heresy. He had said things
without number which could easily be turned into grounds
of accusation. His enemies were numerous and vindictive,
and although, in the hterary combat, he was more than a
match for all of them, he was sensitive to their attacks.
He complains that the Spaniard, S tunica, had presented
to Leo X. a libel against hun, containing sixty thousand
heresies extracted from his writings.^ Notwithstanding
all his denials and professions, there lurked in the minds
of, the ardent adherents of the mediaeval system, an in-
stinctive feeling that he was a dangerous enemy, and that
his influence, so far as it prevailed, could only conduce to
their overthrow. In this feeling, whatever may have been
true of their specific charges, they were fully justified.
Yet it is doubtful whether the condemnation of his " Col-
loquies " by the University of Paris, and other proceed-
ings of a hke nature, which emanated from the monkish
party, did not operate to give to his ideas a wider currency.
But there was a positive work which Erasmus did, the
sohdity and value of which it is difiicult to overestimate.
By his editions of Cyprian and Jerome, and his transla-
tions from Origen, Athanasius, and Chrysostom, he opened
up the knowledge of Christian antiquity, and gave his
contemporaries access to a purer and more Biblical the-
ology. His edition of the New Testament, his paraphrases
of the New Testament, which were at one time appointed
to be read in the churches of England, his commentaries,
his treatise on preaching, and various other works, pro-
moted Christian knowledge in a most remarkable degree.
In his writings of this sort, along with enlightened viewa

1 Jortin, i. 269.

82 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

of doctrine and of the nature of the Christian hfe, were
earnest complaints against the multitude of church ordin-
ances contrived for the oppression of the poor and the
enriching of the clergy. He would have the laity in-
structed ; he wished that the humblest woman might read
the Gospels. The judaizing customs and rites with which
the Church was burdened, are pointed out in his comments
on Scripture. In these publications, which the art of
printing scattered m multiplied editions over Europe, the
great lights of the patristic age, and the Apostles them-
selves, reappeared to break up the reign of superstition.
Never was an alliance between author and printer more
happy for both parties, or more fruitful of good to the pub-
lic, than was that between Erasmus and Froben of Basel.
In view of the whole career and various productions of the
Chief of the Humanists, it is not exaggerated praise to say
that he was " the living embodiment of almost all that
which, in consequence of the revival of the study of the
ancients, the mind of the Western nations for more than a
Tiundred years had wrought out and attained. It was not
only a knoAvledge of languages, not only cultivation of
style, of taste ; but therewith the whole mental cast had
received a freer turn, a finer touch. In this comprehen-
sive sense, one may say that Erasmus was the most cul-
tivated man of his times." ^

I Of the relations of Erasmus to Luther and the Prot-
estant cause, there will be an occasion to speak hereafter.
His writings and the reception accorded to them show
that the European mind had outgrown the existing ec-
clesiastical system, and was ready to break loose from its
control.

Some of the principal pr ints in the -vdew which has been
presented in this and in the preceding lecture, respecting
the causes that paved the way of the Reformation, may
be briefly set forth as follows : —

1 Strauss, Ulrich von Hutten, p. 481.

RECAPITULATION. 83

Among the salient features characteristic of the Middle
Ages were : the subordination of civil to ecclesiastical so-
ciety, of the State to the vast theocratical community
having its centre at Rome ; the government of the Church
by the clergy ; the union of peoples under a common ec-
clesiastical law and a uniform Latin ritual ; an intellectual
activity shaped by the clergy and subservient to the pre-
vailing religious and ecclesiastical system.

Among the symptoms of the rise of a new order of
things were : —

1. The laical spirit ; becoming alive to the rights and
interests of civil society ; developing in the towns a body
of citizens bold to confront clerical authority, and with
their practical understanding sharpened and invigorated
by diversified industry and by commerce ; a laical spirit
which manifested itself, also, in the lower classes, in satires
aimed at the vices of the clergy ; which, likewise, gave
rise to a more intense feeling of patriotism, a new sense of
the national bond, a new vigor in national churches.-^

2. A conscious or unconscious religious opposition to
the established system ; an opposition which appeared in
sects like the Waldenses, who brought forward the Bible
as a means of correcting the teaching, rebuking the offi-
cers, or reforming the organization of the Church ; or in
mystics who regarded rehgion as an inward life, an im-
mediate relation of the individual to God, and preached
fervently to the people in their own tongue.

3. A literary and scientific movement, following and
displacing the method of culture that was pecuhar to the
mediaeval age ; a movement which enlarged the area and
multiplied the subjects of thought and investigation ; which
drew inspiration and nutriment from the masterpieces of
ancient wisdom, eloquence, and art.

1 See Hagen, Deutschland' s Uteransche u. religiose Verhdltnisse im Heforma-
tionszeitalter, i. 1-32. But Hagen (p. 18) separates the " satyrisch volksmassige '■
opposition, as a distinct head, in the room of the more general rubric above.
He does not omit to notice, however, the other elements involved in the lay
spirit.

84 SPECIAL CAUSES AND OMENS OF THE REFORMATION.

These three latent or open species of antagonism to the
mediseval spirit were often mingled with one another.
The Mystic and the Humanist might be united in the
same person. The laical spirit in its higher types of mani-
festation was reinforced by the new culture. Satirical
attacks upon absurd ceremonies, upon the follies and sins
of monks and priests, had a keener edge, as well as a
more serious effect, when they emanated from students
famihar with Plautus and Juvenal.

CHAPTER IV.

LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION, TO THE
DIET OF AUGSBURG, 1530.

Germany, including the Netherlands and Switzerland,
was the centre, the principal theatre, of the Reformation.
It is not without truth that the Germans claim, as the
native characteristic of their race, a certain inwardness,
or spirituality in the large sense of the term. This goes
far to explain the hospitable reception which the Germanic
tribes gave to Christianity, and the docility with which
they embraced it.^ They found in the Christian religion
a congenial spirit. The German spirit of independence,
or love of personal liberty, is a branch of this general
habit of mind. Germany began its existence as a distinct
nation in a successful resistance to the attempt of the
clergy to dispose of the inheritance of Charlemagne.^ It
was the Germans who prevented his monarchy from being
converted into an ecclesiastical State, On the field of
Fontenay the forces of the Franks were separated into
two hostile divisions, the one composed predominantly of

1 " Es war das Christenthum nichts was dem Deutschen fremd und widerwiir-
tig gewesen ware, vielmehr bekam der deutsche Charakter durch das Christen-
thum nur die Vollendung seiner selbst; erfand sich in der Kirche Christi selbst,
nur gehoben, verklart und geheiligt." Vilmar, Gcschichte der deutschen Lit-
eratur, p. 7. Tacitus says of the ancient Germans, that they conceived it un-
worthy of the gods to be confined within walls, or to be represented by images;
and that the head of a family exercised a priestly function. Germania, cc. ix.,
X. Grimm finds in the descriptions of Tacitus the complete germ of Protestan-
tism — " den vollen keim des Protestantismus." Deutsche Mythologie, p. xliii.
For like views from a French writer, see Taine, Art in the Netherlands, pp. 32,
33, 64. The Saxons resisted the Gospel, because it was forced on them by s
conqueror.

2 Ranke, Deutsche Geschichte, i. 10 seq.

86 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

the German element, which planted itself on the German
traditional law for regulating the succession ; the other of
the Roman element that had the support of the ecclesias-
tics. Mysticism, the product of a craving for a religion
of less show and more heart, had, as we have seen, its
stronghold, in the latter part of the mediaeval period, in
Germany. The triumph of the Papacy had been due to
the division between the emperor and the great vassals :
not to any deep-seated fondness for a foreign and ecclesi-
X astical supremacy. It was natural that the Reformation,
which was an uprising against clerical usurpation and in
favor of a more inward and spiritual worship, should
spring up in Germany. A German philosopher has dwelt
with eloquence upon the fact that while the rest of the world
had gone out to America, to the Indies, in quest of riches
and to found an earthly empire encircling the globe, on
which the sun should never set, a simple monk, turning
away from the things of sense and empty forms, was find-
ing Him whom the disciples had once sought for in a
sepulchre of stone. Hegel attributes the inception and
success of the Reformation to this " ancient and constantly
preserved inwardness of the German people," in conse-
quence of which they are not content to approach God by
proxy, or put their religion outside of them, in sacraments
^ and ceremonies, in sensuous, imposing spectacles.^ A Ger-
man historian has made substantially the same assertion
respecting the genius of the German people : " One pe-
culiar characteristic for which the German race has ever
been distinguished is their profound sense of the religious
element, seated in the inmost depths of the soul ; their
readiness to be impelled by the discordant strifes of the
external world and unfruitful human ordinances, to seek
and find God in the deep recesses of their own hearts, and
to experience a hidden life in God springing forth in op-
position to barren conceptions of the abstract intellect
1 Hegel, Phil, der Geschichte ; Werhe, ix. 499 seq.

LUTHER THE HERO OF THE REFORMATION. 87

that leave the heart cold and dead, a mechanism that con-
verts rehgion into a round of outward ceremonies." ^

Unquestionably the hero of the Reformation was Lu-
ther. Without him and his powerful influence, other
reformatory movements, even such as had an independent
beginning, like that of Zwingle, might have failed of suc-
cess. As far as we can judge, they would have produced
no wide-spread commotion and led to no enduring results.
It has been said, with truth, of Luther, that " his whole
life and character, his heart and soul and mind, are iden-
tified and one with his great work, in a manner very dif-
ferent from what we see in other men. Melancthon, for
uistance, may easily be conceived apart from the Reforma-
tion, as an eminent divine, living in other ages of the
Church, as the friend of Augustine or the companion of
Fenelon. Even Calvin may be separated in thought
from the age of the Reformation, and may be set among
the Schoolmen, or in the council chamber of Hildebrand
or of Innocent, or at the Synod of Dort, or among Crom-
well's chaplains." " But Luther apart from the Refor-
mation would cease to be Luther." ^

He was born in 1483, at the very time when Colum-
bus was straggling to obtain the means of prosecuting
that voyage which resulted in the discovery of a new
world. ^ It is a marked historical coincidence, which has
more than once been pointed out, that the reform of the
Christian religion should be simultaneous with the open-
ing of new regions of the globe, into which Christianity
was to be carried.* Luther's family, before his birth,

1 Neander, v. 81.

2 Archdeacon Hare, Vindication of Luther against his recent English As-
sailants, p. 2.

3 Melancthon states that Luther's mother often said that while she remem-
bered with certainty the day and hour, she could not remember the year of his
birth; but his brother, James, an honest and upright man, said that it was
1483. Vita M. Lutheri, ii. Some are of opinion, in view of recently discov-
ered evidence, that it was 1484. See Studienu. Kritiken (Oct. 1871).

* The coincidence of the great geographical discoveries with (he access o

88 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

had removed to Eisleben from Mohra, a village in the
Thuringian Forest, near the spot where Boniface, the
apostle of Germany, had first preached the Gospel.^

" I am a peasant's son," he says ; " my father, my
grandfather, my great grandfather were thorough peas-
ants (rechte Bauern)." His domestic training was well
meant, but rough and austere. He was severely punished
for slight offenses, both at home and by his teachers.
At school he was chastised fifteen times, in one forenoon,
for trivial or imaginary infractions of law. Having
spent a year at school at Magdeburg, he was sent to the
Franciscan school at Eisenach, where he sang at the
doors of the principal citizens, after the old German cus-
tom, for the means of support. Destined for the legal
profession, he pursued, at the University of Erfurt, the
Nominalist logic and the classics, and made a beginning
in the study of Aristotle. He was twenty years old and
had taken the Bachelor's degree when it happened that,
while he was looking one day at the books in the Erfurt
library, he casually took up a copy of the Latin Bible.
It was the first time in his life that he had ever taken
the sacred volume in his liands.^ Struck with surprise at
the richness of its contents, compared with the extracts
which he had been wont to hear in the Church services,
he read it with eagerness and intense delight. This hour
was an epoch in his existence. Deep religious anxieties
that had haunted him from childhood, moved him, two
years later, against the will of his father, to forsake the
legal profession and enter the Augustinian convent, where

light respecting the Gospel and with the revival of learning, is noticed by the
French Reformer, Lefevre, Correspundnnce des Riformateurs dans les Pays
de la Langiie Frangnise, par A. L. Herminjard (18G6) i. 94.

1 A copious writer upon the earlier portion of the life of Luther is Jlirgens,
Luther von seiner Geburt bis zum Ahlass-streite, 1483-1517. 3 vols. (1846).

2 Mathesius, Historien von d. Ehrwiirdigen M. Luther, p. 3 (ed. 1580). This
honest chronicler shows how grossly defective was the I'eligious instruction
given to youth by reference to his own case. The passage may be read in
Marheinecke, Geschichte d. deutschen Reformation, i. 6.

LUTHER AT WITTENBERG. 89

he became a monk and a priest. It is worthy of remark
that the only two books that he carried into the convent
were his Plautus and Virgil. Here he remained until he
was called to the newly founded University of Witten-
berg. The Elector of Saxony had established this univer-
sity, givmg to the professors charge over the principal
Church and the enjoyment of its incomes; his idea being
not only to organize a place of instruction, but to collect a
learned body, to which, in difficult and doubtful questions,
he might, according to the prevailing custom, resort for
counsel. Here, to quote another's words, we find the
poor miner's boy who, having " become a young Doctor,
fervent and rejoicing in the Scriptures, well versed in his
Augustine, Aquinas, Occam, and Gerson, familiar with all
the subtle theological and philosophical controversies of
the day, was abeady spoken of honorably in wider
circles, as a good, clever thinker, as a victorious assailer
of the supremacy of Aristotle ; took a lively interest in
the struggles of the Humanists against the ancient bar-
barism ; was esteemed by the most celebrated champions
of the freedom of science ; was exalted by the approba-
tion of his colleagues, of the students that flocked to his
lectures — in a word, was advancing with rapid steps to
the highest honors of hterary renown." ^ This was the
situation of Luther when the event occurred that gave
character to the remainder of his career.

Here we must pause to consider the religious expe-
rience of Luther ; for whoever would explore the causes
of history must look beneath the surface of events at the
spiritual hfe of men. His earher conception of Chris-
tianity is condensed in one expression, that he had looked
upon Christ as a lawgiver, a second Moses, only that the
former was a legislator of more awful rigor. " We were

1 Hundeshagen, Der deutsche Protestantismus, p. 13. (Quoted by Ha:e, p.
295 seq.)- An idea of Luther's influence, as well as of his multiplied em iloy-
ments, may be gathered from one of his early letters, De Wette, i. 41

90 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

all taught," he says in his " Table-talk," " that we must
make satisfaction for our sins, and that Christ at the last
day would demand how we had atoned for our guilt, and
how many good works we had done." Melancthon says
that the motive which led him to adopt the monastic life
was this : " Often when he thought on the anger of God
or of the wonderful instances of divine punishment, he
was seized with a terror so violent that he was well-nigh
bereft of life." ^ When he held his first mass, and came
to recite the words, " I bring this offering to thee, the
eternal, living God," he was with difficulty restrained
from rushing away from the altar in fear and dismay.
" I had," he confesses, " a broken spirit, and was ever in
sorrow." " I wore out my body with vigils and fastings,
and hoped thus to satisfy the law and deliver my con-
science from the sting of guilt." " Had I not been re-
deemed by the comfort of the Gospel, I could not have
Hved two years longer." This comfort he began to ob-
tain through an old monk who pointed him to the sen-
tence in the Apostles' Creed, " I believe in the forgive-
ness of sins," and to a passage in St. Bernard where
reference is made to Paul's doctrine that " man is justi-
fied by faith." Still more was he aided b}^ the judicious
counsels of John Staupitz, the learned and pious Vicar-
general of his order, whose words, Luther afterwards
said, pierced him " like the sharp arrow of a strong man."
He studied Augustme and Tauler, and caught glimpses
of evangelical doctrine in them.'-^ Especially he devoted
himself to the study of the prophets and apostles. He
had hardly begun to expound to his pupils the Epistle to
the Romans, when his eye fastened upon the citation
from a prophet, " the just shall live by faith." These
words never ceased to sound in his ear. Going to Rome

1 Vita M. Luth.,v.

2 He recommends Tauler to his friend Spalatin (Dec. 14, 1516): "Neque
enim ego vel in Latina, vel in nostra lingua, theologiam vidi salubriorem et
cum evangelic consonantiorem." De Wette, i. 46.

Luther's religious experience. 91

on a mission for his order (1510), he ran about full of
devotional ardor, from church to church. But those words
of the Apostle Paul, " the just shall live by faith," more
and more impressed themselves upon his thoughts. Dur-
ing his slow journey homewards he pondered these words.
At length their full meaning burst upon him. " Through
the Gospel that righteousness is revealed which avails be-
fore God — by which He, out of grace and mere compas-
sion, justifies us through faith." " Here I felt at once,"
he says, " that I was wholly born again and that I had
entered through open doors into Paradise itself. That
passage of Paul was truly to me the gate of Paradise."^
He saw that Christ is not come as a lawgiver, but as a Sav-
iour ; that love, not wrath or justice, is the motive in his
mission and work ; that the forgiveness of sins through
Him is a free gift ; that the relationship of the soul to
Him, and through Him to the Father, which is expressed
by the term faith, the responsive act of the soul to the
divine mercy, is all that is required. This method of
reconciliation is without the works of the law. Good
works are the fruit of faith, a spontaneous and necessary
product. Now he had found a clue to the understanding
of the Bible. If John was his favorite Evangelist, he
found in them all one doctrme. But in the writings of
Paul, whose religious development so closely resembled
his own, he found a protest against judaizing theology
and an assertion of salvation by faith, in opposition to a
legal system, which gave him intense satisfaction. The
Epistles to the Romans and Galatians were his familiar
companions ; the latter he styled, in his humorous way,
liis wife, his Catharine von Bora.

The logical consequences of his new position, in rela-
tion to the ordinances and ceremonies of the Church, and
the principle of Church authority, had not occurred to the
thoughts of Luther. It was only providential events, and

1 Prtef. Operum (1545).

92 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

the reflection which they induced, that brought the latent
contents of his principle to distinct consciousness. The
first of these events was the appearance of Tetzel, a
hawker of mdulgences, in the neighborhood of Witten-
berg. The mischief resulting from this traffic was forced
on the attention of Luther by facts that were disclosed to
him in the confessional. He was moved to preach against
it, to write to bishops in opposition to it, and finally to
post his five and nmety theses on the door of the Church
of All Saints at Wittenberg (1517).

Indulgences, in the earlier ages of the Church, had
been a relaxation of penance, or of the disciphne imposed
by the Church on penitents who had been guilty of mortal
sin. The doctrine of penance required that for such sin
satisfaction should be superadded to contrition and con-
fession. Then came the custom of commuting these
appointed temporal penalties. When Christianity spread
among the northern nations, the canonical penances were
frequently found to be inapplicable to their condition. The
practice of accepting offerings of money in the room of
the ordinary forms of penance, harmonized with the penal
codes in vogue among the barbarian peoples. At first the
priest had only exercised the office of an intercessor.
Gradually the simple function of declaring the divine
forgiveness to the penitent transformed itself into that of
a judge. By Aquinas, the priest is made the instrument
of conveying the divine pardon, the vehicle through
which the grace of God passes to the penitent. With
the jubilees, or pilgrimages to Rome, ordained by the
popes, came the plenary indulgences, or the complete re-
mission of all temporal penalties — that is, the penalties
still obligatory on the penitent — on the fulfillment of
prescribed conditions. These penalties might extend into
purgatory, but the indulgence obhterated them all. In
the thirteenth century, Alexander of Hales and Thomas
Aquinas set forth the theory of supererogatory merits, or

Luther's theses. 93

the treasure of merit bestowed upon the Church through
Christ and the saints, on which the rulers of the Church
might di'aw for the benejEit of the less worthy and more
needy. This was something distinct from the power of
the keys, the power to grant absolution, which inhered
in the priesthood alone. The eternal punishment of mor-
tal sin being remitted or commuted by the absolution of
the priest, it was open to the Pope or his agents, by the
grant of indulgences, to remit the temporal or terminable
penalties that still rested on the head of the transgressor.
Thus souls might be delivered forthwith from purgatorial
fire. Pope Sixtus IV., in 1477, had officially declared
that souls already in purgatory are emancipated per
modum suffragii ; that is, the work done in behalf of
them operates to effect their release in a way analogous
to the efficacy of prayer. Nevertheless, the power that
was claimed over the dead, was not practically diminished
by this restriction. The business of selling indulgences
had grown by the profitableness of it. " Everywhere,"
says Erasmus, " the remission of purgatorial torment is
sold ; nor is it sold only, but forced upon those who re-
fuse it." 1 As managed by Tetzel and the other emis-
saries sent out to collect money for the building of St.
Peter's Church, the indulgence was a simple bargain, ac-
cording to which, on the payment of a stipulated sum,
the individual received a full discharge from the penalties
of sin or procured the release of a soul from the flames of
purgatory. The forgiveness of sins was offered in the
market for money. Against this lucrative trade Luther
lifted up an earnest remonstrance. The doctrine of his
theses was that the Pope can absolve only from the pun-
ishments Avhich he himself imposes ; that these do not
reach beyond death ; moreover, that the right to absolve
pertains to bishops and pastors, not less than to the Pope ;

1 Prxf. I. Epist. Corinth. Opera, vii. 851. The Emp'iror Maximilian had
first resisted and then patronized the traffic.

94 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

that the foundation of indulgences is in the power of the
keys ; that absolution belongs to all penitents, but is not
indispensable, and is of less account than works of piety
and mercy. If the Pope can free souls from purgatory,
why not dehver them all at once? The treasury of
merits is not denied, but the Pope cannot dispense it fur-
ther than he holds in his hand the intercessions of the
Church. The real and true treasure of the Church is
asserted to be the gospel of grace. If the Pope knew
what extortion is practiced by the preachers of indul-
gences, he would rather, it is said, see St. Peter's Church
reduced to ashes than built up out of the bones and flesh
of the lambs of his flock. The theses were an attack on
the Thomist theory of indulgences ; but in spirit, though
unconsciously to the author, they struck much deeper.^

No one can reasonably doubt that Luther's conscience
was in the work on which he had entered. If ever a man
was actuated by simple, profound convictions of duty, it
was he.^ The abuses against which he cried out were so
iniquitous and mischievous in his eyes that he could not
keep silent. He had no ambition to gratify. As far as
his earthly prospects were concerned he had nothing to
gain, but apparently, in case he persevered, everything to
lose. He had no thought of throwing off his allegiance
to the Roman Church. At a later time he said of the
theses : " I allow these propositions to stand, that by them
it may appear how weak I was, and in how fluctuating a
state of mind I was when I began this business. I was
then a monk, and a mad papist ; ready to murder any
person who denied obedience to the Pope." ^ He had

1 For a literal copy of the theses, see Ranke, vi. 80; Loscher, Reformations-
acfen, i. 438. Thej' are given in German by Meurer, Luther's Leben, p. 75.

2 Luther speaks of his motives in a letter to the Bishop of Merseburg (Feb. 4,
1520); De Wette, i. 402. His course, he says, would be that of a madman if
he were actuated b}' worldly motives. See also, De Wette, iii. 215 (Letter to
Melancthon): "Gloria mea est ha;c una, quod verbum Dei pure tradidi, nee
Bdulteravi ullo studio gloria aut opulentiae."

« Prcef. Oper. (1546.) The following year (May 30, 1518), in his letter to

Luther's theses. 95

embraced with his whole soul a truth which he knew to
be in the Scriptures, but where it would lead him he
could not anticipate. He was still an obedient son of the
Church. His theses were propositions for dispute ; they
concluded with the sincere and solemn declaration that he
affirmed nothing, but left everything to the judgment of
the Church. What he would do in case the Church
should declare against him, and forbid him to teach what
he knew to be the Gospel ; what course he would take
when the alternative should be presented of giving up a
truth which stood in letters of light on the page of Scrip-
ture and had imprinted itself on his soul, or of renouncing
an allegiance in which he had grown up, the obligation to
which he had never found occasion to doubt — this was
a question which did not occur to him. This portion
of the career of Luther is intelligible only when we re-
member that the incompatibleness of the traditional view
of Church authority with his interpretation of the Gospel
was something that he discovered by degrees, and that
was forced upon him by the actual treatment which his
doctrine received from the ecclesiastical rulers. Nothing
but his intense, living belief respecting the nature of the
Gospel could have sufficed to neutralize and at last over-
come his established deference for Church superiors.
" O ! " he exclaims, " with what anxiety and labor, with
what searching of the Scriptures, have I justified myself
in conscience, in standing up alone against the Pope ! "

The theses were designed to subserve an immediate,
local end, but they kindled a commotion over all Ger-
many. Both the religious and political opponents of the
trade in indulgences greeted so able and gallant a spokes-
man.i " No one," says Luther, " would bell the cats ;

Leo X., covering the Resolutiones of the theses, he says, in connection with
other expressions of spiritual allegiance: " Vocem tuam, vocem Christi, in te
priEsidentis et loquentis agnoscam." De Wette, i. 122.

1 "Et fovebat me utcumque aura ista popularis, quod invisre jam essent om-
nibus artes et Ronianaticnes ilia?, quibus totum orbem impleverant et fatigavpr-
ant.". Vraf. Operum (1545).

96 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

for the hei'esy-masters of the Preaching Order had driven
all the world to terror by their fires." ^ " Thanks be to
God," exclaimed Reuchlin, " the monks have now found
a man who will give them such full employment that
they will be glad to leave my old age to pass away in
peace." ^ Maximilian was not sorry to see the theses ap-
pear. Erasmus was at heart glad that a new and vigorous
antagonist of superstition had stepped into the arena. But
opponents quickly appeared ; Sylvester Prierias, Master
of the Palace at Rome, offended that his Dominican
order should meet mth a rebuff from so insignificant a
quarter ; Tetzel himself, whose counter-theses gained for
him at once a doctorate ; Dr. John Eck, an expert, well-
read, ambitious thiP'ological disputant, who welcomed so
fair an occasion to signalize himself.^ Luther left none
of them unanswered. Their appeals to human authority
led him to plant himself more distinctly on the Scrip-
tures ; and the defense of the detestable practices which
he had assailed, inflamed his indignation still more against
them. Then follows his summons to Rome, which is
modified, at the request of his noble-hearted protector,
Frederic the Wise, whom Leo X., for political reasons,
was anxious at that moment to conciliate, into a summons
to Augsburg to meet the legate, Cajetan (1518). Luther
found him supercilious, " a complete Italian and Thomist,"
who would have no discussion, and whose requirement
that Luther should retract his opinions, was met with a
civil but decided refusal. " I will not," wrote Luther to
Carlstadt, " become a heretic by denying the truth by
which I became a Christian : sooner will I die, be burnt,
be banished, be anathematized." * He left the cardinal, to
whom his dark, glistening eyes were nowise agreeable,
and appealed from the Pope ill-informed to the same bet-

1 Gieseler, iv. i. 1, § 1, n. IG.

2 Waddington, History of the Reformation, i. 98.

3 These documents are in Loscher, Reformationsacten, ii.
* Letter to Carlstadt (Oct. U, 1518), De Wette, i. 161.

THE LKIPSIC DISPUTATION. 97

ter- informed.^ When a bull was issued from Rome, as-
serting the doctrine as to indulgences, which Luther had
impugned, he published his appeal from the Pope to a
general council. Still he looked for a recognition of the
truth from the authorities of the Church. Miltitz, the
second messenger from the papal court, a Saxon by birth,
conciliatory in manner, and professing a sympathy with
Luther in his hatred of the worst abuses of the vendors
of indulgences, actually persuaded him to abstain from
further combat on the subject, provided his opponents
would also remain silent.^ But this truce was quickly
broken by the challenge of Eck to a public disputation on
free-will and grace, topics on which he had before debated
with Carlstadt, one of the theological professors at Wit-
tenberg ; and by the programme which Eck put forth,
much to the surprise of Luther, in which his opinions
were directly assailed. In the open wagon which con-
veyed Luther to Leipsic to attend the disputation, there
sat by his side Philip Melancthon, a young man of twen-
ty-two, of precocious talents and ripe scholarship, whom
his grand-uncle, Reuchlin, had recommended to the Elec-
tor as Professor of Greek, and sent to Wittenberg with a
glowing prophecy of the eminence that awaited him.^
At the age of twenty his powers and his scholarship were
alike mature. Unlike Luther in his temperament, they

1 Letter to Cajetan (Oct. 18, 1518), De Wette, i. 164.

2 Luther did not believe in the sincerity of Miltitz's warm demonstrations.
He speaks of his " Italities and simulations" — "Italitates et simulationes."
Letter to Staupitz (Feb. 20, 1519), De Wette, i. 281. See also the Letter to
Egranus (Feb. 2, 1519), De Wette, i. 216.

3 Reuchlin to Melancthon, Corpus Ref., i. 33. Reuchlin applies to him the
promise to Abraham (Gen. xii.): "Ita mihi prtesagit animus, ita spero futu-
rum de te, mi Philipjye, meum opus etmeum solatium." Melancthon's original
name was Schwarzerd, which, according to the prevailing custom, he rendered
into Greek. To render proper names into Greek or Latin was usual with
scholars. Thus Hausschein became Qicolampadius; Schneider — i. e., Korn-
Kctineider — was transfoi-med info Agricola. Johannes Krachemberger wrote
to Reuchlin to furnish him with a Greek equivalent for his not very euphomou*
name. Vou Raumer, Gescldchte der Poedagogik, i. 129.

98 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

were the counterparts of each other. Melancthon found
rest and support in the robust nature, the intrepid spirit
of Luther; Luther admired, in turn, the fine but cautious
intellect, and the exact and ample learning of Melancthon.
Each lent to the other the most effective assistance. So
intimate is their friendship that Luther dares to get hold
of the manuscript commentaries of his young associate,
whose modesty kept them from the press, and to send
them, without the author's knowledge, to the printer.^
" This little Greek," said Luther, " surpasses me in the-
ology, too." By his commentary on the Epistle to the
Romans, Melancthon laid the foundation of the Protes-
tant exegesis ; and his doctrinal treatise, the " Loci Com-
munes," won for him a like distinction in this department
of theology.

The disputation at Leipsic went on for a week between
Carlstadt and Eck, on the intricate themes of free-will and
grace, in which the former defended the Augustinian and
the latter the semi-Pelagian side, and in which the fluency
and adroitness of Eck shone to advantage in comparison
with his less facile adversary. Then Luther ascended the
platform. He was in the prime of life, in his thirty-sixth
year, of middling height, at that time thin in person, and
with a clear, melodious voice. It is a fact not without
interest that he carried in his hand a nosegay of flowers.^
He took delight in nature — in the sky, the blossoms,
and birds. Li the midst of his great conflict he would
turn for recreation to his garden, and correspond with his
friends about the seeds and utensils that he wanted to
procure for it.^ At home and with his friends he was full

1 Letter to Melancthon, De Wette, ii. 238. See also ii. 303.

'■i For an interesting description of Luther, as he appeared in this Disputation,
from the pen of Petrus MoseJJanus, see Waddington, i. 130. See also Ranke,
Deutsch. Gsch., i. 281. It lasted from June 27, to July 16, 1519.

8 " While Satan with his members is raging, I will laugh at him and will at-
tend to my gardens, that is, the blessings of the Creator, and enjoy them,
^raising him." Letter to Wenc. Link. (Dec. 1525), De Wette, iii. 58. See, also,
Hi. 172.

THE LEIPSIC DISPUTATION. 99

of humor, was enthusiastically fond of music, and played
with skill on the lute and the flute ; in his natural con-
stitution the very opposite of an ascetic.-^ His powerful
mind — for he was, probably, the ablest man of his time
— was connected with a child-like freshness of feeling,
and a large, generous sympathy with human nature in all
its innocent manifestations.

Standing before Duke George, who proved to be a de-
cided enemy of the Reformation, and before the auditory
who sat with him, Luther discussed with his opponent the
primacy of the Pope. In the course of the colloquy he de-
clared that the headship of the Pope is not indispensable ;
that the Oriental Church is a true Church, without the
Pope ; that the primacy is of human and not of divine ap-
pointment. Startling as these propositions were, they were
less so than was his avowal, in response to an inquiry,
that among the articles for which John Huss had been
condemned at the Council of Constance, there were some
that were thoroughly Christian and evangelical. A feel-
ing of amazement ran through the assembly, and an
audible expression of surprise and anger broke from the
lips of the Duke. 2

The Disputation at Leipsic, by stimulating Luther to
further studies into the origin of the Papacy and into the
character of Huss and of his opinions, brought his mind
to a more decided renunciation of human authority, and
to a growing suspicion that the papal rule was a usurpa-
tion in the Church and a hateful tyranny.^ Up to this
time his attempt had been to influence the ecclesiastical
rulers ; now he turned to the people. His " Address to

1 But he was abstemious in food and drink; " valde modici cibi et potus,"
says Melancthon. Often for many consecutive days he would take only a little
bread and fish. Vita Lutheri, v.

- Ranke, i. 279 seq.

8 Before the Disputation at Leipsic, he wrote to Spalatin (March 13, 1519):
"Verso et decreta Pontificium, pro mea disputatione, et(inaurem tibi loquor)
nescio an Papa sit Antichristus ipse vel apostolus ejus: adeo misere corrumpitur
et crucifigitur Christus (id est Veritas) ab eo in decretis." De Wette, i 238.

100 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

the Christian Nobles of the German Nation " was a ring-
ing appeal to the German laity to take the work of lefor-
mation into their own hands, to protect the German
people against the avarice and tyrannical intermeddling
of the Roman ecclesiastics, to deprive the Pope of his rule
in secular affairs, to abolish compulsory celibacy, to reform
the convents and restrain the mendicant orders, to come to
a reconciliation with the Bohemians, to foster education.
In this harangue Luther strikes a blow at the distinction
between layman and priest, on which the hierarchical
system rested. " We have one baptism and one faith,"
he says, " and it is that which constitutes a spiritual per-
son." He compares the Church to ten sons of a king
who, having equal rights, choose one of their number to
be the " minister of their common power." A company
of pious laymen in a desert, having no ordained priest
among them, would have the right to confer that office on
one of themselves, whether he were married or not ; and
" the man so chosen would be as truly a priest as if all
the bishops in the world had consecrated him." The
priestly character of a layman and the importance of edu-
cation are the leading topics in this stirring appeal. His
treatise on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church fol-
lowed, in which he handled the subject of the sacraments,
attacked transubstantiation, and the statutes that violated
Christian liberty, such as those which prescribed pilgrim-
ages, fastings, and monasticism. He had discovered the
close connection between the doctrinal and practical abuses
of the Church.i ^^ ^jj^g ^^j^g (1520) he sent to Leo X. a
letter containing expressions of personal respect, but com-
paring him to a lamb in the midst of wolves and to
Daniel among the lions, and invoking him to set about a
work of reformation in his corrupt court and in the
Church.2 With it he sent his Discourse de lihertate
Christiana.

1 Waddington, i. 267.

2 Luther seems to have entertained, up to this time, a persona! regard and

THE BULL OF EXCOMiMUNICATION. 101

In this sermon on " The Freedom of a Christian
Man," Luther set forth in a noble and elevated strain
the inwardness of true religion, the marriage of the soul
to Christ through faith in the Word, and the vital connec-
tion of faith and works. In this treatise he rises above
the atmosphere of controversy, and unfolds his idea of
Christianity in the genial tone of devout feeling.

His course during the period between the posting of
the theses and the final breach with Rome, can be judged
correctly only when it is remembered that his mind was
in a transition state. He was working his way by de-
grees to the light. This explains the seeming inconsis-
tencies in his expressions relative to the Pope and the
Church, which occasionally appear in his letters and pub-
lications during this interval. " I am one of those," he
said, " among whom Augustine has classed himself — of
those who have gradually advanced by writing and
teaching ; not of those who at a single bound spring to
perfection out of nothing." ^

The Bull which condemned forty-one propositions of
Luther, and excommunicated him if he should not recant
>titliin sixty days, after which every Christian magistrate
was to be required to arrest him and deliver him at
Rome, was issued on the 16tli of June, 1520. Luther put
forth a pamphlet in response to this execrable bull of
Antichrist, as he called it ; and on the lOth of December,
in the public place at Wittenberg, in the presence of an
assembly of doctors of the university, students, and
people, he threw it, together with the book of canon law,
and a few other equally obnoxious writings, into the
flames. By this act he completed his rupture with the

respect f jr Leo, but the intermingling of personal compliments with denun-
ciations of his court and of the Roman Church (which is stj'led "a licentious
den of robbers ") was ill-adapted to conciliate the Pope's favor.

1 Praef. Operuni: " Qui de nihilo repente fiunt summi, cum nihil sint, neqa«
operati, neque tentati, neque experti."

102 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

Papal see. There was no longer room for retreat. He
had burned his ships behind him.^

This decisive step drew the attention of the whole Ger-
man nation to Luther's cause, and tended to concentrate
all the various elements of opposition to the Papacy .^
Luther found pohtical support in the friendly disposition
of the Elector, and from the jurists with whom the con-
flict of the spiritual with the civil courts was a standing
grievance. The Papal Bull was extensively regarded as
a new infringement of the rights of the civil power.
The religious opposition to the Papacy, which had been
quickened by Luther's theological writings, and which
found an inspiring ground of union in his appeal to the
Divine Word and in his arraignment of the Pope as an
opposer of it, engaged the sympathy of a large portion of
the inferior clergy and of the monastic orders. Luther
also found zealous allies in the literary class. The
Humanists were either quiet, laborious scholars, who ap-
plied their researches in philosophy and classical literature
to the illustration of the Scriptures and the defense of
Scriptural truth against human traditions, of whom
Melancthon was a type ; or they were poets, filled with
a national spirit, eager to avenge the indignities suf-
fered by Germany under Italian and Papal rule, and
ready not only to vindicate their cause with invectives
and satires, but also with their swords. These were the
combatants for Reuchlin against the Dominican persecu-
tion ; the authors of the " Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum."
Luther, with his deeply religious feeling, had not liked
the tone of these productions. Ulrich von Hutten, one
of the writers, the most prominent representative of the
youthful literati^ to whom we have just referred, had not
been interested at first in the afifair of Luther, which he
regarded as a monkish and theological dispute. But he
soon divined its true character and wide-reaching scope,

1 Strauss, Ulrich von Hutten, p. 397. ^ gee Ranke, i. 307 sea.

POLITICAL CONDITION OF GERMANY. 103

and became one of the Reformer's most ardent support-
ers. He seconded Luther's rehgious appeals by scatter-
ing broadcast his own caustic philippics and satires, in
which the Pope and his agents and abettors in Germany
were lashed with unbridled severity. Abandoning the
I^atin, the proper tongue of the Humanists, he began
to write in the vernacular, Hutten enlisted his friend
Francis von Sickingen, another patriotic knight, and the
most noted of the class who offered themselves to redress
wrongs by exploits and incursions undertaken by their
own authority, often to the terror of those who were thus
assailed. Sickingen sent to Luther an invitation, in case
he needed a place of refuge, to come to his strong castle
of Ebernburg.^

We must pause here to look for a moment at the polit-
ical condition of Germany. In the fifteenth century the
central government had become so weakened, that the
Empire existed more in name than in reahty. Germany
was an aggregate of numerous small states, each of
which was, to a great extent, independent within its own
bomids. The German king having held the imperial
office for so many centuries, the two stations were practi-
cally regarded as inseparable ; but neither as kmg of Ger-
many nor as the head of the Holy Roman Empire, had he
sufficient power to preserve order among the states or to
combine them in common enterprises of defense or of
aggression. By the golden bull of Charles IV., in 1356,
the electoral constitution was defined and settled, by
which the predominance of power was left in the hands
of the seven leading princes to whom the choice of the
Emperor was committed. No measures affecting the
common welfare could be adopted except by the consent
of the Diet, a body composed of the electors, the princes,
and the cities. Private wars were of frequent occurrence

1 See the very interesting biography by D. F. Strauss, Ulrich von Hutten
(2d ed., 1871).

104 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

between the compouent parts of the oountry. They
might enter separately into foreign alliances. During
the reign of Maximilian great efforts were made to estab-
lish a better constitution, but they mostly fell to the
ground in consequence of the mutual unwillingness of
the states and the Emperor that either party should ex-
ercise power. The Public Peace and the Imperial Cham-
ber were constituted, the former for the prevention of
intestine war, and the latter a supreme judicial tribunal ;
but neither of these measures was more than partially
successful. The failure to create a better organization
for the Empire increased the ferment, for which there
were abundant causes prior to these abortive attempts.
The efforts of the princes to increase their power within
their several principalities brought on quarrels with
bishops and knights, whose traditional privileges were
curtailed. Especially among the knights a mutinous
feeling was everywhere rife, which often broke forth in
deeds of violence and even in open warfare. The cities
complained of the oppression which they had to endure
from the imperial government and of the wrongs inflicted
upon them by the princes and by the knights. Thriving
communities of tradesmen and artisans invited hostility
from every quarter. The heavy burdens of taxation, the
insecurity of travel and of commerce, were for them an
intolerable grievance. At the same time, all over Ger-
many, the rustic population, on account of the hardship
of their situation, were in a state of disaffection which
might at any moment burst forth in a formidable rebel-
lion. In addition to all these troubles and grievances,
the extortions of Rome had stirred up a general feeling
of indignation.^ Vast sums of money, the fruit of taxa-
tion or the price of the virtual sale of Church offices,
were carried out of the country to replenish the coffers
of the Pope.

1 Ranke, i. 132 seq.

CHARLES V. ELECTED EMPEROR. 105

On the death of Maximilian (January 12, 1519), the
principal aspirants for the succession, were Charles, the
youthful King of Spain, and Francis I., the King of
France. Charles, who was the grandson of Maximilian,
and the son of Philip and of Joanna, the daughter of Fer-
dinand and Isabella, inherited Austria and the Low Coun-
tries, the crowns of Castile and Aragon, of Navarre, of
Naples and Sicily, together with the vast territories of
Spain in the New World. The Electors offered the im-
perial office to Frederic of Saxony, a prince held in
universal esteem for his wisdom and high character ; but
he judged that the resources at his command were not
sufficient to enable him to govern the Empire with efii-
ciency, and cast his influence with decisive effect in favor
of Charles. The despotism of the French King was
feared, and Charles was preferred, partly because, from
the situation of his hereditary dominions in Germany
and from the extent of his power, it was thought that
he would prove the best defender of the Empire against
the Turks. But the princes took care, in the " capitu-
lation " which accompanied the election of Charles, to
interpose safeguards against encroachments on the part
of the new Emperor. He promised not to make war or
peace, or to put any state under the ban of the Empire
without the assent of the Diet ; that he would give the
public offices into the hands of Germans, fix his resi-
dence in Germany, and not bring foreign troops into the
country.

The concentration of so much power in a single indi-
vidual excited general alarm. Such an approach to a
universal monarchy had not been seen in Europe since the
days of Charlemagne. The independence of all other king-
doms would seem to be put in peril. It was reasonably
feared that Charles would avail himself of his vast strength
to restore the Empire to its ancient limits, and to revive
its claim to supremacy. This apprehension, of itself,

106 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

would account for the hostility of Francis, apart from hia
personal disappointment at the result of the imperial
election. But there were particular causes of disagree-
ment between the rival monarchs which could not fail to
produce an open rupture. In behalf of the Empire, Charles
claimed Lombardy and especially Milan, together with
a portion of Southern France — the old kingdom of Bm*-
gundy or Aries. As the heir of the dukes of Burgundy,
he claimed the parts of the old dukedom which had been
incorporated in France, after the death of Charles the
Bold. It had been the ambition of France, since the
expedition of Charles VIII., to establish its power in
Italy. Francis, besides his determination to cling to the
conquests which he had already made, claimed Naples in
virtue of the rights of the house of Anjou, which had
reverted to the French crown ; he claimed also Spanish
Navarre, which had been seized by Ferdinand, and the
suzerainty of Flanders and Artois. The scene, as well
as the main prize of the conflict, was to be in Northern
Italy. The preponderance of strength was not so de-
cidedly on the side of Charles as might at first appear.
The Turks perpetually menaced the eastern frontiers of
his hereditary German dominions, which were given over
to Ferdinand his brother. His territories were widely
separated from one another, not only in space, but also in
language, local institutions, and customs. Several of the
countries over which he reigned were in a state of internal
confusion. This was true of Spain, as well as of Ger-
many.

For months after the death of Maximilian, the Empire
was without a head. Frederic of Saxony, who was dis-
posed to protect rather than repress the movement of
Luther, was regent in Northern Germany. Had he been
in middle life and been endued with an energy equal to
his sagacity and excellence, he might have complied with
the preference of the electors and have placed himself at

CHARACTER OF CHARLES V. 107

the head of the German nation, which was now conscious
of the feehng of nationality, and full of aspirations after
unity and reform .^

Charles V. was not the man to assume such a position.
He developed a tenacity of purpose, a restless activity,
and a far-sighted calculation, which were far in advance of
the expectations entertained respecting him in his early
youth. But his whole history shows that he had no ade-
quate appreciation of the moral force of Protestantism.
His personal sympathies were with the old system in
which he had been educated, and this was more and more
the case in the latter part of his career. But apart from
his own opinions and predilections, his position as ruler
of Spain, where the most bigoted type of Catholicism
prevailed, would have the effect to prevent him from
severing his connection with the Roman Church. More-
over, the whole idea of the Empire, as it lay in his mind
and as it was involved in all his ambitious schemes, pre-
supposed the unity of the Church and union with the
Papacy. The sacred character, the pecuHar supremacy
of the Empire, rested upon the conception that it was
more than the kingdom of Germany, more than a German
empire, that it was the ally and protector of the entire
Catholic Church. Germany was regarded by Charles V.
as only one of the countries over which he ruled. The
peculiar interests of Germany were subordinate, in his
thoughts, to the more comprehensive schemes of political
aggrandizement to which his life was devoted. He acted
in the affair of the Reformation from pohtical motives.
These, at least, were uppermost ; and accordingly his con-
duct varied to conform to the interest of the hour. He
might deplore the rise and progress of Lutheranism, but
he desired still less the success of Francis I. in the Italian
peninsula. Moreover, in carrying out his plans for him-
self, and for the realization of the idea of the Empire, he

1 Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, p. 315.

108 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

might fall into conflict with the head of the Church. The
old contest of pope and emperor might be revived. This
was the more liable to occur in a period when the popes
ywere anxiously laboring for their own temporal power,
and for the advancement of their relatives, in Italy. A
combination of all the forces opposed to the new doctrine
might suffice to crush it. But would this combination be
effected ? In addition to the jealousies that existed be-
tween the principal potentates, the Emperor, the Pope, and
the King of France, divisions might easily arise among the
Catholic princes in Germany, from the fear, for example,
of the increasing power of the house of Austria. In addi-
tion to the conflicting interests out of which the Lutheran
movement might find its profit, Germany and the shores
of the Mediterranean were incessantly threatened by the
Turks. It might be impracticable to persecute the dis-
ciples of the new doctrine, and at the same time secure
their help against the common enemy of Christendom.

When Charles V. first arrived in Germany, he had
reasons for cooperating with the Pope, and when this was
the case his own preferences seconded the motive of pol-
icy. Yet Luther and the Lutheran cause had attracted a
religious and national sympathy that was too strong to
permit him to be condemned by the Emperor without a
hearing. A less summary course must be taken than
that which the papal party urged upon him.^ Hence the
summons which Luther received to appear and answer
for himself at the Diet of Worms. In this summons he
recognized a call of God to give testimony to the truth.
As he made his journey in the farmer's wagon — when
he went to Augsburg to meet Cajetan, he had worn a
borrowed coat — he was an object of universal interest
and attention. At Erfurt, the University went out in a

1 Of the two nuncios who were sent to the imperial court, Caraccioli and
Aleander, the latter was most distinguished. He figured in the Diet of
Worms. Of him Luther has given a sarcastic description, which is quoted hy
Seekendorf, lib. i., sect. 34, § 81.

THE DIET OF WORMS. 109

procession to meet him, some on horseback, with a great
throng on foot, and welcomed him with a speech from
the rector. He persevered in his journey, notmthstand-
ing illness by the way and many voices of discourage-
ment — mingled, to be sure, with others more cheering
— which met him at every step.^ When he reached the
last station he was advised by a councillor of Frederic
not to go on ; the fate of Huss, it was said, might befall
him. To which he replied : " Huss has been burned,
but not the truth with him. I will go in, though as many
devils were aiming at me as there are tiles on the roof."^
He rode into the town at midday, through streets
crowded with people who had gathered to see him. On
the following day, at four o'clock in the afternoon, hav-
ing first solemnly commended himself to God in prayer,
he was escorted by the imperial master of the horse,
Ulrich of Pappenheim, to the hall of audience. He was
conducted by a private and circuitous way in order to
avoid the press of the multitude ; yet the windows and
roofs that overlooked the route which he took, were
thronged with spectators. As he entered the august as-
sembly he beheld the youthful Emperor on his throne,
with his brother, the Archduke Ferdinand, at his side,
and a brilUant retinue of princes and nobles, lay and
ecclesiastical, among whom were his own sovereign, Fred-
eric the Wise, and the Landgrave, Philip of Hesse, who
was then but seventeen years of age, together with the
deputies of the imperial cities, foreign ambassadors, and
a numerous array of dignitaries of every rank. It was
estimated that not less than five thousand persons were

1 Some interesting details are given by Myconiiis, Hist. Reformat., p. 38 (in
Cyprian's Urhunden).

2 Concerning the precise form of the expression, see Ranke, i. 334, and his
reference to De Wette, ii. 139. But Spalatin gives the expression in the more
usual form in which it is quoted: " Dass er uiir Spalitino aus Oppenheim
gin Wurmbs, scbriebe: 'Er woUte gin Wurmbs, wenngleich so viel Teufel
darrinnen wJiren, als immer Zeigel da wiiren.' " Jahrb. von d. Ref. Luth. (1521)
p. 39 (in Cyprian's Urhunden). Tie arrived at Worms, April 16, 1521.

110 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

collected in and around the hall. For a moment he
seemed to be somewhat dazzled by the imposing charac-
ter of the assembly. He spoke in a low voice, and many
thought that he was afraid. In reply to the question
whether he retracted what he had written in his books,
the titles of which were read, he asked for time to frame
an answer suitable to so grave a question.^ Time was
given him, and on the following evening, at an hour so
late that lamps were lighted, he was once more ushered
into the assembly. He exhibited no sign of embarrass-
ment, but in a calm, determined manner, in strong and
manly tones of voice, declined to revoke his opinions or
condemn his writings, until they should be disproved by
some other authority than pope or council, even by clear
testimonies of Scripture or conclusive arguments from
reason. A council could err, he said ; and he declared
himself ready to prove it. When a final, definite answer
to the question whether he would recant, was demanded,
he replied that his conscience would not permit him :
" Here I stand ; I cannot do otherwise. God help me.
Amen." There were many besides the Saxon Elector,
whose German hearts were thrilled by the noble de-
meanor of Luther on that momentous day.^ Tokens of
admiration and sympathy were not wanting. Had
violence been attempted, there were too many young
knights, armed to the teeth and resolved to protect him,
to give to such an attempt an assurance of success. One

1 That Luther asked for delay has been made a ground of reproach by ad-
versaries. See the answer to Maimbourg, in Seckendorf, lib. i. sect. 40, § 94.
It has occasioned perplexity to Protestant writers. See Waddington, i. 348.
But the explanation is that he had, in all probability, not expected a peremp-
tory demand of this nature, and wished for time to frame an answer — espe-
cially in view of the fact that his writings contained, among other things,
many personalities. The request for postponement was doubtless in accord-
ance with the advice of Jerome Schurff, his legal assistant. On this topic see
Gieseler, iv. i.l, §1, n. 79. Ranke observes: "Auch er nahra die Formlich-
keiten des Reiches fiir sich in Anspruch." Deutsch. Gsch., i. 334.
'. 2 Respecting the impression made by Luther on various persons, see Ranke,
i, 336 si'ij.

THE DIET OF WORMS. Ill

who was present testifies that Luther returned to his
lodgings, full of courage and cheerfulness, and declared
that had he a thousand heads he would have them all
struck off before he would make a retraction.^ Some
advised Charles to disregard his safe-conduct, but he re-
membered the blush of Sigismund, when Huss looked
him in the face at Constance, and refused. Even Duke
George of Saxony cried out against an act so derogatory
to German honor. It is worthy of note, that the Em-
peror, in his last days, at the Convent of Yuste, when
superstition had more sway over him, regretted his own
fidelity to duty and honor at the time when he had
Luther in his power.^ When a part of the assembly had
gone home, the decree was proclaimed that placed Luther
under the ban of the Empire. Bearing the same date as
the sentence of outlawry against him was a treaty be-
tween Leo X. and Charles for the reconquest of Milan
by the latter.^ The Pope was also to abstain from com-
plying with the wish of the Spanish Estates that he would
soften the rigors of the Inquisition in Spain, a necessary
instrument of Charles's tyranny.^

Leo X. had opposed the election of Charles, and had
made great exertions to secure the elevation of Francis
to the imperial station. The Pope was resolved to pre-
vent, if he could, the sovereignty of Naples and the im-
perial office from being in the same hands. He dreaded
the consequences to his own states and the effect upon
Italy generally that would result from such an accumula-
tion of power. But after Charles had been chosen, both
the Emperor and Leo saw the advantages that would at-
tend upon their union, and the damage that each could
intiict upon the other in case they persevered in their
hostihty. Accordingly they concluded an alliance, a

1 Spalatin, p. 42.

2 Robertson, History of Charles V., Prescott's Appendix (iii. 482).
8 Ranke, History of the Popes, i. 86.

* Ranke, Deutsche Geschichte, i. 329.

112 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

maiii provision of which was that the parties were to
divide between them the places to be conquered by the
Emperor in Lombardy.

Thus Luther was placed under the ban of the Empire
and of the Church. The two great institutions, the two
potentates, in whom it had been imagined that all au-
thority on earth is embodied, pronounced against him.
The movement that had enlisted in its support to so great
an extent the literary and political, as well as the dis-
tinctively religious, elements of opposition to Rome, was
condemned by Church and State. It remained to be seen
whether the decree of the Diet could be carried into exe-
cution.

Now we find Luther in the Wartburg, the place of
refuge chosen for him by the firm but discreet Elector.
It is a very fine remark of Melancthon respecting the
Elector to whose honest .piety and discerning spirit the
Refoi'mation owes so much : " He was not one of those
who would stifle changes in their very birth. He was
subject to the will of God. He read the writings that
were put forth, and would not permit any power to crush
what he thought true." Here, though enduring much
physical pain consequent upon neglect of exercise,^ Luther
is incessantly at work, sending forth controversial pam-
phlets, writing letters of counsel and encouragement to
his friends, and laboring on his translation of the New
Testament, the first portion of that version of the entire
Scriptures, which is one of his most valuable gifts to the
German people.^ Idiomatic, vital in every part, clothed
in the racy language of common life, it created, apart
from its religious influence, an epoch in the literary de-
velopment of the German nation.^ Troubles at Witten-

1 He adverts to his physical disorders, De Wette, ii. pp. 2, 17, 29, 33, 50, 59.

2 On the previous translations of the Bible into High and Low German, and
on their small circulation, especially among the laity, see Herzog's Real-Encyc,
art. "Deutsche Bibeliibersetzungen."

3 On the incalculable advantage of Luther's Bible as furnishing a " people's
book " — a "fundamental work for the instruction of the people " — there are
good remarks by Megel, Pliil. der Geschichte ; Werke, ix. 503, 504.

LUTHER AND THE ICONOCLASTS. 113

berg called him forth from his retreat. An iconoclastic
movement had broken out under the lead of Carlstadt,
for the purpose of sweeping away in an abrupt and vio-
lent manner rites that were deemed incongruous with the
new doctrine. There was a certain consistency in this
radical movement, and many of the changes that were at-
tempted, Luther and his followers themselves effected
afterwards. But there was a spirit of enthusiasm and
violence, of which Luther saw the danger ; and the inno-
vators were associating with themselves pretended prophets
from Zwickau, who claimed a miraculous inspiration and
were the apostles of a social revolution. Luther compre-
hended at a glance the full import of the crisis. Should
his movement issue in a sober and salutary reform, or run
out into a wild, fanatical sect ? It is a mark of the sound
conservatism of Luther, or rather of his profound Chris-
tian wisdom, that he desired no changes that did not
result spontaneously from an insight into the true princi-
ples of the Gospel. Better, he thought, to let obnoxious
rites and ceremonies remain, unless they fall away from
their perceived inconsistency with the Gospel, as the
natural result of incoming light and the education of con-
science. " If we," he said, " are to be iconoclasts because
the Jews were, then like them we must kill all the un-
believers." ^ He was unwilling to have the attention of
men drawn away from the central questions by an excite-
ment about points of subordinate moment ; and he counted
no changes to be of any value, however reasonable in
themselves, which were brought to pass by the dictation
of leaders or by any form of external pressure. Seeing
the full extent of the danger, he resolved, whatever might
befall himself, to return to his flock. Luther never ap-
pears more grand than at this moment. To the prudent
Elector who warned him against leaving his retreat, and
told him that he could not protect him against the con*

1 De Wette, ii. 548.
8

114 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

sequences of the edict of Worms, lie wrote in a lofty
strain of courage and faith. He went forth, he said, un-
der far higher protection than that of the Elector. This
was a cause not to be aided or directed by the sword. He
who has most faith will be of most use. " Since I now
perceive," he wrote, " that your Electoral Grace is still
very weak in faith, I can by no means regard your Elec-
toral Highness as the man who is able to shield or save
me." ^ If he had as pressing business at Leipsic, he said,
as he had at Wittenberg, he would ride in there if it
rained Duke Georges nine days ! ^ Arriving at Witten-
berg, he entered the pulpit on the following Sunday, and
by a series of eight discourses put an end to the formi-
dable disturbance (1522).

Restored to Wittenberg, Luther continued his hercu-
lean labors as a preacher, teacher, and author. Commen-
taries, tracts, letters upon all the various themes on which
he was daily consulted or on which he felt impelled to
speak, continually flowed from his pen. In a single year
he put forth not less than one hundred and eighty-three
pubHcations.^

Meantime the Council of Regency, Avho managed the
government in the absence of the Emperor, steadily de-
clined to adopt measures for the extirpation of the Lu-
therans. The ground was taken that the religious move-
ment was too much a matter of conscience ; it had taken
root in the minds of too great a number to allow of its
suppression by force. An attempt to do so would breed
disturbances of a dangerous character. The drift of feel-
ing through the nation was unmistakably in the direction

1 De Wette, ii. 139.

a De Wette, ii. 140.

8 He says: "Sum certe velocis mentis et promtic memoriaj e qua mihi fluit,
quum promatur, quicquid scribo." Letter to Spalatin (Feb. 3, 1520) ; De Wette,
i. 405. Nine years later he -writes : " Sic obruor quotidie Uteris, ut mensa, scam-
na, scabella, pulpita, fenestra, arcse, asseres, et omnia plena jaceant Uteris,
qusestionibus, querelis, petitionibus, etc. In me ruit tota moles ecclesiastica et
politica," etc. Letter to Wenc. I ink. (June 20, 1529); De Wette, iii. 472.

DIVISION OF GERMANY. 115

of reform. Adrian VI., who was a man of strict morals,
the successor of Leo. X., found himself unable to remedy
the abuses to which he attributed the Lutheran move-
ment. The demand which he made by his legate at the
Diet of Nuremberg, in 1522, that the decree against
Luther should be enforced, was met by the presentation
of a list of a hundred grievances of which the Diet had to
complain to the Roman see. His successor, Clement VIL,
in whom the old spirit of worldliness, after the brief in-
terval of Adrian's reign, was reinstated in the papal
chair, fared Httle better at the Diet of Nuremberg, in
1524, when, through his legate Campeggio, he demanded
the unconditional suppression of the Lutheran heresy.
The Pope and the Emperor could obtain no more than an
indefinite engagement to observe the Worms decree, " as
far as possible." This action was equivalent to remand-
ing the subject to the several princes within their respec-
tive territories. It was coupled with a reference of dis-
puted matters to a general council, and with a resolution
to take up the hundred complaints at the next diet. A
majority could not be obtained against the Lutherans and
in favor of the coercive measures demanded by the Pope
and by Charles. And the movement of reform was
spreading in every part of Germany.

This aspect of affairs moved the papal party to the
adoption of active measures to turn the scale on the other,
side — measures which began the division of Germany.
Up to this point no division had occurred. The nation
had moved as one body : it had refused to suppress the
new opinions. Now strenuous efforts were put forth to
combine the Catholics into a compact party for mutual
aid and defense. At Ratisbon an alliance of this charac-
ter was formed by the Catholic princes and bishops of
South Germany, by the terms of which the Wittenberg
heresy was to be excluded from their dominions, and they
were to help each other in their common dangers. At

116 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

the Diet of Nuremberg it had been determined to hold
an assembly shortly after at Spires for the regulation of
ecclesiastical affairs. The princes were to procure before-
hand from their councillors and scholars a statement of
the points in dispute. The grievances of the nation were
to be set forth, and remedies were to be sought for them.
The nation was to deliberate and act on the great matter
of religious reform. The prospect was that the evangel-
ical party would be in the majority. The papal court
saw the danger that was involved in an assembly gathered
for such a purpose, and determined to prevent the meet-
ing. At this moment war was breaking out between
Charles and Francis. Charles had no inclination to offend
the Pope. He forbade the assembly at Spires and, by
letters addressed to the princes individually, endeavored
to drive them into the execution of the edict of Worms.
In consequence of these threatening movements, the
Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse entered
into the defensive league of Torgau, in which they were
joined by several Protestant communities. The battle
of Pavia and the capture of Francis I. were events that
appeared to be fraught with peril to the Protestant cause.
In the Peace of Madrid (January 14, 1526) both sovereigns
avowed the determination to suppress heresy. But the
dangerous preponderance obtained by the Emperor created
. an alarm throughout Europe ; and the release of Francis
was followed by the organization of a confederacy against
Charles, of which Clement was the leading promoter.
This changed the imperial policy in reference to the
Lutherans. The Diet of Spires in 1526 unanimously re-
solved that, until the meeting of a general council, every
state should act in regard to the edict of Worms as it
might answer to God and his imperial majesty. Once
more Germany refused to stifle the Reformation, and
adopted the principle that each of the component parts of
'•he Empire should be left free to act according to its own

THE PROTEST AT SPIRES. 117

will. It was a measure of the highest importance to the
cause of Protestantism. It is a great landmark in the
history of the German Reformation. The war of the
Emperor and the Pope involved the necessity of tolerating
the Lutherans.

In 1527, an imperial army, composed largely of Lu-
theran infantry, captured and sacked the city of Rome.
For several months the Pope -was held a prisoner. For
a number of years the position of Charles with respect to
France and the Pope, and the fear of Turkish invasion,
had operated to embolden and greatly strengthen the
cause of Luther. But now that the Emperor had gained
a complete victory in Italy, the CathoHc party revived its
policy of repression ; and at the Diet of Spires, in 1529,
a majority was obtained for an edict virtually forbidding
the progress of the Reformation in the states which had
not accepted it, at the same time that liberty was given
to the adherents of the old confession in the reformed
states to celebrate their rites with freedom. It is impos-
sible to describe here the methods by which a reversal of
the national policy was thus procured. The decisive cir-
cumstance was that Charles V., in consequence of his sym-
pathy with the spirit of Spanish Catholicism, instead of
putting himself at the head of the great religious and
national movement in Germany, chose to maintain the
ancient union of the Empire with the Papacy. The pio-
test against the proceeding of the Diet, which gave the
name of Protestants to the reforming party, and the ap-
peal to the Emperor, to a general or a German council, and
to all impartial Christian judges, was signed by John, the
Elector of Saxony, the Margrave of Brandenburg, the
Duke of Brunswick-Liineburg, the Landgrave of Hesse,
the Prince of Anhalt ; to whom were united fourteen
cities, among which were Nuremberg, Strasburg, and Con
stance.

The party of reform did not consider itself bound by

118 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

the action of the Diet, not only because its edict looked
to compulsion in a matter that should be left to the
conscience, but also because it overthrew a policy which
had been solemnly established ; a policy on the faith
of which the princes and cities that were favorable to
the evangelical cause had proceeded in shaping their re-
ligious polity and worship. The efforts made, especially
by the Landgrave of Hesse, to combine the supporters of
the Reformation in a defensive league, were chilled by the
opposition of Luther to measures that looked to a war
with the Emperor, and still more prevented from being
successful by his determined unwillingness to unite with
the Swiss, on account of what he considered their heretical
doctrine of the sacrament. Luther and his associates
were imbued with a sense of the obligation of the subject
to the powers that be and with the sacredness of the Em-
pire. The course for the Christian to take, in their
judgment, was that of passive obedience. They Uke-
wise deemed it an unlawful thing to join with errorists
— with men who rejected material parts of Christian
truth. However open to criticism the position of the
Saxon reformers was on both of these points, it should
not be forgotten that their general motive was the sub-
lime disregard of mere expediency, which had character-
ized, and, we may add, had ennobled their movement at
every step.

In this state of things, the Emperor, flushed with suc-
cess, met the representatives of the Empire in 1530, at
the memorable Diet of Augsburg. The inconvenience
and danger of keeping the Pope in captivity had caused
Charles to wish for an accommodation with him. The
desire of Clement VH., a self-seeking politician, to have
Florence restored to his family, in connection with other
less influential considerations, inspired him with a Hke
feeling ; so that amity was reestablished. At the same
time the Peace of Cambray terminated for a time the

THE DIET OF AUGSBUEG. 119

conflict with France. The Emperor was freed from the
embarrassments which had hindered him from putting
forth determined endeavors to restore the unity of the
Church. He had been crowned at Bologna, and was
filled with a sense of his responsibility as the head of the
Holy Roman Empire, the guardian of Christianity and of
the Church. He was surrounded by the Spanish nobility
as well as by the princes and representatives of the Em-
pire. The design was to persuade, and, if this should
prove impracticable, to overawe and coerce the Protes-
tants into an abandonment of their cause. A faith and
heroism less steadfast would have yielded to the tremen-
dous pressure that was brought to bear upon them. It
was not considered wise or safe for Luther to go to
Augsburg. He was left behind in the castle of Coburg,
within the limits of the Elector's dominion, but he held
frequent communication with the Saxon theologians who
attended the Elector. The celebrated Confession, drawn
up by Melancthon, in a conciliatory spirit, but clearly
defining the essential tenets of Protestantism — a creed
which has obtained more currency and respect than any
other Protestant symbol — was read to the Assembly. The
reply, composed by Eck and other Catholic theologians,
was also presented. Then followed efforts at compromise,
in which Melancthon bore a prominent part, and showed
a willingness to concede everything but that which was
deemed most vital. These efforts fell to the ground.
They could invent no formulas on which they could agree,
upon the merit of works, penance, and the invocation of
saints. The elaborate and able Apology by Melancthon,
in defense of the Confession, was not heard, but was
published by the author. The majority of the Diet en-
joined the restoration of the old ecclesiastical institutions,
allowing the Protestants time for reflection until the lOtli
of November of the following year ; after which, it was
implied, coercion would be adopted. Nothing in the his-

120 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

tory of the Reformation is more pathetic than the conduct
of the Elector John at Angsburg, who, in the full pros-
pect of the ruin of every earthly interest, and not without
the deepest sensibility from his attachment to the Em-
peror and to the peace of the Empire, nevertheless resolved
to stand by " the imperishable Word of God." The
Reformers were willing to release him from all obligation
to protect them, to take whatever lot Providence might
send upon them ; but this true-hearted prince refused to
compromise in the least his sacred convictions.-^

The letters written by Luther during the sessions of
the Diet exhibit in bold relief the noblest and most at-
tractive sides of his character. The fine mingling of jest
and earnest, the grand elevation of his faith, his serene,
dauntless courage, and his broad sagacity, are never more
striking. He takes time to write a charming letter to his
little son. ^ To his friends at Augsburg he sportively writes
that in the flock of crows and rooks hurrying to and fro,
and screaming in a thicket before his window, he finds
another Diet, with its dukes and lords, which quite re-
sembles the imperial assembly. " They care not for large
halls and palaces, for their hall is roofed by the beautiful,
wide-spreading sky, its floor is the simple turf, its tables
are pretty green branches, and its walls are as wide as
the world's end." ^ He will build there, in his seclusion,
three tabernacles, one for the prophets, one for the Psal-
ter, and another for ^Esop ; for not only will he expound
the Scriptures, he will translate ^sop, too, for the in-
struction of his Germans.* Why had Master Joachim
twice written to him in Greek ? He would reply in
Turkish, so that Master Joachim might also read what he

1 John the Constant succeeded his brother, Frederic the Wise, in 1525.

2 De Wette, iv. 41.

3 De Wette, iv. 4, 8, 13. The letter is dated from "the Diet of Grain-
Peckers," April 28, 1530. Writing to Spalatin a few days after in the same
strain, he adds: " Yet it is in seriousness and by compulsion that I jest, that I
may repel the reflections which rush in upon me, if indeed I may repel them.'
De Wette, iv. 14. , ■* De Wette, iv. 2.

Luther's faith and courage. 121

could not understand.^ He sets a trap to decoy a fastidi-
ous musical critic into an approval of a piece which Luther
had himself partly composed, but which he contrives to
have passed off as a performance at Augsburg, to cele-
brate the entrance of Charles and Ferdinand.''^ Suffering
himself from prostration of strength and from a thunder-
ing in the head, which forced him to lay down his books
for days, he enjoins Melancthon to observe the rules for
the care of his " little body." ^ He exhorts the anxious
Philip to the exercise of greater faith. If Moses had re-
solved to know just how he was to escape from the army
of Pharaoh, Israel would have been in Egypt to-day.*
Let Philip cease to be rector mundi and let the Lord
govern.^ In bearing private griefs and aflflictions, Phihp
was the stronger, but the opposite is true, said Luther,
of those which are of a public nature.^ If we fall, he
says, Christ falls, and I prefer to fall with Christ than
stand with Cassar." He rejoices to have lived to have the
Confession read before the Empire.^ He bids Melancthon,
if the cause is unjust, to abandon it ; but if it be just, to
cast away his fears. He is full of that sublime confi-
dence which rang out in the most popular of his hymns,
" the Marseillaise of the Reformation" —

" Ein fester Burg ist unser Gott" —

Three hours in the day he spent in prayer.^ He writes
to the Elector's anxious Chancellor : " I have lately seen

1 De Wette, iv. IG. 2 ibid. 3 iijij., p. 36. 4 ibid., p. 52.

5 Ibid., p. 55. 6 Ibid., p. 62. 7 Ibid., p. 63. 8 Ibid., p. 71.

9 Veit Dietrich, who was with him, wrote to Melancthon: "I cannot suffi-
ciently wonder at this man's admirable steadfastness, cheerful courage, faith, and
hope, in so doleful a time. He nourishes these tempers, however, by studious,
uninterrupted meditation of God's Word. Not a day passes when he does not
spend three hours, and those best suited for study, in prayer. Once I had the
good fortune to Iiear him pray. Good God, what a faith appeared in his words !
He prayed with such reverence that one saw he was talking with God, and yet
with such faith and hope that it seemed as if he was talking with a father and
a friend. 'I know,' he said, 'that Thou art our God and Father. So I am
certain Thou wilt bring to shame the persecutors of Thy children. If Thou
doest it not, the hazanl is Thine as well as ours. In truth, the whole matter i.«

122 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

two wonders, — first, as I looked out of the window, I
saw the stars in the heavens and the entire beautiful
vault which God has raised ; yet the heavens fell not,
and the vault still stands firm. Now some would be glad
to find the pillars that sustain it, and grasp and feel
them." " The other was : I saw great thick clouds hang-
ing above us with such weight, that they might be com-
pared to a great sea ; and yet I saw no ground on which
they rested and no vessel wherein they were contained ;
yet they did not fall upon us, but saluted us with a harsh
look and fled away. As they pass away, a rainbow shines
forth on the ground and on our roof." ^ " All things,"
he writes in another place, " are in the hands of God,
who can cover the sky with clouds and brighten it again
in a moment." ^ It is painful to him that God's Word
must be so silent at Augsburg ; for the Protestants were
not allowed to preach.^ He had a settled distrust of
Campeggio and the other Italians : " where an ItaHan is
good, he is most good," but to find such an one is as
hard as to find a black swan. He went along with
Melancthon in a willingness to make concessions, pro-
vided the evangelical doctrine and freedom in preaching
it were not sacrificed. He had no suspicion of Philip, as
some had. There were many ceremonies, which were
trifles — leviculcB — not worth disputing about. Yet it
did not belong to the magistrate to dictate to the Church
in these points.* He would go so far, though not without
reluctance, as to allow bishops to continue, but would
permit no subjection to the Papacy. But Luther had no
beHef in the possibiUty of a compromise or reconciliation.

Thine own; we have been only compelled to lay hands on it; Thou mayst then
guard," &c. Corpus Re/., ii. 159.

1 De Wette, iv. 128. At an earlier day, on the occasion of his interview with
Cajetan, in reply to the question where he would stand if the Elector should not
support him, he answered, " Unter dem weiten Himmel! "

2 De Wette, iv. 166. -^ Ibid., p. 178.
4 De Wette, iv. 210, 106.

LUTHER'S MARRIAGE. 123

There was a radical antagonism that could not be bridged
over. There could be no agreement in doctrine ; politi-
cal peace alone was to be aimed at and hoped f or.^ Hence
he rejoiced when the perilous negotiations between the
opposing committees of theologians were brought to an
end.

There are several occurrences not yet noticed, which
took place in the interval between the Diets of Worms
and of Augsburg, and which are of marked importance
both in their bearing on the Reformation, and as illus-
trating the personal character of Luther.

One of these events was his marriage, in 1525, to
Catharine von Bora. He resolved upon this measure, as
we learn from himself, partly because he expected that
his life would not continue long, and he was determined
to leave, in the most impressive form, his testimony
against the Romish law of celibacy. Another motive
was a yearning for the happiness of domestic life, which
his parents, who had embraced the new faith, encouraged.
The scandal that his marriage caused, first among his own
friends and then the world over, hardly fell short of that
occasioned by the posting of his theses. The example
of Luther was followed by many of his associates, which
gave rise to the characteristic jest of Erasmus, that what
had been called a tragedy seemed to be a comedy, as it
came out in a marriage. The marriage of an apostate
monk with a runaway nun betokened, in the view of
the superstitious, the coming of Antichrist as the fruit
of the unhallowed union. But it was one of those bold
steps, characteristic of Luther, which, in the long run,
proved of advantage to his cause. It gave him the solace
of home, in the intense excitement and prodigious labors
in which he was immersed for the rest of his days.
There, with music, and song, and frolics with his chil-
dren, in the circle of his friends, he poured out his liumor
1 De Wette, iv. 110.

124 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

and kindly feeling without stint. His diverting letters to
his wife — his " Mistress Kate," " Doctoress Luther," as
he styled her — and the tender expressions of his grief
at the death of his children could ill be spared from the
records of this deep-hearted man.^

Among these events are his controversies with King
Henry VIII. and with Erasmus. From the outset it
was evident that Luther must either give up his cause
or contend for it against countless adversaries. His
polemical writings are therefore quite numerous, and it
shows the amplitude of his mind that he did not allow
himself to be so far absorbed in this sort of work as to
neglect more positive labors, through his Bible, cate-
chisms, sermons, tracts, for the building up of the
Church. He had to fight his own friends when they
swerved from the truth, as did Carlstadt, and also
Agricola, who set up a form of Antinomianism. But
his principal literary battles were with Henry VIII. and
with Erasmus. The intemperance of Luther's language
has been since, as it was then, a subject of frequent cen-
sure. It must be remembered, however, what a tempest
of denunciation fell upon him ; how he stood for all his
life a mark for the pitiless hostility of a great part of the
world. It must be remembered, too, that for a time he
stood alone, and everything depended on his constancy,
determination, and dauntless zeal in the maintenance of
his cause. Had he wavered, everything would have been
lost. And mildness of language, he said, was not his
gift ; he could not tread so softly and lightly as Melanc-
thon.2 His convictions were too intense to admit of an

1 See, for example, the letter (to Nic. Hausmann), August 5, 1528, after the
death of his daughter. De Wette, iii. 364. A complete account of Luther's
domestic character and relations is given by F. G. Hofman, Katharina von
Bora, oder Br. Martin Luther nls Gatte und Vnter (Leipzig, 1845). There is
much of interest on the same subject, in a quaint little book, D. Martin Lu^
therms Zeitverlciirzungen, von M. Johann Nicolaus Anton (Leipzig, 1804)

2 Letter to the Elector John, De Wette, iv. 17.

VEHEMENCE OF LUTHER. 125

expression of them in any but the strongest language ; in
words that were blows. Moreover, he believed it to be a
sound and wise policy to fling away reserve and to speak
out, in the most unsparing manner, the sentiments of his
soul. It was not a disease to be cured by a palliative.^
The formidable enemy against which he was waging war,
was rendered more arrogant and exacting by every act of
deference shown him, and by every concession. There
was no middle course to be pursued.^ There must be
surrender, or open, uncompromising war. Besides, in his
study of the Bible, he conceived himself to find a war-
rant for all his hard language, in the course taken by the
prophets, by Christ, and by Paul.^ He felt that he was
in conflict with the same Pharisaical theology and ethics,
which called forth the terrible denunciations recorded in
the New Testament. If it was proper to call things by
their right names then, it was proper now. He had
been hampered at the beginning, he came to think, by
a false humility, by a lingering reverence for an author-
ity that deserved no reverence. He regretted that at
Worms he had not taken a different tone ; that he had
said anything about retracting in case he could be con-
vinced of his error. He would cast all such qualifications
and cowardly scruples to the winds ; he would stand by
what he knew to be truth, without any timid respect for
its adversaries.* These considerations are not without

1 " Aut ergo desperandum est de pace et tranquillitate hujus rei, aut verbum
negandum est." Letter to Spalatin (February, 1520). De Wette, i. 425.

2 "Mein Handel ist nicht ein Mittelhandel, der etwas weichen oder nach-
geben, oder sich unterlassen soil, wie icb Narr bisher gethan habe." De Wette,
ii. 244.

3 He gives reasons for his vehemence in a letter to Wenceslaus Link (August
19, 1520), De Wette, i. 479. Among other things he says: "Video enim ea,
qu£e nostro soeculo tractantur, mox cadere in oblivionem, nemine ea curante."
He says elsewhere that love and severity are compatible. De Wette, ii. 212.
See also, pp. 236, 243.

* Hallam censures Luther for " bellowing in bf.d Latin." But it was a cry
with which all Europe rang " from side to side." Had he been a man of the
temperament of Hallam, where would have been the Reformation ? The Eras-
mians can seldom appreciate, much less look with complacency upon Lutlier.

126 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

weight. A man whose natural weapon is a battle-axe
must not be rebuked for not handling a rapier. There is
sometimes work to be done which the lighter and more
graceful weapon could never accomplish. At the same
time, with all Luther's tenderness of feeling, with his
fine and even poetic sensibility, there was a vein of
coarseness, a plebeian vehemence, which, when he was
goaded by opposition, engendered scurrility.

The book of Henry VIII. was directed against Lu-
ther's work on the sacraments, " The Babylonian Cap-
tivity." ^ It is marked by extreme haughtiness toward
Luther, and is hardly less vituperative than the Reformer's
famous reply. Luther was the hound who had brought
up heresies anew out of hell ; princes would combine to
burn him and his books together. It was throughout an
appeal to authority ; Luther had audaciously presumed
to set himself against popes and doctors without number.
The impression of Henry's book itself wholly depended
on the fact that its author was one of the rulers of the
earth. Luther probably meant to neutralize this impres-
sion by bemiring the purple of this regal disputant who
had stepped forth, with his crown on his head, into the
arena of theological debate, to win from the Pope, whom
he obsequiously flattered, the title of Defender of the
Faith. Subsequently, when Henry was reputed to be
favorable to the Protestant cause, at the earnest sohcita-
tion of King Christian II. of Denmark and .of other
friends, Luther wrote to the King a humble apology for
the violence of his language — making no withdrawal,
however, of any portion of his doctrine. In composing
this apologetic letter he was carried away, he says, by the
promptings of others, to do what of himself he would never
have done. Yet, notwithstanding the ungenerous reception
and use of the letter by Henry, Luther did not regret

1 Adsertio Septem Sacramentorum adversus Martinum Lutherum (1521)
It is published in a German translation in Walch's ed. of Luther's Writings.

LUTHER AND ERASMUS. 127

that he had \vritten it^ as he did not regret the sending
of a similar epistle to Duke George. As far as his own
person was concerned, he said, he was willing to humble
himself to a child ; his doctrine he would not compromise.
But such experiences established him in the feehng,
which he had entertained before, that humility was
thrown away ; that here was a mortal conflict, in which
gentle words were misinterpreted, and therefore, wasted,
and into which it was worse than folly to enter with his
hands tied. Under such circumstances, a man must
neither think of retreat nor of the possibility of placat-
ing the foe. It was natural that his experiences of con-
troversy, in their action on a temper naturally combative,
should contribute to carry Luther far beyond the bounds
of charity, as well as of civility, in his treatment of the
Sacramentarians, the adherents of Zwingle. Of this
matter, where his intemperance was more mischievous,
we shall speak in another place.

As to Erasmus and the Saxon Reformers, there was an
earnest wish on both sides that he should not take part
against them. Luther, and Melancthon still more, re-
spected him as the patriarch of letters, the restorer of the
languages, and the effective antagonist of fanaticism and
superstition. When Luther published his work on the
Galatians, he regretted that Erasmus had not put forth a
book on the same subject, which would have rendered his
own unnecessary.^ Erasmus, in turn, could not but ap-
plaud the first movement of Luther. His love of litera-
ture, not less than his religious predilections, would in-
cline him strongly to the Lutheran side. The Witten-
berg theologians were earnest champions of the cause of
learning. But the caution of Erasmus was manifest from
the beginning. He avoided the need of committing him-
self by professing to his various correspondents that he
had not read the books of Luther. He told the Elector

1 De Wette, i. 335.

12b LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

of Saxony, in an interview at Cologne, shortly before the
Diet of Worms, that the two great offences of Luther
were that he had touched the crown of the Pope and the
bellies of the monks. The expressions of sympathy with
the Wittenberg movement that escaped him, notwith-
standing his prudence, or which reached the ear of the
public through the unauthorized publication of his letters,
kept him busy in allaying the suspicions and anxieties of
Catholic friends and patrons. But Luther and Erasmus
were utterly diverse from one another in character ; and
" such unlikes," as Coleridge has said, "end in dislikes."
Erasmus, it has been remarked with truth, lacked depth
and fervor of religious convictions. He was a typical
latitudinarian, in the cast of his mind.^ His absorbing
passion was for literature. He could not conceive hoAv
any man of taste could prefer Augustine to Jerome ,
while Luther could not see how any man that loved the
Gospel could fail to set Augustine, with his little Greek
and less Hebrew, infinitely above Jerome.^ As the con-
flict which Luther had excited grew warm, attention
was inevitably drawn away from the pursuit of letters
and absorbed in theological inquiry and controversy ; and
this change Erasmus deplored. The heat which Luther
manifested was repugnant to his taste. The Reformer's
vehemence and roughness became more and more offen-
sive to him.3 Erasmus hated a commotion, and said him-
self that he would sacrifice a part of the truth for the sake
of peace, and that he was not of the stuff which martyrs
are made of. He could be an Arian or a Pelagian, he said,
if the Church had so made its creed ; and yet, in his in-

1 It is the "moderation" of Erasmus that leads Gibbon (ch. liv. n. 38) to
say: "Erasmus may be considered the father of rational theology. After a
slumber of an hundred years, it was revived by the Arminians of Holland,
Grotius, Linil)oreh, and Le Clerc; in England by Chillingworth, the latitudina-
rians of Cambridge (Burnet, Hist, of his own Times, vol. i. i\. 2G1-268, octavo
edition), Tillotson, Clarke, Hoadley," etc.

2 De Wette, i. 52.

* Strauss, Ulrich von Ilutten, p. 486.

LUTHER AND ERASMUS. 129

most heart, and apart from the feeling that he must be
anchored somewhere, the authority of the Churcli counted
for little. Being by temperament, by his personal rela-
tions, and by the effect of years, and, we might add, on
prmciple, a time-server, he found himself, being also the
most prominent man of the age, in an embarrassing situ-
ation. He must stay in the Church, yet, if possible,
offend neither party.^ Luther saw through him, and in a
letter that was meant to be friendly, he irritated the great
scholar by inviting him to be a spectator of the magnifi-
cent tragedy in which he was not fitted to be an actor.^
The refusal of Erasmus to see Ulrich von Hutten when
he visited Basel, and the furious controversy that ensued
between them — for Erasmus was provoked into the use
of a style which he very much deplored in Luther, an
inconsistency which Luther did not fail to point out —
was the first decided step in the alienation of the great
scholar from the evangelical party. Then Erasmus at
length yielded to the persuasions that had long been ad-
dressed to him from the papal side, and took the field
against Luther, in a treatise on free-will ; in which the
Reformer was assaulted on a subject where his extrava-
gant language exposed him to an easy attack, and on
which Erasmus could write with some warmth of convic-
tion. He and his associates preferred the Greek theology
to that of Augustine, on this subject of the will. More
once complained that Luther " clung by tooth and nail
to the doctrme of Augustine." Theologians who explain
difficulties by referring to " original sm," Erasmus had
once likened to astrologers who fall back on the stars.
The moderation of the personal references to Luther m
the book of Erasmus did not restrain the former from the
use of the severest style in his reply. Erasmus, he
thought, had taken his place under the banner of the

1 Luther notices the " dexterity " of Erasmus, De Wette, i. 396.

2 Letter to Erasmus (April, 152i), De Wette, ii. 498.

130 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

Pope ; he had come out on the semi-Pelagian side, from
which the whole system of salvation by merit was insep-
arable ; and the higher his standing the more unsparing
must be the attack upon him. The rejoinder of Erasmus
— the " Hyperaspistes," the first part of which appeared
in 1525, and the second in 1527 — completed, if anything
was wanted to complete, their mutual estrangement.
From that time Luther habitually spoke of him as a dis-
ciple of Lucian, a disciple of Epicurus, an enemy of all re-
ligions, especially the Christian, and flung at him other
appellations, which, if literally unjust, sometimes had the
truth of a caricature. Finally, a long letter of Luther
to his friend Nicholas von Amsdorf , in which the author
undertook to maintain a charge of scepticism, as well as
of frivolous levity, against Erasmus, by reference to his
comments on Scripture, drew out a reply which is
marked by all the refinement, ingenuity, and wit for
which Erasmus was deservedly famous. From this time,
his animosity against the Protestant cause went on in-
creasing. Luther more than once complains that Eras-
mus could make the sins and distress of the Church a
theme for jesting.^ In the epistle to Amsdorf, he charges
him with infusing into the young a spmt at war with
rehgious earnestness.^

1 De Wette, i. 76. He finds fault with Erasmus, " senex et theologus," for
treating sacred things in a jesting way, in a period " negotiosissiiuo et laborioso."
Ibid., iv. 508; Letter to Nic. Amsdorf. Luther, it will be remembered, had
not thought well of the Epistohe Ohscurorum Virorum.

2 Ibid., iv. 519. The letters of Luther set forth the rise and progress of his
estrangement from Erasmus. In a letter to Spalatin (October 19, 1516) he
expresses his dissent from the idea of Erasmus that, by "works of the
law," Paul means ceremonial works alone, g'ves his own view of justifica-
tion, and wishes Spalatin to try to alter the v ews of Erasmus on this point.
He writes to Laiige (March 1, 1517), that he reads Erasmus — "nostrum
Erasmum," he styles him — but that his esteem for him diminishes daily;
that Erasmus exposes well the ignorance of priests and monks, but does not
dwell sufficiently on Christ and the grace of God: " humana pnevalent in eo
plus quam divina." He comes to this conclusion reluctantly, and is careful not
to disclose it, in order not to give aid to the enemies and rivals of Erasn\us.
Luthnr's censure of the levity of Erasmus in reference to the calamities of the

LUTHER AND ERASMUS. 131

If we look below the accidents of the controversy, and
cast aside particulars in which Luther was often incorrect,
as he was uncharitable in his general estimate of his an-
tagonist, we must conclude that Luther was still in the
right in his judgment respecting the reform of the

Church is frequently expressed. Erasmus (April 14, 1519) wrote to the Elector
a letter, iu which he complimented Luther. In writing to Spalatin (May 22,
1519), Luther expresses his gratification. On the 28th of the previous March,
Luther had written a respectful letter to Erasmus himself, in which his talents
and services are fully appreciated ; to which Erasmus replied, in May, in gra-
cious but cautious terms. Everything shows that Erasmus was favorable to
Luther, but did not deem it safe to betray the extent of his sympathy. His
position Luther fully understood, as is shown in many passages of his letters.
In a letter to Spengler (November 17, 1520) Luther remarks that he has private
disputes with Melancthon on the question how far from the right way Erasmus
is — Melancthon, of course, being more favorable to the great Humanist. In ref-
erence to the advice of Erasmus that Luther would be more moderate, he writes
(to Spalatin, September 9, 1521) that Erasmus looks " non ad crucem, sed ad pa-
cem ":"memini me, dum in prafatione sua in Novum Testamentum de se ipso
diceret: ' gloriam facile contemnit Christianus ' — in corde mea cogitasse : '0
Erasme, falleris, timeo. Magna res est gloriam contemnere.' " To Spalatin (May
15, 1522), he charges Erasmus with betraying, "in sua Epistolarum farragine,"
his secret hostility to him and his doctrine, and declares that he prefers an open
foe like Eck to a tergiversating person, now friendly and now hostile. To Caspar
Biirner (May 28, 1522), he writes that he is aware that Erasmus dissents from
him on predestination, but that he has no feai of Erasmus's eloquence: " poten-
tior est Veritas quani eloquentia, potior spiritus quam ingenium, major fides
quam eruditio." To CEcolampadius (.June 20, 1523), he speaks of the covert
hostility of Erasmus to the Lutheran doctrine, and characterizes him thus:
" Linguas introduxit, et a sacrilegis studiis revocavit. Forte et ipse cum Mose
in canipestribus Moab morietur: nam ad meliora studia (quod ad pietatem perti-
net) non provehit." In April, 1524, Luther wrote a letter to Erasmus, in which
he makes an offer of peace, but in a manner so condescending and with such
plain observations upon the limitations of Erasmus as to courage and discern-
ment, that he could not fail to be irritated by it. In this singular epistle, which
was well meant but very ill calculated to produce amity, Luther expresses the
wish that his friends would desist from assailing Erasmus; as they would do, it
is added, " if they considered your imbecility and weighed the greatness of the
cause, which has long since exceeded the measure of your powers." He con-
doles with his correspondent in view of the great amount of enmity which Eras-
mus had excited against himself, " since mere human virtue such as yours is
insulficient for such burdens." The reply of Erasmus, though dignified in tone,
shows how deeply he was offended. In September of the same year he gave
way to the importunities of the opponents of Luther and wrote his book De
Libera Arbitrio, which was followed by an acrimonious controversy. From
this time Luther denounces him without reserve. He calls Erasmus that " ir.ost
vain animal'' (De Wette, iii. 98); predicts that he will "fall between wo
stools " [Ibid., 427); and characterizes him in the manner stated above.

132 LUTHER AND THE GERJIAN REFORMATION.

Church. It could not come from literature. Erasmus
could assail the outworks, such as the follies of monkery,
but the principles out of which these obnoxious practices
had grown, he would touch only so far as it could be
done without danger to himself and without disturbance.
Luther had been himself a monk, not like Erasmus fur a
brief time and through compulsion, but of choice, with a
profound inward consecration. He had personally tested,
with all sincerity and earnestness, the prevailing system
of religion, until he discerned the wrong foundations on
which it rested. He saw that the tree must be made good
before the character of the fruit could be changed. And
there was still a vitality in the old system with which the
weapons of Erasmus were quite insufficient to cope. It
is humiliating to see him resorting to the Pope's legate,
and then to the Pope himself, for leave to read the
writings of Luther. It is safe to affirm that the Eras-
mian school would eventually have been driven to the
wall by the monastic party, which sooner or later would
have combined its energies ; and that without the sterner
battle waged by Luther, the literary reformers, with their
lukewarm, equivocal position in relation to fundamental
principles would have succumbed to the terrors of the
Inquisition. There was certain to be an aroused, im-
placable earnestness on the papal side ; a like spirit was
required in the cause of reform. At the same time, jus-
tice to Erasmus requires that he should be judged rather
by his relation to the preceding age, than by compari-
son with Luther.^ The forerunner is not to be weighed
by the standards of the era which he has helped to in-
troduce.

As we have touched on the personal traits of Luther as
a controversialist, it is well to add here that of all men
he may most easily be misrepresented. A man of imagi-
nation and feehng, with intense convictions that burned
1 Strauss, Ulrich von Hutten, p. 481.

THE peasants' WAR. ^ ' 133

for utterance, he never took pains to measure Lis lan-
guage. He put forth his doctrine in startling, paradox-
ical forms, out of which a cold-blooded critic, or artful
polemic could easily make contradictions and absurdities.
In this respect, he was as artless and careless as the
writers of the Bible. Like Paul, and on the same
grounds, he has been charged with favoring an anti-
nomian laxness and positive immorality. It is a cha,rge
which emanates from ignorance or malice. It is fre-
quently made by plodders who are incapable of inter-
preting the fervid utterances, of entering into the pro-
found conceptions of a man of genius, but are simply
shocked by them.i

One other event of which we have to speak is the
Peasants' War. The preaching of Luther and his asso-
ciates produced inevitably a ferment, in which tendencies
to social disorder might easily acquire additional force.
The discontent of the nobles or knights with the princes
sought to ally itself with the new zeal in behalf of a
pure Gospel ; but this revolt was brought to an end by
the defeat and death of Francis of Sickingen. The dis-
affection of the peasants, on account of the oppression
under which they suffered, had long existed. It had led
in several instances to open insurrection. Long before
the Reformation there had been mingled with these
political tendencies a religious element.'^ But their dis-
content was fomented by the spread among them of the
Lutheran doctrine of Christian liberty, from which they
drew inferehces in accord with their own aspirations,
and by the popular excitement which the Reformation
kindled. There was a secular and religious side to the
revolt. Heavier burdens had been laid upon the laboring
class by their lay and ecclesiastical masters. The forcible

1 The criticisms of Hallam upon Luther, together with the erroneous state-
ments of Sir William Hamilton, are thoroughly answered by Archdeacon Hare,
Vindication of Luther, etc. (2d ed., 1855).

2 Ranke, i. 127.

1*34 LUTHER AND THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

repression of the evangelical doctrine was an added griev-
ance. Their roll of complaints carries us forward to the
days of the French Revolution ; nor can it be questioned
that many of them called loudly for redress.^ Luther
had much sympathy with them ; he advised mutual con-
cessions ; but he was inflexibly and on principle opposed
to a resort to arms. He had counseled Sickingen and
Hutten against it.^ In general he set his face against
every attempt to remove the cause of reform from the
arena of discussion to the field of battle. What would
become of schools, of teaching, of preaching, he said,
when once the sword was drawn ? It was a part of his
deliberate resolution to keep the minds of men upon the
main questions in controversy, that there might be an in-
telhgent, enlightened, free adoption of the truth. The
peasants, he held, had no right to make an insurrection.
Like the early Christians, he felt that it was a spirit-
ual agency and not force that could give to the truth a
real victory. He wanted to keep the cause of God clear
of the entanglements of worldly prudence and worldly
power. Hence, when their great rebellion broke out, in
1524 and 1525, he exhorted the princes to put it down
with a strong hand. He saw, in the event of the success
of it, nothing but the destruction of civil order and a
wild reign of fanaticism.'^ The abolition of all existing
authority in Church and state, equality in rank and in
property, were a part of the peasants' creed. If the fact
of the revolt, evidently occasioned as it was, to some ex-
tent, by the Reformation, produced a temporary reaction

1 Hausser, Gsch. d. Zeitah. d. Ref., p. 103 seq. ; Ranke, Deutsche Gsch., i. 134.

2 Letter to Spalatin (January 16, 1521), De Wette, i. 543.

8 Ranke, Deutsche Gsch., i. 149. Waddington (ii. 154 seq.), and other writers,
censure Luther with much severity for his denunciation of the peasants. But
Luther considered that there was a fearful crisis, in which the foundations ol
iociety were in peril. The insurrection was very formidable in numbers and
strength.

THE peasants' WAR. 135

against it, this effect was diminislied by the outspoken,
strenuous opposition which Luther had made to the ill-
fated enterprise. The Reformation is not responsible for
the Peasants' War. It would have taken place if the
Protestant doctrines had not been preached ; and it was
caused by inveterate abuses for which the ecclesiastical
princes in Germany, by their extortions and tyranny,
were chiefly accountab*.e.

CHAPTER V

THE GERMAN KEFORMATION TO THE PEACE OF AUGS-
BTIRG, 1555: ZWINGLE AND THE SWISS (GERMAN)
REFORMATION.

At the time when Luther -was beginning to attract the
attention of Europe, another reformatory movement, of a
type somewhat peculiar, was springing up on a more con-
tracted theatre. In the fifteenth century, the Swiss,
whose military strength had been developed in their long
and victorious struggle for independence, and who had
done much to revolutionize the art of war by sho\\dng
that infantry might be more than a match for cavalry,
were employed in large numbers, as mercenary soldiers,
in Italy. The Pope and the French King were the chief
competitors in efforts to secure these valuable auxiliaries.
The means by which this was accomplished were de-
moralizing in their influence upon the country. The
foreign potentates purchased, by bribes and pensions,
the cooperation of influential persons among the Swiss,
and thus corrupted the spirit of patriotism. The patron-
age of the Church was used in an unprincipled manner,
for the furtherance of this worldly interest of the Pope.
Ecclesiastical discipline was sacrificed, preferments and
indulgences lavishly bestowed, in order that the hardy
peasantry might be enticed from their homes to fight his
battles in the Italian peninsula. These brought home
from their campaigns vicious and lawless habits. At the
same time, in consequence of what they witnessed in

zwingle's education. 137

Italy, much of their reverence for the rulers of the Church
was dispelled. The corrupt administration of the Church
had a hke effect on their countrymen who remained at
home. Thus there was a combination of agencies which
operated to debase the morals of the Swiss people, at the
same time that their superstitious awe for ecclesiastical
superiors was vanishing. The influence of the literary
culture of the age, also, made itself felt in Switzerland.
High schools had sprung up in various cities. A circle of
men who were interested in classical literature and were
gradually acquiring more enlightened ideas in religion,
had their centre in Basel, where Erasmus took up his
abode in 1516 and became their acknowledged head.^

Ulrich Zwingle, the founder of Protestantism in Swit-
zerland, was born on the 1st of January, 1484, in Wild-
haus, an obscure town situated high on the mountains
which overlook the valley of Toggenburg. He was only
a few weeks younger than Luther. The father of
Zwingle was the principal magistrate of the town.^
Young Zwingle spent his boyhood at home, until he was
sent to school first at Basel, and then at Berne. Bright-
minded and eager for knowledge, he was also early dis-
tinguished for his love of truth, which never ceased to be
one of the marked virtues of his character. Like Luther,
he had an extraordinary talent for music. He learned
afterwards to play on various instruments. Among his
associates at the University of Vienna, where he was first
placed, was the famous Eck ; and at Basel, to which
place he was transferred, Capito and Leo Juda, who were
to be his confederates in the work of reform, were among
his fellow-students. Here his principal teacher was
Thomas Wyttenbach, a man of liberal tendencies, as well
as of devout character, who predicted the downfall of

1 There was a literary public. See Ranke, Deutsch. Gscli., ii. 40, 41.

2 See the account of Zwincjle's family in the excelloiit biography of J. C
Morikofer, Ulrich Zwinyli nach den urkundliclien Qiielkn, 2 vols. (1867).

138 THE ZWINGLIAN REFORMATION.

the scholastic theology, and imparted impulses to his
pupils which eventually carried them beyond his own
position. Zwingle was a zealous student of the Latin
classics, and after becoming a pastor at Glarus, he prose-
cuted the reading of the Roman authors, partly for the
truth which he loved to seek in them, and partly to make
himself an orator. He entered, also, with diligence upon
the study of Greek. He carefully copied with his own
hand the epistles of Paul in the original, that he might
have them in a portable volume and commit them to
memory. More and more he devoted himself to the
examination of the Bible and deferred to its authority.
He read the Fathers, as counselors, not as authorita-
tive guides. He was obliged to leave Glarus, on account
of his bold opposition to the system of pensions and of
mercenary service under the French. Zwingle was a
thorough patriot from his early boyhood. He listened by
'the hearthstone to tales of gallant work done by his rela-
tives and townsmen in the recent war against Charles of
Burgundy. As he grew older he witnessed the delete-
rious effect of the French influence, to which we have
adverted. He saw, moreover, the low condition of morals
among the clergy, and became more alive to the deplor-
able state of things from the bitter compunction which
his own compliance with temptation in a single instance,
cost him.^ At first he did not look upon military service
which was rendered at the call of the Pope, the Head of
the Church, with the same disapprobation which he felt
in regard to the French. He even accompanied his
parishioners to war, and was present on the field of
Marignano. He, moreover, thought it no "svrong to re-
ceive a pension from the Pope, which was first given him
for the purchase of books. But his public opposition at

1 Leben und Ausgewahlte Schriften d. Vater u. Begrunder d. Ref. Kit che :
Christoffel, Huldreich Zwingle, Leben u. Ausgewahlte Schriften, i. 10;
Opera Zwinglii, viii. 54 seq.

ZWmGLE OPPOSES THE SALE OF INDULGENCES. 139

Glarus to the French party, which was strong there,
obliged him to leave and to take up his abode at a
smaller place, Einsiedeln, where he took the office of
pastor and preacher in the Church of the Virgo Eremi-
tana — Virgin of the Hermitage. This was in 1516.
Here was a cloister as well as a church, with a store of
legends. It was the chief resort of pilgrims from all the
adjacent region. Indulgences were hberally bestowed,
and a picture of Mary, of peculiar sanctity, attracted
crowds of devotees. Zwingle, without directly assailing
the worship of the Virgin, preached to the throng of
visitors the doctrine of salvation by Christ, and of his
mercy and sufficiency as a Saviour, which had been more
and more impressed on his mind by the investigation of
the Scriptures. The people felt that they were hearing
new truth, and a striking effect was produced on many.
He had now fully made up his mind to go to the Word
of God as the ultimate authority, in preference to the
dogmas of men. To individuals, to his friend Capito and
to Cardinal Sitten, he stated that he found in the Scrip-
tures no foundation for the rule of . the Papacy.^ He
even said to Capito, in 1517, that he thought the
Papacy must fall. In 1518, he preached against one
Samson, who, like Tetzel, was a peddler of indulgences,
so that the traffic was stopped in the Canton of Schweitz,
and Samson obliged to decamp. In 1519, owing very
much to the influence of leading opponents of the French
party, Zwingle was transferred to the Cathedral Church
of Zurich, then a city of about seven thousand inhabit-
ants. Here he carried out his purpose, which he an-
nounced at the outset, of expounding the Bible to his
hearers, and of inculcating the truth which he found there.
In this way, in sermons which were heard by a multitude
with eager interest, he went through the Gospel of Mat-
thew. He explained, also, the epistles of Paul ; and for

1 Christoffel, i. 24.

140 THE ZWINGLIAN REFORMATION.

fear that some would have less respect for Paul, as he was
not one of the twelve, he showed the identity of Peter's
doctrine by an exposition of his epistles. He had great
power as a preacher : one of his hearers said that it
seemed to him that ZAvingle held him by the hair of his
head. When Samson appeared with his indulgences (in
1519), he again denounced him and his trade, and was
supported in his opposition by the Bishop of Constance,
to whom Samson had neglected to exhibit his credentials ;
so that the friar was denied permission to vend his wares
in Zurich. Zwingle was a man of robust health, cheer-
ful countenance and kindly manners, affable with all
classes ; a man of indefatigable industiy, yet enjoying
domestic life to the full — he was married in 1524 — and
fond of spending an evening at the inn, in familiar con-
versation with magistrates or leading citizens, or with
strangers who happened to be present.^ Upright, hum-
ble before God, but fearless before men, devoted to the
work of a preacher and pastor, but taking an active part
in whatever concerned the well-being of his country,
Zwingle acquired by degrees, though not without oppo-
sition and occasional exposure to extreme danger, a con-
trolling influence in Zurich. A turning point in his
career was the public disputation, which was held at his
own request, under the auspices of the government of
Zurich, on the 29th of January, 1523, in the great
Council Hall, where he had proposed to defend himself
against all who chose to bring against him charges of
heresy. He had really won the battle beforehand, in
persuading the Council to take the part of judges, and to
have all questions decided by reference to the Scriptures
alone. In an open space, in the midst of an assembly of
more than six hundred men, he sat by a table, on which he

1 " Seriis et jocos miscuit et ludos: nam ingenio amoenus, et ore jucundus
supra quam dici possit, erat. Dein musices omnis generis instrumenta perdi-
dicit et exercuit, non nisi ut ingenio seriis illis defatigato et recreari el ad ea
paratior redire posset." Myconius, Vita Huld. Zwinglii, iii.

zwingle's theological principles. 141

had placed the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures and the Latin
version. His triumphant maintenance of his opinions
against his feeble assailants, resulted in an injunction from
the Council to persevere in preaching from the Scriptures
alone, and a like command to all the clergy to teach
nothing which the Scriptures do not warrant. In this
conference he defended sixty-seven propositions which
were leveled against the system of the Roman Catholic
Church. The authority of the Gospel is substituted for
the authority of the Church ; the Church is declared to
be the communion of the faithful, who have no head but
Christ ; salvation is through faith in Him as the only
priest and intercessor ; the Papacy and the mass, invoca-
tion of saints, justification by works, fasts, festivals, pil-
grimages, monastic orders and the priesthood, auricular
confession, absolution, indulgences, penances, purgatory,
and indeed all the characteristic peculiarities of the Ro-
man Catholic creed and cultus are rejected. Jurisdic-
tion over the authorities of the Church is claimed for the
civil magistrates.^ Again, in another disputation, before a
much more numerous audience, on the 26th of October
following, he obtained a decree of the Council against
the use of images and the sacrifice of the mass. After a
severe contest, he established the principle that the fasts
of the Church are optional, not obligatory. In all the
changes of this sort, radical as they were, extending even
to the disuse of the organ in the minster, Zwingle pro-
ceeded temperately, with the same regard to weak con-
sciences which Luther had shown, and taking care that
everything should be done in m orderly manner, and by
public authority. Like Luther, he had a contest to sus-
tain with Anabaptist enthusiasts. Zurich, separated
from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Constance, became
a Church, at the head of which were the magistrates,
who were proper representatives, in Zwingle's view, of
the body of the congi-egation (1524).

1 Zwingle, Opera, vii. Herzog, -Bea^^«c^cZ.,art. "Zwingli," xviii. 716.

142 THE ZWINGLIAN REFORMATION.

In 1525 Zwingle published his principal "work, the
" Commentary on True and False Religion," which was
dedicated to Francis I.; and, about the same time, a
treatise on original sin. In these and other writings he
set forth his theological system. In most points he coin-
cides with the usual Protestant doctrine. But, as will
be explained, he departed farther from the old system in
his conception of the sacraments ; he ascribed to them a
less important function ; and he considered original sin
a disorder rather than a state involving guilt. ^ It is re-
markable that Zwingle in his philosophy was a predesti-
narian of an extreme type, and anticipated Calvinism in
avowing the supralapsarian tenet ; in this particular going
beyond Augustine. But he held that Christ has redeemed
the entire race, which has been lost in Adam ; and that
infants, not only such as are unbaptized in Christian
lands, but the offspring of the heathen, also, are all
saved. Moreover, he did not accept the prevailing belief
in the universal condemnation of the heathen. The pas-
sages of Scripture which seem to assert this he regarded
as intended to apply only to such as hear the Gospel and
willfully reject it. The divine election and the illumina-
tion of the Spirit are not confined, he thought, within the
circle of revealed rehgion, or to those who receive the
Word and sacraments. The virtues of heathen sages and
heroes are due to divine grace. By grace they were led
to exercise faith in God. A Socrates, he says, was more
pious and holy than all Dominicans and Franciscans. On
the catalogue of saints with the patriarchs and prophets
of the Old Testament he associates, besides Socrates, the
names of the Scipios, Camillus, the Catos, Numa, Aristi-
des, Seneca, Pindar, even Theseus and Hercules.^ The

1 His opinion on this subject varied somewhat at different times. See Zeller,
Das theol. Syst. Zwinglis dargesteUt (Abdruck aus Jahrg. 1853, Theol. Jahrb.)
D. 51 seq.

- Fidei Expositio, Opera, iv. 65. " Non fuit vir bonus, non erit mens saacta,
non fidelis aninia, ab ipso mundi exordio usque ad ejus consummationeni, quem
non sis isthic cum Deo visurus."

THE REFORMATION SPREADS FROM ZURICH. 143

influence of Zwingle's humanistic culture is obvious in
this portion of his teaching. " He had busied himself,"
says Neander, " with the study of antiquity, for which he
had a predilection, and had not the right criterion for
distinguishing the ethical standing-point of Christianity
from that of the ancients." ^

From Zurich the Reformation spread. In Basel it had
for a leader OEcolampadius, who had belonged to the
school of Erasmus, was an erudite scholar of mild temper,
and in his general tone resembled Melanctlion. In that
city it gained the upper hand in 1529. In Berne it was
established after a great public disputation, at which
Zwingle was present, in 1528. The same change took
place in St. Gall and Schaffhausen.

This ecclesiastical revolution was at the same time a
political one. There was a contest between the republi-
can and reforming party on the one hand, who were bent
on purifying the country from the ejffects of foreign in-
fluence, from the corruption of morals and of patriotism
which had resulted from that source, and an oligarchy,
on the other, who clung to their pensions, and to the sys-
tem of mercenary service with which their power was
connected. The party of Zwingle were contending for
a social and national reform, on a religious foundation.
They aimed to make the Gospel not only a source of
light and life to the individual, but a renovating power in
the body politic, for effecting the reform of the social life
and of the civil organization of the country.

We have now to consider the relation of the Lutheran
and Zwinglian movements to one another. There were

1 Dogmengeschichte, ii. 263. On this topic Neander has written an able dis-
cussion: Tiber das Verhaltniss d. heUentscken Ethik zur ChristUchen ; Wissen-
chaf tl. Abhandlungen, p. 140. It had not been uncommon for the strictest Roman
Catholics to believe in the salvation of Aristotle. Of Zwingle, Henri Martin
says (Histoire de France, viii. 156): "On peut consid^rer I'ojuvre de Zuingli
comme le plus puissant effort qui ^te fait pour sanctifier la Renaissance et I'unir
a la Reforme en Jdsus Christ."

144 THE ZWINGLIAN REFORMATION.

great differences between the two leaders. Luther had,
so to speak, lived into the system of the Latin Church to
a degree that was not true in the case of Zwingle. Out
of profound agitation, through long mental struggles, in
which he received little aid or direction from abroad,
Luther had come out of the old system. It was a process
of personal experience with which his intellectual enlight-
enment kept pace. One truth, that of salvation by faith,
in contrast with salvation by the merit of works, stood
prominently before the eyes of Luther. The method of
forgiveness, of reconciliation with God, had been with
him, from his early youth, the one engrossing problem.
The relation of the individual to God had absorbed his
thoughts and moved his sensibilities to the lowest depths.
The renunciation of the authority of the Church was an
act to which nothing would have driven him but the force
of his convictions respecting the central truth of justifica-
tion by faith alone. The course of Zwingle's personal
development had been different. Of cheerful temper and
fond of his classics, he had felt no inclination to the mo-
nastic life. He came out of the Erasmian school. The
authority of the Church never had a very strong hold
upon him, even before he explicitly questioned the validity
of it. As he studied the Scriptures and felt their power,
he easily gave to them the allegiance of his mind and
heart. It cost him little inward effort to cast off what-
ever in the doctrinal or ecclesiastical system of the Latin
Church appeared to him at variance with the Bible or
with common sense. In his mind there was no hard con-
flict with an established prejudice. It would be very
unjust to deny to Zwingle religious earnestness ; but the
course of his inward life was such that, although he
heartily accepted the principle of justification by faith,
he had not the same vivid idea of its transcendent impor-
tance which Luther had. Zwingle, a bold and independ-
ent student, took the Bible for his chart, and was de-

LUTHER AND ZWINGLE COMPARED. 145

terred by no scruples of latent reverence from abruptly
discarding usages which the Bible did not sanction. While
Luther Avas disposed to leave untouched what the Bible
did not prohibit, Zmngle was more inclined to reject
what the Bible did not enjoin. Closely related to this
difference in personal character, is the very important di-
versity in the aims of the two reformers. Luther was
practical, in one sense of the term ; he sympathized with
the homely feelings, as he was master of the homely lan-
guage of the people. No man knew better how to reach
their hearts. He was a German who was inspired with
a national sentiment, and indignantly resented the wrongs
inflicted upon his country. But his aim was throughout
a distinctly religious one. He drew a sharp line between
the function which he conceived to belong to him, as a
preacher and theologian, and the sphere of political ac-
tion. Absorbed in the truth which he considered the life
and soul of the Gospel, and intent upon propagating it,
he had no special aptitude for the organization of the
Church ; much less did he meddle with the affairs of civil
government, except in the character of a minister, to en-
join obedience to established authority. Zwingle's aim
and work were so diverse, his turn of mind and his cir-
cumstances being so different, that Luther and the other
Saxon theologians were slow in understanding him and in
doing justice to him.^ Zwingle was a patriot and a social
reformer. The salvation of his country from misgovern-
ment and immorality was an end, inseparable, in his
mind, from the effort to bring individuals to the practical
acceptance of the Gospel.^ The Swiss people must be
hfted up from their degeneracy ; and the instrument of

1 There is an excellent essaj'' by Hundeshagen, Zur Characteristik Ulrich
Zwinqlis u. seines Refonnationswerhes unter Vergleichnng mit Luther und
CaCvin. Studien u. Kritiken, 1862. 4.

2 Of his attack upon the system of pensions, his friend Myconius says:
" Hunc vidt'bat tunc demum doctrina; coelesti locum futurum, ubi fens malorum
esset exhaustus omnium." — Vita Zwirif/Ui, iv.

10

146 THE ZWINGLIAN REFOEMATION.

doing this was the truth of the Bible, to be applied not
only to the individual in his personal relations to God,
but also to correct abuses in the social and civil life of the
nation. These grew out of selfishness, and there was no
cure for that save in the Word of God. After Zwingle
renounced the Pope's pension, and declined his flattering
offer to make it larger, and took his stand against foreign
influence, come from what quarter it might, which at-
tained its ends at the cost of national corruption, he re-
sembled in his position, in his mingled patriotism and
piety, the old Hebrew prophets. " The Cardinal of Sit-
ten," he said, " with right wears a red hat and cloak ;
you have only to wring them and you will behold the
blood of your nearest kinsmen dripping from them ! "
He would have the Svnss abstain from all these dishonor-
able, pernicious alhances.

The question of priority as to time, between Luther's
movement and that of Zwingle, has often been discussed.
Zwingle asserted with truth that his opinions concerning
the authority of the Scriptures and the method of salva-
tion, were formed independently of the influence of Luther.
It is true that, independently of Luther, Zwingle, as
early as 1518, preached against the sale of indulgences.
But the expressions of Zwingle on these topics were such
as might be heard elsewhere from other good men. In
this matter he had the support of the Bishop of Con-
stance, and did not incur the displeasure of Leo X., who
had, perhaps, learned moderation from the occurrences in
Saxony. The great point in Luther's case was his collis-
ion with the authority of the Church. It is justly claimed
for Luther that he broke the path in this momentous and
perilous conflict. When Luther was put under the ban
of the Church, Zmngle was still the recipient of a pen-
sion from the Pope. When Luther at Worms, in the
face of the German Empire, refused to submit to the
authority of Pope or Council, Zwingle had not yiit been

THE EUCHARISTIC CONTROVERSY. 147

seriously attacked. As late as 1523 he received a com-
plimentary letter from Pope Adrian VI. Zwingle from
the beginning was treated mth the utmost forbearance,
from the concern of the papal court for its political and
selfish interests. These circumstances involve nothing
discreditable to Zwingle, when the whole history of his
relations to the Papacy is understood. But they demon-
strate that the distinction of sounding the trumpet of
revolt against the Roman see belongs to the Saxon re-
former. Luther's voice, which was heard in every country
of Europe, reached the valleys of Switzerland. It was then
that Z\vingle was charged by his enemies with being a
follower of Luther. This he denied, at the same time
that he avowed his agreement with Luther in the great
points of doctrine, and courageously spoke of him in
terms of warm praise. But it was the noise of the battle
wliich Luther was waging that opened the eyes* of men
to the real drift of Zwingle's teaching.

An unhappy event for the cause of the Reformation
was the outbreaking of the great controversy between the
Lutherans and the Swiss, upon the Eucharist. In 1524,
at the very time when the division of Germany into two
hostile parties, Protestant and Catholic, was taking place,
the evangelical forces were weakened by this intestine
conflict.^ The doctrine of transubstantiation is not a doc-
trine of the ancient Chm-ch. The view of Augustine,
which was that a spiritual power is imparted to the bread
and wine, analogous to the virtue supposed to inhere in
the baptismal water, long prevailed in the Latin Church,
even after the more extreme opinion had been broached
by John of Damascus and the Greek theologians. This
is evident from the effect that was produced when literal
transubstantiation, or the conversion of the bread and
wine into the body and blood of Christ, was advocated
in the ninth century by Radbert, the Abbot of Corvey.

1 Ranke, Deutsch. Gsch. ii. 59.

148 THE ZWINGLIAN REFORMATION.

This theory was opposed by his contemporaries, Rabanus
Maurus and by Ratramnus, who adhered to the views of
Augustine. The bread and wine nourish the body, but
the spiritual power imparted to them — the spiritual
body of Christ, of which they are the sign — is received
by faith and nourishes the soul to an immortal life. In
the eleventh century, the view of Radbert had so far
gained the ascendency that Berengar, who defended the
more ancient theory, was condemned, although it was
claimed that his opinion was favored by Hildebrand.
Transubstantiation, the change of substance, was defended
by the leading schoolmen of the thirteenth century, and
was made an article of faith by the fourth Lateran Coun-
cil, in 1215, under Innocent III.

The Reformers, with one accord, denied this dogma,
together with the associated doctrine of the sacrificial
character of the Eucharist. But in other respects they
were not agreed among themselves. Luther affirmed the
actual, objective presence of the glorified body and blood
of Christ, in connection with the bread and wine, so that
the body and blood, in some mysterious way, are received
by the communicant whether he be a believer or not. It
is the doctrine of two substances in the sacrament, or con-
substantiation. His doctrine included a belief in the
ubiquity of the human nature of the ascended Christ.
Zwingle, on the contrary, had come to consider the Lord's
Supper as having principally a mnemonic significance ;
as a symbol of the atoning death of Christ and a token or
pledge — as a ring would be a pledge — of its continual
efficacy.^ A middle view, which was that of Calvin, though
suggested by others before him, was that of a real but
spiritual reception of Christ, by the believer alone, where-
by there is implanted in the soul the germ of a glorified
body or form of being like that of Christ. In this view
the elements are the symbol, the pledge, or authentica,-

* This idea of a token or pledge, however, he soon dropped. Miirikofer, L'. 197.

Luther's hostility to the sacramentarians. 149

tion of the grace of God through the death of Christ ;
and at the same time to the behever, though to no other,
Christ is himself mysteriously and spiritually imparted,
as the power of a new life — the power of resurrection.
From the human nature of Christ, which is now exalted
to heaven, or from his flesh, there enters into the soul of
the believer a life-giving influence, so that he is united in
the most intimate union to the Saviour. ^

The vehemence of Luther's hostility to the Zwinglian
doctrine is manifest in his correspondence for a consider-
able period after the rise of the controversy. There were
no terms of opprobrium too violent for him to apply to
the tenet and the persons of the Sacramentarians. There
were times when for special reasons — chiefly from the
hope that they were coming over to his opinion — his
hostility was sensibly abated. But his abhorrence of the
Zwinglian doctrine never left him. The reasons that
misled him into an intolerant and uncharitable course

1 Luther did not hold that the heavenly body of Christ, which is offered and
received in the sacrament, occupies space. Yet it is received by all who partake
of the bread and wine — not a portion of the body, but the entire Christ by each
communicant. It is received, in some proper sense, with the mouth. Sometimes
he uses crass expressions on this point. See, for example, the instructions to
Melancthon for the conference with Bucer at Cassel : " Und ist summa das unser
Meinuug, dass wahrhaftig in und mit dem Brod der Leib Christi gessen wird,
also dass alles, was das Brod wirket und leidet, der Leib Christi wirke und leide,
das er ausgetheilt, gessen, und mit denZiihnen zubissen werde." De Wette, iv.
572. He asserts that the body of Christ is substantiaUter but not localiter — as
extended or occupying space — present. De Wette, iv. 573. Zwingle, on the
contrary, denied that the body of Christ is present, in any sense, in the sacra-
ment. Thus he writes to Luther himself (April, 1527: Zwinr/. Opera, viii.
39): " Nunquam enimaliudobtinebis, quam quod Christi Corpus quum in ccena
quum in mentibus piorum non aliter sit, quam sola contemplatione." Zwingle
and his followers were more and more disposed to attach importance to a spirit-
ual presence of Christ in the sacrament. This Calvin empliasized and added
the positive assertion of a direct influence upon the believing communicant,
which flows from Christ through the medium or instrumentality of his human
nature. His flesh and blood, though locally separated, are really imparted to
the soul of the believer, as an effect of his faith, by "the secret power of the
Holy Spirit." Institutes, iv. xvii. 9, 10, 23. An able historical discussion by
Julius Miiller, entitled, Verr/leichunc/ der LeJiren Liithers und Calvins iiber >lpt
h. Abendmahl is in Miiller's Dogmatische Abhandlungen, pp. 404-4G7.

150 THE ZWINGLIAN REFORMATION.

of conduct it is not impossible to discover. The obnox-
ious tlieory was first proposed by Carlstadt, an enthu-
siast and fanatic who had given Luther infinite trouble ;
and it was defended by him through a weak device of
exegesis. It was associated in Luther's mind with the
extreme spiritualism, or the subjective tendency, which
undervalued and tended to sweep away the objective
means of grace, the Word as well as the sacraments, and
to substitute for them a special illumination or inspiration
from the Spirit. ^ The Word and the Sacraments Luther
had made the criteria of the Church. On upholding them
in their just place, everytliing that distinguished his re-
form from enthusiasm or rationalism depended. He had
never thought of forsaking the dogmatic system of Latin
Christianity in its earlier and purer days, and he looked
with alarm on what struck him as a rationalistic innova-
tion. Besides, over and above all these considerations, the
real objective presence of Christ in his human nature,
was a belief that had taken a deep hold of his imagina-
tion and feelings. He had been tempted to give to the
text — " this is my body " — a looser, more figurative
meaning ; but the text, he declared, was too strong for
him. He must take it just as it reads. The truth is
that his religious feelings were intertwined with the literal
interpretation. Being immovably and on such grounds
established in his opinion, he would have no fellowship
with such as rejected it. They denied, as he considered,

1 Luther was in the habit of stigmatizing the Zwinglians as " schwarmer."
This seems at first inapposite, even as a term of opprobrium. But Luther would
hold fast to the objective Word and the objective sacraments. As the truth was
in the Word when it entered the ear even of the unbeliever; as it was the Word
of God, however it might be received; so was Christ in the sacramental ele-
ments, whatever the beliefs or feelings of the recipient might be. The sacrament
was complete, independently of the character of the recipient, not less than of
the character of the minister. It owed its completeness to the divine institution:
just as the rays of the sun are the same, whether they fall upon the ej-e that
can see or upon the blind. In a word, Luther felt strongly that the Zwinglians
attributed too much to the subjective factor, to faith, and thus sacrificed the
grand objective character of the means of grace — doing by the sacraments what
the enthusiasts did by the Scriptures.

THE EUCHARISTIC CONTROVERSY. 151

an article of the Christian faith, a precious fact of Chris-
tian experience. The union of the believer mth Christ
— the unio mystica — is a theme on which he has writ-
ten more impressively, perhaps, than upon any other topic
of Christian doctrine.^ Philosophical objections counted
for nothing with him against the intuitions of the ethical
or religious nature. He was profoundly sensible that the
truths of religion transcend the limits of the understand-
ing. DiflBculties raised by the mere understanduig, in
however plausible form they might be presented, he con-
sidered to be really superficial. Yet, in defending his
own view he sometimes condescended to fight with weap-
ons of philosophy wliich he had drawn in earlier days
from the tomes of Occam.

Of course the most urgent exertions would be made to
heal a schism that threatened to breed great disasters to
the Protestant cause. Not only was it a scandal of which
the Roman Catholic party would only be too happy to
make an abundant use, but it distracted the counsels and
tended to paralyze the physical strength of the Protestant
interest. The theologian who was most industrious in the
work of bringing about a union, was Martin Bucer, who
from his position at Strasburg was well situated with refer-
ence to both of the contending parties, and who was un-
commonly ingenious at frammg compromises, or at devising
formulas sufiiciently ambiguous to cover dissonant opinions.
Rude and violent though Luther sometimes was, he was
always utterly honest and outspoken, and for this reason
proved on some occasions unmanageable ; and Zmngle,
earnest as was his desire for peace, was too sincere and
self-respecting to hide his opinion under equivocal phrase-
ology. At least, when it was openly attacked, he would
as openly stand for its defense. Of the princes who were
active in efforts to pacify the opposing schools and bring

1 Passages from Luther on this subject may be read in Dorner, Entwicklungs.
gsc/i. d. Lehre v. d. Person Christ., ii. 510 seq.

152 THE ZWINGLIAN REFORMATION.

them upon some common gromid, Philip, the Landgrave
of Hesse, Avas most conspicuous. The most memorable
attempt of this sort was the Conference at INIarburg in
1529, where the Swiss theologians met Luther and Me-
lancthon. The former accommodated themselves to the
views of the Lutherans on the subject of original sin, and
on some other points respecting which their orthodoxy had
been questioned. The only point of difference was the
Eucharist ; but here the difference proved irreconcilable.
The Landgrave arranged that private conferences should
first be held between Qicolampadius and Luther, and be-
tween Melancthon and Zwingle ; Zwingle and Luther
bemg thus kept apart, and each put by the side of a
theologian of mild and conciliatory temper. But the
experiment was fruitless. No more could an agreement
be reached when all were assembled with the Landgrave
and a select company of spectators. The theologians sat
by a table, the Saxons on one side and the Swiss opposite
them. Luther wrote upon the table with chalk his text,
— "hoc est meum corpus" — and refused to budge an
iota from the hteral sense. But his opponents would not
admit the actual presence of the body of Christ in the
sacrament, or that his body is received by mibelievers.
Finally, when it was evident that no common ground
could be reached, Zwingle, with tears in his eyes, offered
the hand of fraternal fellowship to Luther. But this
Luther refused to take, not willing, says Ranke, to rec-
ognize them as of the same communion. Bat more was
meant by this refusal ; Luther would regard the Swiss as
friends, but such was the influence of his dogmatic sys-
tem over his feelings, that he could not bring himself to
regard them as Christian brethren. Luther and Melanc-
thon at this time appear to have supposed that an agree-
ment in every article of belief is the necessary condition
of Christian fellowship. Both parties engaged to be
friendly to one another, and to abstain from irritating

THE EUCHARISTIC CONTROVERSY. 163

language. They signed in common fourteen articles of
faith relating to the great points of Christian doctrine,
and promised to exercise toward one another all the
charity which is consistent with a good conscience. There
was a considerable time dviring which the sentiments and
language of Luther in relation to the Sacramentarians,
were greatly softened. In particular was this the case
while he was at Coburg, during the sessions of the Diet
of Augsburg. The imperial cities of Southern Germany,
by the agency of the indefatigable Bucer, although they
sympathized with the Zwinglian doctrine, were admitted
to the league of Smalcald. In 1536 the most distin-
guished theologians of Upper Germany joined Luther and
his followers in subscribing to the Wittenberg Concord,
which expressed, mth slight reservations, the Lutheran
view. But the Swiss adlierents of Zwingle refused to
sanction this creed.^ In 1543, the publication of Zwingle's
writings by his son-in-law, Gualter, with an apologetic
essay from his pen, once more roused the ire of Luther,
and he began again to denounce the Zwinglians and their
doctrine in the former vituperative strain .^

1 It is asserted that the body and blood of Christ are truly present, and offered
in the sacrament, and are received even bj' the "unwoi'thy." Bucer distin-
guished between the " unworthy " and "godless." On this agreement see the
article " Wittenberger Concordie," in Herzog's Eeal-EncycL, and Gieseler, iii.
iv. 1, § 7.

2 The story that Luther, shortly before his death, acknowledged to Melanc-
thon that he had gone too fai in the sacramental controversy, is given, for ex-
ample, by Christoffel, i. 331. It is a tiction: see Galle, Vei'siich einer Character-
istik Mdnnctltons als Theolof/en, etc., p. 433. Luther and Melancthon depended
very much for their information on Swiss affairs upon travellers and students, and
had an imperfect conception of the real character of Zwingle's services to
reform. Neither of the disputants at Marburg fully grasped the opinion of
the other. The Zwinglians often understood Luther to hold to a local pres-
ence, whereas the Lutheran doctrine rests upon the idea of a spiritualizing
of the human nature of Christ, of an effect wrought upon it by its relation to
Divinity, so that it no longer fills space or is fettered by spatial relations.
The state of Luther's health, and the particular circumstances under which he
wrote, affected his tone respecting Zwingle. There was a certain bluntness in
Zwingle which was offensive to Luther, and was interpreted by him as persona]
disrespect. Zwingle's letter to Luther (April, 1527; Zicinrj. Opera, viii, 30),

154 THE ZWINGLIAN REFORMATION.

We turn now to the catastrophe of the Swiss Reforma-
tion. There was a growing hostiUty between the five
mountain cantons that remained Catholic and tlie cities
in which Protestantism had been estabhshed. The
CathoUc cantons entered into a league with Ferdinand of
Austria. Protestant preachers who fell into the hands
of the Catholics were put to death. The new doctrine
was suppressed within their limits. The districts that
belonged in common to the several cantons furnished the
occasion for bitter controversy. At length Zurich took
up arms, and without bloodshed forced the five cantons
to tear up the compact with Austria, to concede that each
government should be free to decide for itself upon the
religious question, and to pay the costs of the projected
war. The behavior of the five cantons, however, was
not improved. Their threatening attitude led Zurich to
form alliances with the city of Strasburg and the Land-
grave of Hesse. The force of the Protestants, apart
from foreign help, was greater than that of their adver-
saries. Zwingle recommended bold measures. He
thought that the constitution of the Swiss Confederacy
should be changed, so that the preponderance might be
given to the cities where it justly belonged, and taken
from the mountain districts which had so shamefully mis-
used their power. The chief demands that were really
made, were that the Protestant doctrine, which was pro-

however it may have been provoked, was adapted to irritate the Saxon reformer.
Referring to it, Luther speaks of the "Helvetica ferocia " of his opponent (to
Spalatin, May 31, 1527; De Wette, iii. 182). In a letter to Bullinger (May 14,
lu38; De Wette, v. 3), he speaks kindly of Zwingle: " Libere enim dicam:
Zwinglium, postquam Marpurgi mihi visus et auditus est, virum optimum esse
judicavi, sicut et QLcolampadium," etc. He speaks of the grief he had experi-
enced at Zwingle's death. But when his displeasure was excited, he wrote in a
different spirit. See, for example, a letter to Wenc. I .nk (Januarv 3, 1532, De
Wette, iv. 331). But Zwingle, in the Fidei Ratio — the creed which he pre-
sented at Augsburg — had described Luther's opinion as the tenet of those " who
look back to tiie flesh-pots of Eg3'pt: "Qui adoUas ^gyptiacas respectant " —
in aspersion as unjust as it was irritating {Rat. Fid., 8). Luther's latest
ebullition, occasioned by the intelligence that the Swiss were den )uncing him,
is in a letter to Jac. Probst (January 17, 154G; De Wette, v. 777).

DEATH OF ZWINGLE. 155

fessed in the lower cantons, should be tolerated in the
upper, and that persecution should cease there. But the
question was whether even these demands would be en-
forced. Zwingle was in favor of overpowering the enemy
by a direct attack, and of extorting from them just con-
cessions. But he was overruled, and half measures were
resorted to. The attempt was made to coerce the Catholic
cantons by non-intercourse, by thus cutting oif their sup-
plies. The effect was that the Catholics were enabled to
collect their strength, while the Protestant cities were di-
vided by jealousies and by disagreement as to what might
be the best policy to adopt. Zurich was left without
help, to confront, with hasty and inadequate preparation,
the combined strength of the Catholic party. The
Zurich force was defeated at Cappel, on the 11th of
October, 1531, and Zwingle, who had gone forth as a
chaplain with his people to battle, fell. He had antici-
pated defeat from the time when his counsels were disre-
garded, and he had found it impossible to bring the
magistrates of Berne to a resolution to act with decision.
In the thick of the fight, he raised his voice to encourage
his companions, but made no use of his weapons.^ As he
received his mortal wound, he exclaimed : " What evil is
this ? they can kill the body, but not the soul ! " ^ As he
lay, still breathing, on the field, with his hands folded
and his eyes directed to heaven, one or more brutal sol-
diers asked him to confess to a priest, or to call on Mary
and the saints. He shook his head in token of refusal.
They knew not to whom they were speaking, but only
that he was a heretic, and with a single sword-thrust put
an end to his life.^ Notwithstanding this defeat, the
party of the reformed might have retrieved their cause.
But they lacked union and energy. Zurich ard Berne

1 Morikofer, ii. 417. 2 Myconius, xii.

8 The death of Zwingle is described with touching simp licit}' by his successor
at Zurich, Bullinger, Rvformationsgeschlchte (Zjrich ec, 18J8), iii. 136.

156 THE ZWINGLIAN REFORMATION.

concluded a humiliating peace, the effect of which vras to
inflict a serious check upon the Protestant interest and to
enable the Catholics to repossess themselves of portions
of the ground which they had lost.

The menace addressed by the Catholic majority at the
Diet of Augsburg to the Protestants, led to the forma-
tion of the Protestant Defensive League of Smalcald, to
which the four imperial cities of South Germany that held
the Zwinglian opinions, but were now disconnected from
the confederacy of their Swiss brethren, were admitted
in 1531. The Imperial Chamber had been purged by
the exclusion of all who were supposed to sympathize with
the new opinions. This tribunal was to be made the in-
strument of a legal persecution. The Emperor procured
the election of his brother as Roman King, in a manner
which involved a violation of the rights of the Electors,
and was adapted to excite the apprehensions of the Prot
estants.-^ The Wittenberg theologians waived their op-
position to the project of withstanding the Emperor.
Luther took the ground that, while as Christians, they
ought not to resort to force, yet the rights and duties of
the princes in reference to the Emperor were a pohtical
question for jurists to determine, and that Christians, as
members of the state, were bound to take up arms in
defense of their princes, when these are unlawfully as-
saulted. The political situation for ten years after the
Diet of Augsburg was such as not only to disable Charles
from the forcible execution of its decree, but also such as
to favor the progress of the Reformation. The League
of Smalcald, strengthened by a temporary alliance with
the Dukes of Bavaria and by treaties with France and
Denmark, was too formidable to be attacked. The irrup-

1 Ranke, iii. 220 seq. The " King of the Romans " was the title of the suc-
cessor of the Emperor during the lifetime of the latter, and of the latter prior
to his coronation at Rome. See Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, p. 404.

PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC LEAGUES. 157

tion of the Turks under Soliman was another insuperable
obstacle in the way of the repressive policy. Hence, in
1532, " the peace of Nuremberg " provided that religious
affairs should be left unchanged, until they could be ad-
justed by a new Diet, or by a new Council. Such a Coun-
cil the Protestants had demanded at Augsburg and
Charles had promised to procure. Notwithstanding the
disturbance produced by the Anabaptist communists at
Miinster, the Reformation advanced with rapid strides.
The Protestant Duke of Wiirtemburg was reestablished
in his possessions by the Landgrave of Hesse, in 1534.
Brandenburg and ducal Saxony, by the death of the
Elector and of the Duke, became Protestant. Catholic
princes were beginning to grant religious liberty to their
subjects. The war with France, which broke out in 1536,
rendered it impossible for the Emperor to hinder this
progress. The Smalcald League was extended by the
accession of more princes and cities. The Protestants
refused to comply with the summons to a Council, in
which, by the terms of the invitation, their condemnation
was a foregone conclusion. Alarmed at the growing
strength of Protestantism, the leading Catholic estates
united in a Holy League at Nuremberg, in 1538, which,
like the League of Smalcald, was ostensibly for defense.^
The next three years are marked by efforts to secure
peace, of which the Conference and Diet of Ratisbon, in

1 The cause of the Reformation was weakened by the discord of Protestant
princes, especially of the Elector and Duke Maurice. It suffered still more in
consequence of the " dispensation " which Luther and Melancthon granted the
Landgrave of Hesse, which allowed him to contract a second marriage without
being divorced from his wife, who had become repugnant to him on account of
her bodily disorders and personal habits. This "double marriage" brought
reproach upon the reformers and carried with it political consequences that were
disastrous. See Ranke, iv. 186 seq. Unfounded charges against Luther in con-
nection with this unhappy event, by Protestant as well as Catholic writer? —
for example, that he was actuated by a selfish regard for the interests of the
Protestant party ; that he was in favor of polygamy, etc. — are exposed by
Hare, Vindication of Luther, etc., p. 225 seq. The transaction is fully narrated
by Seckendorf, iii. sect. 21 § Ixxix See also, Rommel, Philip d. Grossmdthiye^
\. 436, ii. 409.

158 THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

1541, is the most remarkable. On this occasion the Pope
was represented by his. Legate, Contarini, who held a
view of justification not dissimilar to that of the Prot-
estantSf and was ready to meet Melancthon half-way on
the path of concession. In these negotiations an actual
agreement was attained in the statement of four doc-
trinal points, which embraced the subjects of the nature
of man, original sin, redemption, and justification ; but
upon the Church, sacraments, and kindred topics, it was
found that no concord was attainable. The King of
France, from the selfish purpose to thwart the effort for
union, mth others on the Catholic side who were actu-
ated by different motives, complained of the concessions
that had been made by the Catholic party ; and Con-
tarini was checked by orders from the Pope. The
Elector of Saxony was equally dissatisfied Avith the pro-
ceedings of Melancthon, and together with Luther, who
regarded the hope of a compromise as wholly futile, and
as inspired by Satan, was gratified when the abortive
conference was brought to an end. The necessity of
getting help at once against the Turks compelled Charles
once more to sanction the peace of Nuremberg with ad-
ditional provisions to the advantage of the Protestants.
His unsuccessful expedition against Algiers, in 1541, and
the renewed war with France, together with the Turkish
war in which his brother Ferdinand was involved, obliged
the latter, at a Diet at Spires in 1542, to grant a con-
tinuance of the religious peace. The imperial declaration
at Ratisbon was ratified by the Diet of Spires, held in
1544. The prospects of the Protestant cause had been
bright. For a time it seemed probable that all Germany
would adopt the new faith. But the League of Smalcald
was grievously weakened by internal dissension. The
cities complained of arbitrary proceedings of the Elector
of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse ; for example, in
the expulsion of the Duke of Brunswick from his land, a

LAST DAYS OF LUTHER. 159

measure that brought them into conflict vnth. the imperial
court. But the fatal event was the hostility of Maurice,
Duke of Saxony, to the Elector, which rested on various
grounds, and which had once before brought them to the
verge of war ; and the abandonment of the League by
Maurice, in 1542. The Elector of Brandenburg had not
joined the League, and was followed in this course by
the old Elector Palatine, who adopted the Reformation
in 1545. The Emperor forced France to conclude the
peace of Crespy, in 1544. At the Diet of Worms in
March, 1545, the Protestants refused to take part in the
Council of Trent. The hostility of the Elector to
Maurice prevented the formation of a close alliance be-
tween the two Saxonies and Hesse. Maurice, an adroit
and ambitious politician, loving power more than he
loved his faith, at length made his bargain with Charles,
and engaged to unite with him in making war upon the
Elector, whose territories Maurice coveted, and upon the
Landgrave, the two princes whom the Emperor professed
to attack, not on religious grounds, but as offenders against
the laws and peace of the Empire. While the Emperor
was dallying with the Protestants that he might prepare
to strike a more effective blow, Luther died at Eisleben,
the place of his birth, on the 18th of February, 1546.
His last days were not his best. His health was under-
mined, and he suffered grievously from various disorders,
especially from severe, continuous headache. He was op-
pressed with a great variety of little employments relat-
ing to public and private affairs, so that going one day
from his writinQ:-table to the window he fancied that he
saw Satan mocking him for having to consume his time
in useless business.^ His intellectual powers were not
enfeebled. His religious trust continued firm as a rock.

1 "Here to-day have I been pestered with the knaveries and lies of a baker,
brought before me for using false weights; though such matters concern the
magistrate rather than the divine. Yet, if no one were to cliock the thefts of
these bakers, we should have a tine state of things." — Tischreden.

160 THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

His courage and his assurance of the ultimate victoiy
of the truth never faltered. But he lost the cheerful
spirits, the joyous tone, that had before characterized
him. He took dark views of the wickedness of the
times and of society about him. He was weary of the
world, weary of life, and longed to be released from its
]»urdens. He was old, he said, useless, a cumberer of the
ground, and he wanted to go. His disaffection with
Wittenberg, on account of what he considered the laxness
of family government and reprehensible fashions in re-
spect to dress, was such that he determined to quit the
place, and he was dissuaded only by the united interces-
sions of the Elector, and of the authorities of the Univer-
sity and of the town. He fell into a conflict with the
jurists on account of their declaration that the consent of
parents is not absolutely indispensable to the validity of
a marriage engagement, and he attacked them publicly
from the pulpit.^ The friendship of Luther and Melanc-
thon was not broken, but partially chilled in consequence
of theological differences. There were two points on
which Melancthon swerved from his earlier views. From
the time of the controversy of Luther and Erasmus,
Melancthon had begun to modify his ideas of predestina-
tion, and to incline to the view that was afterwards called
Synergism, which gives to the will an active, though a
subordinate, receptive agency in conversion. On this sub-
ject, however, the practical, if not the theoretical views of
Luther were also modified, as is evident from the letters
which he wrote in reply to perplexed persons who ap-
plied to him for counsel. The difference on this subject
between him and Melancthon, if one existed, occasioned
no breach. It was not until after Luther's death that
his followers made this a ground of attack on Melanc-

1 Galle, p. 139. Luther writes to Spalatin that in his whole life dnd in all
his labors for the Gospel, he had never had more anxiety than during that year
(1544). De Wette, v. G2G.

LAST DAYS OF LUTHER. 161

thon and the subject of a theological contest. Bnt, on
the Lord's Supper, the matter on which Luther was most
sensitive, Melaucthon, from about the time of the Diet
of Augsburg, began to deviate from his former opinion.
The spell which Luther had cast over him in his youth
was broken ; and, influenced by the arguments of OEco-
lampadius and by his own independent study of the
Fathers, he really embraced, in his own mind, the Calvin-
istic doctrine, which was, in substance, the opinion advo-
cated by fficolampadius and Bucer. Melancthon still
rejected the Zwinglian theory which made Christ in the
sacrament merely the object of the contemplative act of
faith ; but the other hypothesis of a real but spiritual re-
ception of Him, in connection with the bread and wine,
satisfied him. Melancthon's reserve and anxiety to keep
the peace could not wholly conceal this change of opin-
ion ; and persons were not wanting, of whom Nicholas
Amsdorf was the chief, to excite as far as they could, the
jealousy and hostility of Luther. The result was that
the confidential intimacy of the two men was interrupted.
For several years Melancthon lived in distress and in
daily expectation of being driven from his place. ^
" Often," he says, vrriting in Greek as he frequently did,
when he wanted to express something which he was
afraid to divulge — " Often have I said that I dreaded the
old age of a nature so passionate, like that of Her-
cules, or Philoctetes, or the Roman General, Marius."^
Tn remarks of this sort he referred, as he explained later,
to the vehemence common to men of a heroic make.^ Yet,

1 Corpus Be/., v. 474. Galle, p. 142. A letter of Melancthon to Carlowitz,
the Councilor of Duke Maurice {Corpus Ref., vi. 879), written just after the
close of the Smalcaldic War, in which he speaks of the ipiXoveiKia of Luther,
affords proof of the uncomfortable relations in which he had stood with the
strictly Lutheran Court of the Elector. This letter, which was written, says
Ranke, at an unguarded moment, gave, under the circumstances, just offense
to those who cherished the memory of Luther. See the remarks of Ranke, v
63.

2 Corjms Be/., v. 310. Galle, p. 140. s Qalk, p. 149

11

162 THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

in previous years, none had been more just and forbearing
in reference to the undue tendency to concession and com-
promise on the part of Melancthon, than Luther. For
the change in their relations, the fear and consequent re-
serve and shyness of the one were not less responsible
than the imperious disposition of the other. It would be a
mistake to suppose that Luther lost his confidence and love
towards his younger associate ; for expressions of Luther,
in his very last days, prove the contrary. It would be an
error, likewise, to suppose that Melancthon ever came to
regard him as other than one of the foremost of men, a
hero, endowed with noble and admirable qualities of
heart as well as mind. But the original contrariety in
the temperament of the two men, joined to the infirm-
ities of character in Luther, which were aggravated by
long years of strenuous combat and labor, and by disease,
had the effect to cloud for a while their mutual sympathy
and cordiality of intercourse. But the great soul of Lu-
ther shines out in the last letters he wrote — several of
them affectionate epistles to Melancthon — and in the
last sermons he preached at Eisleben ; where, within a few
rods of the house in which he was born, full of faith and
of peace, he breathed his last. " He is gone," said Me-
lancthon to his students, " the chariot of Israel and the
horsemen thereof, who ruled the Church in these last
troubled times." In the course of the funeral address
which Melancthon pronounced over the grave beneath
the pulpit where the voice of Luther had so long been
heard, he referred to the complaint made against Luther's
excessive vehemence, and quoted the frequent remark of
Erasmus, that " God has given to this last time, on account
of the greatness of its diseases, a sharp physician." With
grief and tears, he said, that choked his utterance, he set
forth the grand labors of Luther, the kindness, geniality,
and dignity of his character, his freedom from personal
ambition, the wisdom and sobriety- that were mingled

POWER OF LUTHER. 163

with liis irresistible energy as a reformer. If even in this
address, and still more in subsequent letters of Melanc-
thon, traces of a partial estrangement may be detected
in his tone, the effect is only a discriminating instead of a
blind admiration of one with whom he was connected by
an indissoluble bond of love.^

Luther, whatever deduction from his merit may be
made on the score of faults and infirmities, was one of
those extraordinary men of whom it may be said, in no
spirit of hero-worship, but in sober truth, that their
power, as manifested in history, can only be compared to
that of the great permanent forces of nature. " He is
one of those great historical figures in which whole
nations recognize their own type." ^ A life-long oppo-
nent of Protestantism, one of the first Catholic scholars
of the age, says of hhn : "It was Luther's overpowering
greatness of mind and marvelous many-sidedness which
made him to be the man of his time and of his people ;
and it is correct to say that there never has been a Ger-
man who has so intuitively understood his people, and in
turn has been by the nation so perfectly comprehended,
I might say, absorbed by it, as this Augustinian monk at
Wittenberg. Heart and mind of the Germans were in
hio hand like the lyre in the hand of the musician.
Moreover, he has given to his people more than any
other man in Christian ages has ever given to a people :
language, manual for popvilar instruction, Bible, hymns
of worship ; and everything which his opponents in
their turn had to offer or to place in comparison with
these, showed itself tame and powerless and colorless by
the side of his sweeping eloquence. They stammered ;
he spoke with the tongue of an orator ; it is he only
who has stamped the imperishable seal of his own soul,
alike upon the German language and upon the German

1 Galle, pp. 144, 145.

2 Dorner, Hist, of Prot. Theology, i. 81.

164 THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

mind ; and even those Germans who abhorred him as the
powerful heretic and seducer of the nation, cannot escape ;
they must discourse with his words, they must think
with his thoughts." ^

The Smalcaldic war began in 1546. Notwithstand-
ing the disadvantageous situation of the Protestants, had
the military management been good, they might have
achieved success. But a spirit of indecision and inac-
tivity prevailed. The Elector, John Frederic, drove from
his territory the forces of Maurice, but was surj)rised, de-
feated, and captured by Charles at Miihlberg, on the 24th
of April, 1547; and soon after the Landgrave surrendered
himself and submitted to the Emperor. The victory of
Charles appeared to be almost complete. His plan was to
bring the Protestants once more under the Catholic hierar-
chy, and to make them content by the removal of exter-
nal abuses. His estimate of the true character and moral
strength of Protestantism was always superficial. Hence
he put forth a provisional formula — called, after the
sanction of it by the Diet, the Augsburg Interim — at
the same time that a scheme for reformation was by
his authority laid before the German bishops, in which
changes were proposed in points of external order. The
work which he had thus commenced he hoped that the
Council of Trent would complete. But this plan, how-
ever promising it seemed to the Emperor, had to contend
not only ^vith the opposition of earnest Protestants, but
also with the discordant ideas and projects of the Pope.
Charles had counted upon suppressing Protestantism by
the joint influence of his own power and of the Council.
But the Council had begun its work, not with measures
looking to a reformation, but with the condemnation of
the Protestant doctrines. Moreover, Pope Paul TIL, al-
though he hoped that benefit would result to the Church

1 Dollinger, Vortrage, etc. (Munich, 1872). See, also, his earlier work,
Kircke u. KircJien (1861), p. 386.

THE INTERIM. 165

from the Smalcaldic war, dreaded a too absolute success
on the part of Charles, which would render him danger-
ous in Italy. Hence he wished that the Elector might
hold Out against the Emperor, and sent a message to
Francis I. to aid the former. He withdrew the ill-dis-
ciplined troops with which he had furnished Charles, and
excited the Emperor's intense displeasure by removing
the Council to Bologna. The Pope and Francis were
once more closely allied, and at work on the Protestant
side for the purpose of diminishing the power of Charles.
The imperial bishops refused to leave Trent, and the
Council was rendered powerless. The measures under-
taken by Charles were, besides, considered by the Pope
and by zealous Catholics to be an encroachment upon his
spiritual authority, a usurpation of powers not belonging
to a secular ruler. In Southern Germany the acceptance
of the Interim was forced upon the Protestant states and
cities. In Northern Germany it was generally resisted.
The city of Magdeburg especially signalized itself by its
persevering refusal to submit to the new arrangements.
Duke Maurice modified the Interim, retaining the essen-
tial features of the Lu.theran doctrine, but allowing Cath-
olic rites and institutions, and thus framed the Leipsic
Interim. This proceeding, which was accomplished by
the aid of Melancthon and the other Wittenberg theolo-
gians, led to a bitter controversy in the Lutheran Church
on the same question which came up elsewhere in connec-
tion with Puritanism, whether these obnoxious rites and
usages might be adopted by the Church as things morally
indifferent — adiaphora — when the magistrate enjoins it.
Melancthon incurred the fierce hostility of the stricter
Lutherans, and the controversy was of long continu-
ance.^

1 That Melancthon went too far in his concessions in the period of the Inter tj,
is allowed by judicious friends of the Reformation. See Ranke, v. 48 seq. It
should be remembered, however, in justice to him, that in signing the Smalcald

166 THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

The Council had been reassembled at Trent by Pope
Julius III., who was wholly favorable to the Emperor.
Protestant states had entered into negotiations with it,
and it seemed probable that Germany must bow to its
authority, when the whole situation was turned by the
bold movement of Duke Maurice for the rescue of the
cause which he had been chiefly instrumental in crushing.
Notwithstanding that Germany was in appearance well-
nigh subjugated to the Emperor, there were powerful
elements of opposition. The Turks had captured Tripoli
from the Knights of St. John, and kindled anew the
flames of war in Hungary. Henry VHI., the King of
England, had died, and been siicceeded by Edward VI.,
by Avhom Protestantism was established in that coun-
try. Henry II. of France was uniting with the enemies
of the Emperor in Italy, and in September, 1551, hos-
tilities once more commenced between the two rival
powers. The heroic resistance of Magdeburg had stimu-
lated the enthusiasm of the Protestants of North Ger-
many. The project of Charles V. to make his son,
Philip of Spain, his successor to the Empire, had even
threatened for a time to produce an estrangement be-
tween the Emperor and Ferdinand. The German princes
were offended at the preference given to Spanish advisers
and at personal slights which they had suffered. The con-
tinued presence of foreign troops in violation of the Em-
peror's promise at his election was offensive to the nation.
Maurice had become an object of general hatred among
those whom he had betrayed. Curses, loud as well as
deep, were freely uttered against him. The sufferings of
the good Elector, whom no threats and no bribes could
induce to compromise his religious faith, and the ccn-

Articles, he had appended the qualification that for himself he was willing, for
the sake of unity, to admit a jure humano superiority of the Pope over other
bishops. See the learned article "Melancthon," by Landerer, in Herzog'ji
Real-Encycl., ix.

TREATY OF PASSAU. 167

tinued imprisonment of the Landgrave, against the spirit
of the stipulations given on the occasion of his surrender,
fot the fidfilhnent of which Maurice was hekl to be an-
swerable, were not only personally displeasing to him,
but they brought upon him increasing unpopularity. His
applications to the Emperor for the release of the Land-
grave, Maurice's father-in-law, had proved ineffectual.
The Spaniards were threatening that the German princes
should be put down, and intimations that Maurice him-
self might have to be dealt with as the Elector had
been, were occasionally thrown out. The siege of Mag-
deburg which Maurice, who had undertaken to execute
the imperial ban against that city, was languidly prose-
cuting, served as a cover for military preparations. Hav-
ing secured the cooperation of several Protestant princes
on whom he could rely ; having convinced with difficulty
the families of the captive princes that he might be
trusted ; having, also, negotiated an alliance with Henry
II., who was to make a diversion against Charles, in the
Netherlands ; having come to an understanding with
Magdeburg, which was to serve as a refuge in case of
defeat ; having made these and all other needful prepara-
tions with profound secrecy, he suddenly took the field,
and marching at the head of an army which increased at
every step of his advance, he crossed the Alps, and forced
the Emperor, who was suffering from an attack of the
gout, to fly from Innspruck.^ This triumph was followed
by the treaty of Passau. Charles left his brother Ferdi-
nand to negotiate with the princes. The demand of
Maurice and of his associates was that the Protestants
should have an assurance of toleration and of an equality
of rights with the Catholics, whether the efforts to secure
religious unanimity in the nation should succeed or not.
To this Ferdinand gave his assent; but the Emperor,

1 Maurice did not capture Charles: " He had no cage," he said, " for so large
a bird." Churles fled from Innspruck, May 19, 1552.

168 THE GERMAN REFORMATION.

impelled alike by conscience and by pride, notwithstand-
ing his humiliating defeat, could not be brought to concur
in this stipulation. The Protestants obtained the pledge
of amnesty, of peace, and equal rights, until the religious
differences should be settled by a national assembly or a
general council. The captive princes were set at libtirty.
Charles was obliged to see his long-cherished plan for the
destruction of Protestantism terminate in a mortifying
failure. At the Diet of Augsburg in 1555, the celebrated
Religious Peace was concluded. Ever}'- prince was to be
allowed to choose between the Catholic religion and the
Augsburg Confession, and the religion of the prince was
to be that of the land over which he reigned. The
Catholics wanted to except ecclesiastical princes from the
first article ; the Protestants objected to the second. Fi-
nally the ecclesiastical reservation was adopted into the
treaty, according to which every prelate on becoming
Protestant should resign his benefice ; and by an accom-
panying declaration of Ferdinand, the subjects of eccle-
siastical princes were to enjoy religious liberty. The
Imperial Chamber, which had been a principal instru-
ment of oppression in the hands of the Catholics, was
reconstituted in such a way that the rights of the Prot-
estants were protected. Charles took no part personally
in the proceedings which led to the religious peace. It
involved a concession to the adherents of the Augsburg
Confession — the liberty to practice their religion with-
out molestation or loss of civil privileges, whether a
council should or should not succeed in uniting the oppos-
ing parties — a concession which he had intended never
to grant. But the progress of thought and the strength
of religious convictions were too mighty to be overcome
by force. Mediaeval imperialism was obliged to give way
before the forces arrayed against it. The abdication of
Charles, who felt himself physically unequal to the cares
of his office, followed, and the imperial station devolved
on his brother (1556).

PEACE OF AUGSBURG. 169

Thus Protestantism obtained a legal recognition. Dur-
ing the next few years, the Protestant faith rapidly spread
even in Bavaria and Austria. Had it not been for the
Eccleisiastieal Reservation, says Gieseler, all Germany
would have soon become Protestant. ^

1 Gieseler, iv. i. 1 § 11.

CHAPTER VI.

THE REFORMATION IN THE SCANDINAVIAN KINGDOMS,
IN THE SLAVONIC NATIONS, AND IN HUNGARY.

When we inquire into the means by which the Ger-
man Reformation extended itself into the adjacent coun-
tries, the agency of the Germans who were settled in
these lands constantly appears. One is reminded of the
diffusion of the ancient Hebrews, and of the part taken
by them in opening a way for Christianity beyond the
bounds of Palestine. Another very conspicuous instru-
ment in the spread of the Lutheran doctrine was Witten-
berg, the renowned school to which young men were
attracted out of all the neighboring lands. The use of
Latin as a vehicle of teaching and as the common lan-
guage of educated persons of whatever nationality, ren-
dered this practicable. But the Scandinavians were them-
selves a branch of the great Teutonic family, near kinsmen
of the Germans, and connected with them, besides, by the
bonds of commercial intercourse.

In 1397, the three Scandinavian kingdoms, Denmark,
Norway, and Sweden, were united by the Union of Cal-
mar, in which it was provided that each nation should
preserve its laws and institutions, and share in the elec-
tion of the common sovereign. The result, however, was
a long struggle for Danish supremacy over Sweden. When
the Reformation in Germany began. Christian II. of Den-
mark was engaged in a contest for the Swedish throne.
In all these countries the prelates were possessed of great

THE REFORMATION IN DENMARK. 171

wealth, and very much restricted the authority of the
sovereign as well as the power of the secular nobles.^

Christian II. was surrounded, in Denmark, by a body
of advisers who sympathized with the Lutheran move-
ment in Saxony, He was himself disposed to depress the
power of the ecclesia'stical and lay aristocracy, and, for
this end, though not without the admixture of other and
better motives, set to work to enlighten and elevate the
lower classes. The encouragement of Protestantism ac-
corded with his general policy. In 1520, he sent for a
Saxon preacher to serve as chaplain at his court and as
a religious instructor of the people, and subsequently in-
vited Luther himself into his kingdom. At the same time
that Christian availed himself of the papal ban as a war-
rant for his tyranny and cruelty in Sweden, he continued
in Denmark to promote the establishment of Protestant-
ism. In 1521 he put forth a book of laws, which contained
enactments of a Protestant tendency ; among them one
to encourage the marriage of all prelates and priests, and
another for dispensing with all appeals to Ilome.^ After
his sanguinary proceedings against Sweden, finding that
his crown was in danger, he retracted his reformatory
measures, at the instigation of a papal legate. But he
was deposed by the prelates and nobles of D enmark, and
his uncle, Frederic L, Duke of Schleswig and Holstein,
was made king, in 1523.

Frederic at his accession, though personally inclined to
Protestantism, was obliged to pledge himself to the Dan-
ish magnates to resist its introduction, and to grant it no
toleration. The exiled Christian identified himself with
the Protestant cause, though not with constancy ; for if
the charge lacks proof that, at Augsburg, in 1530, in

1 Miinter, Kirchengeschichte v. Danemark u. Norwegen, Th. iii. ; Gieseler, iv.
i. c. 2, § 17; Geijer, IJtstory of the Swedes; Herzog, Real-Encycl., article!
"Schweden," "Danemark."

2 Miinter, p. 56 seq.

172 REFORMATION IN DENMARK.

order to get the help of the Emperor, he formally ab-
jured the evangelical faith, it is true that in 1531 he
promised to uphold the Catholic Church in Norway. He
rendered a good service by causing the New Testament
to be translated into Danish, which was done by two of
his nobles. The immediate occasion of the successful in-
troduction of Lutheranism into Denmark Avas the active
propagation of it in the Duchies of Schleswig and Hol-
stein, where, in 1524, Frederic imposed mutual toleration
on both parties. In Denmark itself the study of the
Bible was encouraged, a Biblical theology was inculcated,
and ecclesiastical abuses censured by a number of earnest
preachers, among whom was Paul Elia, of Helsingor, Pro-
vincial of the Carmelites, who worked with much effect
in this direction, although at last, like Erasmus, he chose
to abide in the old Church, and even turned his weapons,
with a bitter antipathy, against the Reformers. In 1526,
the King declared himself in favor of the Reformation,
the doctrine of which was disseminated rapidly in the
cities. The most zealous advocate of the new doctrine
was John Taussen, sometimes called the Danish Luther,
who studied at Wittenberg, and after 1524, in defiance
of the opposition of the bishops, preached Lutheranism
with marked effect.^ The Danish nobility were favorable
to the King's side, from jealousy of the power of the
prelates, and the desire to possess themselves of ecclesias-
tical property. At the Diet of Odense, in 1527, it was
ordained that marriage should be allowed to the clergy,
that Lutheranism should be tolerated, and that bishops
should thenceforward abstain from getting the pallium
from Rome, but, when chosen by the chapter, should
look to the King alone for the ratification of their elec-
tion. Converts to Lutheranism were made in great num-
bers. Wiborg in Jutland, and Malmo in Schonen, were
the principal centres, whence the reformed faith was dif-

1 Pontoppidan, Annates Feci. Dan., ii. 774.

CHRISTIAN III. AND BUGENHAGEN. 173

fused over the kingdom. Books and tracts in exposition
and defense of it, as well as the Bible in the vernacular
tongue, were everywhere circulated. The Lutherans
who, in 1530, presented their Confession of Faith in
forty-three Articles, acquired the preponderance in the
land ; but in consequence of the pledges of Frederic at
his accession, the bishops were not deprived of their
power. His death, in 1533, led to a combined effort on
their part to abrogate the recent ecclesiastical changes
and restore the exclusive domination of the old religion.
They accordingly refused to sanction the election of
Christian III., Frederic's eldest son, who had been active
in establishing Protestantism in the Duchies ; until their
consent was compelled by the attempt of the Count of
Oldenburg, a Protestant, to restore the deposed Christian
II., whom they still more feared and hated. By Chris-
tian III., whose admiration for Luther had been first
Idndled at the Diet of Worms, where this prince was
present, the authority of the prelates was abolished, at a
Diet at Copenhagen, in 1536, and the Reformation uni-
versally legalized. The bishops were forced to renounce
their dignities. A constitution for the Danish Church
was framed, and submitted to Luther for his sanction.
Bugenhagen, a prominent friend of the Saxon Reformer,
came into the kingdom, on the King's invitation, and, in
1537, crowned him and his Queen, and perfected the new
ecclesiastical arrangements. Bishops, or superintendents,
were appointed for the dioceses, and formally consecrated
to their offices by Bugenhagen himself, " ut verus episco-
pus," as Luther expressed it. The University of Copen-
hagen was reorganized, and other schools of learning
established in the various cities.

This final triumph of Protestantism in Denmark waa
connected with events of peculiar interest in the history
of the Reformation.! The Lutheran doctrine had quickly

1 See Ranke, Deutsch. Gsch., iii. 270 seq., 406 seq.

174 REFORMATION IN DENMARK.

penetrated into every place where the German tongiie
was spoken. The cities of Northern Germany, the mem-
bers of the old Hanseatic league, gave it a hospitable re-
ception. The strong burgher class in these towns lent
a willing ear to the preachers from Wittenberg. The
Hansa, at the period of its greatest prosperity, in the
fourteenth century, comprised in its confederacy all the
maritime towns of Germany, together with Magdeburg,
Brunswick, aiid other intermediate places ; and exerted a
controlling influence in the Scandinavian kingdoms. It
was weakened by the separation of the Netherlands,
after 1427. The great value of the trade of the north-
ern kingdoms, of the products of their mines and fish-
eries, made it of the highest importance to Llibeck, the
leading city of the Hansa, to keep its commercial and
political supremacy. Christian II., the brother-in-law of
Charles V., was withstood in his attempt to subdue the
northern nations by the Liibeckers, by whom Gustavus
Vasa was assisted in'-gaining the throne of S^veden. The
cities which, like Hamburg and Magdeburg, had a magis-
tracy that was favorable to the Protestant doctrine, re-
ceived the new system without any serious political dis-
turbance. But in some other towns, as Bremen and
Liibeck, the acceptance of Lutheranism was attended by
changes in the government, which were effected by the
burghers, and were democratic in their character. The
new Burgomaster, at Liibeck, Wullenweber, whom the
revolution had raised to power, negotiated a treaty of
alliance with the English King, Henry VIII. The great
object of Liibeck was to keep the trade between the Bal-
tic and the North Sea in its own hands. But the situ-
ation in Denmark, after the death of Frederic L, was
such that Liibeck reversed its attitude and espoused the
cause of the exiled King, Christian II. The Liibeckers
found that they could not longer count upon the cooj^era-
tion of Denmark in their commercial policy, and that

DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENTS. 176

Christian III., of Holstein, could not be enlisted in support
of their hostile undertakings against Holland. Hence,
they put forward the Count of Oldenburg as a champion
of the banished sovereign. Malmo, Copenhagen, and
other cities of Denmark, as well as Stralsund, Rostock,
and other old cities of the Hansa, at once transformed
their former municipal system, or gave to it a democratic
cast, and joined hands with Liibeck in behalf of Christian
II., whose measures, when he was on the throne, had
looked to an increase of the power of the burgher class.
The confederate cities established their alliance with
England, and gained to their side, a German prince,
Duke Albert of Mecklenburg. This combination had to
be overcome by Christian III., before he could reign over
Denmark. His energetic efforts were successful ; and
with the defeat of Liibeck, the democratic or revolution-
ary movement, the radical element, which threatened to
identify itself with the Reformation, was subdued. Swe-
den contributed its help to the attainment of this result.
Wullenweber himself was brought to the scaffold. The
principle of Luther and his associates, that the cause of
religion must be kept separate from schemes of political
or social revolution, was practically vindicated. In Miin-
ster, this principle had to be maintained against a social-
ist movement in which the clergy were the leaders. In
Liibeck, it was political and commercial ambition that
sought to identify -with its own aspirations the Protestant
reform. Christian III. was a Protestant ; his triumph,
and that of his allies, did not weaken the Protestant
interest, although it subverted a new political fabric
which had been set up in connection with it.

The reception of Protestantism in Norway was a con-
sequence of the ecclesiastical revolution in Denmark.
Christian III. was at first opposed in that country ; but,
in 1537, the Archbishop of Drontheim fled, with the
treasures of his Cathedral, to the Netherlands, and Nor-

176 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN.

way was reduced to the rank of a province of Denmark.
In Iceland, Protestantism gained a lodgment through
similar agencies, although the Bishop of Skalholt, Avho
had been a student at Wittenberg, was an active and in-
fluential teacher of the new doctrine.

As early as 1519, two students who had sat at the feet
of Luther in Wittenberg, Olaf and Lawrence Petersen,
began to preach the evangelical doctrine in Sweden. The
Reformation prevailed, however, through the political rev-
olution which raised Gustavus Vasa to the throne. Chris-
tian II. of Denmark was supported in his endeavors to
conquer Sweden, by papal edicts, and by the cooperation
of the archbishop, Gustavus Trolle. The Swedish prel-
ates were favorable to the Danish interest. Gustavus Vasa,
a nobleman who was related to the family of Sture, which
had furnished several administrators or regents to Sweden
prior to its conquest by Christian II., undertook to lib-
erate his country from the Danish yoke, and succeeded in
his patriotic enterprise. He was favorable to the Lu-
theran doctrine, and was the more inclined to secure for
it the ascendency, as he coveted for his impoverished
treasury the vast wealth which had been accumulated by
the ecclesiastics. He appointed Lawrence Andersen, a
convert to Lutheranism, his chancellor ; Olaf Petersen he
made a preacher in Stockholm, and Lawrence Petersen a
theological professor at Upsala. Plots of the bishops in
behalf of Christian II. naturally stimulated the predilec-
tion of Gustavus for the Protestant system. A public
disputation was held in 1524, by the appointment of the
king, at Upsala, in which Olaf Petersen maintained the
Lutheran opinions. The pecuniary burdens which Gus-
tavus laid upon the clergy excited disaffection among them.
Finally, at the Diet of Westeras, in 1527, the controversy
was brought to a crisis. Gustavus threatened to abdicate
his throne if his demands were not complied with. The

ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANTISM. 177

result was that liberty was granted " for the preachers to
proclaim the pure Word of God," a Protestant definition
being coupled with this phrase ; and the property of the
Church, with the authority to regulate ecclesiastical af-
fairs, was delivered into the hand of the King. The
churches which embraced the Protestant faith preserved
their revenues. The ecclesiastical property fell for the
most part to the possession of the nobles. The common
people, not instructed in the new doctrine, were generally
attached to the old rehgious system. Gustavus proposed
to introduce changes gradually, and to provide for the
instruction of the peasantry. He had to put down a dan-
gerous insurrection which was excited in part by priests
who were hostile to the religious innovations. By de-
grees the Swedish nation acquired a firm attachment to
the Protestant doctrine and worship. Gustavus was suc-
ceeded by Eric XIV., whose partiality to Calvinism made
no impression on his subjects. Then followed John III.
(1568-1592), who married a Catholic princess of Poland,
and who made a prolonged, and what at times seemed
likely to prove a successful effort, with the aid of astute
Jesuits, to introduce a moderate type of Catholicism, and
to reconcile the nation to its adoption. Popular feeling
was against him ; and after his death the liturgy which
he had established and obstinately maintained, was abol-
ished by a Council at Upsala in 1593, and the Augsburg
Confession accepted as the creed of the National Church.
Sigismund III. of Poland, on account of his Catholicism,
was prevented from reigning ; and the crown of Sweden
was given to Gustavus Vasa's youngest son, Charles IX.,
who became king in 1604.

The destruction of Huss by the Council of Constance
in 1415, followed in the next year by the execution of
Jerome of Prague, sent a thrill of indignation through the

12

178 REFORMATION IN BOHEMA.

greater portion of the Bohemian people.^ The Bohe-
mians were converted from heathenism by two Greek
monks, Methodius and Cyril ; but the power of the Ger-
mans, coupled with the influence of the Roman see, se-
cured their adhesion to the Latin Church. In the Middle
Ages, however, a struggle took place between the ver-
nacular and the Latin ritual. An application for leave
to use the former was denied in a peremptory manner by
Gregory VIL Underlying the movement of which Huss
was the principal author, was a national and a rehgious
feeling. The favorers of the Hussite reform were of the
Slavic population ; its opponents were the Germans. The
contest of the two parties in the University of Prague led to
an academical revolution, a change in the constitution of
the University, which gave the preponderance of power
in the conduct of its affairs to the natives. Hence, the
German students left in a body ; and out of this great
exodus arose the University of Leipsic. The effect of
this academical quarrel was to establish the ascendency
of Huss and his followers. While the Council of Con-
stance was in session, Jacobellus, priest of the Church of
St. Michael at Prague, began to administer the cup to
the laity ; and the practice obtained the sanction of Huss
himself. The cup had been originally withdrawn from
laymen, not with the design to confer a new distinction
upon the priestly order, but simply from reverence for
the sacramental wine, which was often spilled in the
distribution of it through an assembly.^ The custom,
once established, became a fixed rule in the Church, and
contributed to enhance still further the dignity of the
sacerdotal class. Thomas Aquinas aided in confirming
the innovation by inculcating the doctrine of concomitance,
the doctrine that the whole Christ is in each of the ele-

1 For works relating to Bohemian ecclesiastical histor}', see supra, p. 61 ; also,
Lenfant, Hist, cle la Guerre d. Hussites et du Concile de Basle ; Peshock, Ge-
ichichte d. Gegenreformat. in Bohmen (1850).

- (jieseler, Dogmengeschichte , p. 542.

THE UTRAQUISTS. 179

ments, and is received, therefore, by him who partakes of
the bread alone. The Utraquists of Bohemia claimed
the cup. They went beyond the position of Huss, and as-
serted that the reception of both elements is essential to
the validity of the sacrament. Henceforward the demand
for the chalice became the most distinguishing badge of
the Hussites, the subject of a long and terrible contest.
The Council at Constance pronounced the Utraquist op-
ponents of the Church doctrine heretics.

Fifty-four Bohemian and Moravian nobles sent from
Prague a letter to the Council in which they repelled the
accusations of heresy which had been made against their
countrymen, and denounced in the strongest language the
cruel treatment of Huss. This was before the burning
of Jerome, an event that raised the storm of indignation
in Bohemia to a greater height. The Prague University
declared for the Utraquists, and their doctrine speedily
gained the assent of the major part of the nation.

The Council, and Martin V., resolved upon forcible
measures for the repression of the Bohemian errorists.
Bohemia was a constituent part of the German Empire,
and the execution of these measures fell to the lot of Sier-
ismund, its head, who was an object of special hatred in
Bohemia on account of his agency in the death of Huss.
There soon arose in Bohemia a powerful party which
went far beyond the Utraquists in their doctrinal innova-
tions, and in hostility to the Romish Church. The Ta-
borites, as they were styled, gathered in vast multitudes
to hear preaching, and to cement their union with one
another.! Their creed, which took on new phases from
time to time, embraced the leading points of what, a
century later, was included in Protestantism ; although
their tenets were not deduced from simple and funda-
mental principles, nor bound together in a logically cohe-
rent system. Unlike the ordinary Utraquists, they re-

1 Czerwenka, i. 13^»

180 REFORMATION IN BOHEMU.

jected transubstantiation. They, also, appealed to the
Bible, as alone authoritative, and refused to submit to the
decisions of the popes, to the councils, or to the fathers.
For a while, chiliastic and apocalyptic theories prevailed
among them. Discordant political tendencies separated
the Utraquists from the Taborites — the latter cherish-
ing democratic ideas respecting government and society.
The opposition which they experienced converted their
enthusiasm into fanaticism ; and, moved by a furious
iconoclastic spirit, they assaulted churches and convents,
and destroyed the treasures which had been gathered by
the priesthood, and the " implements of idolatry." In
Ziska, the most noted of their leaders, they had a general
of fierce and stubborn bravery ; and under his guidance
the force of the Hussites became well-nigh irresistible.

In 1421, the moderate Utraquists, or Calixtines, em-
bodied their belief in four articles, the Articles of Prague,
which became a memorable document in the history of
the Hussite controversies.^ They required that the Word
of God should be preached freely and without hindrance,
by Christian priests, throughout the kingdom of Bohe-
mia ; that the sacrament should be administered, in both
forms, to all Christians, not excluded by mortal sin from
the reception of it ; that priests and monks should be di-
vested of their control over worldly goods ; that mortal
sins, especially all public transgressions of God's law,
whether by priests or laymen, should be subject to a reg-
ular and strict discipline ; and that an end should be put
to all slanderous accusations against the Bohemian people.

On the relations of the Utraquists to the Taborites,
the moderate to the radical Hussites, the history of Bo-
hemia for a century intimately depends. The two parties
might unite in a crisis involving danger to both ; but
they were often at war with one another ; and their com-
mon enemy knew how to turn to the best account their

1 Czerwenka, i. 146; Gieseler, in. v. 5, § 151, n. 19.

THE COUNCIL OF BASEL. 181

mutual differences. The most conspicuous feature that
belonged to them, in common, was the demand that the
cup should be administered to the laity.

Three crusades, undertaken by the authority, and at
the command of the Church, filled Bohemia with the
horrors of war ; but they wholly failed to subdue the
heretics who were united to resist them. Vast armies
were beaten and driven out of the country. On the other
hand, the Bohemians repaid the attacks made upon them,
by devastating incursions into the neighboring German
territory, ruled by their enemies.

Convinced, at last, of the futility of the effort to con-
quer the Hussites, their opponents consented to treat with
them. By the advice of Cardinal Julian Cesarini, who
had accompanied the last crusading army against them,
and shared in its disastrous overthrow, the (Ecumenical
Council of Basel decided to enter into negotiations with
them. Having first carefully obtained abundant guaran-
ties for their personal safety, and solemn pledges that
they should have a free and full hearing, the Utraquist
delegates — representatives of both the leading parties,
the Calixtines and Taborites — presented themselves at
Basel. At their head was Roky^ana, who belonged to
the moderate party, but was held in vmiversal esteem for
his talents, learning, and moral excellence. The Hussite
theologians used their freedom to the full extent. They
harangued the Council for days in defense of the pro-
scribed doctrines, in vindication of the memory of Huss,
and on the ecclesiastical abuses to which they had endeav-
ored to apply a remedy. The difference between the two
Bohemian parties was brought out in the speeches of
their respective representatives, and was skillfully used by
Cesarini and the Council, in order to widen the separa-
tion between them. After long negotiations, and the
sending of an embassy from the Council to Bohemia, the
Hussites obtained certain concessions which were set forth

182 REFORMATION IN BOHEMIA.

in a document termed the Compactata. The communion
might be given in both kinds to all adults, who should
desire it ; but it must, at the same time, be taught that
the whole Christ is received under each of the elements.
The infliction of penalties on persons guilty of mortal sin,
on which the Utraquists insisted, must be left with priests
in the case of clerical persons, and with magistrates in
the case of laymen. The Article in regard to the free
preaching of the Word was qualified by confining the hb-
erty to preach, to persons regularly called, and authorized
by bishops. As to the control of property, this was to be
allowed to secular priests only, and by them to be exer-
cised according to the prescribed rules. The Compactata
was the charter, in defense of which the Utraquists
waged many a hard contest ; since it was a constant
effort of the popes to annul the concessions which it con-
tained, and to reduce even the most moderate of the
Hussite sects to an exact conformity to the Roman ritual,
and to the mandates of the Roman See. This agreement
operated also to divide the Calixtines and Taborites
into mutually hostile camps. An armed conflict ensued,
in Avhich the Taborites were thoroughly vanquished.
Thenceforward the power remained in the hands of the
Utraquists who were desirous of approaching as nearly to
the doctrines and rites of the Catholic Church in other
countries as their convictions would allow. It was far
from being true that peace resulted from the downfall of
the Taborites, and the conciliatory proceedings of the Ca-
lixtmes. The history of Bohemia, through the fifteenth
century, is a long record of bitter and bloody conflicts,
having for their end the restoration of uniformity in re-
Hgion. About the middle of the century, a new party,
the Brethren in Unity, who inherited many of the doc-
trinal ideas of the Taborites, but with a more conserva-
tive tenet relative to the sacrament, and a more gentle
and peaceful temper, separated entirely from the Church.

THE COMPACTAIA. 163

They, in their turn, were the objects of persecution at the
hands of the more orthodox Utraquists. Ultimately the
Brethren were joined by some nobles, and acquired a
greater degree of security. They were connected with
certain Waldensian Christians, and, to some extent, in-
fluenced by them.

Thus Bohemia for several generations had really been
engaged in a struggle to build up a national church in op-
position to the dominating and unifying spirit of Rome.
When Luther's doctrine became known, it was favorably
received by the Brethren, and they desired to connect
themselves with the Saxon reform. At first Luther was
not satisfied with their opinions, especially on the sacra-
ment ; but, after conferences with them, he concluded that
their faults were chiefly in expression and were owing to
a want of theological culture. After the example of the
Lutherans at Augsburg, the Evangelical Brethren, in
1535, presented to King Ferdinand their Confession.
The Calixtines were divided on the question of pushing
forward the Hussite reform in the direction indicated by
Luther. A majoritj'^ of the estates was at first obtained
in favor of declarations virtually Lutheran. But the
more conservative Utraquists, who planted themselves on
the Compactata, soon ralHed and gained the upper hand.
However, the Lutheran doctrine continued to spread and
to multiply its adherents among the Calixtines as well as
the Brethren. The two parties, on embracing Protestant-
ism, differed from one another chiefly on points of dis-
cipline. When the Smalcaldic war broke out, the Utra-
quists refused to furnish troops to Ferdinand, in aid of
the attempt of Charles V. to crush the Protestants, but
joined the Elector of Saxony. The Bohemians shared in
full measure the disasters which fell upon the Protestant
party after their defeat at Miihlberg. Ferdinand inflicted
upon them severe penalties. Toleration was now denied
to all except the anti-Lutheran Hussites ; and this drove

184 REFORMATION IN POLAND.

many of the Brethren into Poland and Prussia. From
the year 1552, the Jesuits who then came into the country,
endeavored to persecute all whose dissent from the Romish
Church went beyond the standard of the Compactata.
In 1575, the Evangelical Calixtines and Brethren united
in presenting a confession of faith to Maximilian II. As
the power of the Jesuits increased, there was no safety
for the adherents of the Lutheran or the Swiss reform.
In 1609, to such as received the confession of 1575 there
was granted a letter patent — or " letter of majesty " —
which placed them on a footing of legal equality with the
Catholics.

When the German Reformation began, Poland was
rising to that position which rendered it, a generation
later, the most powerful kingdom in Eastern Europe.
The Slavonic population of Poland had never manifested
any peculiar devotion to the Roman see. Conflicts be-
tween nobles and bishops, in which carnal weapons on
one side were often opposed to the excommunication and
the interdict on the other, and contests between princes
and the popes on questions of prerogative, had been abun-
dant in Polish history for several centuries.^ At the
Council of Constance, Poles were active in the party of
reform. Well-founded disaffection at the immoral char-
acter of the clergy had widely prevailed. Hence the
anti-sacerdotal sects, as the Waldenses and the Beghards,
won many followers, and were not exterminated by the
Inquisition, by which, about the middle of the fourteenth
century, their open manifestation was suppressed. Far
more influential were the Hussites, who did much to pre-
pare the ground for Protestantism. Bohemian Brethren,
driven from their own land, naturally took refuge in Po-
land. These circumstances, and other agencies, such as
the residence of Polish students at Wittenberg and the

1 Herzog, Rcal-Encycl., art. " Polen."

REFORMATION IN PRUSSIA. 18o

employment of Lutheran teachers and preachers in the
families of nobles, opened the door for the ingress of the
Protestant doctrine. It early gained disciples, especially
in the German cities of Polish Prussia. In Dantzig, the
principal city of this province, it made such progress that
in 1524 five churches were given up to its adherents.^ But
here a turbulent party arose who, not satisfied with tol
eration, insisted upon driving out the Catholic worship,
and succeeded by violent measures in displacing the exist-
ing magistrates, and in supplying their places Avitli officers
from their own number. The interference of the King.
Sigismund I., was invoked, who restored the old order of
things. The progress of the Lutheran cause, however,
was not stopped, and Dantzig in the next reign became
predominantly Pi'otestant. The council and the burghers
of Elbing accepted the Reformation in 1523. Thorn also
became Protestant. The advance of the Reformation in
the neighboring communities made it impossible to exclude
it from Poland, where numerous burghers and powerful
nobles regarded it with favor. By the treaty of Thorn
in 1466, the old Teutonic order of crusading knights,
which had long governed Prussia, surrendered West Prus-
sia and Ermeland to Poland, and retained East Prussia as
a fief of the Polish crown. At the request of Albert of
Brandenburg, the Grand Master, two preachers were sent
by Luther to Konigsberg, in 1523. The Reformation
swiftly spread ; and when Albert, after having been de-
feated by Poland, secularized his duchy, in 1525, the
prevalence of the Protestant doctrine was secured. In
1544, he founded the University of Konigsberg for the
education of preachers and the extension of the new faith.
In Livonia, which, after 1521, was independent of the
Teutonic Order, the Reformation likewise found a willing

1 Krasinski, Religious History of the Slavonic Nations, p. 126; Uif'ory if
the Jteformation in Poland, i. 112 so"! Die Schicksale d. Polnischen L^.ssiden
ten (Hamburg, 1768), i. 423.

186 REFORMATION IN POLAND.

acceptance. As early as 1524, Luther addressed a
printed letter to the professors of the evangelical doctrine
in Riga, Revel, and Dorpat. Cities in the various parta
of Poland and families of distinction embraced the new
faith. In 1548 a multitude of Bohemian Brethren, exiles
from their country, came in to strengthen the Protestant
interest. In this year Sigismund I. died, and was suc-
ceeded by his son, Sigismund II., or Sigismund Augus-
tus, who was friendly to the evangelical doctrine. Cal-
vin dedicated to him his Commentary on the Epistle to
the Hebrews, and subsequently corresponded with him.
In the Diet of 1552, strong indignation was manifested
against the clergy on account of the proceedings of an
ecclesiastical tribunal against Stadnicki, an eminent noble-
man. The clergy were forbidden to inflict any temporal
punishment on those whom they might pronounce hetero-
dox.^ At a Diet at Piotrkow in 1555, a national council
for the settlement of religious differences was demanded,
and was prevented from assembling only by the strenuous
exertions of the Pope. Religious freedom was granted
by the king to the cities of Dantzic, Thorn, and Elbing :
and also to Livonia in the treaty of 1561, by which it
was annexed to Poland. Dissension among Protestants
themselves w^as the chief hindrance in the way of the
complete diffusion of the Protestant faith, which at this
time had penetrated all ranks of society. The Calvinists
were numerous ; they organized themselves accordmg to
the Presbyterian form, and a union between them and the
Brethren, in respect to doctrine, was cemented at a synod
in 1555. Opposed to these were the Lutherans, who
were mostly Germans, and who took httle pains to prop-
agate their system through the instrumentality of any
other language than their own. The Unitarians formed
a third party, which found a leader in the erudite Italian,

i Krasinski, Rellg. Htst. of the Slavonic Nutions, pp. 132, 133; Regenvol-
scius, Hist. Eccles. Slavonicarum (1654), p. 209.

JOHN A LASCO. 187

Faustus Socinus, and became strong, in particular among
the higher classes. The intestine divisions among the
Protestants- afforded in various ways a great advantage
to their antagonists. An able, accomplished, and inde-
fatigable defender of Cathohcism was found in Hosius,
Bishop of Culm, and, after 1551, of Ermeland. On the
Protestant side, conspicuous for his efforts in behalf of
union, as well as for his general character and diversified
labors, was John a Lasco. Born of a wealthy and aris-
tocratic family in Poland, he was destined for the priest-
hood, and after completing his studies in his native
country, he resorted to foreign universities, especiall}^ Lou-
vain and Basel. At Basel he was intimate with Erasmus,
and for a time an inmate of his house. For eleven years,
from the year 1526, he labored to establish in Poland a
reformation after the Erasmian type. Finding his exertions
fruitless, he left his country, took a more decided position
on the Protestant side, and for a number of years superin-
tended the organization of the Protestant Church in East
Friesland. After the Smalcaldic war and the passage of
the Interim, he went to England, where he was brought
into a close relation with Cranmer, and took charge of
the church of foreign residents, first in London and then,
from 1553 to 1556, in Frankfort. After the Polish Diet
in 1556 had granted a free exercise of the Protestant re-
ligion in the houses of individual noblemen, Lasco was
called back to his country by King Sigismund. Here he
labored to promote unity between the Calvinists and
Lutherans, and for the spread of the Protestant faith.
He died in 1560. Ten years after, the Lutherans, in-
fluenced by counsel from Wittenberg, where the school of
Melancthon then had sway, joined with the Swiss and
the Brethren, at the Synod of Sendomir, in the adoption
of a common creed. This Confession is consonant with
the Calvinistic view of the sacrament, but it carefully
avoids language that might give offense to Lutherans :

188 REFORMATION IN HUNGARY.

and it includes an explicit sanction of the Saxon Confes-
sion, which had been jDrepared to be sent to the Council
of Trent.^ After the death of Sigismund in 1572, the
crown became elective, and the sovereigns were obliged to
assent to the " Pax Dissidentium," which guaranteed
equality of rights to all churches in the kingdom. Under
the term " Dissidents " were included the Catholics as
well as the other religious bodies. The Duke of Anjou,
afterwards Henry III. of France, on being elected King of
Poland, in 1573, found it impossible to escape from taking
solemn oaths to protect the Protestant religion against
persecution and aggression. Bnt the royal power was so
much weakened that, although the monarchs might effect
much by the bestowal of honors and offices, the fate of
Protestantism depended mainly on the disposition of the
nobles. To detach these from the Protestant side and to
gain them over to the Catholic Church, through institu-
tions of education and by other influences, formed one
prime object of the Jesuits ; to whom, in connection with
the fatal divisions and quarrels of Protestants, the Cath-
olic reaction was to be indebted for its great success in
Poland.

Numerous Germans were settled in Hungary, by whom
the doctrines and the writings of Luther were brought into
that country. Bohemian Brethren, and Waldenses yet
more, contributed to the favorable reception of Protes-
tantism by the people among whom they dwelt. Hun-
garian students not only resorted to the universities of
Poland, but went to Wittenberg also, and returned to
disseminate the principles which they had learned from
Luther and Melancthon. It was in vain that the new faith
was forbidden. A savage law against Lutherans, which
was passed at the Diet of Ofen, in 1523, did not stop the

1 The Consensus Polonice or Sendornirensis is in Niemej'er, Colhctio Confes-
tionum, p. 553. Krasinski, Hist, of the lief, in Poland, i. c. ix.

CIVIL WARS IN HUNGARY. 189

progress of the Protestant movement. It emanated from
the people, and silently spread with great rapidity. In
1523, the Protestants were the prevailing party in Her-
mannstadt, and two years after, the five royal free cities
in Upper Hungary adopted the Reformation.^ The new
views were embraced also by powerful nobles. At the
beginning of the sixteenth century, princes of the Slavonic
House of Jagellon reigned in the three kingdoms of Po-
land, Bohemia, and Hungary. But they found it for their
interest to connect themselves, by matrimonial alliances,
with the ruling family in Austria.^ Louis II., in 1526,
attempted to stem the great mvasion of the Turks, under
Soliman, with an insufficient force, and perished after his
great defeat at Mohacs. Ferdinand of Austria claimed
the thrones of Bohemia and Hungary, which the death
of Louis left vacant. By prudent management, he suc-
ceeded in procuring his election as King of Bohemia,
against his ambitious competitor, the Duke of Bavaria.
In Hungary he entered into war with a rival aspirant to
the crown, one of the great magnates, John of Zapolya,
voivode of Transylvania. Both Ferdinand and Zapolya
found it expedient to denounce the Protestants, in order to
secure the support of the bishops. But neither found it
possible, in the circumstances in which they were placed,
to engage in persecution. During tliis domestic conflict,
the Reformation advanced in the portions of Hungary
not occupied by the Turks. By the peace of 1538, Ferdi-
nand gained the tlnrone. John was to retain Transylva-
nia, and a part of Upper Hungary, during his life. After
his death, his Queen, Isabella, clung to his possessions,
and this was the occasion of a continuance of war. The
whole Saxon population of Transylvania adopted the
Augsburg Confession ; the Synod of Erdod, in Hungary,
issued a like declaration. Even the widow of Louis
favored the Lutheran doctrine. Queen Isabella, in 1557,

1 Gieseler, iv. i. 2, § 16. ^ Ranke, Deulsch. Geschichte, ii. 286 seq.

190 THE REFORMATION IN HUNGARY.

granted to the adherents of the Augsburg Confession,
equal political rights with the Catholics. Hungary, like
Poland, was a severe sufferer through the strife of
Protestants among themselves. The Swiss doctrine of
the Eucharist found favor, especially among the native
Hungarians. It derived increased popularity after the
adoption of it by Matthew Devay, who was the most
eminent of the Protestant leaders.^ After studying at
Cracow, he resided for a time at Wittenberg, in the fam-
ily of Luther ; and, after his return to his country, became
a very successful preacher of the Lutheran doctrines. He
was more than once imprisoned, but did not cease, by
preaching and by his publications, to promote the Prot-
estant cause. Li 1533, he published a Magyar transla-
tion of the Epistles of St. Paul, and three years after-
wards, a version of the Gospels. Devay had been inti-
mate with Melancthon, who preached m Latin to him and
to other students who did not vmderstand German ; and he
was well acquainted mth Grynaius and other Swiss Re-
formers. About the year 1540, Devay began to promul-
gate the Calvinistic view of the Sacrament, to the amaze-
ment and disgust of Luther, who expressed his surprise in
letters to Hungarians. In 1557, or 1558, a Calvinistic
creed was adopted by a Synod at Czenger.'^ The Calvin-
istic doctrine ultimately prevailed and established itself
among the Magyar Protestants. In Transylvania, the
Unitarians were numerous, and they Avere granted tolera-
tion in 1571 ; so that four legaUzed forms of religion
existed there. Notwithstanding the unhappy contest of
Lutherans and Calvinists, Protestantism continued to
gain ground in Hungary, through the reigns of Ferdinand
I. and Maximilian II., and for a long time under Rudolph

1 Herzog, Real-Encycl., vol. xix. Lampe, Hist. Eccl. Ref. in Ilunyaria et
Transylvania (1728), p. 72.

2 Confessio Czenyerina, in Niemeyer, p. 542. In 1556 aU of the Hungarian
Calvinistic churches submitted to the Confessio Ildvetlca.

PREVALENCE OF PROTESTANTISM. 191

n. Only three magnates remained in the old Church.
But Hungary was to furnish a field on which the Catholic
Reaction, under the management of the Jesuits, would
exert its power with marked success.^

1 At an early date, there were numerous followers of Luther in the Nether-
lands ; but it will be more convenient to narrate the progress of Protestantism
in other countries, after describing the rise of Calvinism

CHAPTER Vn.

JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

The Reformation was firmly established in Germany
before it had taken root or had found an acknowledged
leader among the Romanic nations. Such a leader at
length appeared in the person of John Cal\dn, whose in-
fluence was destined to extend much beyond the bounds
of the Latin nations, and whose name was to go do\vn to
posterity in frequent association with that of Luther.^
Calvin was born at Noyon, in Picardy, on the 10th of
July, 1509. He was only eight years old when Luther
posted his theses. He belongs to the second generation
of reformers, and this circumstance is important as affect-
ing both his own personal history and the character of his
work. When he arrived at manhood, the open war upon
the old Church had already been waged for a score of
years. The family of Calvin had been of humble rank,
but it was advanced by his father, who held various
offices, including that of notary in the ecclesiastical court
at Noyon, and secretary to the bishopric. The physical
constitution of Calvin was not strong, but his vmcommon
intellectual power was early manifest. Attracting the re-

1 The Life, of Calvin, by Theodore Beza, is the work of a contemporary and
friend: Das Lehen Johann Calvins, von Paul Henry (Hamburg, 1835), a
thorough, but diffusely written biography: Johann Calvin, seine Kirche u. sein
Staat in Genf, von F. W. Kampschulte, Erster Band (Leipzic, 1869). Kamp-
schulte is a Roman Catholic, thorough in his researches and dispassionate, but
not friendly to Calvin. Henrj' and Kampschulte may be profitably read
together. Johannes Calvin, Leben u. ausgewahlte Schriften, von Dr. L. Stiihelin
(Elberfeld, 18G3). This is the best of the German lives of the reformer. A
valuable, impartial Lift of Calvin is that of Dyer (London, 1850).

THE EDUCATION OF CALVIN. 193

gard of the noble family of Mommor, residing at Noyon,
he was taken under their patronage and instructed with
their children. He had no experience of the rough con-
flict with penury which many of the German and Swiss
reformers were obhged in their youth to undergo. When
only twelve years old, he was made the recipient of the
income of a chaplaincy, to which, a few years afterwards,
the income of another benefice was added. At the outset
his father intended that he should be a priest. Trans-
ferred to Paris, he was first in the College de la Marche,
where he was taught Latin by a cultivated Humanist,
Maturin Cordier, better known under the name of Cor-
derius, for whom he cherished a life-long attachment, and
whom he succeeded in placing in charge of his school at
Geneva. He also studied in the College Montaigu, where
he was trained in scholastic logic under a learned Span-
iard, who afterwards, in the same school, guided the
studies of Ignatius Loyola.^ There Calvin surpassed his
companions in assiduity and aptitude to learn ; but he
spent much of the time by himseK, and from his serious,
and, perhaps, severe turn of mind, \vas nicknamed " The
Accusative Case." ^ He had reached his eighteenth year,
had received the tonsure, and even preached occasionally,
but had not taken orders, when his father, from ambitious
motives, changed his plan and concluded to qualify his
son for the profession of a jurist.^ He accordingly prose-
cuted his legal studies under celebrated teachers at Or-
leans and Bourges. As a student of law he attained the
highest proficiency and distinction. He undermined his
health by studying late into the night, in order to
arrange and digest the contents of the lectures which he
had heard during the day.* Early in the morning he

1 Kampschulte, i. 223. 2 Guizot, St. Louis and Calvin, p. 155.

3 Calviii says of his father: " Qiium videret legum scientiam passim augere
8U0S cultores opibus, spes ilia repeiite eum impulit ad mutandum consilium."
— Preface to th e Psalms.

< Beza, Vi/nJohannis Cahuni, ii. " Somni poene nullius," says Beza in his
closing remarks upon Calvin, xxxi.
13

194 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

would awake to repeat to himself what he had thus re-
duced to order. He never required but a few hours for
sleep, and, as was also the case with Melancthon, his in-
tense mental activity frequently kept him awake through
the night. So highly was he esteemed by his instructors
that often when they were temporarily absent he took
their place. At the same time he indulged his taste for
literature, and learned Greek from the German Professor
of that language, Melchior Wolmar, who had adopted
Protestant opinions and whose influence would naturally
tend to remove prejudices of his pupil against the new
doctrine. Before this time, at the urgent request of a
Protestant relative, Peter Olivetan, afterwards the first
Protestant translator of the Bible into French, he had
directed liis attention to the study of the Scriptures. In
1530, having completed his law studies, he returned to
Paris, and we have little knowledge of him up to 1532,
the date of his first pubhcation, an annotated edition of
Seneca's treatise on " Clemency." It has been erroneously
supposed that he hoped by this work to move Francis I.
to adopt a milder policy towards the persecuted Prot-
estants. No such design appears in the book.^ On the
contrary, at this time, Calvin had no other plan than that
of pursuing the career of a Humanist, and aimed to bring
himself into notice as a scholar and author. It is prob-
able that his notions of reform were in sympathy with
those of Reuchlin and Erasmus. He writes to his friends

1 That the commentary on Seneca was designed to affect the French King in
this way, and was composed, therefore, after Calvin's conversion, is assumed by
man}', among whom are Henry, i. 50, and Herzog in the art. " Calvin " in the
Real. Encycl. d. Theol., edited by himself; also by Guizot, St. Louis and Calvin,
p. 1G2. For the evidence to the contrary, see Stiihelin, i. 14. The dedication
(to the Abbot of St. Eloy) is dated April 4, 1532. Stiihelin gives 1533 as the
date of his conversion. But we have a letter of Calvin to Bucer, dated September
4, 1532. Calvin says {Preface, to the Psalms) tliat in less than a year after his
conversion the Protestants were looking to him for instruction. This religious
change must have been shortly after the publication of Seneca's treatise. This
supposition best accords with Beza's statement, Vita Calvini, ii.

THE CONVERSION OF CALVIN. 195

to aid in circulating his book and in calling attention to
it, a part of his motive being, however, to reimburse him-
self for the cost of the publication.^ His notes on Seneca
show his wide acquaintance with the classics, his discrim-
ination and his power of lucid statement. It was shortly
after the issue of this work, that his " sudden conversion,"
to use his o\vn expression, took place. He writes : " After
my heart had long been prepared for the most earnest
self-examination, on a sudden the full knowledge of the
truth, like a bright light, disclosed to me the abyss of
errors in which I was weltering, the sin and shame mth
which I was defiled. A horror seized on my soul, when
I became conscious of my wretchedness and of the more
terrible misery that was before me. And what Avas left,
O Lord, for me, miserable and abject, but, with tears and
cries of suppHcation to abjure the old life which Thou
condemned, and to flee into Thy path ? " He describes
himself as having striven in vain to attain inward peace
by the methods set forth in the teaching of the Church.
But the more he had directed his eye inward, or upward
to God, the more did his conscience torment him. " Only
one haven of salvation is there for our souls," he says,
"■ and that is the compassion of God, which is offered to
us in Christ " : " We are saved by grace, not by our
merits, not by our works. Since we embrace Christ by
faith, and, as it were, enter into his fellowship, we
call this, in the language of Scripture, ' justification
by faith.' " Although we know less of Calvin's in-
ward experience, yet its essential identity with that
of Luther, is obvious. Calvin had hesitated about be-
coming a Protestant, out of reverence for the Church.
But he so modified his conception of the Church as to
perceive that the change did not involve a renunciation
of it.2 Membership in the true Church was consistent

1 Bonnet, Letters of Calvin, i. 7, 8.

2 Ejmt. ad Sadolet. Opera (ed. Reuss et al.), vol. v. 385 seq.

19G JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

with renouncing the rule of the Roman CathoUc prelacy :
for the Church, in its essence invisible, exists in a true
form wherever the Gospel is faithfully preached and the
sacraments administered conformably to the directions of
Christ. Calvin was naturally reserved and even bashful ;
he aspired after nothing higher, either after or before his
conversion, than the opportunity to pursue his studies in
retirement. He had an instinctive repugnance to pub-
Hcity and conflict. His former studies, to be sure, had
now a secondary place ; his whole soul was absorbed in
the examination of the Bible and in the investigation of
religious truth. ^ But still he craved seclusion and quiet.
He found, however, that, notwithstanding his youth, in
the company of the persecuted Protestants at Paris he
was quickly regarded as a leader, and his counsel was
sought by all who had need of religious instruction. But
this sort of labor was of short continuance. He wrote for
his friend, Nicholas Cop, who had been made Rector of
the University, an opening address, in which were mtro-
duced the ideas of the Reformation ; and the excitement
that was produced by the delivery of it obhged both of
them to fly in order to escape arrest. Calvin first went to
Angouleme, where he enjoyed the society of his friend
Louis du Tillet and the use of a good library, which he
turned to the best account. Then he visited Beam,
and at the court of Margaret, the Queen of Navarre, sister
of Francis I., he met the aged Lefevre, the father of the
Reformation in France. He went to Noyon, where he
parted with the benefices, the income of which he could
not conscientiously retain, and then returned to Paris.
The imprudent zeal of the Protestants, in posting placarda
against the mass, stirred up the anger of the court, and
Calvin was again obliged to fly. Not without an inward

1 "Aliquo veriB pietatis gustu imbutus, tanto proficiendi studio exarsi, ut
reliqiia stiidia quamvis non abjicerem, frigidius tamen sectarer." — Pref. to the
Psalms.

THE "INSTITUTES." 197

struggle and tears he bade farewell to his country.' About
this time, he put forth his first theological pubhoation, the
" Psychopainiychia," a polemical book against the doc-
trine which was professed by Anabaptists, that the soul
sleeps between death and the resurrection. At Stras-
burg he was warmly received by Bucer, and at Basel by
Grynseus and Capito. At Basel he began to acquire the
Hebrew language, and was able to gratify his strong in-
clination for retirement and study. It was here that he
wrote his " Institutes." The first edition was only the
germ of the work, which grew in successive issues to its
present size.^ What moved him to the composition of it
was the cruel persecution to which his brethren were sub-
ject in France. He wished to remove the impression that
they were fanatical Anabaptists, seeking the overthrow
of civil order, which their oppressors, in order to pacify
the displeasure of German Lutherans, industriously prop-
agated.^ He was desirous of bringing Francis I, into
sympathy with the new doctrine. For this last end, the
dedication to the king, which has been generally admired
for its literary merit, and as a condensed and powerful
vindication of the Protestant cause, was composed. This
eloquent appeal to the justice of the king concludes thus :
" But if your ears are so preoccupied with the whispers of
the malevolent as to leave no opportunity for the accused
to speak for themselves, and if those outrageous furies,
with your connivance, continue to persecute with impris-
onments, scourges, tortures, confiscations, and flames, we
shall indeed, like sheep destined to the slaughter, be re-

1 Henry, i. 156.

2 The interesting literary qiief?tion as to the language in which it first ap-
peared, whether Latin or French, may, perhaps, be regarded as settled It was
first printed in Latin, and the author's name was attached to it. See the Proleg-
omena to the new edition of Calvin's writings, edited by Baum, Cunitz, and
Reuss; and Stiihelin, i. 61. Guizot, however, still holds that the first edition
w"»s in French. St. Louis and Cahin, p. 176. It appeared in 15-30.

* This he says was his sole motive: "Neque in alium finem," etc. Pre.f. tc
the Psalms.

198 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

duced to the greatest extremities. Yet shall we in pa-
tience possess our souls, and wait for the mighty hand of
the Lord, which undoubtedly will in time appear, and
show itself armed for the deliverance of the poor from
their affliction, and for the punishment of their despisers,
who now exult in such perfect security. May the Lord,
the King of Kings, establish your throne with righteous-
ness, and your kingdom with equity." Although this
famous manual was much amplified from time to time,
until it appeared with the author's latest charges and
additions in 1559, yet the doctrine of it underwent no
alteration, and the identity of the work was always pre-
served.^ We may notice in this place some of Calvin's
characteristics as a writer and a man. His direct in-
fluence was predominantly and almost exclusively upon
the higher classes of society. He and his system acted
powerfully upon the people, but indirectly through the
agency of others. He was a patrician in his tempera-
ment. By his early associations, and as an effect of his
culture, he acquired a certain refinement and decided af-
finities for the class elevated by birth or education. This
was one of his points of dissimilarity to Luther : he was
not fitted, like the German reformer, to come home to
" the business and bosoms " of common men. He had
not the popular eloquence of Luther, nor had he the genius
that left its impress on the words and works of the Saxon
reformer ; but he was a more exact and finished scholar
than Luther. The Latin style of Calvin has been uni-
versally praised for its classical purity. He was a terse
writer, hating diffuseness. He was master of a logical
method, a great lover of neatness and order. In all his
words there glows the fire of an intense conviction. The
" Institutes " are in truth a continuous oration, in which
the stream of discussion rolls onward with an impetuous

1 A tabular view of the changes in the successive editions is presented in the
oew edition of Calvin's writings (Reuss et al.), vol. i.

THE "INSTITUTES." 199

current, yet always keeps within its defined channel. The
work, in its whole tone, is removed as far as possible from
the dry treatises of scholastic theology, -with which it has
often been classed. In forming an estimate of Calvin, as a
thinker, the first thing to observe is that he was a French-
man and a lawyer. His nature and his training conspired
to make him eminently logical and systematic. That
talent for organization which is ascribed to his comitrymen
as a national trait, belonged to him in an eminent degree.
Tt was manifested in the products of his intellect, not
less than in his practical activity. He came forward at a
moment when the ideas of the Reformation were widely
diffused, but when no adequate reduction of them to a
systematic form had been achieved. The dogmatic trea-
tise of Melancthon, meritorious though it be, was of com-
paratively limited scope. The field was for the most
part open ; and when Calvin appeared upon it, he was
at once recognized as fully competent for his task, and
greeted by Melancthon himself as " the theologian."
By the enemies of Protestantism his work was styled
" the Koran of the heretics." Of the clearness, coherence,
and symmetry of all its discussions, there is no need to
speak. It is remarkable that the theological opinions of
Calvin remained unchanged from the time of his conver-
sion to his death. ^ This, it is well known, was far from
being true of Luther, or of Melancthon, or even of Zwingle.
One prime characteristic of his system is the steadfast,
consistent adoption of the Bible as the sole standard of
doctrine. He scouts the doctrine that the truth of the
Bible rests on the authority of the Church. The Divine
ruthority of the Bible can be proved by reason ; assured
conviction of the truth of the Gospel and a spiritual insight

1 Beza has noticed this fact — Vita Calvini, xxxi. Lecky (History of Ra^
tionalism, i. 373) says, speaking of the eucharistic controversy: "Calvin on! y
arrived at his final views after a long series of oscillations." This is quite erro-
neous; there is no reason for thinking that Calvin ever had but one opinion on
this subject, after his conversion.

200 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

are imparted by the Holy Ghost. What cannot verify
itself by the explicit authority of Scripture counts for
nothing. That inbred reverence for the ancient Church
and that influence of Christian antiquity, which are seen
in Luther, vs^ere entirely foreign to Calvin. He holds
the Fathers, especially Augustine, in esteem ; but he
makes no apologies for sharply contradicting them all, in
case he deems them at variance with Holy Writ. For
the Papacy, and for the tenets and rites which he con-
siders the " impious inventions of men," without warrant
from the Word of God, he feels an intense hatred, not
unmingled with scorn. Yet, probably, none of the Re-
formers speak so often and with so much deference of the
Church. But by the Church he means something differ-
ent from the sacerdotal organization of the Roman Cathohc
body. He holds to the Church invisible, composed of true
believers ; and to the Church visible, the criteria of which
are the right administration of the Sacraments, and the
teaching of the Word. For the visible Church, as thus con-
stituted, he feels the deepest reverence, and holds that out
of it there is no salvation. The schismatic cuts himseK
off from Christ. For the Church, as established after the
model of the New Testament, he demands a submission
little short of that which the Roman Catholic pa3''s to the
authorized expounders of his faith. ^ But the striking,
the peculiar feature of Calvin's system, is the doctrine
of Predestination. This doctrine, at the outset, indeed,
was common to all of the Reformers. Predestination is
asserted by Luther, in his book on the " Servitude of the
Will," even in relation to wickedness, in terms more
emphatic than the most extreme statements of Calvin.
Melancthon, for a considerable period, wrote in the same
strain. Zwingle, in his metaphysical theory, did not dif-
fer from his brother Reformers. They were united in

1 See, for example, his Acta Synodi Tridentina cum Antidote (1547), ot
Henry, ii. 312.

THE DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 201

reviving tlie Augustinian theology, in opposition to the
Pelagian doctrine, which affected in a greater or less de-
gree all the schools of Catholic theology. It is very im-
portant to understand the motives of the Reformers in this
proceeding. Calvin was not a speculative philosopher
who thought out a necessitarian theory and defended it
for the reason that he considered it capable of being
logically established. It is true that the key-note in his
system was a profound sense of the exaltation of God.
Nothing could be admitted that seemed to clash in the
least with His universal control, or to cast a shade upon His
omniscience and omnipotence. But the direct groimds or
sources of his doctrine were practical. Predestination to
him is the correlate of human dependence ; the counter-
part of the doctrine of grace ; the antithesis to salvation
by merit ; the implied consequence of man's complete
bondage to sin. In election, it is involved that man's
salvation is not his own work, but, wholly, the work of
the grace of God ; and in election, also, there is laid a sure
foundation for the believer's security under all the as-
saults of temptation. It is practical interests which Cal-
vin is sedulous to guard ; he clings to the doctrine for
what he considers its religious value , and it is no more
than justice to him to remember that he habitually styles
the tenet, which proved to be so obnoxious, an unfathom-
able mystery, an abyss into which no mortal mind can
descend. And, whether consistently or not, there is the
most earnest assertion of the moral and responsible nature
of man. Augustine had held that in the fall of Adam
the entire race were involved in a common act and a
common catastrophe. The will is not destroyed ; it is
still free to sin, but is utterly disabled as regards holi-
ness. Out of the mass of mankind, all of whom are
alike guilty, God chooses a part to be the recipients of
his mercy, whom He purifies by an irresistible influence,
but leaves the rest to suffer the penalty which they have

202 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

justly brought upon themselves. In the " Institutes," Cal-
vin does what Luther had done in his book against Eras-
mus ; he makes the Fall itself, the primal transgression,
the object of an efficient decree. In this particular he
goes beyond Augustine, and apparently affords a sanction
to the extreme, or supra-lapsarian type of theology, which
afterwards found numerous defenders — which traces sin
to the direct agency of God, and even founds the distinc-
tion of right and wrong ultimately on his omnipotent will.^
But when Calvin was called upon to define his doctrine
more carefully, as in the Consensus Crenevensis, he confines
himself to the assertion of a permissive decree — a volitive
permission — in the case of the first sin. In other words,
he does not overstep the Augustinian position. He ex-
plicitly avers that every decree of the Almighty springs
from reasons which, though hidden from us, are good and
sufficient ; that is to say, he founds will upon right, and
not right upon will.^ He differs, however, both from Au-
gustine and Luther, in affirming that none who are once
converted fall from a state of grace, the number of be-
lievers being coextensive with the number of the elect.
The main peculiarity of Calvin's treatment of this sub-
ject, as compared with the course pursued by the other
Reformers, is the greater prominence wliich he gives to
Predestination. It stands in the foreground ; it is never
left out of sight. Luther's practical handling of this
dogma was quite different. Under his influence it re-
treated more and more into the background, xmtil not
only in Melancthon's system, but also in the later Lu-
theran theology, unconditional Predestination disappeared
altogether.

As a commentator, the ability of Calvin is very great.
The first of his series of works m this department — his

1 Inst. III. xxiii. 6 seq.

2 Opera (Amst. ed.), torn. viii. G38, "Clare affirmo nihil decernere line
optima causa: qua si hodie nobis incognita est, uhuno die patefiet."

CALVIN AS A COMMENTATOR. 203

work on the Epistle to the Romans — was issued while
he was at Strasburg, after his expulsion from Geneva.
The preparation of his commentaries was always the
most congenial of his occupations. If his readers, he once
said, gathered as much profit from the perusal, as he did
from the composition of them, he should have no reason
to regret the labor which they had cost. He was pos-
sessed of an exegetical tact which few have equaled. He
has the true spirit of a scholar. He detests irrelevant
talk upon a passage, but unfolds its meaning in concise
and pointed terms. He is manly, never evades difficul-
ties, but always grapples with them ; and he is candid.
He makes, on points of dogma, qualifications and occa-
sional concessions which are generally left oat of his polem-
ical treatises, but wliich are indispensable to a correct
appreciation of his opinions. If he created an epoch in
doctrinal theology, it is equally true that he did much to
found a new era, for which, however, Melancthon and
others had paved the way, in the exegesis of the Scrip-
tures. Luther seized on the main idea of a passage, but
was less precise as a philological critic. The palm be-
longs to Luther, as a translator; to Calvin, as an inter-
preter of the Word.

Notwithstanding the radical principles of Calvin, it de-
serves to be remarked that as a practical Reformer, he
was, in some marked particulars, not the extremist which
he is commonly supposed to have been. He did not favor
the iconoclastic measures of men like Knox. He was not
even hostile to bishops as a jure humano arrangement.*
He would not have cared to abolish the four Christian
festivals, which the Genevan Church, without his agency,
early discarded. In his epistles to Somerset, the Protec-
tor in the time of Edward VI., and to the English Re-
formers, he criticizes freely the Anglican Church. Too
much, he said, was conceded to weak bretliren : to bear

1 Henry, ii. 138, 139.

204 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

with the weak does not mean that "we are to humor
blockheads who wish for this or that, without knowing
why." He thought it a scandal, he wrote to Cranmer,
that so many papal corruptions remain ; for example,
that " idle gluttons are supported to chant vespers in an
unknown tongue." But he was indifferent respecting
various customs and ceremonies, which a more rigid Puri-
tanism made it a point of conscience to abjure.

There are marked personal traits of Calvin, which ex-
hibit themselves in his letters and other writings, and
which we shall find illustrated in the course of his life.
Instead of the geniality, wliich is one of the native quali-
ties of Luther, we find an acerbity, which is felt more
easily than described, and which, more than anything
else, has inspired multitudes with aversion to him.
Beza, his disciple, friend, and biographer, states that in
his boyhood he was the censor of the faults of his mates.^
Through life, he had a tone, in reminding men of their
real or supposed delinquencies, which provoked resent-
ment. To those much older than himself, to men like
Cranmer and Melancthon, he wrote in this unconsciously
cutting style. There was much in the truthfulness, fidel-
ity, and courage, which he manifests even in his reproofs,
to command respect. Yet, there was a tart quality which,
coupled with his unyielding tenacity of opinion, was
adapted to provoke disesteem. We learn from Calvin
himself, that Melancthon, mild as he was naturally, was
so offended at the style of one of his admonitory epistles,
that he tore it in pieces. The wretched health of Calvin,
with the enormous burdens of labor that rested upon him
for years, had an unfavorable effect upon a temper nat-
urally u'ritable. He was occasionally so carried away by
gusts of passion, that he lost all self-control.^ He ac-

1 It was a current phrase at Geneva : " Besser mit Beza in der Hcille als mil
Calvin im Himmel." Henry, i. 171.

2 See his Letter to Farel (April, 1539), Henry, i. 256. See also, p. 435 sec].,
ii. 432. "The mass of his occupations," Calvin says, "had confirmed him in an
irritable habit." Henry, i. 465.

CALVIN'S PERSONAL CHARACTERISnCS. 205

knowledges this fault with the utmost frankness ; he had
tried in vain, he says, to tame " the wild beast of his an-
ger ; " and on his death-bed he asked pardon of the Sen-
ate of Geneva for outbursts of passion, while at the same
time he thanked them for their forbearance. The later bi-
ographers of Calvin, even such as admire him most, have
remarked that his piety was unduly tinged with the Old
Testament spirit. It is significant that the great majority
of the texts of his homilies and sermons, as far as they have
been preserved, are from the ancient Scriptures. Homage
to law is a part of his being. To bring thought, feeling,
and will, to bring his o-svn life, and the lives of others, to
bring Church and State into subjection to law, is his
principal aim. He is overcome with awe at the incon-
ceivable power and holiness of God. This thought is
uppermost in his mind. Of his conversion, he Avrites :
" God suddenly produced it ; he suddenly subdued my
heart to the obedience of His will." To obey the mil of
God was his supreme purpose in life, and in this purpose
his soul was undivided ; no mutinous feeling was suffered
to interpose a momentary resistance. But the tender,
filial temper often seems lost in the feeling of the subject
toward his lawful Ruler. A sense of the exaltation of
God not only takes away all fear of men, but seems to be
attended with some loss of sensibility with regard to
their lot. To promote the honor of God, and to secure
that end at all hazards, is the chief object in view.
Whatever, in his judgment, brings dishonor upon the
Almighty, as, for example, attacks made upon the truth,
moves his indignation, and he feels bovmd, in conscience,
to confront such attacks with a pitiless hostility. He con-
siders it an imperative duty, as he expressly declares, to
hate the enemies of God. In reference to them, he says :
" I would rather be crazed, than not be angry." ^ Hence,
though not consciously viniictive, and though really

1 Henry, i. 4G4.

206 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVA]^ REFORMATION.

placable in various instances where he was personally
wronged, he was on fire the moment that he conceived
the honor of God to be assailed. How difficult it would
be for such a man to discriininate between personal feel-
ing and zeal for a cause with which he felt himself to be
thoroughly identified, it is easy to understand. Calvin
did not touch human life, at so many points, as did Luther ;
and having a less broad sympathy himself, he has attracted
less sympathy from others. The poetic inspiration that
gave birth to the stirring hymns of the German Reformer,
was not among his gifts. He wrote a poem in Latin hex-
ameters, on the triumph of Christ, which was composed
at Worms during the Conference there — in wliich he
describes Eck, Cochlaeus, and other Catholic combatants,
as dragged after the chariot of the victorious Redeemer.
A few hymns, mostly versions of Psalms, have lately been
traced to his pen.^ It has been noticed that although he
spent the most of his life on the borders of the Lake of
Geneva, he nowhere alludes to the beautiful scenery about
him. Yet, there is something impressive, though it be a
defect, in this exclusive absorption of his mind in things
invisible. When we look at his extraordinary^ intellect,
at his culture — which opponents, like Bossuet, have been
forced to commend — at the mvincible energy which made
him endure ^vith more than stoical fortitude infirmities of
body under which most men would have sunk, and to
perform, in the midst of them, an incredible amount of
mental labor ; when we see him, a scholar naturally fond
of seclusion, physically timid, and recoiling from notori-
ety and strife, abjuring the career that was most to his
taste, and plunging mth a single-hearted, disinterested zeal,
and an indomitable will, into a hard, protracted contest ;
and when we follow his steps, and see what things he

1 See Cdlnni O/yera, (Reuss et al.) vol. vi. One of these hymns, translated
by Mrs. H. 13. Smith, is in Schaff's collection of religious poetry, Christ in Song
(1869).

CALVIN ARRIVES AT GENEVA. 207

effected, ^xe cannot deny him the attributes of greatness.
The Senate of Geneva, after his death, spoke of " the
majesty " of his character.

Calvin pubHshed the first edition of the Institutes, with-
out the knowledge of any one, at Basel, so averse was he
to notoriety. Apart from the repute of this work, his
fame as an acute, promising theologian was extending.
Having visited Italy, and remained for a while at Ferrara,
at the court of the accomplished Duchess, the daughter of
Louis XII., and the protector of the Protestants, with
whom he kept up a correspondence afterwards, he re-
turned to Basel, and thence made a secret visit to France,
and to his native place. On account of the obstruction
of the route through Lorraine, by the army of Charles V.,
he set out to return by the way of Geneva. There he
arrived on the 5th of August, 1536, with the design of
tarrying but a single night ; after which he expected to
pursue his journey to Basel. Here occurred the event
that shaped the future course of his life.

The war of Cappel, in which Zwingle had fallen, had
left the preponderance in the Swiss Confederacy in the
hands of the Catholics. They used their power to
humiliate their adversaries in various ways, and to re-
establish the old religion in some districts from which it
had been expelled or in which the people were divided.
The leading cities of Zurich, Berne, and Basel, however,
remained faitliful to the Reformation. A mixture of
political circumstances and religious influences at length
created a new seat for Protestantism at Geneva.

Geneva, situated on the border of Lake Leman, was a
fragment of the old Kingdom of Burgundy, and was
governed for many centuries by the bishop, who was
chosen by the canons of the Cathedral. The bishop, by
an arrangement with the neighboring Counts of Geneva,
had committed to them his civil jurisdiction ; but on
acceding to office, he always swore to maintain the fran-

208 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

chises and customs of the citizens. The counts held the
castle on the Isle of the Rhone. Toward the end of the
thirteenth century, this office of Vidame or Vice-regent,
was transferred from them to the Dukes of Savoy. The
city for the most part ruled itself after a republican form,
and the Emperors Frederic Barbarossa, Charles IV.,
and Sigismund, as a means of protecting it against en-
croachments on the part of Savoy and of the counts of
Geneva, recognized the place as a city of the Empire.
Twice a year the four syndics who practically managed the
government were chosen by the assembly of citizens. At
the beginning of the sixteenth century, the ambitious
projects of the Vidames led the Genevans to look for help
and support to the Swiss cantons. Charles III., who became
Duke of Savoy in 150-4, entered into a struggle, for the
subjugation of Geneva, Avhich continued twenty years.
Finding it impossible to secure his end by artful negotia-
tion with the citizens, he, with the assistance of Pope
Leo X., forced upon them, in 1513, John, the Bastard of
Savoy, who became bishop under the stipulation that he
would give the control of the city, as far as civil affairs
were concerned, into the hands of the Duke. The citizens,
under the lead of Bonivard, Berthelier, and other patriots,
made a brave resistance. The Duke acquired the mastery,
and Berthelier was put to death. The revolution which
liberated the city from the tyranny of Savoy and restored
its freedom, was achieved by the aid of Berne and Frei-
burg. The Genevans were divided into two parties, the
Confederates (Eidgenossen), who were for striking hands
with the Smss, and the Mamelukes, or adherents of the
Duke. The former were successful. The office of Vi-
dame was abolished, and civil and military power passed
from the bishop into the hands of the people (1533).

The civil was followed by an ecclesiastical revolution.
Berne became Protestant ; Freiburg remained Catholic.
From Berne a Protestant influence was exerted in Gen-

PROTESTANTISM ESTABLISHED IN GENEVA. 209

eva. The young people made use of their Hberty to dis-
regard the prescriptions of the Church in respect to ab-
stinence from meat on fast days, and disputes arose
between the citizens and the ecclesiastics. Some effort
was made to correct the dissolute habits of the priests, of
whom there were three hundred in Geneva, in order to
take a potent weapon out of the hands of the reformers.
But Protestantism, by the efforts of Farel and other
preachers, gained ground, until at length, in 1535, with
the aid of Berne, a second revolution took place, in which
the bishop was expelled, and Protestantism was estab-
lished. In connection with this change, the adjacent ter-
ritory was conquered, and with it the castles which had
served as strongholds of the Duke, and as convenient
places of shelter for fugitives, and for the organization of
attacks upon the city. Geneva was reformed, and at the
same time gained its independence.^

The principal agent in planting the new doctrine in
Geneva had been William Farel, born in 1489, of a noble
family in Gap, in Dauphind ; a convert to Protestantism,
driven out of France by persecution, and welcomed to
Switzerland as one able to preach to the French popula-
tion in their own language. Honest and fearless, but in-
temperate in language and conduct, he fulminated against
the tenets and practices of Rome, in city and country, in
the churches or by the wayside, wherever he could find
an audience. Wherever he preached his stentorian voice
rose above the loudest tumult that was raised to drown
it. On one occasion he seized the relics from the hand of
a priest in a procession, and flung them into an adjacent
river. He was frequently beaten and his life put in immi-

1 The revolutions in Geneva and the introduction of the Reformation are de-
scribed by Ruchat, Hlstoire de la Reformation de la Suisse, nouvelle ed., 7 vols.
Nyon, 1835-1838 ; also by Kampschulte, Johann Cnhin, etc., vol. i. ; and in great
detail by Merle D'Aubign(?, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time oj
Calvin. See, also, Mignet's Essay on Calvinism in Geneva; Memoirs Hist.,
(3d ed., Pans, 185i).

14

210 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

uent peril. He was said to have denounced Erasmus at
Basel as another Balaam, and Erasmus repaid the compli-
ment by describing him, in a letter, as the most arrogant,
abusive, and shameless man he had ever met with.^ Yet
Farel did not limit himself to denunciation. He under-
stood well, and knew how to inculcate eloquently, the dis-
tinctive doctrines of the Protestant faith. His earliest at-
tempt in Geneva was in 1532, immediately after the first
revolution. He was then driven from the city, and owed
his life to the bursting of a gun that was aimed at him.
The second time he was more successful. The new doc-
trine was eagerly heard and won numerous disciples.
At the political revolution, which expelled the bishop,
the Protestant faith was adopted by the solemn act of the
citizens. The general council, or the assembly of citizens,
legahzed the new order of divine service, which included
the administration of the Supper thrice in the year ;
abolished all the festivals except Sunday, and prohibited
worldly sports, such as dances and masquerades. The
citizens took an oath to cast off the Romish doctrine and
to live according to the rule of the Gospel. But signs of
disaffection soon appeared. A large portion of the in-
habitants of this prosperous, luxurious, and pleasure-
loving city, soon grew impatient of the new restraints
which they had accepted in the moment of exhilaration
over their newly gained political independence. They
cried out openly against the preachers and demanded
freedom.

There is no reason to doubt that the morals of Geneva
were in a low state. The Savoyards had sought to secure
the adherence of the young men by means of dances and
convivial entertainments ; and Berthelier endeavored to
baffle this purpose by joining with them himseK in their
noisy banquets and licentious amusements. The priests
and monks, according to trustworthy contemporary ac-
1 Opera, iii. 823. Kirchhofer, Das Leben W. Fareb, c. iv.

FAREL'S call to CALVIN. 211

counts, were exceptionally profligate.^ The prostitutes,
over whom there was placed a queen who was regularly
sworn to the fulfillment of prescribed functions, were far
from being confined to the quarter of the city which was
specially assigned to them. Gambhng-houses and wine-
shops were scattered over the town. The various motives
of opposition to the new system were sufficient to de-
velop a powerful party that demanded the old customs
and the former liberty. They clamored for deliverance
from the yoke of the preachers.

Geneva was in this factious, confused state when Cal-
vin arrived there, and took his lodgings at an inn, with
the intention of remaining only for the night. In his
Preface to the Commentary on the Psalms, which con-
tains the most interesting passages of aiitobiography that
we possess from his pen, he gives an account of his inter-
view with Farel, to whom his arrival had been reported by
his friend, Du Tillet. Farel besought him to remain and
assist him in his work. Calvin declined, pleading his un-
willingness to bind himself to any one place, and his desire
to prosecute his studies. Seeing that his persuasions were
fruitless, Farel told him that he might put forward his
studies as a pretext, but that the curse of God would light
on him if he refused to engage in His work. Calvin often
refers to this declaration, uttered with the fervor of a
piophet. He says that he was struck with terror, and
felt as if the hand of the Almighty had been stretched
out from heaven and laid upon him. He gave up his op-
position. " Farel," it has been said, " gave Geneva to
the Reformation, and Calvin to Geneva." He at once
began his work, not taking the post of a preacher at first,
but giving theological lectures of an exegetical sort in the
Church of St. Peter. He composed hastily a catechism
for the instruction of the young, which he deemed a thing
essential in the guidance of a church. A confession of
faith, drawn up by Farel, was presented to all the people,

1 Kampschulte, i. 90 seq.

212 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

and by them formally adopted. A body of regulations
relating to church services and discipline, containing strin-
gent provisions, was likewise ratified and put in opera-
tion. Opposition to the doctrines and deviation from the
practices thus sanctioned, were penal offenses. A hair-
dresser, for example, for arranging a bride's hair in what
was deemed an unseendy manner, was imprisoned for two
days ; and the mother, vnth two female friends, who had
aided in the process, suffered the same penalty. Dancing
and card-playing were also punished by the magistrate.
They were not Avrong in themselves, Calvin said, but
they had been so abused that there was no other course
but to prohibit them altogether. He who so dreaded a
tumult, not only had to encounter Anabaptist fanatics
who appeared in Geneva, but soon found himself, with
his associates, in conflict ^vith the government, and with
the majority of the citizens who rebelled against the strict-
ness of the new regime.^ At the head of the party of op-
position, or of the Libertines, as they were styled by the
supporters of Calvin, were Amy Perrin, Vandel, and Jean
Philippe, who had been among the first advocates of the
Reformation. In their ranks were many of the Confed-
erates, or Mdgenossen^ who had fought for the indepen-
dence of the city. At Geneva, the baptismal font, the
four festivals of Christmas, New Year's Day, the Annun-
ciation, and the Ascension, and the use of unleavened
bread in the Sacrament, all of which were retained in
Berne, had been discarded. The opponents of the new
system called for the restoration of the Bernese cere-
monies. Finding themselves thwarted by the authorities
in the enforcement of church discipline, on Easter Sun-
day (1538), the ministers, Calvin, Farel, and Viret,

1 He was compelled, much to his mortification, to withstand an attack of a
different kind from another quarter. He was charged with Arianism and Sabel-
lianism. See Henry, i. 178 seq. Calvin was cautious as to the terms which
he used on the subject of the Trinity, and did not insist on the word person.
See fnstilntes, h. i. xiii. 5. For his opinion of the At'»anasian creed, se«
Kampschulte, i. 297.

BANISHMENT OF THE PREACHERS. 21 iJ

preached in spite of the prohibition of the Syndics, and
also took the bold step of refusing to administer the sacra-
ment. Thereupon, by a vote of the Council, which was
confirmed the next day by the general assembly of the
citizens, they were banished from the city. Failing in
their efforts to secure the intervention of Berne, and in
other negotiations having reference to their restoration,
they parted from one another. Farel went to Neufchatel,
and Calvin found a cordial reception in Strasburg. It
was a general feeling, in which Calvin himself shared,
that the preachers had gone imprudently far in their re-
quirements. But the joy of Calvin at being delivered
from the anxieties which he had suffered, and in finding
himself at liberty to devote himself to his books, was
greater, he says, than under the circumstances was be-
coming. But soon he was solicited by Bucer to take
charge of the church of French refugees who were at
Strasburg. Once more he was intimidated by Bucer's
earnest appeal, who reminded him of the example of the
fugitive prophet Jonah. Though his pecuniary support
was small, so that he was compelled to take lodgers and
even to sell his books to get the means of living, he
was satisfied and happy. While at Strasburg, he was
brought into intercourse mth the Saxon theologians at
the religious conferences held between the years 1539
and 1541, at Frankfort, at Worms, and at Hagenau, and
in connection with the Diet at Ratisbon, where Contarini
appeared as the representative of the Pope. Like Luther,
Calvin had no faith in the practicableness of a compromise
with the Catholics, and the negotiations became more and
more irksome to him. His ignorance of the German lan-
guage occasioned him some embarrassment. His talents
and learning were fully recognized by the German theo-
logians, and with Melancthon he formed a friendship
which continued with a temporary, partial interruption,
until they were separated by death. To the compromises

214 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

of the Leipsic Interim, Calvin was inflexibly opposed.
On the great controverted point of the Eucharist, he and
Melancthon Avere agreed, and the latter confided to him
the anxieties which weighed heavily upon him on account
of the jealousy on the Lutheran side, which was awakened
by his change of opinion. With Luther, Calvin never
came into personal contact ; but he was delighted to hear
that the Saxon leader had read some of his books with
" singular satisfaction," had betrayed no irritation at his
difference on the question of the Svipper, and had ex-
pressed a high degree of confidence in his ability to be use-
ful to the Church. He thought Luther a much greater man
than Zwingle, but that both were one-sided and too much
under the sway of prejudice in their combat upon the
Eucharist. He exclaims that he should never cease to
revere Luther, if Luther were to call him a devil.^ When
called upon at a later day, after the death of Melancthon,
to take the field against bigoted Lutherans, he breaks
out with the exclamation : " O Philip Melancthon, I di-
rect my words to thee who now livest before God with
Jesus Clirist, and there art waiting for us till we are
gathered with thee to that blessed rest ! A hundred
times hast thou said, when, wearied with labor and op-
pressed with anxieties, thou hast laid thy head affection-
ately upon my bosom : ' O that, O that I might die upon
this bosom ! ' " But notwithstanding their friendship,
Melancthon could not be prevailed on to express himself
in favor of Calvin's doctrine of predestination, though the
latter dedicated to him, in flattering terms, a treatise ou
the subject, and by letters sought to enlist his support.
Calvin was bringing in, Melancthon wrote to a friend,
the Stoic doctrine of fate.^ When Bolsec was taken into
custody for vehemently attacking this doctrine in public,
Melancthon wrote to Camerarius that they had put a

1 Henry, ii. 352. « Corp. Ref., vii. 392

CALVIN AT STRASBURG. 215

man in prison at Geneva for not agreeing with Zeno.^
The relations of Calvin to the friends of Zwingle and to
the churches which had been established under his aus-
pices, were for a while unsettled. Calvin's Eucharistic
doctrine differed from that of the Zurich reformer, and
he was suspected of an intention to introduce the Lutheran
theory. He succeeded in convincing them that this sus-
picion was groundless, and in bringing about a union
through the acceptance of common formularies. The fact
that Zwingle had rather professed the doctrine of predes-
tination as a philosophical theorem, than brought it for-
ward in popular teaching, required special exertions on the
part of Calvin to quiet the misgivings of the Swiss respect-
ing this point also.^ In this effort he was likewise success-
ful. Yet Berne, partly from the disfavor which it felt
towards minor peculiarities of the Genevan cultus, but
chiefly owing to the disappointment of political schemes,
never treated Calvin with entire confidence and friendli-
ness.

While at Strasburg, Calvin was married to the widow of
an Anabaptist preacher whom he had converted. Several
previous attempts to negotiate a marriage, in which he
had proceeded in a quite business-like spirit, with no out-
lay of sentiment, had from various causes proved abortive.
The lady whom he married appears to have been a person
of rare worth, his life mtli her was one of uninterrupted
harmony ; and when, nine years after their marriage, she
died, his deep grief proved the tenderness of his attach-

1 Melancthon said that they had revived the fatalistic doctrine of Laurentius
Valla. This, also, was one of the most offensive accusations of Bolsec.

'■i Calvin criticizes Zwingle's treatment of this doctrine, in a letter to BuUin-
ger (Bonnet, cclxxxix.). The lukewarmness of the Swiss churches in the case
of Bolsec was very vexatious to Calvin, as this and other letters show. The
correspondence on this case instructively exhibits the unwillingness of the
Zwinglian churches to press the doctrine of predestination, as Calvin would
wish. Their expressions of sympathy were very qusliiied and constrained.
BuUinger took quite another tone in reference to Servetus, where the doctrine of
the Trinity was assailed.

216 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

ment. His only child, a son, lived but a short time. It
may be remarked here that Calvin was far from being un-
susceptible to friendship. With Farel and Viret he was
united in the closest bonds of intimacy. Though schooled
to submission, when he hears of the death of one after
another of his friends, he gives expression to his sorrow,
sometimes in pathetic language. Beza loved him as a
father.

Three years after his expulsion he was recalled to
Geneva by the united voices of the government and
people. The distracted condition of the city caused all
eyes to turn to him as the only hope. Disorder and vice
had been on the increase. Scenes of licentiousness and
violence were witnessed by day and by night in the streets.
The Catholics were hoping to see the old religion re-
stored. There was a prospect that Berne would find its
profit in the anarchical situation of its neighbor, and es-
tablish its control in Geneva. Of the four Syndics who
had been active in the banishment of the preachers, one
had broken his neck by a fall from a window, another
had been executed for murder, and the remaining two
had been banished on suspicion of treason. The con-
sciences of many were alarmed at these occurrences.
Meantime Cardinal Sadolet, Bishop of Carpentras, ad-
dressed to the Senate a very persuasive letter, free from
all acrimony, and couched in a flattering style, for the
purpose of bringing the city back to the fold of the
Catholic Church. To this document Calvin published
a masterly reply, in which he expressed his undying
interest in the welfare of the Genevan Church, and re-
viewed the Protestant controversy with singular force
and clearness. " Here is a work," said Luther, on read-
ing it, " that has hands and feet." The personal remin-
iscences relating to his conversion, which are interwoven,
make it, as a contribution to his biography, only second
in importance to the Preface to the Psalms. It ma.de

CALVIN'S RETURN TO GENEVA. 217

a most favorable impression at Geneva, and an edi-
tion of it was published by the authorities. The city,
torn by faction, with a government too weak to exercise
effective control, turned to the banished preacher, who
had never been without a body of warm adherents, how-
ever overborne in the excitement that attended his expul-
sion. Here was another instance in which Providence
seemed to interpose to baffle his cherished plans, and to
use him for a purpose not his own. He could not think
of going back, without a shudder. The recollection of
his conflicts there, and of the troubles of conscience he
had suffered, was dreadful to him.^ But he could not
long withstand the unanimous opinion of his friends and
the earnest importunities of the Genevan Senate and
peo]»le. To the sohcitations of the deputies who followed
him from Strasburg to Worms, he answered more with
tears than words. His consent was at length obtained,
and once more he took up his abode in Geneva, there to
live for the remainder of his days.

Of the system of ecclesiastical and civil order which
was formed under his influence, only the outlines can here
be given. His idea was that the Church should be dis-
tinct from the State, but that both shovdd be intimately
connected and mutually cooperative for a common end —
the realization of the kingdom of God in the lives of the
people. The Church was to infuse a religious spirit into
the State ; the State was to uphold and foster the inter-
ests of the Church. For the instruction of the people,
preachers, whose qualifications have been put to a thorough
test, must be appointed, and respect for them and atten-
tion to their ministrations must be enforced by law. So
the training of the children in the catechism is indis-
pensable, and this must likewise be secured, if necessary,
by the intervention of the magistrate. The Three Coun-
sils, or Senates, the Little Council, or Council of Twenty -

1 See his Letters, Bonnet, i. 163, 167, 207, 244.

218 JOHN CALVIN AXD THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

five, the Council of Sixty, and the Council of Two Hun-
dred, -which had existed before, were not aboHshed, but
their functions and relative prerogatives were materially
changed. The drift of all the political changes was to
concentrate power in the hands of the Little Council, and
to take it away from the other bodies, and especially from
the General Council, or popular assembly of the citizens.
Ecclesiastical discipline was in the hands of the CoN-
SISTOEY, a body composed of the preachers, who at first
were six in number,and of twice as many laymen ; the lay-
men being nominated by the preachers and chosen an-
nually by the Little Council, but the General Council
having a veto upon their appointment. Calvin thus re-
vived, under a peculiar form, the Eldership in the Church.
It had existed, to be sure, in some of the Zwinglian
Churches, but not as an effective organization. The
preachers were chosen by the ministers already in office ;
they gave proof of their qualifications by publicly preach-
ing a sermon, at which two members of the Little Council
were present. If the ministers approved of the learning of
the candidate, they presented him to the Council, and his
election having been sanctioned by that body, eight days
were given to the people, in which they might bring for-
ward objections if they had any, to his appointment. The
Consistory had jurisdiction in matrimonial causes. To
this body was committed a moral censorship that ex-
tended over the entire life of every inhabitant. It was
a court before which any one might be summoned, and
which could not be treated with contumacy or disre-
spect without bringing upon the offender civil penal-
ties. The power of excommunication was in its hands ;
and excommunication, if it continued beyond a cer-
tain time, was likewise followed by penal consequences.
Though ostensibly purely spiritual in its function, the
Consistory might hand over to the magistrate trans-
gressors whose offenses were deemed to be grave, or who

THE GENEVAN LAWS 219

refused to submit to correction. The city was divided
into districts, and in each of them a preacher and elder
had superintendence, the ordinance being that at least
once in a year every family must be visited, and receive
such admonition, counsel, or comfort, as its condition
might call for. Every sick person was required to send
for the minister. From this vigilant, stringent, univer-
sal supervision there was no escape. There was no
respect for persons ; the high and the low, the rich and
the poor, were alike subjected to one inflexible rule. In
the Consistory, by tacit consent, Calvin took the post of
President. The ministers — the Venerable Company,
as they were styled — met together once a month for
mutual fraternal censure. Candidates for the ministry
were examined and ordained by them. They were to be
kept up to a high standard of professional qualifications
and of conduct. Calvin, it may be observed, felt the im-
portance of an effective delivery : he speaks against the
reading ofsermons.^

In the framing of the civil laws, Calvin had a controll-
ing influence. His legal education quaHfied him for such
a work, and so great was the respect entertained for him
that he was made, not by any effort of his own, the vir-
tual legislator of the city. The minutest affairs engaged
his attention. Regulations for the watching of the gates,
and for the suppression of fires, are found in his hand-
writing. An examination of the Genevan code shows the
strong influence of the Mosaic legislation on Calvin's con-
ception of a well-ordered community. Both the special
statutes and the general theoci-atic character of the He-
brew commonwealth were never out of sight.^ In all
points Calvin did not find it practicable to conform to
his own theories. One of his cardinal principles is that
to the congregation belongs the choice of its religious
teachers ; but it was provided at Geneva that the Col-

1 Henry, ii. 195. 2 Kamfechulte, i. 417.

220 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

legium, or Society of Preachers, should select persons to
fill vacancies, and to the congregation was left only a
veto, which was regarded more as a nominal than a real
prerogative. Whatever may have been the influence of
Calvinism on society, Calvin himself was unfavorable to
democracy.^ It is remarkable that almost at the begin-
ning of his earliest writing, the Commentary on Seneca,
there is an expression of contempt for the populace. His
experiences at Geneva, and especially the dangers to
which his civil as well as ecclesiastical system would be
liable if it were at the disposal of a popular assembly,
confirmed his inclination to an aristocratic or oligarchic
constitution.

Calvin had begun, after his return, with moderation,
with no manifestation of vindictiveness, and without un-
dertaking to remove the other preachers who had been ap-
pointed by the opposite party in his absence. But symp-
toms of disaffection were not long in appearing. The
more the new system was developed in its characteristic
features, the more loud grew the opposition. Let us
glance at the parties in this long continued conflict.
Against Calvin were the Libertines, as they were styled.
They consisted of two different classes. There were the
fanatical Antinomians, an offshoot from the sect of the
Free Spirit, who combined pantheistic theology with a
lax morality, in which the marriage relation was practi-
cally subverted and a theory allied to the modern " free
love " was more or less openly avowed and practiced.
Their number was sufficient to form a dangerous faction,
and it appears to be proved that among them were per-
sons in affluent circumstances and possessed of much in-
fluence. United with the " Spirituels," as this class of
Libertines was termed, were the Patriots, as they styled
themselves ; those who were for maintaining the demo-
<}ratic constitution, and jealous of the Frenchmen and

1 For his opinion of "the people," see Kampschulte, i. 419.

PARTIES IN GENEVA. 221

other foreigners who had migrated in large numbers to
Geneva, and to whom the supporters of Calvin were for
giving the rights of citizens. The licentious free-thinkers,
the native Genevese of democratic proclivities aiid op-
posed to the granting of political power to the immigrants,
and the multitude who chafed under the new restraints
put upon them, gradually combined against the new sys-
tem and the man who was its principal author. On the
other side were those who preferred the order, indepen-
dence, morality, and temporal prosperity which were the
fruit of the new order of things, and, in the existing cir-
cumstances, were inseparable from it, and especially all
who thoroughly accepted the Protestant system of doc-
trine as expounded by Calvin. In the ranks of this party,
which maintained its ascendency, though not without
perilous struggles, were the numerous foreigners, who had
been, for the most part, driven from their homes by perse-
cution, and had been drawn to Geneva by the presence of
Calvin and by the religious system established there. On
a single occasion not less than three hundred of these were
naturalized. That wide-spread disaffection should exist,
was inevitable. The attempt was made to extend over a
city of twenty thousand inhabitants, wonted to freedom
and little fond of restraint, the strict discipline of a Cal-
vinistic church. Not only profaneness and drunkenness,
but recreations which had been considered innocent, and
divergent theological doctrines, if the effort was made to
disseminate them, were severely punished. In 1568,
under the stern code which was established under the
auspices of Calvin, a child was beheaded for striking its
father and mother. A child sixteen years old for attempt-
ing to strike its mother, was sentenced to death, but, on
account of its youth, the sentence was commuted, and
having been publicly whipped, with a cord about its neck,
it was banished from the city. In 1565 a woman was
chastised with rods for singing secular songs to the melody

222 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

of the Psalms. In 1579 a cultivated gentleman was im-
prisoned for twenty-four hours because he was found read
ing Poggio, and having been compelled to burn the book,
he was expelled from the city. Dancing, and the man-
ufacture or use of cards, and of nine-pins, brought down
upon the delinquent the vengeance of the laws. Even
those who looked upon a dance were not exempt from
pvmishment. The prevalence of gambling and the in-
decent occurrences at balls furnished the ground for these
stringent enactments. To give the names of Catholic
saints to children was a penal offense. In criminal pro-
cesses, torture was freely used, according to the custom
of the times, to elicit testimony and confession ; and death
by fire was the penalty of heresy. It is no wonder that
the prisons became filled and the executioner was kept
busy.^

The suppression of outspoken religious dissent by force
was an inevitable result of the principles on which the
Genevan state was established. The Reformers can never
be fairly judged unless it is kept in mind that they were
strangers to the limited idea of the proper function of the
state, which has come into vogue in more recent times.
The ancient religions were all state religions. It was
a universal conception that a nation, like a family, must
profess but one faith, and practice the same religious
rites. The toleration of the ancients, which has been
lauded by modern sceptical writers, was only such as
polytheism requires. The worship of a nation was sa-
cred within its territory, and among its own people. But
to introduce foreign rites, or make proselytes of Roman
citizens, was contrary to Roman law, and was severely
punished. This policy was conformed to the general
feeling of antiquity. The early Christian fathers, as
Tertullian and Cyprian, speak against coercion in matters
of religion.2 After the downfall of heathenism, the suc-

1 Kampschulte (i. 426, 428) gives statistics.

2 The passages are given in Limborch, Historia Inquisitiunis, i. li.

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 223

sessors of Constantine enforced conformity to the religion
of the Empire ; and Constantine himself did the same
within the pale of the Christian Church, as is seen in the
Arian controversy. There was persecution both on the
orthodox and on the Arian side. Severe laws were enacted
against the ManicliEeans and Donatists. Augustine, who
in his earlier writings had opposed the use of force for the
spread of truth, or the extirpation of error, altered his
views in the Donatist controversy. He would not have
capital punishment inflicted, but would confine the penal-
ties of heresy to imprisonment or banishment, the confis-
cation of goods and civil disabilities. Theodosius has the
unenviable distinction of incorporating the theory of per-
secution in an elaborate code, which threatened death to
heretics ; and in his reign the term Inquisitors of the
faith first appears.^ The feeling of the necessity of uni-
formity in religious belief and worship, and of the obhga-
tion of rulers to punish and to exterminate infidelity and
heresy within their dominions, was universal in the Mid-
dle Ages. Innocent III. enforced this obligation upon
princes under the threat of excommunication, and of the
forfeiture of their crowns and dominions. In 1208 he
established the Inquisition. It is true that the Church
kept up the custom of asking the magistrate to spare the
life of the condemned heretic ; but it was an empty for-
mality. The Church inculcated the lawfulness of the
severest punishments in such cases. Leo X., in his Bull
against Luther, in 1520, exphcitly condemns the proposi-
tion: "Ha3reticos comburere est contra voluntatem Spiri-
tus." No historical student needs to be told what an in-
calculable amount of evil has been wrought by CathoUcs
and by Protestants, from a mistaken belief in the perpetual
validity of the Mosaic civil legislation, and from a con-

1 For the history of persaiution, see Limborch, i. iii; Gibbon, ch. xxvii. ; the
art. " Hreresie " in Herzog, Real-Encycl. d. TheoL; Lecky, History of national-
ism in Europe, ch. iv. (ii.).

224 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

founding of the spirit of the old dispensation with that of
the new — an overlooking of the progressive character of
Divine Revelation. The Reformers held that offenses
against the first table of the law, not less than the second,
fall under the jurisdiction of the magistrate. To protect
and foster pure religion, and to put down false religion,
was that part of his office to which he was most sacredly-
bound. Occasional utterances, it is true, which seem
harbingers of a better day, fell from the lips of Prot-
estant leaders. Zwingle was not disposed to persecution.
Luther said, in reference to the prohibition of his version
of the New Testament : " Over the souls of men, God
can and will have no one rule, save Himself alone ; " and
in his book against the Anabaptists, he says : " It is not
right that they should so shockingly murder, burn, and
cruelly slay such wretched people ; they should let every
one believe what he will ; with the Scripture and God's
Word, they should check and withstand them ; with fire
they will accomplish little. The executioners on this
plan would be the most learned doctors." ^ But these
noble words rather express the dictates of Luther's hu-
mane impulses than definite principles by wliich he would
consistently abide. It is often charged upon the Protes-
tants themselves as a flagrant inconsistency that whilst
they were persecuted themselves, they were willing, and
sometimes eager, to persecute others. So far is Calvin
from being impressed with this incongruity, that he wi'ites :
" Seeing that the defenders of the Papacy are so bitter
and bold in behalf of their superstitions, that in their
atrocious fury they shed the blood of the innocent, it
should shame Christian magistrates that in the protection
of certain truth, they are entirely destitute of spirit." ^
The repressive measures of Catholic rulers were an exam-
ple for Protestant rulers to emulate ! There were voices
occasionally raised in favor of toleration. The case of

1 Walch, X. 461, 374. 2 Bonnet, letter cccxxt.

CONTESTS OF CALVIN. 225

Servetus, probably, tended more than any single event to
produce wiser and more charitable views on this subject.
Free-thinkers, who had no convictions for which they
would die themselves — the apostles of indifference —
were naturally early in the field in favor of the rights of
opinion. But religious toleration could never obtain a
general sway, until the limitations of human responsi-
bility, and the limited function to which the State is
properly restricted, were better understood. A more en-
lightened charity, which makes larger allowance for diver-
sities of intellectual view, is doubtless a powerful auxil-
iary in effecting this salutary change.^

The conflicts through which Calvin had to pass in up-
holding and firmly establishing the Genevan theocracy,
would have broken down any other than a man of iron.
Personal indignities were heaped upon him. The dogs
in the street were named after him. Every device was
undertaken in order to intimidate him. As he sat at his
study table late at night, a gun would be discharged under
his window. In one night fifty shots were fired before
his house. On one occasion he walked into the midst of
an excited mob and offered his breast to their daggers.

The case of Bolsec, who was arrested and banished for
violently attacking the preachers on the subject of pre-
destination, has already been referred to. Another in-

1 Lecky, in common with other writers at the present day, makes persecution
the necessary result of undoubting convictions on the subject of religion, coupled
with a belief that moral obliquity is involved in holding opposite views. These
writers would make scepticism essential to the exercise of toleration. See
Lecky's quotation from C. J. Fox (vol. ii. p. 20). But if this be true, how shall
we account for the opposition to the spirit of persecution, which these very writ-
ers attribute to the founders of Christianity — to Christ and the Apostles ? Much
that is ascribed to the influence of "Rationalism " is really due to the increas-
ing power of Christianity, and to the better understanding of its precepts, and
of the limits of the responsibility of society for the opinions and character of its
members. There are two antidotes to uncharitableness and narrowness. The
one is liberal culture; the other is that high degree of religion — of charitv —
which is delineated by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians xiii. Either of these remediei
against intolerance is consistent with a living, earnest faith.
15

226 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION*

stance somewhat similar was the controversy with Cas-
tellio. CastelHo was a highly cultivated scholar whom
Calvin had brought from Strasburg to take charge of the
Geneva school. He was desirous of becoming a minister,
but Calvin objected on account of his views on the Song
of Solomon, which he thought should be struck from the
canon, and his opposition to the passage of the creed re-
specting the descent of Christ into hell. The result was
that Castellio at length made a public attack upon the
preachers, charging them with intolerance, and less justly,
with other grave faults. He accused Calvin of a love of
power. Whether the charge were true, Calvin wrote to
Farel, he was willing to leave it to God to judge. The
result was that Castellio, who had many points of excel-
lence, was expelled from Geneva, and afterwards prose-
cuted in print a heated controversy with Calvin and Beza.^
But these and all other instances of alleged persecution are
overshadowed by the more notorious case of Servetus.
Michael Servetus was born at Villeneuve, in Spain, in
1509, and was therefore of the same age as Calvin. Ac-
cording to his own statement, he was attached, for a
while, when a youth, to the service of Quintana, the chap-
lain of Charles V., and witnessed the stately ceremonies
at the coronation of the Emperor at Bologna. He was
sent by his father to Toulouse to study law ; but his mind
turned to theological speculation, and, in connection with
other scholars of his acquaintance, he read the Scriptures
and the Fathers, especially the writers of the ante-Nicene
period. He also delved in judicial astrology, in which
he was a believer. Of an original, inquisitive mind, ad-
venturous and independent in liis thinking, he convinced

1 When Calvin was excited, he was a match for Luther in the use of vituper
ative epithets. The opprobrious names which he applies to Castellio the latter
collects in a long list. The origin of Calvin's disputes with Castellio — Calvin's
dissatisfaction with his translation of the New Testament — is given in the lettei
to Virct, Bonnet, i. 326. See, also, i. 316, 379, 392. A fair account of the con-
troversy is given by Dyer, 109 seq.

THE CAREER OF SERVETUS. 227

himself of the groundlessness of the claims of the Roman
Catholic Church ; but he was not satisfied with the Prot-
estant theology, especially on the subject of the Trinity.
Going to Basel he formed an acquaintance with CEcolam-
padius, who expressed a strong dislike of his notions.
Zwingle, whom CEcolampadius consulted, said that such
notions would subvert the Christian religion, but seems to
have discountenanced a resort to force for the suppression
of them.i The book of Servetus on the " Errors of the
Trinity," appeared in 1531. In it he defended a view
closely alhed to the Sabellian theory, and an idea of the
incarnation in which the common belief of two natures in
Christ had no place. He endeavored to draw Calvin into
a correspondence, but became angry at the manner in
which Calvin treated him and his speculations. He wrote
Calvin a number of letters well stored with invectives
against the prevalent conceptions of Christian doctrine,
as well as against Calvin personally. At length he re-
turned to Paris, where he had previously studied at the
same time that Calvin was there, and under the assumed
name of Villanovus, derived from the village where he
was born, he prosecuted his studies in natural science and
medicine, for which he had a remarkable aptitude. He
divined the true method of the circulation of the blood,
almost anticipating the later discovery of Harvey .^ As
a practitioner of medicine he stood in high repute. After
repeatedly changing his name and residence, he finally
took up his abode in Vienne, in the south of France,
where he was hospitably received by the Archbishop, and
long lived in the lucrative practice of his profession. Dur-
ing all this time, in the aggregate more than twenty
years, he conformed outwardly to the Catholic Church,
attended mass, and was not suspected of heresy. Here
he finished a book, not less obnoxious than the first, en-

1 Mosheim, Geschichte Servets, p. 17.

2 Henry, Leben Culcins, iii. Beil. 59.

228 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

titled " The Restoration of Christianity " — Christian-
ismi Restitutio — and not being able to get it printed in
Basel, he bribed the Archbishop's own printer and two of
his assistants, to print it for him secretly. He superin-
tended the press, and sent copies of the anonymous book
to various places for sale, not forgetting to despatch one
or more copies as presents to the Genevan theologians. In
this work his conception of the person of Christ is some-
what modified ; its doctrine makes a nearer approach to
Pantheistic theories. ^ The two grand hmdrances in the
way of the spread of Christianity were declared to be the
doctrine of the Trinity and that of Infant Baptism. The
manuscript of the first draft of the work had been sent to
Calvin at an earlier day. A French refugee residing at
Geneva, by the name of Guillaume Trie, in a letter to An-
toine Arneys, a Roman Catholic relative at Lyons, made
reference to Servetus as the author of this pestiferous
book, and as, nevertheless, enjoying immmiity in a
Church that pretended to be zealous for the extirpation
of heresy. Arneys carried the information to the Arch-
bishop of Lyons. Servetus was arrested ; and an ecclesi-
astical court was constituted for his trial. Some pages of
an annotated copy of the " Institutes," which he had long
before sent to Calvin, and a parcel of his letters were
transmitted from Geneva by Trie, for the purpose of es-
tablishing the charge which he had indirectly caused to
be made. Trie prevailed on Calvin to grant him this
additional evidence. Servetus, and the prmters with him,
had sworn that they knew nothing of the book which
they had published. Servetus also swore that he was
not the person who had written the book on the " Errors
of the Trinity." But when the Genevan documents ar-

1 " Es gibtkaum ein anderes System, das so sehr wie das Servets als ein panthe-
istiches bezeichnet zu werden verdient in dem gewohnlich mit diesem Worte
verbundeneu Sinn." — Baur, Die ckristl. Lehre v. d. Dreiei'u/lceit, etc., iii. i. 2,
p. 86.

SERVETUS AT GENEVA. 229

rived, he saw that conviction was inevitable, and contrived
to escape from his jailer. The Vienne court had to con-
tent itself with seizing his property and burning his
effigy. We know Calvin's disposition towards him ; for
in a letter to Farel he had once said that if his authority
was of any avail, in case Servetus were to come to
Geneva, he should not go away alive.^

Servetus, having escaped from Vienne, after a few
months actually appeared in Geneva and took lodgings in
an inn near one of the gates. He had been there for a
month without being recognized,when Calvin was informed
of his presence, and procured his arrest. A scribe of Cal-
vin made the accusation. Ultimately, Calvin and all the
other preachers were brought face to face with the pris-
oner, before the Senate which was to sit in judgment upon
him. In the subsequent proceedings he defended his
theological opinions with much acuteness, but with a
strange outpouring of violent denunciation.''^ His propo-
sitions relative to the participation of all things in the
Deity, and the identity of the world with God, although
he made the embodiment of the primordial essence in
the world to spring from a voHtion, were couched in
phraseology which made them seem to his accusers in the
highest degree dangerous and repulsive.^ He caricatured
the Church doctrine of the Trinity by the most offensive
comparisons. His ideas were out of relation to the exist-
ing philosophy and theology, and were an anticipation of
phases of speculation of a much later date. His physical

1 February 13, 1546. Bonnet, ii. 19.

2 Dyer, a writer not at all disposed to excuse Calvin, says (p. 337] of the in-
dorsements made by Servetus on the list of thirty-eight heretical propositions
which Calvin had extracted from his writings : " The replies of Servetus to
this document are very insolent, and seem almost like the productions of a mad-
man." These replies may be read in the new edition of Calvin's works, viii.
519 seq.

3 "Man kann sich daher nicht wundern, dass auch die Gegner an diesem sc
offen vor Augen liegenden Character des Systems den grcissten Anstoss nah-
men." — Baur, Ibid., p. 103.

230 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

theories were interwoven with his theology. His maxiin,
that " no force acts except by contact," was connected
with his doctrine of the substantial communication of the
Deity to all things ; and he told Calvin contemptuously
that if he only understood natural science, he could com-
prehend this subject. While he was undergoing his
trial, a messenger arrived from the tribunal at Vienne to
demand their escaped prisoner. There was no safety for
him with Papist or Protestant ! He chose to remain and
take his chance where he was. It is not improbable that
his boldness and vehemence were inspired by suggestions
from the Libertine party, and that he felt that they stood
at his back.^ Calvin was far from being omnipotent in
Geneva at this time. He was, in fact, in the very crisis
of his conflict with his adversaries. It was on the 27th
of August, 1553, that he denounced Servetus from the
pulpit; he had been arrested on the 13th of the same
month. On the 3d of September, Calvin refused the
Lord's Supper to the younger Berthelier, a leader of the
Libertines. So strong was this party, that had the cause
of Servetus been carried, as was attempted, to the Comicil
of One Hvmdred, Servetus would have escaped. He
was extremely bold, and demanded that Calvin should be
banished for bringing a malicious accusation, and that his
property should be handed over to him. Contrary to his
expectation, he was condemned. He called Calvin to his
prison, and asked pardon for his personal treatment of
him ; but all attempts to extort from him a retraction
of his doctrines, whether made by Calvin or bj^ Farel
before the execution of the sentence, were ineffectual.
He adhered to his opinions with heroic constancy, and
was burned at the stake on the morning of the 27th of
October, 1553.

1 Giiizot expresses the decided opinion that Servetus went to Geneva relying
on the Libertines, and that they expected support from him. St. Louis and
Calvin, p. 313. But there is no good evidence of any previous understanding
between him and them.

CALVIN AND SERVETUS. 231

On the one hand, it is not trne that Calvin arranged
that the mode of his death should be needlessly painful.
He made the attempt to have it mitigated ; probably
that the sword might be used instead of the fagot. And
notwithstanding the previous threat, to which reference
has been made, it is likely that he expected, and he had
reason to expect, that Servetus would recant. On the
other hand, it cannot be denied that he yielded to the
solicitation of Trie, and supplied the documentary evi-
dence which went from Geneva to the court at Vienne.
He caused the arrest of Servetus at Geneva, and it is a
violation of historical truth to say that he did not desire
his execution.! -phe infliction of capital punishment on
one whom he considered a blasphemer, as well as an as-
sailant of the fundamental truths of Christianity, was in
his judgment right. In the defense of the doctrine of
the Trinity against Servetus, which Calvin published in
1554, he enters into a formal argument in favor of the
capital punishment of contumacious heretics by the civil
authority. He thinks that if Roman Cathohc rulers slay
the innocent, this is no reason why better and more en-
lightened magistrates should spare the guilty. The whole
discussion proves that the arguments for toleration, both
from Scripture and reason, were not unknown to him, for
he tries to answer them. He makes his appeal, in great
part, to the Old Testament. Guizot thus pronounces upon
the case of Servetus and Calvin : " It was their tragical
destiny to enter into mortal combat as the champions of
two great causes. It is my profovmd conviction that
Calvin's cause was the good one ; that it was the cause
of morality, of social order, of civilization. Servetus

1 We have already cited his letter to Farel, of February 13, 154G. After the ar-
rest of Servetus, Calvin wrote to Farel (August 20, 1553), saying: "I hope
(spero) the sentence will at least be capital ; but desire the atrocity of the punish-
ment to be abated." He wished him to be put to death, but not by tire. Calviii
published an elaborate work in defense of the proceeding. Henry has mii>-
translated the above passage: see Dyer, Life of Calnn, p. 3-39.

232 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

was the representative of a system false in itself, super-
ficial under the pretense of science, and destructive alike
of social dignity in the individual, and of moral order in
human society. In their disastrous encounter, Calvin
was conscientiously faithful to what he believed to be
truth and duty ; but he was hard, much more influenced
by violent animosity than he imagined, and devoid alike
of sympathy and generosity. Servetus was sincere and
resolute in his conviction, but he was a frivolous, pre-
sumptuous, vain, and envious man, capable, in time of
need, of resorting to artifice and untruth. Servetus ob-
tained the honor of being one of the few martyrs to in-
tellectual liberty ; whilst Calvin, who was undoubtedly
one of those who did most toward the establishment of
religious liber t}"", had the misfortune to ignore his adver-
sary's right to liberty of belief."^ The forbearance of
Calvin toward Laelius Socinus has been sometimes con-
sidered a proof that he Avas actuated by personal vindic-
tiveness in relation to Servetus. But Calvin, widely as
he might differ from Socinus, recognized in him a sobriety,
a moral respectability, which he wholly missed in the
restless, visionary, passionate physician of Villeneuve.
It was the diversity of character in the two men, and the
different methods which they adopted to spread their
doctrines, much more than any resentment which Calvin
might feel in consequence of the attacks of Servetus —
whom he looked down upon as a wild, mischievous
dreamer — that made him so courteous and lenient to
Socinus.

The execution of Servetus, with a few notable excep-
tions, was approved by the Christian world. Bullinger,
the friend and successor of Zwingle, justified it. Even
Melancthon gave it his sanction. The rise of infidel and
fanatical sects in the path of the Reformation, as an inci-
dental consequence of the movement, and the disposition

1 St. Louis and Calvin, c. xix. p. 326.

CONFLICTS OF CALVIN. 233

of opponents to identify it with these manifestations,
made the Protestants the more sohcitous to demonstrate
their hostihty to them, and their fideUty to the principal
articles of the Christian faith. In rejecting infant bap-
tism, and in the terms of his proposition respecting the
identity of the world with God, Servetus was at one with
the Libertine free-thinkers. " He held with the Ana-
baptists," said the Genevan Senate, and must suffer ; ^ al-
though Servetus asserted that he had always condemned
the opposition made by the Anabaptists to the civil
magistrate.

The conflict with the Libertine faction did not end with
the condemnation of Servetus. The courage and determi-
natic-n of a Hildebrand were required to stem the opposi-
tion which Calvin had to meet. An attempt to overthrow
the power of the Consistory, by interposing the authority
of the Senate, was only baffled by his resolute refusal
to admit to the sacrament persons judged to be unworthy.
Finally, the efforts of the Libertine party culminated
in 1555, in an armed conspiracy under the lead of Perrin,
who had held the highest offices in the city ; and the
complete overthrow of this insurrection was the death-
blow of the party. In the preface to ihe Psalms, Calvin
makes a pathetic reference to the stormy scenes which he
— by nature " unwarlike and timorous" — had been
compelled to pass through ; to the sorrow which he felt
in the destruction of those whom he would have pre-
ferred to save ; and to the multiphed calumnies that his
enemies persistently heaped upon him.^ " To my power,"

1 Upon the life and opinions of Servetus, and the circumstances of his trial
and death, see Mosheim, Ketzergeschichte, ii. (1748), and Neue Nachrichten von
dem beriihmten span. Arzte, M. Serveto (1750); Trechse], Die Anfi-trinitarier,
and art. " Servet " in Herzog's Real-Enc. ; Dyer, Life of Calvin, chs. ix. and x. ;
Henry, Leben Calvins, iii. i. ; Baur, Die ckristl. Lehre von d. Dreieinigkeit, etc.,
t. iii. p. 54 seq.; Dorner, Entwicldungscli. d. Lehre von d. Person Christi,l\. 649
seq. The letters of Servetus to Calvin, together with the Minutes of his Trial
at Geneva, are given in the new edition of the Works of Calvin (by Baum,
Cunitz, and Keuss), vol. viii. (1870).

'^ Kampschulte states that when the pestilence raged at Geneva in 1543,Calvi»

234 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

he says, " which they envy — O that they were the suc-
cessors ! " "If I cannot persuade them while I am
alive that I am not avaricious, my death, at least, will
convince them of it." His entire property after his death
amounted to less than two hundred dollars !

At the same time that he was waging this domestic
contest, he was exerting a vast influence as a religious
teacher within the city and over all Europe. Besides
preaching every day of each alternate week, he gave
weekly three theological lectvires. His memory was so
extensive that if he had once seen a person, he recognized
him immediately years afterwards, and if interrupted
while dictating, he could resume his task, after an inter-
val of hours, at the point where he had left it, without
aid from his amanuensis. Hence, he was able to dis-
course, even upon the prophets, where numerous histori-
cal references were involved, without the aid of a scrap of
paper, and with nothing before him but the text. Being
troubled with asthma, he spoke slowly, so that his lec-
tures, as well as many of his sermons, were taken down,
word for word, as they were delivered. Hundreds of
auditors from the various countries of Europe flocked to
Geneva to listen to his instructions. Protestant exiles in
great numbers, many of whom were men of influence, of
whom Knox was one, found a refuge there, and went back
to their homes bearing the impress which he had stamped
upon them. Under Calvin's influence, Geneva became to
the Romanic, what Wittenberg was to the Lutheran
nations. The school of which Castellio was the head did
not flourish after he left it ; but, in 1558, a gymnasium
was established, and in the following year the Academy

declined, from fear, to go to the pest-house to minister to the sick and dj'ing.
(Johann Calvin, i. 484.) But Beza, than whom there is no better witness, states
that Calvin offered himself for this service, but the Senate would not permit
him to undertake it : Vita Cnlvini, ix. For other contemporary proof, see Bon-
net, Letters of Calvin, i. 334, n. 3. See also Henry, ii. 43. But Kampschulte
himself quotes the act of the Council, withholding Calvin from this service,
which involved almost certain death (p. 486, n. 2).

LAST DAYS OF CALVIN. 235

of Theology was founded, and Beza placed over it. The
writings of Calvin were circulated in every country of
Europe. By his correspondence, moreover, his powerful
influence was brought to bear directly upon the leaders of
the reformatory movement everywhere. In England and
France, in Scotland and Poland and Italy, on the roll of
his correspondents were princes and nobles, as well as
theologians. His counsels were called for and prized in
matters of critical importance. He writes to Edward VI.
and Elizabeth, to Somerset and Cranmer. But especially
in the affairs of the Reformation in France his agency
was predominant. Geneva was the hearthstone of French
Protestantism. It was there that its preachers were
trained. The principal men in the Huguenot party
looked up to Calvin as to an oracle. But he was
strongly averse to a resort to arms and to a dependence
on political agencies and expedients. His instincts were,
in this respect, in full accord with those of Luther. It
would be impossible to describe his connection with the
Huguenot struggle, mthout narrating the entire history of
the French Reformation.

In the concluding years of Calvin's life, he had the
satisfaction of seeing Geneva delivered from faction, and
the institutions of education, which he had planted, in a
flourishing condition. The grievous maladies that afflicted
him did not move him to diminish the prodigious labors
which, to other men in like circumstances, would have been
unendurable. It had been his habit when the day had
been consumed in giving sermons and lectures ; in the ses-
sions of the consistory over which he presided ; in attend-
ing upon the Senate, at their request, to take part in their
deliberations ; in receiving and answering letters that
poured in upon him from every quarter ; in conferring with
the numerous visitors who sought his advice or came to
him from different countries — it had been his habit,
when night came, to devote himself, with a sense of reKef,

236 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

to the studies which were ever most accordant with his
taste, and to the composition of his books. For a long
time, in the closing period of his life, he took but one
meal in a day, and this was often omitted. He studied
for hours in the morning, preached and then lectured, be-
fore taking a morsel of food. Too weak to sit up, he dic-
tated to an amanuensis from his bed, or transacted busi-
ness with those who came to consult him. When his
body was utterly feeble, when he was reduced to a shad-
ow, his mind lost none of its clearness or energy. No
complaint in reference to his physical sufferings was heard
from him. His lofty and intrepid spirit triumphed over
all physical infirmity. From his sick-bed, he regulated
the affairs of the French Reformation. When he could
no longer stand upon his feet, he was carried to church to
partake of the Lord's Supper, and to a session of the
Senate. Seeing that his end was near, he desked to meet
this body for the last time. A celebrated artist has de-
picted the interview upon the canvas. The councilors
gathered about his bed, and he addressed them. He
thanked them for the tokens of honor which they had
granted to him, and craved their forgiveness for outbreak-
ings of anger which they had treated with so much for-
bearance. He could say with truth, that whatever might
be his faults, he had served their republic with his whole
soul. He had taught, he said, with no feeling of uncer-
tainty respecting his doctrine, but sincerely and honestly,
according to the Word of God. " Were it not so," he
added, " I well know that the wrath of God would im-
pend over my head." Courteously and solemnly, in a
paternal tone, he warned them of the need of humility
and of faithful vigilance to keep off the dangers that
might threaten the State. " I know," he said, " the mind
and walk of each one of you, and know that ye have all
need of admonition. Much is wanting even to the best
of you." He concluded with a fervent prayer, and took

LAST DAYS OF CALVIN. 287

each one by the hand, as with tears they parted from him.
Two days afterwards, he met the clergy of the city and of
the neighborhood. He sat up in his bed and, having
offered prayer, spoke to them. He began by saying that
it might be thought that he was not in so bad a case as
he supposed. " But I assure you," he added, " in all my
former illnesses and sufferings, I have never felt myself
so weak and sinking as now. When they lay me down
upon the bed, my senses fail and I become faint." He
referred to his past career in Geneva. When he came to
this Church there was preaching, and that was all. They
hunted up the images and burnt them, but of a Reforma-
tion there was nothing ; all was insubordination and dis-
order. He had been obliged to go through tremendous
conflicts. Sometimes in the night, he said, to terrify him,
fifty or sixty shots had been fired before his door.
" Think," he said, " what an impression that must make
upon a poor scholar, shy and timid as I then was, and at
the bottom have always been." This last statement re-
specting his natural disposition, he repeated two or three
times with emphasis. He adverted to his banishment
and stay in Strasburg, but on his return the difficulties
were not diminished. They had set their dogs on him,
with the cry : " Seize him ! seize him ! " and his clothes
and his flesh had been torn by them. " Although I am
nothing," he proceeded to say, " I know that I have pre-
vented more than three hundred riots which would have
desolated Geneva." He asked their pardon for his many
faults ; in particular for his quickness, vehemence, and
readiness to be angry. In regard to his teaching and his
writings, he could say that God had given him the grace
to go to work earnestly and systematically, so that he had
not knowingly perverted or erroneously interpreted a
single passage of the Scriptures. He had written for no
personal end, but only to promote the honor of God. He
gave them various exliortai ions relating to the obliga-

238 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION.

tions of their office ; then took them each by the hand ;
and " we parted from him," says Beza, " with our eyes
bathed in tears, and our hearts full of unspeakable grief."
He died on the 27th of May, 1564. His piercing eye
retained its brilliancy to the last. Apart from this, his
face had long worn the look of death, and its appearance,
as we are informed by Beza, was not perceptibly changed
after the spirit had left the body. His last days were of
a piece with his Hfe. His whole course has been com-
pared by Vinet to the growth of one rind of a tree from
another, or to a chain of logical sequences. He was en-
dued with a marvelous power of understanding, although
the imagination and sentiments were less roundly de-
veloped. His systematic spirit fitted him to be the
founder of an enduring school of thought. In this char-
acteristic he may be compared with Aquinas. He has
been appropriately styled the Aristotle of the Reforma-
tion. He was a perfectly honest man. He subjected his
will to the eternal rule of right, as far as he could dis-
cover it. His motives were pure. He felt that God was
near him, and sacrificed everything to obey the direction
of Providence. The fear of God ruled in his soul ; not
a slavish fear, but a principle such as animated the
prophets of the Old Covenant. The combination of his
qualities was such, that he could not fail to attract pro-
found admiration and reverence from one class of minds,
and excite mtense antipathy in another. There is no
one of the Reformers who is spoken of, at this late day,
with so much personal feeling, either of regard or aver-
sion. But whoever studies his life and writings, especially
the few passages in which he lets us into his confidence
and appears to invite our sympathy, will acquire a grow-
ing sense of his intellectual and moral greatness, and a
tender consideration for his errors.

In Calvinism, considered as a theological system, and
contrasted with other types of Protestant theology, thero

CALVINISM AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 239

is one characteristic, pervading principle. It is that of
the sovereignty* of God ; not only his unlimited control,
within the sphere of mind, as well as of matter, but the
determination of His will, as the ultimate cause of the
salvation of some, and of the abandonment of others to
perdition.

In the constitution which Calvin created at Geneva, as
it is seen in the light which the lapse of three centuries
casts upon it, were two capital errors. First, the juris-
diction of the Church, its discipline over its members, was
carried into the details of conduct, extended over personal
and domestic life, to such a degree as unwarrantably to
curtail individual liberty. Secondly, the power of coer-
cion that was given to the civil authority subverted
freedom in religious opinion and worship.

How is it, then, that Calvinism is acknowledged, even
by its foes, to have promoted powerfully the cause of
civil liberty ? One reason lies in the boundary line which
it drew between Church and State. Calvinism would
not surrender the peculiar functions of the Church to the
civil authority .1 Whether the Church, or the Govern-
ment, should regulate the administration of the Sacra-
ment, and admit or reject communicants, was the ques-
tion which Calvin fought out with the authorities at Gen-
eva. In this feature, Calvinism differed from the rela-
tion of the civil rulers to the Church, as established
under the auspices of Zwingle, as well as of Luther, and
from the Anglican system which originated under Henry
VIII. In its theory of the respective powers of the
Church, and of the Magistrate, Calvinism approximated
to the traditional view of the Catholic Church. In
France, in Holland, in Scotland, in England, wherever
Calvinism was planted, it had no scruples about resisting
the tyranny of civil rulers. This principle, in the long

1 Calvin condemns Henry VIII. for styling himself the head of the Anglican
Church. Kampschulte, i. 271.

240 JOHN CALVIN AND THE GENEVAN REFORMATION

run, would inevitably conduce to the progress of civil
freedom. It is certain that the distinction between
Church and State, which was recognized from the con-
version of Constantine, notwithstanding the long ages of
intolerance and persecution that were to follow, was the
first step, the necessary condition, in the development of
religious liberty. First, it must be settled that the State
shall not stretch its power over the Church, within its
proper sphere ; next, that the State shall not lend its
power to the Church, as an executioner of ecclesiastical
laws.

A second reason why Calvinism has been favorable to
civil liberty, is found in the republican character of its
church organization. Laymen shared power with min-
isters. The people, the body of the congregation, took
an active and responsible part in the choice of the clergy,
and of all other officers. At Geneva, the alhance of the
Church with the civil authority, and the circumstances
in which Calvin was placed, reduced to a considerable
extent the real power of the people in church affairs.
Calvin did not realize his own theory. But elsewhere,
especially in countries where Calvinism had to encounter
the hostility of the State, the democratic tendencies of
the system had full room for development. Men who
were accustomed to rule themselves in the Church, would
claim the same privilege in the commonwealth.

Another source of the influence of Calvinism, in ad-
vancing the cause of civil liberty, has been derived from
its theology. The sense of the exaltation of the Al-
mighty Ruler, and of his intimate connection with the
minutest incidents and obligations of human life, which
is fostered by this theology, dwarfs all earthly potentates.
An intense spirituality, a consciousness that this life is
but an infinitesimal fraction of human existence, dissipates
the feeling of personal homage for men, however high
their station, and dulls the lustre of all earthly grandeur.

CALVINISM AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 241

Calvinism and Romanism are the antipodes of each
other. Yet, it is curious to observe that the effect of
these opposite systems upon the attitude of men towards
the civil authority, has often been not dissimilar. But
the Calvinist, unlike the Romanist, dispenses with a hu-
man priesthood, which has not only often proved a power-
ful direct auxiliary to temporal rulers, but has educated
the sentiments to a habit of subjection, which renders
submission to such rulers more facile, and less easy to
shake off.

19

CHAPTER Vm.

THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

The long contest for Galilean rights had lowered the
prestige of the popes in France, but it had not weakened
the Catholic Church, which was older than the monarchy
itself, and, in the feeling of the people, was indissolubly
associated with it.^ The College of the Sorbonne, or the
Theological Faculty at Paris, and the Parliament, which
had together maintained Galilean liberty, were united in
stern hostility to all doctrinal innovations. The Concordat
concluded between Francis I. and Leo X., after the battle
of Marignano, gave to the King the right of presentation
to vacant benefices ; to the Pope, the first-fruits. It ex-
cited profound discontent, and was only registered by
Parliament after prolonged resistance and under a pro-
test. It abohshed the Pragmatic Sanction, which had
been deemed the charter of Galilean independence ; but
it weakened the Catholic Church, only as it led to the
introduction of incompetent, unworthy persons, favorites of
the court, into ecclesiastical offices, and thus increased the
necessity for reform.^ In Southern France a remnant of
the Waldenses had survived, and the recollection of the
Catharists was still preserved in popular songs and leg-
ends. But the first movements towards reform emanated
from the Humanist culture.

A literary and scientific spirit was awakened in France

1 Ranke, Franzosische Geschichte vornehmlich im 16. u. 17. Jahrhundert, i. 110.

2 On the corruption consequent upon the Concordat, see Kanke, Franzosischt
(ieschichte, i. 131.

JACQUES LEF^VRE. 243

through the lively intercourse with Italy, which subsisted
under Louis XII. and Francis I. By Francis especially,
Italian scholars and artists were induced in large num-
bers to take up their abode in France. Frenchmen like-
wise visited Italy and brought home the classical culture
which they acquired there. Among the scholars who
cultivated Greek was Budaeus, the foremost of them,
whom Erasmus styled the " wonder of France." After
the " Peace of the Dames " was concluded at Cambray,
in 1529, when Francis surrendered Italy to Charles V.,
a throng of patriotic Italians who feared or hated the
Spanish rule, streamed over the Alps and gave a new
impulse to hterature and art. Poets, artists, and scholars
found in the king a liberal and enthusiastic patron. The
new studies, especially Hebrew and Greek, were opposed
by all the might of the Sorbonne, the leader of which was
the Syndic, Beda. He and his associates were on the
watch for heresy, and every author who was suspected of
overstepping the bounds of orthodoxy, was immediately
accused and subjected to persecution. Thus tAvo parties
were formed, the one favorable to the new learning, and
the other inimical to it and rigidly wedded to the tradi-
tional theology.^

The Father of the French Reformation, or the one
more entitled to this distinction than any other, is
Jacques Lefevre, who was born at Etaples, a little vil-
lage of Picardy, about the year 1455, prosecuted his
studies at the University of Paris, and having become a
master of arts and a priest, spent some time in Italy.
After his return he taught mathematics and philosophy
at Paris, was active in publishing and commenting on the
works of Aristotle, which he had studied in the original
in Italy, as well as in printing books of ancient mathema-
ticians, writings of the Fathers, and mystical productions

1 Weber, GeschichtUche Darstellung d. Calvinismus im Verhaltniss zum
Staat, p. 33 seq.

244 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

of the Middle Ages. Lefevre was honored among the
Humanists as the restorer of philosophy and science in
the University. Deeply imbued witli a religious spirit,
in 1509 he put forth a commentary on the Psalms, and
in 1512 a commentary on the Epistles of Paul. As early
as about 1512, he said to his pupil Farel : " God will
renovate the world, and you will be a witness of it ; "
and in the last named work, he says that the signs of the
times betoken that a renovation of the Church is near at
hand. He teaches the doctrine of gratuitous justification,
and deals with the Scriptures as the supreme and suflfi-
cient authority. But a mystical, rather than a polemical
vein characterizes him ; and while this prevented him
from breaking with the Church, it also blunted the sharp-
ness of the opposition which his opinions were adapted
to produce. One of his pupils was Bri9onnet, Bishop of
Meaux, who held the same view of justification with Le-
fevre, and fostered the evangelical doctrine in his diocese.
The enmity of the Sorbonne to Lefevre and his school
took a more aggressive form when the writings of Luther
began to be read in the University and elsewhere. The
theologians of the Sorbonne set their faces against every
deviation from the dogmatic system of Aquinas. Reuch-
lin, having been a student at Paris, had hoped for sup-
port there in his conflict with the Dominicans of Cologne ;
but the Paris faculty declared against him. In 1521 they
sat in judgment on Luther and condemned him as a her-
tic and blasphemer.^ Heresy was treated by them as an
offense against the State ; and the Parliament, the highest
judicial tribunal, showed itself prompt to carry out their
decrees by the infliction of the usual penalties. The
Sorbonne formally condemned a dissertation of Lefdvre
on a point of the evangelical history, in which he had
controverted the traditional opinion. He, with Farel, Ge-
rard Roussel, and other preachers, found an asylum with

1 Melancthon replied. Seckendorf, i. 185.

MARGARET OF NAVARRE. 245

Bri9onnet. Lefevre translated the New Testament from
tlie Vulgate, and, in a commentary on the Gospels, explic-
itly pronounced the Bible the sole rule of faith, which the
individual might interpret for himself, and declared justi-
fication to be through faith alone, without human works
or merit. It seemed as if Meaux aspired to become an-
other Wittenberg.i At length a commission of Parlia-
ment was appointed to take cognizance of heretics in that
district. Bri^onnet, either intimidated, as Beza asserts,
or recoiling at the sight of an actual secession from the
Church, joined in the condemnation of Luther and of his
opinions, and even acquiesced in the persecution which
fell upon Protestantism within his diocese.^ Lefevre
fled to Strasburg, was afterwards recalled by Francis I.,
but ultimately took up his abode in the court of the
King's sister, Margaret, the Queen of Navarre .''^

Margaret, from the first, was favorably inclined to the
new doctrines. There were two parties at the court.
The mother of the King, Louisa of Savoy, and the Chan-
cellor Du.prat, were allies of the Sorbonne. They were
of the class of persons, numerous in that age, who en-
deavor to atone for private vices by bigotry, and by the
persecution of heterodox opinions. Margaret, on the
contrary, a versatile and accomplished princess, cherished
a mystical devotion which carried her beyond Bri^onnet
in her acceptance of the teaching of the Reformers. But
this very spirit of mysticism, or quietism, produced in her
mind an indifference as to external rites and forms of

1 Henri Martin, Histoire de France, viii. 149.

2 Beza, Histoire Eccl. d. Eglises lief, au Royaume de France, livre i. (1580).
The last books of this work are by another hand, but written under the over-
sight of Beza. Herzog, Eeal-Encycl. art. "Beza."

3 The middle path which Roussel and others, who accepted the doctrine of
justification by faith, but remained in the Roman Catholic Church, endeavored
to take, is exhibited by Schmidt in his work, Gerard Roussel, pridicateur de
la Reine Marguerite de Navarre (1845), and in the articles, by the same author,
in Ilerzog' s Real-£ncycl., '• Brifonnet," " Gerard Roussel," and "Margaretba
von Orleans."

216 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

ecclesiastical order ; so that while she received the Prot-
estant idea of salvation by faith, and of the direct per-
sonal communion of the soul with Christ, she was not
moved to withdraw from the mass, or separate formally
from the old Church. There was a warm friendliness for
the Reforming preachers, a disposition to protect them
against their enemies, a type of piety that no longer rel-
ished the invocation of saints, and of the Virgin, and vari-
ous other peculiarities of the Catholic Ritual, yet left the
sacraments and the polity of the Church unassailed. The
passionate attachment of Margaret to her brother, of
which so much has been said, illustrates her nature, in
which sensibility had so large a place.^ The authoress of
a religious poem, the " Mirror of the Sinful Soul," which
was so Protestant in its tone as to excite the wrath of
the Sorbonne, and of many devotional hymns ; she also
composed, when in middle life, the " Ileptameron," a
series of tales in the style of Boccaccio, in which the
moral reflections and warnings are a weak antidote to
the natural influence of the narratives themselves.^ Be-
fore the death of her first husband, the Duke of Alen^on,
and while she was a widow, she exerted her influence to
the full extent in behalf of the persecuted Protestants,
and in opposition to the Sorbonne. After her marriage
to Henry d'Albret, the King of Navarre, she continued,
in her own little court and principality, to favor the re-
formed doctrine, and its professors. Occasionally her
peculiar temperament led her to entertain hospitably

1 See the judicious remarks of Henri Martin, viii. 83, n. 4. M. Genin, in his

Supplement a la notice sur Marguerite d'Angouleme, which forms the preface to
the Nouvelles Lettres de la Reine de la Navarre, has given an improbable ver-
sion of this " triste mystere," which attributes a culpable intention to the sister.
An opposite view is presented by Michelet, La Reforme, p. 175.

2 See the brief but admirable remarks of Professor Morley, in his interest-
ing biography of Clement Marot (London, 1871), i. 272. It is a curious illus-
tration of the manners of the French nobility at this time, that Margaret should
be the writer of these stories, and that her daughter, the virtuous and noble
Jeanne d'Albert, should have published them in the first correct edition. See
Merle d'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin, ii. 170.

RELIGIOUS TENDENCIES OF FRANCIS I. 247

enthusiasts who concealed an antinomian license under a
mystical theory of gospel liberty. Calvin wrote to her
on the subject, in consequence of her complaint respecting
the language of his book against this sect.^ He some-
where speaks of her attachment, and that of her friends,
to the Gospel, as a platonic love. Yet, the drift of her
influence appears in the character of her daughter, the
heroic Jeanne d'Albret, the mother of Henry IV., and in
the readiness of the people, over whom Margaret imme-
diately ruled, to receive the Protestant faith. Her mar-
riage to the King of Navarre, and retirement from the
French court were preceded by the return to England of
one of the young ladies in her service, Anne Boleyn,
whose tragical history is so intimately connected with the
introduction of Protestantism into England.^

Francis I., whose generous patronage of artists and
men of letters, gave him the title of " Father of Sci-
ence," had no love for the Sorbonne, for the Parliament,
or for the monks. He entertained the plan of bringmg
Erasmus to Paris, and placing him at the head of an in-
stitution of learning. He read the Bible with his mother
and sister, and felt no superstitious aversion to the lead-
ers of reform. He established the college of " the three
languages," in defiance of the Sorbonne. The Faculty of
Theology, and the Parliament, found in the King and
court a hindrance to their persecuting policy. It was in
the face of his opposition that the Sorbonne put the trea-
tise of Lef^vre on their list of prohibited books. It was
not through any agency of the King that the company
of reforming preachers in Meaux Avas dispersed. The
revolt of the Constable Bourbon made it necessary for

1 The treatise, Contre la Secfe Fantastique et Ftirieuse des Libertines qui se
disent Spirituels (1544). Calvin's Letter is in Bonnet, i. 429.

2 The Letters of Margaret have been published by M. Genin, Lettres de Mar-
guerite d'Anffouleme ("1841 J ; Nouvelles Lettres de la Reine de Nar,arre (1842).
To the first of these collections is prefixed a full biographical introduction
Her character and career are described by Von Polenz, Gsdi. d. Franzosisili.
f'rot., i. 199 seq.

248 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

Francis to conciliate the clergy ; and the battle of Pavia,
followed by the captivity of the King, and the regency of
his mother, gave a free rein to the persecutors. An in-
quisitorial court, composed partly of laymen, was ordained
by Parliament. Heretics were burned at Paris, and in
the provinces. Louis de Berquin, who combined a cul-
ture which won the admiration of Erasmus, with the
religious earnestness of Luther, was thrown into prison.
The King, however, on his return from Spain, at the
earnest intercession of Margaret, set him free. The fail-
ure of Francis, in his renewed struggle in Italy, embold-
ened the persecuting party. Berquin, who had com-
menced a prosecution against Beda, the leader of the
heresy-hunting commissioners appointed by the Sorbonne,
was again taken into custody, and this time perished,
before the King could interpose to save him. The theo-
logical antagonists of Reform went so far as to endeavor
to put restrictions upon the professors in the college for
the ancient languages, and even to lampoon, in a scholas-
tic comedy, the King's sister, against whom they threw
out charges of heresy, besides condemning her book, the
" Mirror of the Sinful Soul." Francis was, at this time,
holding a conference with Clement VII., in Provence, and
on his return was extremely indignant at the treatment
of his sister. He authorized Gerard Roussel to preach
freely in Paris ; and when Beda raised an outcry against
his sermons, Francis caused Beda to be banished and
prosecuted for sedition. He died in prison, in 1537.

At this moment it seemed doubtful what course France
would take in the great religious conflict of the period.
In 1534, Henry VIII. separated England from the Papacy,
and made himself the head of the English Church. This
event made a profound impression throughout Christen-
dom. Since the Diet of Worms, the Papacy had lost
the half of Germany and of Switzerland, then Denmark
(in 1526), then Sweden (in 1527), and now England

ROME, THE RENAISSANCE, THE REFORMATION. 249

The Netherlands were deeply agitated, and the confla-
gration which Luther had kindled was spreading into
Italy and Spain. The Teutonic portion of Christendom
was lost to Rome ; what would be the decision of the
Romanic nations ? It was inevitable that all eyes should
be turned to France, and to its King.^ Early in 1534,
the Landgrave of Hesse came to negotiate in person with
Francis. Margaret corresponded with Melancthon, whom
she was desirous of bringing to France. The Landgrave
restored the Duke of Wiirtemberg to his possessions, and
in A\'iirtemberg the two forms of worship, Lutheran and
CathoUc, were made free. Francis I. had approached
nearer to the Protestants ; and the death of Clement
VIL, in September of this year (1534), had released
Francis from his poUtical ties "with the Medici and the
Papacy. The violent spirit of the champions of the
Papacy in Paris, the offensive proceedings of monks in
Orleans and elsewhere, had produced a reaction unfavor-
able to their cause.

An eminent modern historian of France has depicted
the three rival systems, Rome, the Renaissance, and the
Reformation, which were presented to the choice of
France, and were represented in three individuals, who
happened to be together for a moment in Paris — Calvin,
Rabelais, Loyola.'"^ This interesting passage of Martin
suggests a few observations which, however, are not
wholly in accord with his own. Calvinism was a product
of the French mind. In its sharp and logical structure
it corresponded to the peculiarities of the French intel-
lect. In its moral earnestness, in its demand for the
reform of ecclesiastical abuses, it found a response in
the consciences of good men. But Calvinism was the
radical type of Protestantism ; it broke abruptly and
absolutely with the past, and must for this reason en-
coimter a vast might of opposition from traditional feel-

1 Henri Martin, viii. 180. 2 Jbid.. 184.

250 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

ings, from sacred or superstitious associations. The
dogma of predestination, which Calvinism put in the
forefront of its theology, would stir up the hostility of
men in whom the spirit of the Renaissance was predom-
inant, not to speak of other classes. It was, moreover, a
defect, that Calvinism did not rise to the level of religious
toleration. In the midst of their own sufferings, the Cal-
vinistic preachers of France invoked the arm of the magis-
trate to suppress and punish Anabaptists, Servetians,
and the like, not as disturbers of civil order, but as
heretics. But stronger than any other obstacle in the
way of the Calvinistic Reform was the amendment of
life which it required. It was too stern, unrelenting a
foe of sensuality to make itseK tolerable to a multitude
of men and women, in the court and out of it, who
could have endured easily its doctrinal formulas and have
submitted to its method of worship. At the opposite ex-
treme from Calvinism was the spirit of Spanish Cathol-
icism, the reawakened zeal for the traditions, the au-
thority, the imaginative worship of the old religion ; the
spirit of the Catholic Reaction, which found an embodi-
ment in Loyola and his famous society. With this
spirit France as a nation, France left to its natural im-
pulses and affinities, did not sympathize. Between these
mighty contending forces, which more and more were
coming into conflict, was the literary, philosophical, scep-
tical temper of the Renaissance, which found an expres-
sion in that strangest of writers, Rabelais, whose extraor-
dinary genius has been acknowledged by the profoundest
students of literature, whose influence upon the French
language has been compared to that of Dante upon the
Italian, and who veiled under a mask of burlesque fiction —
of filth and ribaldry, too, we must add — his ideas upon
human nature, society, education, and religion. The
follies of monks and priests, the sophistry and ferocity
of the Sorbonne, he lashes to such an extent that he

EQUIVOCAL POSITION OF FRANCIS I. 251

needed powerful protectors to save him from their wrath.
His own rehgion does not extend beyond a theism, in
which even personal immortality has no clear recognition.
It is doubtless true that one type of thought and feeling
in France at that day is reflected on the pages of Gar-
gantua and Pantagruel. A little later, a scepticism of
u somewhat modified type, yet a genuine product, like-
wise, of the Renaissance, appears in Montaigne. What-
ever attractions this species of philosophical scepticism,
or of natural religion, may have for the French mind, it
was too intangible in form, it had too little of earnestness
and courage, to mediate between the two resolute com-
batants who were to contend for the possession of France.
Much, if not everything, depended on the path which
the hesitating monarch, Francis I., would conclude to
take. The French monarchy, it has been said, which had
been emancipated politically from Rome since Philip the
Fair, had nothing to gain by becoming Protestant.^ But
at least it had much to gain by preserving its independ-
ence ; by refusing to enlist in the reactionary, repressive
policy of Spanish Catholicism ; by declining to partake in
a work in which the House of Austria had taken the
leading part. But Francis I. did not assume a distinct
and independent position. He did not embrace Protes-
tantism ; he did not consistently throw himself upon the
side of ultramontane Cathohcism. Now partially toler-
ating the Reformation, and now persecuting it with base
cruelty, he adhered to no definite policy. By this un-
decided and vacillating attitude he brought upon his
country incalculable miseries, civil wars in which France
became " not the arbiter, but the prey, of Europe," and
its soil " the frightful theatre of the battle of sects and
nations." " His dynasty perished in blood and mire,"
and France would have perished with it, had not this
tate been arrested by a statesman and warrior whom
•Providence raised up to mitigate the lot of his country.^

1 Mignet, quoted by Henri Martin, viii. 216. * Martin, p. 217

252 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

Notwithstanding his friendly professions to the Luther-
ans, it soon appeared that if Francis would have been
glad to see a Reformation after the Erasmian type, he
had no sympathy with attacks upon the doctrine of the
Sacraments or upon the hierarchical system of the Church,
the topics which his sister, in her writings, had avoided.
Nor had he any disposition to countenance movements
that involved a religious division in his kingdom. As
long as religious dissent was confined to men of rank and
education, the King might discountenance the use of
force to repress it ; but when it penetrated into the lower
ranks of the people, the case was different. Unity in
religion was an element in the strength of his monarchy,
of which he boasted. He prized the old maxim, " Un roi,
un foi, un loi." When, therefore, in October, 1534, in-
considerate zealots posted at the corners of the streets
in Paris, and even on the door of the King's chamber at
Blois, placards denouncing the mass, he signalized his
devotion to the Catholic religion by coming to Pari<^ to
take part in solemn religious processions, and in the
burning, with circumstances of atrocious cruelty, of
eighteen heretics. Yet again he showed himself anxious
to cement a political alliance with the German Protes-
tants, and even entered into negotiations looking to a
union of the opposing religious parties. He went so far
as to invite Melancthon to Paris to help forward the en-
terprise. He claimed that the persons who had been put
to death were fanatics and seditious people, whom the
safety of the State rendered it necessary to destroy. In
truth, the Grand Master, Montmorenci, and the Cardinal
de Tournon, active promoters of persecution, had per-
suaded him that the posting of the placards was the first
step in a great plot of Anabaptists, who designed to do
in France what they had done in Miinster.^ But the
unwillingness of Francis to produce a schism, or to place

1 Henri Martin, viii. 223.

THE INFLUENCE OF GENEVA. 253

himself in antagonism to the Catholic Church obliged him
to give his approval to a rigid statement of doctrine, in
opposition to the Protestant views, which the Sorbonne
put forth, in the form of a direction to preachers.^ He
even did not lift a finger, in 1545, to prevent the whole-
sale slaughter of his unoffending Waldensian subjects.
His governing aim was to uphold the power of France, and
to withstand and reduce the power of the Emperor. Hence
he cultivated the friendship and assisted the cause of the
Protestants in Germany, while he was inflicting impris-
onment and death upon their brethren in France. It was
not partiality for Protestantism, but hostility to Charles,
that moved him ; and so strong was this sentiment, that
he did not hesitate to make common cause with the Turks,
for the sake of weakening his adversary. On the whole,
during the reign of Francis, Protestant opinions found
not a little favor among the higher classes. For a while,
it was Lutheranism that was adopted. But Luther was
too thoroughly a German to be congenial to the French
mind. It was Calvinism, as soon as Calvinism arose,
which attracted the sympathies of the Frenchmen who
accepted the Protestant faith.

Farel and Calvin were both fugitives from perse-
cution in France. Calvin returned to Geneva from his
banishment in 1541. More and more Geneva became
an asylum for Frenchmen whom intolerance drove from
their country. Many of them came, wearing the scars
which the instruments of torture had left upon them.
As the victims of religious cruelty emerged from the
passes of the Jura and caught sight of the holy city,
they fell on their knees mth thanksgivings to God.^
From thirty printing-offices of Geneva, Protestant works
were sent forth, which were scattered over France by
colporteurs at the peril of their lives. The Bible in
French was issued in a little volume, which it was easy

1 Ranke, i. 116. 2 Sismondi, Hlstoire des Frangais, xiii. 24 seq.

254 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

to hide ; also, the Psalms, in the version of Clement
Marot, with the interhnear music of Goudimel.^ Calvin
was indefatigable in exhorting and encouraging his coun-
trymen by his letters. Preachers who were trained at
his side returned to their country and ministered to the
little churches which long held their worship in secret.
The Reformation spread rapidly, especially in the South
of France. The spectacle of godly men of pure lives,
led to the stake, while atheists and scoffers were tolerated
if they would go to the mass, alienated many from the
old religion.

Henry II., who succeeded his father in 1547, had no
sympathy with Protestantism. He might support the
Protestants abroad when a political object was to be
gained, as when he entered into a treaty with Maurice at
the time when the latter was about to take up arms
against the Emperor ; but at home he cooperated with
the Sorbonne, who were more and more busy in their
work of extirpating false doctrine by burning the books
and persons of its professors. The rage of the common
people, and even the holy horror of licentious courtiers,
were excited by fictitious tales of abominable vice which
was said to be practiced in the meetings of the Hugue-
nots. To be objects of this sort of calumny has been
a common experience of sects which have been obliged to
conduct their rites in secrecy.^

Yet in this reign the Protestant opinions made great
progress. In 1558, it was estimated that there were two
thousand places of reformed worship scattered over
France, and congregations numbering four hundred thou-
sand. They were organized after the Presbyterian form,
and were adherents of the Genevan type of doctrine. In

1 See an eloquent passage on the influence of Geneva in Michelet, Guerres de
Religion, p. 108.

2 Such accusations were brought against Jews in the Middle Ages. Lilce
charges were brought against the early Christians in the Roman Empire. Gib-
bon, II. eh. XV.

PERSECUTION BY HENRY II. 255

1559 they ventured to hold a general synod in Paris,
wheie they adopted their confession of faith and deter-
mined the method of their church organization.

After Henry concluded the disastrous peace of Cateau-
Cambresis, by which his conquests in Italy and in the
Netherlands were given up to Spain, and his daughter,
Elizabeth, was to be married to Philip II., and his sister,
Margaret, to the Duke of Savoy, he commenced with
fresh vigor the work of persecution. It was involved in
this treaty that the two kings should unite in the sup-
pression of heresy. " The King of France, which, since
the reverses of Charles V., had been the first power in
Europe, bought, at the price of many provinces, the rank
of Lieutenant of the King of Spain in the Catholic
party." ^ He unexpectedly presented himself in a session
of Parliament, where a milder poHcy had begun to find
advocates, and ordered the two members who had ex-
pressed themselves most emphatically on that side to be
shut up in the Bastile. He declared that he would make
the extirpation of heresy his principal business, and by
letter threatened the Parliament and inferior courts in
case they showed any leniency to heretics. But in a tilt
which formed a part of the festivals in honor of the mar-
riages, a splinter from the spear of Montgomery, the
Captain of his Guards, struck his eye and inflicted a
deadly wound. It seemed to the Protestants that in the
moment of extreme peril the hand of the Almighty was
stretched out to deliver them (1559).

Thus far persecution had failed of its design. " The
fanatics and the politicians had thought to annihilate
heresy by the number and atrocity of the punishments :
they perceived with dismay that the hydra multiplied
itself under their blows. They had only succeeded in
exalting to a degree unheard of before, all that there are
of heroic powers in the human soul. For one martyr

1 Martin, viii. 480.

256 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

who disappeared in the flames, there presented themselves
a hundred more : men, women, children, marched to their
punishment, singing the Psalms of Marot, or the Canticle
of Simeon —

' Rappelez votre Serviteur,
Seigneur! j'ai vu votre Sauveur.

Many expired in ecstasy, insensible to the refined cruel-
ties of the savages who invented tortures to prolong their
agony. More than one judge died of consternation or re-
morse. Others embraced the faith of those whom they sent
to the scaffold. The executioner at Dijon was converted
at the foot of the pyre. All the great phenomena, in the
most vast proportions, of the first days of Christianity,
were seen to reappear. Most of the victims died with
the eye turned towards that New Jerusalem, that holy city
of the Alps, where some had been to seek, whence others
had received the Word of God. Not a preacher, not a
missionary was condemned who did not salute Calvin
from afar, thanking him for having prepared him for so
beautiful an end. They no more thought of reproaching
Calvin for not following them into France than a soldier
reproaches his general for not plunging into the melee." ^
We have now to refer to the circumstances that con-
verted the Huguenots into a political party. With the
accession of Francis II., a boy of sixteen, Catharine de
Medici, the widow of the late king and the mother of
his successor, hoped to gratify her ambition by ruhng the
kingdom. The daughter of Lorenzo II., of Florence, and
the niece of Clement VII., her childhood had been passed
in an atmosphere of duplicity, and she had thoroughly
imbibed the unprincipled maxims of the Italian school of
politics. The death of the Dauphin had made her husband
the heir of the throne ; but his aversion to her was such
that, at an earlier day, when it was supposed that no chil-
dren would spring from her marriage, there was an idea

1 Martin, viii. 480.

CATHARINE DE MEDICI AND THE GUISES. 257

of sending her back to Italy. She had to pay assiduous
court to the mistresses of her father-in-law and her hus-
band. Even after the birth of her children and after her
husband ascended the throne, she did not escape from her
liumiliating position. She was dependent upon the good
offices of Diana of Poitiers, Henry's mistress, for the
maintenance of relations with her husband, whose repug-
nance to her was partly founded on physical peculiarities,
which were derived from her profligate father and which
entailed a diseased constitution upon her children.^ Ac-
customed from early childhood to hide her thoughts and
feelings ; without conscience and almost without a heart ;
caring little for religion except to hate its restraints,
Catharine had nursed her dream of ambition in secret.^
But the fact that Francis was legally of age, though practi-
cally in his minority, disappointed her hope. It imme-
diately appeared that the young King was entirely under
the control of the family of Guise. Claude of Guise had
been a wealthy and prominent nobleman of Lorraine,
who had distinguished himself at Marignano, and in the
subsequent contests with Charles V. Two of his sons,
Francis, Duke of Guise, and Charles, Cardinal of Lor-
raine, had acquired great power under Henry II. : the
Duke as a military leader, especially by the successful
defense of Metz and the taking of Calais ; and the Car-
dinal as Confessor of the King, whose conscience, Beza
says, he carried in his sleeve. Their sister had married
James V. of Scotland ; and her daughter, Mary Stuart,
who was to play so prominent a part in the history of the
age, was wedded to the youtliful King, Francis 11. He was
weak in mind and body, and it was not difficult for the
Cardinal and the Duke, both of them aspiring and adroit

1 Michelet, Guerres cle Religion, p. 43.

2 Anquetil strives to paint Catharine, in some points, in a less unfavorable
ight. L' Esprit de la Ligue, i. 54. She is characterized by the Due d'Aumale

as being "without affections, without principles, and without scruples." Hit-
tory of the Princes of Conde, i. 86.
17

258 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

men, with the aid of the yigorous and beautiful young
Queen, to maintain a complete ascendency over him.
The Cai'dinal was supreme in the affairs of State, the
Duke in the military department. It was an association
of the soldier and the diplomatist, the lion and the fox,
for their common aggrandizement. The Guises set them-
selves up as the champions of the old religion, although
they at first adopted the policy of withstanding Charles
V. through an alliance with the Pope. They had large
hopes of acquiring power in Italy, and assumed to inherit
the claim of the house of Anjou to Naples. On the ac-
cession of Francis their first step was to induce the King
to give a courteous dismissal to the Grand Constable,
Montmorenci, who, with his numerous relatives, had been
the rivals of the Guises and had shared with them the
offices and honors of the kingdom. It was by the sup-
port of Diana of Poitiers, one of whose daughters had
married their brother, that the Guises were enabled first
to make themselves the equals and then the superiors of
Montmorenci, whom they greatly outstripped in political
sagacity.^

It was not to be expected that the great nobles of
France would quietly see the control of the government
practically usurped by persons whom they considered up-
starts, who had seized on places that did not belong to
them by the laws and customs of the realm. The oppo-
sition to the Guises centered in two families, the houses
of Bourbon and Chatillon. The three brothers of the
former house were princes of the blood, bemg descended
by a collateral line from Louis IX. Anthony of Ven-
dome, the eldest, who by his marriage with Jeanne d'Al-
bret, the daughter of Margaret, wore the title of King of
Navarre, had been moved to take the side of the Protes-
tants, but was a man of weak and vacillating character.
He had no loftier hope than to get back from Spain his

1 Henri Martin, viii. 362.

THE HUGUENOTS A POLITICAL PARTY. 259

principality of Navarre, or to provide himself with an
equivalent dominion elsewhere. The second brother,
Charles, the Cardinal of Rouen, was of a similar temper-
ament. The third, Louis, Prince of Cond^, was a brave
man, not without noble qualities, but rash in counsel, and
not proof against the enticements of sensual pleasure.
The Protestant wives of these men, the Queen of Navarre
and the Princess of Cond^, a niece of the Constable, had
more firmness of religious conviction than their husbands.
The three brothers of the house of Chatillon, sons of
Louisa of Montmorenci, the sister of the Constable, were
men of a nobler make. These were Odet, Cardinal of
Chatillon, Admiral Coligny, and Dandelot, Colonel of the
Cisalpine infantry. Coligny had acquired great credit by
introducing strict discipline into the French infantry, and
by valor at St. Quentin and elsewhere. In all the quali-
ties of mind and character that constitute human great-
ness, he was without a peer. His attachment to the
Protestant cause was sincere and immovable.

That the Bourbons and the great nobles who were con-
nected with them should seek the support of the perse-
cuted Calvinists, and that the latter, in turn, should seek
for deliverance through them, was natural.^ The Guises
were virtual usurpers, who had taken the station that be-
longed to the princes of the blood, and, at the same time,
were persecutors. The nobles, their antagonists, and their
Protestant co-religionists had a common cause. There
was a union of political and rehgious motives to bind
them all together. If political considerations had a gov-
erning weight with Anthony of Navarre and some other
leaders, this was the misfortune, and a heavy misfortune
it proved, of the Huguenots ; but it was not their fault.
While it is vain to ignore the influence of political
aspirations, it is a greater error of some writers, like
Davila, to ascribe the whole movement of the Huguenot

1 Ranke, i. 154.

260 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

leaders to motives of this character.^ There was on their
part a thorough opposition to the cruel persecution of the
Calvinists, and an attachment to their cause, which, if it
was inconstant in some cases, proved in others a profound
and growing conviction, such as no terrors and no sacrifices
could weaken.

Calvin, like the Lutheran reformers, preached the doc-
trine of obedience to rulers, and uncomplaining submission
to suffering and death.^ For forty years the unoffending
Huguenots had acted on this principle and submitted to
indescribable indignities and cruelties, inflicted often by
men who in their own daily lives violated every command-
ment of the decalogue. But even Calvin held that Chris-
tians might lawfully take up arms, under authorized
leaders, to overthrow usurpation. We shall see, more-
over, that it was the unchecked atrocities, not of magis-
trates, but of their subjects, acting without color of law,
that kindled the flames of civil war. But in France, as
in Germany, during this period, the reluctance of the
Protestants to abandon the ground of passive resistance
and to rise against their oppressors, the indecision of the
Protestants on this question, more than once cost them
dear.

The conspiracy of Amboise was a plot, of which a French
gentleman. La Renaudie, was the most active contriver,
to dispossess the Guises of their position by force and to

1 Davila {Storia delle Guerre Civlli di Francia) describes a formal meeting in
Vendome, at which Conde and others advocated an open war, but Coligny
persuaded them to adopt a more crafty policy. Davila makes the conspiracy
of Amboise tlie result of this conference. But it is not credible that such a
conference was ever held. See the searching criticism of Davila by Ranke,
Franz. Geschichte, v. 3 seq.

'■^ See Henry, iii. 548, and Beil., p. 154 seq. Speaking of the counsel which
he gave in reference to the Amboise conspiracy, Calvin says : " Cependant les
lamentations estoyent grandes de I'inhumanit^ quon exer(;oit pour abolir la
religion: mesme d'heure en heure on attendoit une horrible boucherie, pour
exterminer tous les povres fideles." He says, that he replied, that if a single
drop of blood were shed, rivers of blood would flow over Europe ; moreover,
that it is better " for us all to perish a hundred times, than that the name cf the
adherents of the Gospel should be exposed to such opprobrium."

THE EDICT OF ROMORANTIN. 261

place the control of the government in the hands of the
princes of the blood. Conde appears to have been privy
to it. Coligny refused to take part in it ; Calvin tried to
dissuade La Renaudie from executing his project, which
the Reformer sternly disapproved, unless the princes of
the blood, not Conde alone, but the first of them in rank,
were to sanction it, and Parliament were to join with
them.^ The Guises were forewarned and forearmed, and
took a savage revenge, not only upon the conspirators, but
upon a great number of innocent Protestants, whom the
conspirators had invited to the court to present their
petitions, but who had no further complicity in the
undertaking (1560).

The commotion of which this abortive scheme was an
impressive sign, had the effect to moderate for the mo-
ment the policy of the Cardinal. The prisons were
opened and the Protestants set at liberty. The Edict of
Romorantin, in 1560, still forbade all Protestant assem-
blies for worship, but proceedings against individuals on
account of their faith were to be dropped. The tares, it
was said, had become too strong to be eradicated from the
field. The Protestants made an appeal for liberty to
meet together for worship. Their petition was boldly

1 See Calvin's letter, cited above, on the subject (April 16, 1561), in Henrj',
iii. 21; Beil., p. 153. There can be no doubt that La Renaudie represented
Cond(3 to be the silent leader of the enterprise. That he was is generally as-
sumed, and probably with truth. Henri Martin, viii. 34 seq. Sisniondi, His-
toire des Frangais, xviii. 132. Due d'Aumale, History of the Princes of Conde,
i. 56. It is so stated by Beza, Histuire des Eylises Ref., i. 250. Ranke says:
" Mit historischer Bestimmtheit Hisst sich selbst nicht sagen ob La Renaudie
sich mit Cond^ verabredet hatte." (i. 147.) Ranke adverts to the denial of
Cond^ ; but he only denied that he had been a party in any enterprise against
the King or the State. He would not have admitted that the Conspiracy of Am-
boise was directed against either. See Mrs. Marsh's interesting work. The Prot.
Ref. in France (London, 1847), i. 142, n. Brantome, who rises to something
like enthusiasm in praising the virtues of Coligny, says that the conspirators were
prevented by his known probity and sense of honor from imparting to him their
secret. Les Hommes Illustres, 1. iii. xx. (M. 1 'Admiral de Chastillon). Bran-
tome compares Coligny and Guise, as lapidaries (he says) place together two
diamonds of exquisite beautv

262 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

presented to the King in an Assembly of Notables at
Fontainebleau by Coligny, who had espoused, but not yet
publicly professed, the new opinions. At the same time,
a demand was made for a meeting of the States General,
to consider the finances of the kingdom, and for a National
Council to regulate the affairs of religion. The Cardinal
was obliged to acquiesce. The Guises now exerted all
their influence to combine an overwhelming party against
the Protestants and the Bourbon princes. Calvin ad-
hered to his principle and discountenanced all violence on
the side of the Protestants, who were inclined to take
possession of churches ; but he sought to persuade the
princes to collect the nobles of Provence, Languedoc,
and Normandy, and make such a demonstration as would
of itself, without bloodshed, break down the power of
their antagonists. The frivolous Anthony of Navarre
was not equal to so manly an undertaking. Summoned
by the court to Orleans, he went with Cond^. They
went, aware of the peril in which they placed themselves,
and in opposition to the advice of their friends and the
entreaties of their wives. Conde was put under arrest,
on the charge of complicity in the Amboise Conspiracy.
The King of Navarre was deprived of his officers and
guards, and surrounded with soldiers and spies. The
Deputies of the Estates, as they arrived, found everything
in the hands of the Cardinal ; and were to be compelled,
at the outset, to sign a Catholic creed. The same test
was to be presented to the chevaliers of the Order of St.
Michael, the French cardinals, the prelates, the nobles,
and the royal officers present at Orleans. The laymen
who should refuse to sign this formulary were to be de-
prived of all their offices and estates, and the next day
sent to the stake. Ecclesiastics were to be remanded to
their own order for trial and judgment. It was expected
that Coligny and Dandelot, and probably their brother,
the Cardinal, would be involved in this destruction of the

THE ACCESSION OF CHARLES IX. 263

Protestant leaders. The same creed was to be imposed
on all officials and pastors throughout the kingdom, and
the requirement was to be enforced by bodies of soldiers,
who were to march through the land. The dominion of
the Catholic Church was to be at once estabhshed. The
Guises pushed forward, with all possible rapidity, the
process against Conde, who was charged with high trea-
son.i He was condemned, and the 10th of December was
the day fixed for his execution. Just then, on the 5th of
December, 1560, the young King suddenly died. Once
more the Protestants felt that an interposition of Provi-
dence had saved them. " When all was lost," said Beza,
" behold the Lord our God awoke ! "

The opportunity of the Queen Mother had come at
last. The question whether her second son, Charles IX.,
was in his minority, could not be doubtful. She assumed
the practical guardianship of him, and with it a virtual
regency. The plan of the Guises to crush the house oi
Bourbon, and their supporters, by a single blow, had
failed. L'Hospital easily convinced the Queen that it
was for her interest to Hberate Condd, and to put a check
upon the power of the opposite party, which had barely
failed of attaining to absolute control. The Duke was
too wise to attempt to retain the supremacy, which the
Cardinal, his brother, was not disposed to relinquish. The
King of Navarre became Lieutenant-general. The Con-

1 That the existence of this plot was credited by the Huguenot leaders ad-
mits of no doubt. For the evidence of its reality, which appears to be sufficient,
see Henri Martin, ix. 54, n. Ranke says: " Ich habe manches gefunden, wo-
durch diese Behauptungen " —the reports of the conspiracy — " bestatigt, nichts
wodurch sie ganz ausser Zweifel gesetzt wiirden." i. 156. Martin says: " The
authenticity of the plot, as to its substance, is not doubtful. The Guises sent as
far as Turkey to induce the Sultan not to hinder, by any diversion against the
Austrian States, the work of the destruction of heretics. The interminable
discussions as to the premeditation of St. Bartholomew, interesting from a his-
torical point of view, are extremely vain from the moral point of view. The
St. Bartholomew — that is to say, the extermination of the heretics by force,
open or with the aid of stratagem — had always been in the heart of the chiefs of
the persecuting party. They massacred, when they could, just as they burned."

264 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

stable Montmorenci recovered the direction of military
affairs, but the Guises kept their places in the Council,
and Duke Francis retained the post of master of the
royal household. The Huguenots, as they came to be
called,^ were powerful in numbers, and still more in the
character of their party. Entire counties were almost
wholly Protestant. They were strong among the nobles
and educated class. Many rich merchants adhered to
them. But their largest support was from the intelligent
middle classes, the artisans in the cities ; although not a
few of the lower orders, who had seen the world, and
were practiced in bearing arms, were in the Huguenot
ranks. In a representation made to the Pope, in 1561,
by the middle party of French prelates, it was stated
that a quarter of the entire population of the kingdom
were Protestants. That it would be impracticable to
exterminate them, and that both parties should make up
their minds to live together in peace, was the conviction
of a few dispassionate and far-sighted men, among whom
was the Chancellor L'Hospital, who had been called to
his office after the Conspiracy of Amboise, and who put
forth his best exertions to recommend this wise and hu-
mane policy. His tolerant views were reflected in edicts
of the States General at Orleans, where, also, sound re-
forms were adopted in the administration of justice ; but
these measures were resisted by Parliament, and by the
Catholics attached to the Guises. The Duke of Guise
was joined by Montmorenci ; and they, with the Marshal

1 Beza explains the origin of the name Huguenots (i. 269). At Tours there
was a superstitious belief that the ghost of Hugh Capet roamed through the
city at night. As the Protestants held their meetings in the night, they were
derisively called Huguenots, as if they were the troop of King Hugh. As the
Conspiracy of Amboise was discovered at Tours, this name at that time ob-
tained currency. This explanation is given by De Thou, Ixxiv. 741. Other
writers, among them Merle d'Aubign^ (i. 88), derive it from Eidgenots, the
name given to the party of freedom at Geneva, who were for an alliance with
the Swiss. Martin (viii. 28) unites both explanations. Littre (Diet. Franqaise)
adopts neither, but connects the term with the name of a person.

THE COLLOQUY AT POISSY. 265

of Saint Andrd, formed the Triumvirate with which the
feeble King of Navarre was unequally matched. Strife
arose in the Council, between the two parties. It was
arranged, much to the joy of the Protestants, that a great
religious conference should be held at Poissy to see if the
two parties could come to an agreement. In this measure
the Cardinal of Lorraine concurred, in the expectation that
he should be able to bring out the differences between the
Calvinisms and the Lutherans, and deprive the former ol
their natural allies in the event of a religious war, which
he probably anticipated. The elections from the nobility
and the third estate for the States General, which first as
sembled, in 1561, at Pontoise, and afterwards adjourned
to Poissy, were extremely unfavorable to the Guise fac-
tion. This meeting was really a crisis in the history of
France.^ The noblesse and the commonalty were united
against the clergy, and presented measures of constitu-
tional reform of a startling character, such, had they
been carried through, as would have brought the French
system. of government into a striking resemblance to that
of England, would have carried the nation along in one
path, and prevented the civil wars. The Pope, the
clergy, and the King of Spain, united in efforts to stem
the prevailing current towards compromise or peace be-
tween the opposing confessions. But the religious collo-
quy was held. It was in the autumn of 1561. In the
great Refectory of the Benedictines at Poissy, the young
King sat in the midst of the aristocracy of France —
Catharine de Medici, the King of Navarre, and the Prince
of Conde, the great lords and ladies of the Court, cardi-
nals, bishops, and abbots, doctors of the Sorbonno, and
a numerous company of lesser nobles, with their wives
and daughters. In this brilliant concourse, Theodore
Beza appeared at the head of the preachers and elders
deputed by the Huguenots to represent their cause, and

1 Ranke, i. 164, 165. Henri Martin, ix. 93.

266 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

eloquently set forth the doctrines of the party of reform.
Beza was a man of high birth, of prepossessing appear-
ance, of graceful and polished manners, who was at his
ease in the society of the court, and, prior to the public
conference, won the respect and favor of many of his au-
ditors by his attractiveness in social intercourse.-^ It was
something gained for Protestantism, when such a man,
with whom there could be no reluctance to associate on
equal terms, was seen to come forward in its defense.
But Beza, besides being an impressive speaker, was an
erudite scholar, -with his learning so perfectly at command,
that he could not be perplexed by his adversaries. At
one time there was some prospect of an agreement, even
in a general definition of the Eucharist. The final result
of the interviews, public and private, that took place in
connection with the conference, was to convince both
parties that no compromise on the points of theological
difference was practicable.

On the 17th of January, 1562, was issued the impor-
tant Edict of St. Germain. It gave up the policy, which
had been pursued for forty years, of extirpating religious
dissent. It granted a measure of toleration. The Prot-
estants were to surrender churches of which they had
taken possession and were to build no more. On the
other hand, they might, until further order should be
taken, hold their religious meetings outside of the walls
of cities, by daylight, without arms in their hands ; and
their meetings were to be protected by the police. They
were to pay regard to the festival days of the Catholic
Church, were to assemble no consistories or synods with-
out permission, were not to enter into any military organ-
ization or levy taxes upon one another, and were to teach
according to the Scriptures, without insulting the mass and
other Cathohc institutions. It was a restricted toleration,

1 Beza's letter to Calvin (August 25, 1561), describing his introduction to th«
Court, is given by the Due d'Aumale, i. App. p. 271.

BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WARS. 267

but the practice had been to give to edicts of this na-
ture some latitude of construction. Calvin rejoiced in it,
and the Calvinists felt that under it they could convert
the nation to the Protestant faith. But the edict was
not long observed. The papal legate and the Catholic
chiefs succeeded in inducing the King of Navarre to aban-
don the Protestant cause. He was told that the Pope
would annul his marriage, B,nd that he could then wed
Mary, the young Queen of Scotland. He was not base
enough to countenance this proposal.^ The throne of
Sardinia was held out to him as a compensation for the
loss of Navarre. The only hope for the success of the
tolerant policy of L'Hospital had rested in the union of
the Queen Mother with the princes of the blood; and
this union was now broken.

The leaders of the Catholic party were resolved not to
acquiesce in a policy of toleration, not to give up the idea
of obtaining uniformity by coercion. The massacre of
Vassy was the event that occasioned war. On Sunday
morning, the first of March, 1562, the Duke of Guise ar-
rived at the village of Vassy on his way to Paris, at the
head of a retinue of several hundred nobles and soldiers.
The Protestants were holding their religious service in a
spacious barn. Thither he sent some of his men, who
provoked a conflict. The rest of the troop came to the
spot, tore off the door, and wdth guns and sabres slaugh-
tered and wounded a large number of the unarmed, de-
fenseless congregation, and plundered their houses. Guise
looked on and did not hinder the work. In fact, he had
come to the town with the design of putting an end to
the Huguenot worship there. ^ Their preacher, bleeding
from his wounds, he carried off as a prisoner. The Duke
was received, especially in Paris, with acclamations. The
Protestants throughout France justly considered his deed
a wanton and atrocious violation of the Religious Peace,

1 Due d'Aumale, i. 88. 2 Henri Martin, ix. 113.

268 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

and flew to arms. In every parish a crusade was preached
against the Huguenots, and the scenes of cruelty that fol-
lowed have been styled, by a French historian, the St.
Bartholomew of 1562. The Triumvirs seized the persons
of the Queen Mother and the King, and, either with or
without their consent, conveyed them to Paris, where the
whole population were full of hatred to the heretics. An-
other massacre at Sens, even more cruel than that of
Vassy, was the signal for an outburst of iconoclastic fury
on the side of the Huguenots, which was attended with a
great destruction of monuments of art and the profanation
of sepulchres. It was true of the Huguenots that, " less
barbarous, in general, than their adversaries, toward men,
their rage was implacable against things" — against what-
ever they considered objects or signs of idolatry.^

Thus began the series of terrible wars, which only ter-
minated with the accession of Henry IV. to the throne.
In the devastation which they caused they may be com-
pared to the Thirty Years' War in Germany. France
was a prey to religious and political fanaticism. The
passions that are always kindled in civil wars were made
the more fierce from the religious consecration which was
imparted to them. Other nations, as was inevitable,
mingled in the frightful contest, and France had well-nigh
lost its independence. It must be admitted that the
Huguenots acted in self-defense. As we have said, their
connection with a political party, whatever evils were in-
cidental to it, was the unavoidable result of the course
taken by their antagonists, who attacked at once the
Protestant religion and the rights of the princes who pro-
fessed it. But it was private violence countenanced by
the authorities, against which the Huguenots rose in arms.
Agrippa d'Aubign^, the Huguenot historian of the six-
teenth century, says : " It is to be forever observed, that
as long as they put the reformed to death under the forms )f

1 Henri Martin, ix. 124.

THE EDICT OF AMBOISE. 269

justict however iniquitous and cruel it was, they stretched
out their necks, but not their hands ; but when the public
authority, the magistrates, weary of their burnings, threw
the knife into the hands of the crowd, and by tumults and
great massacres took away the venerable face of justice,
and caused neighbor to be slain by neighbor to the sound
of trumpets and drums, who could prevent the miserable
victims from opposing arm to arm, steel to steel, and from
taking the contagion of a just fury from a fury without
justice ? . . . . Let foreign nations judge whether we or
our enemies have the guilt of war upon the forehead." ^

Rouen was captured by the Catholics and sacked. There
the King of Navarre, fighting on the Catholic side, re-
ceived a mortal wound. In the battle of Dreux, the
Protestants, led by Coligny and Cond^, were worsted, but
their power was not broken. Shortly after, the Duke of
Guise, who was endeavoring to take Orldans, was assas-
sinated by a Huguenot nobleman. The act was con-
demned by Calvin, nor had it the sanction of any of the
Protestant leaders, however they may have refrained from
exerting themselves to hinder it. Coligny declared that
he had prevented the execution of similar plots before,
that he had no agency in this, but that for the six months
previous, from the time when he had heard that the Duke
and his brother, the Cardinal, had formed the design to
destroy him and his family, he had ceased to exert him-
self to save the Duke. A year after the massacre of
Vassy, the Edict of Amboise reestablished peace on terms
more favorable to the high nobles on the Protestant side
than the preceding edict, but less favorable to the smaller
gentry and to the towns, inasmuch as they were allowed
but a single place of worsliip in a district or bailliage.
Paris was excepted : there Protestant worship was not to
be tolerated. The capital became more and more a

1 Agrippa d'Aubign(5, Hist. Universelle (1616-18). G. de Felice, ffist. det
Protestants de France, p. 160.

270 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

stronghold of Catholic fanaticism. The settlement was
negotiated by Cond^, but Coligny refused to give his
sanction to its provisions, which were most unacceptable
to the body of the Protestants, who were confident that
better terms might have been made.

This pacification could not be of long endurance. The
Huguenots saw from the threatening attitude of the
court and the hostile movements of their adversaries that
there was no intention to observe it. They anticipated
the attack by themselves resorting to arms ; a measure
which the leaders felt obliged to adopt, though not with-
out grave misgivings. They extorted the Peace of Long-
jumeau (1568), which, however, reestablished substan-
tially the Edict of Pacification. Conde's lack of judgment
was hardly less conspicuous than his valor in the field. ^

Charles IX. was filled with chagrin and indignation at
being driven to make an accommodation with his subjects
in arms. The bitter animosity of the Catholics through
the country was stirred up against the Huguenots. But
a few months before, the Duke of Alva had executed
Effmont and Horn in the Netherlands. At Bavonne,
where Alva had met the Queen Mother and her daughter,
Elizabeth of Spain, he had spared no pains to induce the
French court to proceed to extreme measures against the
Huguenots. But the young King was then averse to the
renewal of the war and to a resort to cruel persecution,
and the Queen Mother refused to give way to Alva's per-
suasions.'-^ Her aim was to balance the parties against
each other, so that neither of them could be in a position
to endanger her own power. The words of Alva, how-
ever, made a stronger impression on Montpensier, Mont-
luc, and other Catholic nobles. The last conflict, which
the Huguenots had begun, had exasperated all who were

1 The Due d'Aumale, who defends the Edict of Amboise, admits that in this
last treaty Cond^ made a false step, and adds: "It must be allowed that his
heart was larger than his intellect." i. 2G4.

2 The usual opposite representation is corrected by Ranke, i. 193.

TREATY OF ST. GERMAIN. 271

not of their party. The Catholic counter-reformation
was in progress, and Jesuit preachers inflamed the anger
of the Catholic population. Philip and Alva renewed
their efforts, which were seconded by the Cardinal of Lor-
raine in the Council. The Huguenots, the king was told,
were rebels ; if they were not subdued he could not be
the ruler of the land. Thus war was once more renewed,
under Spanish influence and cooperation. The Hugue-
nots were now in arms to defend their liberties against a
perfidious conspiracy. The Prince of Conde and the Ad-
miral Coligny had found safety in Rochelle, the town
which often proved the bulwark of the Protestant cause,
and more than once saved it from fatal disaster. The
Edict of Pacification was annulled. The Huguenots were
beaten at Jarnac in 1569, where Conde fell, leaving his
name to his eldest son Henry, a youth of seventeen ; and
the same year they were defeated again at Moncontour.
Now Rochelle proved its value to the Protestants, who,
under Coligny, successfully defended the city against the
victorious enemy.

It seems strange that the court should have been in-
clined to make peace at this time. But the war was not
like the former contests, a local one. It was a general
war, in which foreign nations were concerned. The
Huguenots were aided by money from England and troops
from Germany. When they had been shut up in Rochelle,
where the Queen of Navarre held her court, they fitted
out a small fleet which they used with much effect along
the coast. It was a characteristic of Coligny that, though
often beaten in the field, he was able, after defeat, to keep
together his forces and resume hostilities. He was soon
strong enough to sally forth from Rochelle and to trav-
erse France at the head of a body of three thousand
horse, the most of whom were Germans, and whose pro-
gress, especially as it was known that the young princes,
Navarre and Conde, were among them, awakened enthu-

272 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

siasm wherever they appeared. The perseverance of the
Huguenots and their continued strength, unexhausted by
defeat, constituted one of the arguments for peace. Jeal-
ousy of Spain was the other. The ambition of Philip ex-
cited alarm among the French. He had a scheme for
effecting the liberation of Mary Queen of Scots and of mar-
rying her to Don John of Austria, his half-brother, by
which he hoped to bring Scotland, and ultimately Eng-
land, under Spanish control. He proposed to marry his
sister to the young King of France. If these plans should
be carried out, England, Scotland, France, and the Nether-
lands might, like Italy, be made subordinate to Spain.
It was felt, moreover, that he was taking part in the war
against the Huguenots mainly to promote his selfish m-
terest, and that he rendered less assistance than the enemy
gained from their German allies. The court, in 1570,
agreed to the treaty of St. Germain, by which the pro-
visions of the Edict of Pacification were revived, and four
fortified towns, of which Rochelle was one, were put for
two years into the hands of the Huguenots, as a guarantee
for theu' safety and for the fulfillment of the stipulations.

Thus the obstinate refusal to grant a moderate degree
of religious liberty led to the necessity of a vastly greater
concession, through which the kingdom was divided
against itself — another kingdom being, as it were, estab-
lished within it. Yet it was a measure which the Hugue-
nots, after their experience of the perfidy of the Court,
had no alternative but to demand.

The conclusion of this peace with the Huguenots
brought upon the European states a political crisis of
great moment. It seemed likely that France would take
part in a coalition against Philip H. The state of things
in the Netherlands at this juncture was favorable for such
an alliance. The union of Philip with Venice and with the
Pope, and the victory of Lepanto, increased the jealousy
with which France and Ensjland looked on his ambitious

MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. 273

designs. It was proposed that the Duke of Anjou, the
heir of the French crown, should marry Queen EHzabeth,
and, when this negotiation was broken off, that his younger
brother, the Duke d'Alen^on, should marry her. The
Queen Mother was in apparent, and probably, sincere
accord with this new policy. The sons of the Constable
Montmorenci were then powerful at court, and it was
one of them, the Marshal Francis, who suggested the
marj'iage of the yomigest daughter of Catharine, Mar-
garet of Yalois, to Henry of Navarre. The Queen
Mother fell in with the proposal, and the Huguenots were
not averse to it. At about the same time Conde was
married to a princess of the house of Cleve. So ardent
were the hopes of the Protestants that Coligny himseK
came to the court and was warmly received by Catharine.
He was a man of the purest and loftiest character. On
his own estate, he punctually attended, with his family
and dependents, the Calvinistic worship ; and at each
recurrence of the Lord's Supper, he was at pains to heal
all quarrels and differences among his people. He entered
into the civil wars with the utmost reluctance and sor-
row, in obedience to the imperative call of duty, and in
compliance with the counsels of his wife, who equaled
him in piety and in nobleness of soul. He did not allow
the spirit of a patriot to sink in that of a partisan.
Notwithstanding that he stood at the head of a powerful
party, and, though a subject, was able to make peace or
war, he was broad and disinterested in all his plans.
Grave in his deportment, inflexible in his principles,
blameless in his morals, with an immutable trust in God,
lie presents a commanding figure in the midst of the con-
fusion and corruption of the times. It was the hatred of
Catharine de Medici to Coligny that led to the massacre
of St. Bartholomew. She saw how deeply the King
was impressed with his abilities and excellence. Charles
IX., sickly in body, like the other sons of Henry II., and

18

274 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

with an unhealthy, unregulated nature — all the bad ten-
dencies of which had been fostered in the base and disso-
lute society in which he had been reared, and by the
influence of his mother, whose supreme purpose was to
keep up her own ascendency over him — now felt for the
first time the inspiring influence of a man who could
awaken in him something of reverence and love. The
Queen saw that day by day she was becoming supplanted,
simply by the natural impression which Coligny made upon
her son. The best hopes were awakened in Coligny's
own mind by the almost filial regard with which the King
listened to him. He urged most earnestly that war
should be declared against Spain, and the King was in-
clined to take the step. However Catharine might be
disposed to prevent Philip from acquiring a power in
France that could be dangerous to herself, she was not of
a mind to enter into a war against him ; a war, too, that
must incidentally add to the prosperity of the Huguenots,
and confirm the influence of Coligny over the King.
Whom would he follow, Catharine or Coligny ? Warm
words passed between Coligny and the Queen Mother, in
the presence of Charles. The Admiral said that the
King might be involved in war, even against his will
— referring to the conflict in the Netherlands, into which
Coligny was urging him to enter. It was pretended after-
wards that he had thrown out a threat of rebellion.
Catharine determined to destroy him. She called in the
aid of the Guises, his implacable enemies, who longed to
avenge upon him the assassination of their relative.
Her second son, the Duke of Anjou, afterwards Henry TH.,
on whom she doted and who was equally alarmed at the
feeling which the King manifested to Coligny, engaged
cordially in the plot. The Duchess of Nemours, the
widow of Francis, and the mother of Henry of Guise,
willingly aided in devising and carrying out the diaboli-
cal scheme. Coligny was wounded by a shot from a.

MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. 27o

window of an adherent of the Guises. This was on the
22d of August, 1572. The wound was not dangerous,
and the plot had miscarried. The failure involved the
more peril to the authors of it, from the sympathy with
the Admiral which the King expressed, and from his in-
dignation at the Guises, who were known to be at the
bottom of it. In a visit to Coligny, in which the Queen
Mother accompanied the King, the wounded veteran,
who at that time thought that the bullets which had
struck him might have been poisoned, called him to the
bed-side, and, in an undertone, cautioned him against
yielding to the counsels of Catharine and the faction with
which she had allied herself. By the most importunate
urging, she extorted from Charles a statement of what
the Admiral had said.

Thereupon the plan of a general massacre was matured.
Had it been thought of before ? Pains had been taken
to collect the Huguenots from all quarters into the city.
Catharine had insisted that the marriage should take place
there. There is evidence that the idea of seizing on this
occasion to cut off some of the Huguenot leaders was not
new to the Queen's mind. It is impossible to trace out
the sinuosities of a nature so made up of deceit.-^ She
was fully capable of weaving two schemes simultaneously,
and of availing herself of either as circumstances might
dictate. At all events, the failure in the first attempt
upon Coligny moved her and her confederates to under-
take a general massacre. Henry III., who was one of
them, asserted that the King himself, when he had been
prevailed upon to acquiesce in the murder of Coligny, de-
manded that the Huguenots should all be struck down, so
that none should be left to cry out against his deed. The
court had been absorbed in the festivities attending the

1 " Cette femme etait le mensonge meme et I'on se perd dans I'abJine de sa
fausset^." Henri Martin, ix. 291. Michelet, in the course of his eloquent nar-
rative of the St. Bartholomew plot, says of Catharine : " EUe etait double et
tausse avec tous, avec elle-meme." Guerres de Religion, p. 399.

276 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

marriage of Henry of Navarre. The fanaticism of the
people of Paris was inflamed by the presence of the
Protestants among them, and efEorts were necessary to
prevent outbreakings of violence. It was only necessary
to unchain the passions of the Catholic populace, and the
work of death could be done. The feeble, impulsive, im-
petuous, half-distracted king, was assured that a plot,
with Coligny at its head, had been formed against him,
and was plied with entreaties, arguments, threats, until
his opposition was broken down, and he yielded himself
as a passive instrument into the hands of the conspira-
tors.^ In the night of the 24th of August, at a concerted
signal, the murderers fell upon the victims, the destruction
of the most eminent of whom had been previously allotted
to individuals, the Duke of Guise having taken it in charge
to despatch Coligny. An indiscriminate slaughter of the
Huguenots followed. The miserable King was seen to
fire upon them from his window. Couriers were sent
through the country, and in the other towns the same
frightful scenes were enacted. Not less than two thou-

1 On the much controverted question, whether the massacre of St. Bartholo-
mew was premeditated, two of the ablest modern historians, Ranke and Henri
Martin, are substantially agreed. The material points of their view are indi-
cated above. See Ranke, i. 212 seq., and his examination (v. 97 seq.) of the
work of Capefigue: Histoire de la Reforme, de la Liyue et de Henry IV.
Capefigue is one of the writers who would make the massacre spring wholly
from the infuriated state of Catholic feeling in Paris, of which the individuals
concerned in it were the mere instruments. Martin (ix. 302) considers that in
insisting that the marriage of Navarre should be at Paris, there was in the mind
of the Queen Mother " sinon un projet, au moins, une arriere-pensee .sinistra."
When Catharine put herself openly at the head of the party of peace, " la vague
pens^e qui avait toujours flotte dans son esprit se fixe : le fantome du meurtre prend
corps; 'elle tientconseil de se d(efaire de I'Amiral ' {Mem. de Tavannes, p. 386)."
Martin, p. 302. Henry III.'s narrative of St. Bartholomew is considered genuine
by Martin (p. 309, n. ) Its genuineness is doubted by Ranke. The view of Ranke
and Martin as to the origin of the massacre, not in a plot definitely framed long
before, but in the terror and fanaticism excited by the failure of the attempt to as-
sassinate Coligny, Is adopted by Soldan, Frankreich u. die Bartholomaus Nacht ;
by Henry White, in his truly learned as well as readable work on the Civil Wars,
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and by other judicious writers. Browning, in
his valuable History of the Htu/uenots (ch. xxvii.), errs in attributing to Charles
IX. the purpose to decoy the Huguenot leaders to Par's in order to cut them ofi.

JOY AT MADRID AND ROME. 277

sand were killed in Paris, and as many as twenty thou-
sand in the rest of France. Navarre and Conde were at
length obliged to conform to the Catholic Church, to save
their lives. The news of the great massacre excited a
tumult of joy at Madrid and at Rome. It is said that
Philip II., for the first time in his life, laughed aloud.
The Pope ordered a Te Beum^ and by processions and ju-
bilant thanksgivings the Papal court signified the satis-
faction mth which the intelligence was received. A
medal was struck, having on one side the image of Greg-
ory XIII., and on the the other, the destroying angel,
with the words : Hugonotorum strages (massacre of the
Huguenots). The Pope ordered Vasari to paint and
hang up in the Vatican, a picture which should represent
the slaughter of the Huguenots, and bear the inscription :
'•'■ Pontifex Colignii necem prohat" (the Pope approves
the slaying of Coligny). Among the fictitious apologies
which the French Court put forth, that which charged
upon the Huguenots a plot against the King and govern-
ment, met with little, if any, credence. Everywhere,
except at Madrid and Rome, in the Catholic as well as
Protestant nations, the atrocious crime was regarded with
horror and with detestation of its perpetrators.

The Protestants were not subdued by the terrible loss
which they had suffered. The burning wrath which it
excited among them was a new sovu-ce of strength. Ro-
chelle still held out. Nor did the Queen Mother desert
her previous path or show herself disposed to a close alli-
ance with Philip. She even sought to keep up negotiations
for the marriage of AleuQon with Elizabeth.

A new turn was given to affairs by the separation of
the " Pohtiques," or liberal Catholics, who were in favor of
toleration, from their fanatical brethren. The wisdom and
necessity of the policy which L'Hospital had vainly rec-
ommended, were now recognized by a strong party. In
1674 the wretched Kfe of Charles IX. came to an end.

278 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

His brother and successor, Henry HI., the favorite of his
mother, and most fully imbued with her ideas, and who
had been active in contriving the massacre of St. Barthol-
omew, was wholly incompetent to govern a country that
was torn by religious factions, a country whose treasury
was exliausted, and whose people were clamorous for de-
liverance from their heavy burdens of taxation, at the
same time that a strong party was demanding radical po-
litical reforms. The King endeavored to make his way
by craft and double-dealing, but lost the confidence of
both of the religious parties. In May, 1576, he made his
peace with the united Huguenots and Politiques, giving
to the former unrestricted religious freedom, with the
exception of Paris, and an equal eligibleness to all offices
and dignities.

With the cooperation of Spain, Henry of Guise organ-
ized the Catholic League, for the maintenance of the
Catholic religion and for the extirpation of Protestantism.
The Estates at Blois in 1576 demanded that there should
be but one rehgion in the kingdom. The impopularity of
Henry among the extreme Catholics was not only owing
to his shuffling course on the religious question, but also
to his advancement of personal favorites to the highest
offices, and his subjection to their influence, in disregard
of the claims of the great nobles. The League com-
menced another war, the sixth in the series, for the at-
tainment of their ends, and drew the irresolute and help-
less King along with them. The result was the securing
to the Huguenots of what had been granted them in 1576 ;
but the seventh war, that soon followed, ended in the
adoption of the first Edict of Toleration. In 1584, the
Duke of Alen^on, who, after the accession of Henry to
the throne, had worn the title of the Duke of Anjou,
died. Thus Henry of Navarre was left the next heir to
the throne. The League, with Spain and Rome at its
back, resolved that he should never wear the crown.

THE CATHOLIC LEAGUE. 279

Sixtus v., shortly after his accession to the Papal chair,
issued a bull, in which the two Princes, Navarre and
Condd, as heretics, and leaders and promoters of heresy,
were declared to have forfeited their dignities and posses-
sions, including all title to the French throne. In the
war of the " three Henries," as it was called, Henry of
Navarre was supported by England and by troops from
Germany and Switzerland. The King, on his return to
Paris, found that Henry of Guise was greeted by the
multitude as the hero of the war. The attempt of the
King to introduce bodies of troops devoted to himseK,
was met by the erection of barricades in the streets of
the city, and he was obliged to make a humiliating ap-
peal to Guise to quiet the disorder. The Assembly of
the States General at Blois, in 1588, brought forward
projects of constitutional reform which reduced the power
of the King to a low point. His mortification, resent-
ment, and impatience at the restrictions laid upon him,
had now reached their height. He caused the Duke of
Guise to be assassinated by the royal body-guards, and
the Duke's brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine, to be dis-
patched the same day.

Henry III. had now brought on himself the implacable
hostility of the League. The fanatical preachers of Paris
held him up to the execration of the people. The doctors
of the Sorbonne hastened to declare that he had incurred
the penalty of excommunication, and that his subjects
were of right absolved from their allegiance. The actual
excommunication from the Pope followed. It was for-
tunate for the King that there was an army of Protes-
tants in the field, under Prince Henry of Navarre. The
King joined himself to the Prince. The army, made
strong by the union of the Huguenots and the Politiques
— the liberal Catholics who were still loyal to the sover-
eign— drew near to Paris. It was thought advisable in
the city to set a watch upon the Cathohcs who were not

280 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

of the League. At that time, when the royal cause,
faithfully supported by Navarre, was gaining ground, a
fanatical priest, Clement by name, made his way into the
camp and slew the King (1589).

Henry IV. was now the sovereign of France by right
of inheritance ; but he had been declared inehgible by
the Pope, and he had his kingdom to win. The League
were disposed to put France under the protection of
Philip II. The Duke of Mayenne, the brother of the
Guises who were assassinated by order of the King, was
at the head of the government which the League provis-
ionally established. Tbe interests of Spain were cared
for by the ambassador, Mendoza, an astute diplomatist,
whom Elizabeth had found it inconsistent with her safety
and that of her kingdom to suffer to remain in England.
Philip 11. aspired to unite the Catholic nations under his
rule, and the League were so lost to the feeling of pat-
riotism as to wish him success. The project of the union
of France and Spain failed, as far as the League was
concerned, only by the jealousy of the Duke of Mayenne,
who refused to consent that his nephew, whom it was
proposed to marry to Philip's daughter, should wear the
crown. The gallantry of Henry of Navarre was con-
spicuously displayed. In the battle of Ivry, on the 14th
of March, 1590, he gained a brilliant victory, which was
chiefly due to his personal valor. The strategy of Alex-
ander of Parma, one of the ablest generals of the age,
neutralized his successes until that commander died.^
Besides the discord in the League, which has been noticed,
other circumstances gradually turned to the advantage of
Henry. The great obstacle in the way of his crushing
opposition was the fact that he was a Protestant. When

1 See the remarks of Due d'Aumale on Henry's military talents, ii. 170. The
King was master of tactics, but not a strategist. D'Aumale's work is specially
instructive in reference to the constitution of the armies and the military eventfi
of the civil wars.

THE ABJURATION OF HENRY IV. 281

urged to become a Catholic, immediately after the death
of Henry III., he had refused, but in such terms as to
inspire the hope that he might ultimately accede to the
proposal. The portion of the Catholic body that had
given him their support, would not consent to the elevation
of a Protestant to the throne. It was not personal am-
bition alone, nor was it the desire of repose for himself,
which he felt after so long a conflict ; it was the oppor-
tunity that was given him to restore peace to France, that
at length moved him to conform to the Catholic Church.
It had been urged upon him, that the constitution of the
kingdom was such that he was morally bound to be a
member of the old Church. As King, he believed that he
could shield the Huguenots from persecution, as well as
bring to an end the terrible calamities under which
France was groaning. As long as he remained outside
of the Catholic Church, he could not win the cities
to his cause, and he could not hope to reign by the aid
of the nobility alone. He had no doubt that salvation
was possible in the old Church. Sully, who dwells with
much self-complacency on the part which he took in
leading the King to abjure Protestantism, assured him
that it was not a change of religion ; that the foundation
of the two systems was the same.^ But Du Perron, who
had before returned to the Catholic Church, and whom
Henry afterwards made Bishop of Evreux, had at least
an equal influence in persuading the King to follow his
example. Specific articles of faith that were presented
to him, he refused to sign. But he went into the Church of
St. Denis and kneeUng before the Archbishop of Bourges,
solemnly declared that he would live and die in the Cath-
olic Church, which he promised to protect and defend. As
he had not really altered his opinions, the step that he took
was one which admits of no moral justification. Beza,
who was then near the end of his life, wrote to him a

1 Memoires, b. v.

282 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

pathetic and solemn warning against it.^ We cannot
conceive of a man like Coligny consenting to abjure his
religious profession from any consideration of expedi-
ency. Men of the highest type of character do right and
leave consequences to Providence. But Henry had been
reared in the camp ; he had neither the strength of
religious convictions nor the purity of life which answered
to the standard of the earnest Huguenots. Thus his
faults palliate the guilt of an act which, if done by a man
of a higher moral tone, would have been attended by an
utter ruin of character. The nation was now easily won
to his cause. It is gratifjdng to find the most eminent of
the recent writers on French history dissenting from the
popular view which assumes that it was demonstrably im-
possible for Henry to attain to the throne without aban-
doning his faith. The same writer agrees with distin-
guished individuals in the Catholic Church, who even at
that day preferred that the King should remain an honest
Protestant than become a pretended Catholic.^ It is un-
questionable, however, that the immediate effect was to
open his way to the throne and to put an end to the hor-
rors of civil war. He rode into Paris, wearing the white
plume which had often waved in the thick of the fight.

The abjuration of Henry might be approved by a Prot-
estant like Sully, in whom religion was subordinate to
pohtics ; but it brought consternation and grief to the
great body of his faithful Huguenot adherents who had
stood by him in the darkest hours, and who now saw the
foundations on which they stood as a party, struck from
imder their feet. It is remarkable that he retained, to so
great an extent, the affection of those who most deplored
his change of religion. His captivating qualities gave
him an almost irresistible ascendency over the hearts of
men. The abjuration of Henry was not the only evil

1 For the remonstrances of other Protestants, see the thorough work of Sta-
Lelin, Der Ubertritt Konig Heinrichs des Vierten (Basel, 18(i2), p. 640.

2 Martin, x. 329.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF HENRY IV. 283

which the Huguenots were destined to experience as a
consequence of being a poHtical party. Others, especially
nobles, sought and found personal advancement by fol-
lowing the example of their chief. The leadership of
the Huguenot party was coveted by persons more emi-
nent for their rank than for their devotion to religion.
The continued persecution, of which the Huguenots were
the victims, enabled them to rally and preserve their poHt-
ical organization ; and the strength which they still mani-
fested, indirectly aided the King in carrying into effect
the policy of peace and toleration. He aimed to mode-
rate the polemical ardor of the Huguenot champions,
and did not conceal his satisfaction when his old friend,
Du Plessis Mornay, was convicted, in a disputation with
Du Perron, at Fontainebleau, of having unwittingly used
inaccurate citations from the ecclesiastical writers.^

The administration of Henry, though cut short by the
dagger of Ravaillac, was of incalculable advantage to
France. With the assistance of the astute Sully, he re-
organized the industry, and restored the prosperity of the
country. He made war upon Spain, and in the treaty of
Vervins, in 1598, he recovered the places which had been
conquered from France, both by Philip, and by the Duke
of Savoy. The Pope was compelled to conclude peace,
and to annul his various fulminations against Henry,
while the latter refused to make any declaration except
that he had returned to the Catholic Church ; and he ad-
hered to his promise to protect both religions. The idea
of his foreign policy, which was that of weakening the
power of Spain, and of Hapsburg, and of extending the
boundaries of France, was afterwards taken up by Riche-
lieu, and fully realized. In the Edict of Nantes, in 1598,
Henry secured to the Huguenots that measure of religious
liberty, and the guarantees of it, for which they had con-

1 A favorable view of the King's policy in dealing with the Huguenots is
given by Ranke, ii. 74 seq. : a less favorable view by Stahelin, p. 627 seq.

284 THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

tended. It left fortified cities in their hands, thus per-
petuating the existence of an organized power within the
State ; but this was a necessity of the times. With this
exception, his domestic policy involved the concentration
of power in the monarch ; and in this respect, Richelieu
followed in his footsteps. But if the accession of Henry
IV. brought a comparative security to the Calvmists of
France, this was the limit of its advantage to them.
From a religious body, animated with the purpose to
bring the whole country to the adoption of their princi-
ples, they were reduced to the condition of a defensive
party, confined by metes and bounds, which it could not
overpass ; a party more and more separated from the
Catholic population, and exposed, besides, to the evils
consequent on keeping up a political and military organi-
zation. From this moment. Protestantism in France
ceased to grow.

CHAPTER IX.

THE EEFORMATION IK THE NETHERLANDS.

The Netherlands formed a most valuable portion of the
inherited dominions of Charles V. The Dukes of Bur-
gundy, the descendants of King John of France, taking
advantage of the weakness of the French crown and of
the wars between France and England, had built up by
marriage, purchase, and conquest, or by more culpable
means, a rich and powerful dominion. The Duchy of
Burgundy gradually extended its confines, until, in the
reign of Charles V., it comprised seventeen provinces, and
was nearly coextensive with the territory included in the
present kingdoms of Holland and Belgium. All of the old
writers describe in glowing language the unequaled pros-
perity and thrift of the Low Countries, and the skill and
intelligence of the people.^ Agriculture, manufactures,
and commerce, were equally flourishing and lucrative.
There were three hundred and fifty cities, some of them
the largest and busiest in Em-ope. Antwerp, with a pop-
ulation of one hundi-ed thousand inhabitants, at a time
when London had only one hundred and fifty thousand,
was the resort of merchants from every quarter, and had
a trade surpassing that of any other European city. The
people of the Netherlands were noted not less for their

1 Strada, De Bella- Beh/ico, torn. i. For a description of the state of the Low
Countries, see Hiiusser, Gsch. d. Zeitali. d. i?e/., p. 328seq. Prescott, Hist, of
the Reign of Philip II., b. ii. ch. 1; Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, i. 81 seq.
Th. Juste, Hist, de la Revol. des Pays-Bas, torn. I. 1. v. Holzwarth, Der Ab-
fxll d. Niederliinder (3 vols., 1866-72). The facts are drawn from Guicciardini,
Belgica Desciiptio (1652), Strada, Basnage, Annalesdes Provinces-Unis (1719),
and other sources.

286 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

ingenuity shown in the invention of machines and iinple*
ments, and for their proficiency in science and letters, than
for their opulence and enterprise. It was their boast that
s.ommon laborers, even the fishermen who dwelt in the
huts of Friesland, could read and write, and discuss the
interpretation of Scripture. Local self-government ex-
isted to a remarkable extent throughout the seventecD
provinces. Each had its own chartered rights, privileges,
and immunities, and its immemorial customs, which the
sovereign was bound to keep inviolate. The people loved
their freedom. Charles V., with all the advantages de-
rived from his vast power, could not amalgamate the
provinces, or fuse them under a common system, and was
obhged to satisfy himself with being the head of a con-
federacy of little republics. But at the Diet of Augsburg,
in 1548, he succeeded in legalizing the separation of the
Netherlands into a distinct, miited portion of the Empire,
paying its own tax, in a gross amount, into the treasiuy ;
having certain special rights in the Diet ; entitled to pro-
tection, but exempt from the jurisdiction of the imperial
judiciary, to which other parts of the Empire were sub-
ject.

In such a population, among the countrymen of Eras-
mus, where, too, in previous ages, various forms of inno-
vation and dissent had arisen, the doctrines of Luther
must inevitably find an entrance. They were brought in
by foreign merchants, " together with whose commodities,"
wi'ites the old Jesuit historian Strada, " this plague often
sails." They were introduced with the German and
Swiss soldiers, whom Charles V. had occasion to bring into
the country. Protestantism was also transplanted from
England by numerous exiles who fled from the persecu-
tion of Mary. The contiguity of the country to Germany
and France provided abundant avenues for the incoming
of the new opinions. " Nor did the Rhine from Ger-
many, or the Meuse from France," to quote the regretful

THE " PLACARDS " OF CHARLES V. 287

language of Strada, " send more water into the Low
Countries, than by the one the contagion of Luther, by
the other of Calvin, was imported into the same Belgic
provmces." ^ The spirit and occupations of the people,
the whole atmosphere of the country, were singulai-ly
propitious for the spread of the Protestant movement.
The cities of Flanders and Brabant, especially Antwerp,
very early furnished professors of the new faith. Charles
V. issued, in 1521, from Worms, an edict, the first of a
series of barbarous enactments or " placards," for the
extinguishing of heresy in the Netherlands ; and it did
not remain a dead letter.^ Li 1523, two Augustinian
monks were burned at the stake in Brussels. After the
fire was kindled, they repeated the Apostle's creed, and
sang the Te Deum laudamus.^ This execution drew from
Luther an inspiriting letter to the persecuted Christians
of Holland and Brabant, and moved him to write a stir-
ring hymn — beginning, " Ein neues Lied wir heben an,"
— of which the following is one of the stanzas : —

" Quiet their ashes will not lie :
But scattered far and near,
Stream, dungeon, bolt, and grave defy,
Their foeman's shame and fear.
Those whom alive the tyrant's wrongs
To silence could subdue.
He must, when dead, let sing the songs
Which in all languages and tongues.
Resound the wide world through."^

1 Strada, Stapleton's translation (1667), p. 36. On the causes of the rapid
spread of Protestantism in the Low Countries, see Th. Juste, i. 319, 320. Juste
is a moderate Catholic, and writes with impartialitj'.

2 The main parts of the first " Placard " are given by Brandt, History of tiie
Reformation in the Low Countries, i. 42. 3 Ibid., p. 45.

4 "Die Aschen will nicht lassen ab,

Sie stfiubt in aller Landen.
Hie hilft kein Bach, Loch, Grub noch Grab;

Sie macht den Feind zu Schanden.
Die er im Leben durch den Mord

Zu schweigen hat gedrungen.
Die muss er todt an allem Ort

Mit aller Stimm', und Zungen
Gar frihlich lassen singen." Gieseler, iv. i. 2, § 24.

288 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

The edicts against heresy were imperfectly executed. The
Regent, Margaret of Savoy, was lukewarm in the business
of persecution ; and her successor, Maria, the Emperor's
sister, the widowed Queen of Hungary, was still more
leniently disposed. The Protestants rapidly increased in
number. Calvinism, from the influence of France, and of
Geneva where young men were sent to be educated, came
to prevail among them. Anabaptists and other licentious
or fanatical sectaries, such as appeared elsewhere in the
wake of the Reformation, were numerous ; and their ex-
cesses afforded a plausible pretext for violent measures of
repression against all who departed from the old faith.^
In 1550, Charles V. issued a new Placard, in which the
former persecuting edicts were confirmed, and in which a
reference was made to Inquisitors of the faith, as well as
to the ordinary judges of the bishops. This excited great
alarm, since the Inquisition was an object of extreme
aversion and dread. The foreign merchants prepared to
leave Antwerp, prices fell, trade was to a great extent
suspended ; and such was the disaffection excited, that the
Regent Maria interceded for some modification of the ob-
noxious decree. Verbal changes were made, but the fears
of the people were not quieted ; and it was published at
Antwerp in connection with a protest of the magistrates
in behalf of the liberties which were put in peril by a
tribunal of the character threatened. " And," says the
learned Arminian historian, " as this affair of the Inquisi-
tion and the oppression from Spain prevailed more and
more, all men began to be convinced that they were des-
tined to perpetual slavery." Although there was much
persecution in the Netherlands during the long reign of

1 The Anabaptist offenses against decency and order are naturally dwelt upon
by writers disposed to apologize for the persecutions in the Netherlands; as
Leo, Universal Geschickte, iii. 327 seq.; and in his earlier work, ZwoT/" 5(ic^er
Niederldndische Geschickte. But the facts and circumstances are also faith-
fully detailed by Brandt and other writers whose sympathies are on the other
Eide.

SPIEIT AND POLICY OF PHILIP II. 289

Charles, yet the number of martyrs could not have been
60 great as fifty thousand, the number mentioned by one
writer, much less one hundred thousand, the number given
by Grotius.^

In 1555, Charles V., enfeebled by his life-long enemy,
the gout, which was aggravated by reverses of fortune —
mindful, too, it is said, of a former^saying of one of his
commanders, that " between the business of life, and the
day of death, a space ought to be interposed " — resigned
his throne, and devolved upon his son, Philip II., the
government of the Netherlands, together with the rest of
his wide dominions in Spain, Italy, and the New World.
Political and rehgious absolutism was the main article of
Philip's creed. His ideas were few in number, but he
clung to them with the more unyielding tenacity. The
liberties of Spain had been destroyed at the begimiing of
Charles's reign ; and the absolute system that was estab-
lished there, Philip considered the only true or tolerable
form of government. To rule, as far as possible, accord-
ing to this method, wherever he had authority, was an
established purpose in his mind. At the same time, he
was resolved to stand forth as the champion of the Ro-
man Catholic Church, and the unrelenting foe of heresy,
wherever he could reach it. The Spanish monarchy had
worn a religious character from the days of Ferdinand
and Isabella. Its discoveries and conquests in the New
World had been pushed in the spirit of religious propa-
gandism. The crusade against the Moors had whetted
the fanatical zeal against heresy. In Spain, the Inquisi-
tion was an essential instrument of the civil administra-
tion. By nature, and by the influence of the circum-
stances in which he was placed, Philip was the implac-
able enemy of religious dissent. Moreover, he knew that
if he granted liberty of conscience in one part of his

1 " Nam post carnificata hominum non minus centum millia," etc. — Annales
et Hist, de Rebus Belg., \. i. p. 12.
19

290 THE KEFORxMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

dominions, lie might have to meet a similar demand in
another — in Spain itself. The comisels of his father, in
whom, as he advanced in years, superstition acquired an
increasing sway, confirmed Philip in his intolerant big-
otry.i There had been a mutual love between Charles
and the people of the Netherlands. They Avere proud of
him as a countryman, and his affable manners in inter-
course with them kept up his popularity. His persecu-
tion of the Protestants, and his cruelty after the suppres-
sion of the msurrection at Ghent, did not suffice to alien-
ate the loyal and affectionate regard of his subjects. But
Philip was a Spaniard, and showed it in all his demeanor
towards them. " He spoke seldom, and then all Spanish."
His mingled shyness and arrogance repelled and disgusted
them. In the room of cordially meeting their expressions of
enthusiasm, he seemed desirous of escaping from them.^

Among this wealthy, spirited, cultivated people, Philip
seemed inclined to introduce his despotic system. The
great nobles of the country, of whom William, Prmce of
Orange, and the Counts Egmont and Horn, were the

1 The bigotry of the Emperor, as well as other traits which he manifested after
his abdication, are set forth in the highly interesting work of Stirling, The Cloister
Life of Charles V. The other writers on the subject are Gachard, Retraite et
Mort de Charles Quint ; INIignet, Charles Quint, son Abdication, son Sejour et
ea Mort au Monastere de Ynste. These authors are reviewed by Prescott,
History of Philip II. (end of b. i.); and in his edition of Eobertson's History
of Charles V., iii. 327 seq., in connection with Prescott's own historical essay on
the same theme. Of course the Emperor never made the remark often attrib-
uted to him, that he had been foolish in trying to produce uniformit}- of opin-
ion between sects, when he could not make two clocks or watches accord.
Macaulaj' traces the saying to a reflection of Strada, who observes that Charles
governed the wheels of clocks easier than fortune. Pichot traces it to Van
Male, Charles's Latin Secretary, by whom an observation of Seneca, respect-
ing the disputes of philosophers, is borrowed and applied to the controversies of
doctors. Pichot, Chronique de Charles Quint (1854), vol. i. p. 444. The Em-
peror's expression of regret that he had not burned Luther at Worms, shows
his real mind. Juste, i. 98. Prescott's Robertson, iii. 482. From Yuste he
addressed to the Spanish Inquisitors and to Philip exhortations to cruelty.
Ibid., pp. 4G3, 464. His fanaticism and intolerance appear in his codicil, in his
injunctions to Philip.

2 Juste, i. 124.

THE REGENCY OF MARGARET OF PARMA. 291

chief, might naturally expect to be intrusted with the
principal management of the government under the King.
William, though born of Lutheran parents, had been
brought up from his boyhood in the court of Charles V.,
and was a Catholic by profession, but opposed to persecu-
tion. His extraordinary abilities had made him a favorite
of the Emperor, who gave him responsible employments
and signified his particular regard by leaning upon hia
shoulder, at the ceremony of the abdication, and by
selecting him to convey the imperial crown to his brother
Ferdinand. Egmont, with far less depth of sagacity and
steadiness of character than Orange, was a nobleman of
brilliant courage and attractive manners, and had won
high fame in connection with the victories of Gravelines
and St. Quentin. The nobles, both these and others of
inferior rank, were luxurious in their style of living, and
their lavish expenditures had brought on many of them
heavy burdens of debt.

Philip did not select his Regent from the aristocracy
of the country, nor did he appoint any other whom the
nobles would have preferred ; but he appointed to this
office Margaret of Parma, the illegitimate daughter of
Charles V., a person of uncommon talents and energy,
and utterly devoted to the will of her brother. She was
accomplished in the art of dissimulation and double-deal-
ing, which formed an essential part of Philip's method of
governing. She nourished the King's jealousj'- of Orange
and Egmont. In the first act of selecting a Regent, Philip
showed a caution that partook of suspicion. At her side
he placed, as her principal adviser, Granvelle, the Bishop
of Arras. His father was of humble birth, but had raised
himself to an important station under the Emperor, by
whom the talents of the son were also discerned. Gran-
velle, the younger, was an able and accomplished man,
and well acquainted mth the country, but servilely de-
voted to the King. The three nobles were placed in the

292 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

Council, but the secret directions of Philip to the Regent
were such that the conduct of affairs was really in the
hands of Granvelle (1559).

In the midst of the murmurs and fears which the organ-
ization of the government excited, the attempt was made
to retain in the Netherlands several regiments of Spanish
soldiers. This measure was undertaken when there was
no sign of an insurrection. It was in violation of the
ancient rights of the Provinces, and imposed a burden
which was the more onerous, since, in the previous year,
there had been universal suffering from the scarcity of
provisions. Philip had pledged his word, on leaving the
Netherlands, that the troops should be withdrawn within
four months ; but that pledge was disregarded. The dis-
affection increased to such a degree, that the Regent at
length availed herself of a convenient pretext for sending
them away. Philip reluctantly acquiesced in what she
pronounced an absolute necessity, if the country was to
be saved from insurrection.

The second of these irritating measures was the crea-
tion of a large number of new bishoprics. Whatever
plausible reasons might be urged in favor of this measure,
from the great size of the existing dioceses, and their in-
convenient relations to the contiguous German bishoprics,
the real design of it was not mismiderstood.^ It was a
part of the machinery to be employed for tightening the
cords of Church discipline, and for the extermination of
heresy. The new bishops were to be clothed with inquis-
itorial powers. The creation of so many important per-
sonages, devoted, of course, to the sovereign, was counted
a disadvantage to the old hereditary aristocracy of the
country.

The two measures of the retention of the troops, and
the imposition of the bishops — measures ha\ang an omin-
ous relation to one another — revealed mimistakably the

1 Juste, ii. 166, 279.

AGGEESSIONS OF PHILIP II. 293

policy of Philip. The apologists of the King charge the
troubles that ensued upon the ambition of the nobles,
especially of William, who, it is said, wanted to govern
the country themselves, and did all they could to excite
disaffection. It may be granted that they were not free
from the influence of personal motives, and chafed under
the arrangements which deprived them of their natural
and legitimate place in the control of public affairs. The ^

charge that either of them aimed at a revolution is desti- f/f/Q
tute of proof. In the midst of all tha^ is subject to con-
troversy, two things cannot reasonably be disputed. One
is that foreign domination, that is, the rule of Spanish
officers, and the presence of Spanish soldiery, were as
hateful to the Netherlanders as they were to the Germans.
It was what contributed most to the reaction against
Charles V., after the Smalcaldic war, and to the triumph
of Maurice. The other fact is, that persecution, the forci-
ble repression of heresy, after the manner of Spanish Cath-
olicism, was repugnant to the general feeling of the peo-
ple — of the Catholic population — of the Low Countries.
There was an atmosphere of freedom, and a state of pub-
lic opinion, to which the policy of Philip was thoroughly
opposed. William afterwards declared that, while hunt-
ing in company with Henry II. of France, that monarch
had incautiously revealed to him the secret designs of
himself and Philip for the extirpation of heresy in their
dominions. In Phihp's scheme for the increase of bish-
ops, and in his detention of the troops, William saw the
beginning of the execution of the plot ; and he deter-
mined, he says, that he would do what he could to rid
the land of "the Spanish vermin." That William looked
about for a high matrimonial connection, does not indi-
cate any deep-laid plan of unlawful personal advancement ,
nor in his marriage with Anna, of Saxony, was there any
serious attempt to mislead PhiUp as to the religion to

294 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

be adopted by his bride.^ William was charged with
cherishing Macchiavellian principles ; but the age was
Macchiavellian, and he does not appear to have often
transgressed the bounds of morality in the use of that
profound sagacity by which he coped with unscrupulous
adversaries.

Philip renewed the persecuting edicts of Charles V. It
was forbidden to print, copy, keep, hide, buy, or sell any
writing of Luther, Zwmgle, CEcolampadius, Bucer, Cal-
vin, or of any other heretic ; to break or to injure any
image of the Virgin, or of the Saints ; to hold or to attend
any heretical conventicle. Laymen were prohibited from
reading the Scriptures, or taking part in conferences upon
disputed points of doctrine. Transgressors, in case they
should recant, were, if they were men, to be beheaded ; if
women, to be buried alive. If obstinate, they were to be
burnt alive, and, in either case, their property was to be
confiscated. To omit to inform against suspicious per-
sons, to entertain, lodge, feed, or clothe them, was to be
guilty of heresy. Persons who, for the reason that they
were suspected, were condemned to abjure heresy, were,
in case they rendered themselves again suspicious, to be
dealt with as heretics. Every accuser, in case of convic-
tion, was to receive a large share of the confiscated goods.
Judges were absolutely forbidden to diminish in any way
the prescribed penalties. Severe penalties were threat-
ened against any who should intercede for heretics or
present a petition in behalf of them. To carry out these
enactments, Charles had established an Inquisition, which
was not only independent of the clergy of the country,
but to which they were all, from the highest to the lowest,
answerable. This was not the Spanish Inquisition, but
it was sufficiently rigorous to lead Philip to pronounce it
more pitiless than that of Spain.'^ But, terrible as the

1 Compare Prescott, i. 485, with Motley, i. 300 seq. William's wife was to
" live catholically."

2 " Ce qu'on debite sur rintention du Roi d'lHablir aux Pays Bas I'inquisi-

POPULAR DISAFFECTION. 295

Inquisition in the Netherlands was, it wanted some of the
barbarous features that belonged to the Holy Office in
Spain. It was said by Philip, and has been urged by his
defenders since, that the persecuting edicts were the work
of Charles, and that his successor simply continued them
in operation. This statement overlooks the circumstances
that they put the authority of Charles, popular though
he was, to a severe test ; that they were not systematically
enforced ; that the cruelties inflicted under them had more
and more awakened the hostility of the people to such
measures ; and that in the interval between the promul-
gation of them by Charles and the renewal of them by
Philip, the new opinions had gained a wider acceptance.^

As the Inquisition proceeded with its bloody work, the
indignation of the people found utterance through Orange
and Egmont, who remonstrated against the cruelties
which were inflicted, and complained to the King of Gran-
velle, on whom they laid the responsibihty of everything
that was done.

Granvelle is exculpated by Philip from aU responsi-
bility for the introduction of the new bishops ; and he
did not originate some other obnoxious measures which
were laid to his credit.^ His impulses were not cruel.
But the lords were not out of the way in finding in
him the embodiment of the foreign domination which

tion d'Espagne, est egalement faux ; jamais le cardinal ne lui a fait cette propn
osition, ni lui-meme n'y a pensd. D'ailleurs I'inquisition des Pays-Bas est
plus impitoyable que celle d'Espagne." Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe
II., i. 207.

1 Orange sets forth some of these altered circumstances in a letter to the Re-
gent (January 24, 1.566). He speaks of the Placards as " quelquefois lirait^s et
non ensuivis ii la rigeur, mesme en temps que la mis^re universelle n'estoit si
aspre comme maintenant et notre peuple, par imitation et practicques de no»
voisins, non tant enclen a novellit^," etc. He depicts plainly the fatal conse-
quences that will result from perseverance in the severe policy of the King.
Groen Van Prinsterer, Archives de la Maison d' Oranye-Nassau, tome ii. p. 19

'^ The points on which Granvelle was erroneously accused are presented hj
Gachard, Cm-respondance , etc., I. clxx. seq. (Preliminary Rapport). One of
the worst things that Granvelle did was to recommend the kidnapping of Will-
iam's son, who was taken from Louvain, where he was studying, and carried to
Spain. There he was kept, and trained up in the Catholic religion.

296 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

was striking at the liberties of the country. Whatever
opuiion he might privately hold as to the wisdom of some
of the measures of Phihp, he never faltered in his obe-
dience. He knew no higher law than the will of his
master. The new arrangement of dioceses abridged his
own episcopal power, and would naturally be mi welcome ;
but when he was made Archbishop of Mechlin, and then,
at the intercession of the Regent, received from Rome the
cardinal's hat, the personal dislike of the lords to him as
an upstart, and their patriotic opposition to the policy oi
which he was the chief executor, reached their climax.
The effect of the complaints of the nobles against the car-
dinal was to kindle in Philip's mind an mextingnishable
hostility to them.^ At length the Regent, impatient of
her dependent position with reference to Granvelle, and
willing that he should bear all the odium, took sides
against him. The excitement became so formidable that
Philip found a pretext for removing him from the comi-
try, as if at his own request ; but the Inquisition went
forward with even greater energy in the work of burning
and burymg alive its victims. It even put to death those
who were merely suspected of harboring heretical opinions.
The great lords, who on the departure of the Cardinal
had returned to the Council, from which they had previ-
ously withdrawn, felt that they were deemed to be in
part answerable for the incessant murders perpetrated in
the name of justice and religion ; and when Philip de-
termined to promulgate the decrees of Trent, the Prince
of Orange broke through his reserve and startled the
Council by a bold and powerful speech upon the unright-
eous and dangerous policy which the government was
pm'suing. The general sense of the country recoiled from
that strict ecclesiastical discipline, which the reactionary

1 In the letter in which he denied the truth of certain allegations against
Granvelle, he asserts that this minister had never advised him to pacify the
country by cutting off a half dozen heads; but Philip adds to the denial-
"Quoique serait peut-etre pas mal de recourir a ce moyen." Gachard, 1 207

THE COMPROraSE. 297

Catholic party in Europe were seeking to establish. It
was determined to dispatch Egmont to Madrid to open
the eyes of the King to the real situation. The cordiality
with which he was received, and the honors that were
rendered him in the Spanish court, made him satisfied
with the smooth but vague and unmeaning assurances of
Philip. Egmont was the more incensed, when, after his
return, he found that he had been duped, and that the old
edicts were to be sharply enforced Avithout a jot of conces-
sion.^ The announcement that the persecution was to go
on without the least mitigation, filled the land with con-
sternation. The foreign merchants fled, as from a pesti-
lence, and Antwerp, the principal mart, was silent. The
irritation of the people found a vent in a multitvide of
angry or satirical publications, which no vigilance of the
Inquisition could prevent from seeing the liglit.^

About five hundred nobles, to whom burghers were
afterwards added, united in an agreement called the Com-
pro7nise, by which they pledged themselves to withstand
the Spanish tyranny, the Inquisition that was crushing
the country, and every violent act which should be un-
dertaken against any one of their number. In this league
were Count Louis of Nassau, a man of high courage,
but more excitable and radical than his brother ; the
accomplished St. Aldegonde, and Brederode, whose char-
acter was less entitled to respect, but who was full of
spirit and daring. They contemplated at the outset only
legal means of resistance. But in their ranks were found

1 The cruel orders of Philip are given in his famous dispatch from the forest
of Segovia (October 17, 1565). Gachard, i. cxxix.

2 Granvelle's correspondence bears constant witness to the general antipathy
towards the Spaniards — "La mauvaise volont^ que I'on tdmoigne ici univer-
sellement a tousles Espagnols," as he styles it, in one place (Papiers d'Etat du
Cardinal de Granvelle, tome vii., p. 52). This antipathy he attributes to the in-
dustry of the lords in propagating calumnies in regard to the intention of the
King to bring in the Spanish Inquisition, to rule there as he ruled in Italy, etc.
Granvelle recommends the bestowal of offices and distinction^' such as places
of trust in Italy, upon Netherlanders, in order to create a Spanrsh feeling among
the friends of persona thus honored, and among aspirants for like favors.

298 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

Bome who hoped to mend their fortunes by political com-
motion. The great nobles stood aloof from the associa-
tion. William especially was wise enough to perceive
that it would accomplish nothing effectual, but rather im-
peril the cause which all had at heart. The members
resolved on a great pubHc demonstration, and waited on
the Regent in a body with a petition that, until a repeal
of the edicts could be procured, she would suspend the
execution of them. She bridled her indignation, but Bar-
laymont, one of the Cotmcil, was known to have styled
them " a band of beggars." They accepted the title and
adopted the beggar's sack and bowl for their symbols.
Multitudes of people began now to assemble all over the
open country, for the purpose of listening to the Calvinist
preachers and of worshipping according to their own
preference. From ten to twenty thousand persons would
gather, the women and children being placed for safety
in the centre, and the whole assembly being encircled by
armed men, with watchmen stationed to give warning of
approaching danger. They listened to a sermon, sang
Psalms, and used the opportunity to perform the rite of
baptism, or the marriage service where it was desired.
Orange obtained from the Regent the allowance that the
preaching in the country, outside of the cities, should not
be disturbed. The popular movement was so powerful
that she found herself helpless (1566).

Philip had stubbornly refused to comply with the urgent
requests of the Regent that the edicts might be softened.
Two nobles, Berghen and Montigny, were sent to repre-
sent to him the condition of the country, and the extent of
the popular indignation. The King at length recognized
the perils of the situation, and wrote to the Regent that
the Inquisition might cease, provided the new bishops were
suffered to exercise their functions freely ; that he was dis-
posed to moderate the Placards, but that time would be re-
quired to mature the measure ; and that the Regent might

ICONOCLASM. 299

give, not only the Confederates, but others also, an assur-
ance of pardon. At the same time, on the 9th of August,
1566, in the presence of a notary, and before the Duke of
Alva and other witnesses, he signed a secret declaration
that, notwithstanding the assurance given to the Duchess
of Parma, since he had not acted in this matter freely and
spontaneously, he did not consider himseK bound by thfc^t
promise, but reserved to himself the right to punish the
guilty parties, and especially the authors and fomenters
of the sedition.^ He wrote also to the Nuncio of the Pope,
with an injunction of secrecy, an expression of his purpose
to maintain the Inquisition and the edicts in all their
rigor. 2 Philip has thus left behind him the documentary
proof of his perfidy, of his deliberate design to break his
word to a nation.

While the country was thus agitated, in the summer of
1566, there burst forth the storm of iconoclasm that
swept over the land, destroying the paintings, images,
and other symbols and instruments of Catholic worship,
from those which adorned the great cathedral of Antwerp,
to such as decorated the humblest chapels and convents.
In Flanders alone more than four hundred churches were
sacked. The work of destruction was accomplished by
mobs hastily gathered, and was one fruit of the excite-
ment and exasperation provoked by the terrible persecu-
tion. Magistrates and burghers, whether Catholic or
Protestant, looked on, offering no resistance to the prog-
ress of the tempest. However it may be condemned, it
was not exactly like the invasion of the temples of one
religious denomination by another. These edifices were
felt to belong to the people in common ; all had some
right in them. Calvinists at that period habitually

1 Gachard, i. cxxxiii. 443.

2 Ibid., 422. See also Motley, i. 531. The Nuncio, the Archbishop of Sor-
rento, had been sent to the Netherlands ostensibly to look after the reformation
of the clergy : really, as the secret correspondence shows, in reference to the
Inquisition and the extirpation of heresy.

300 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

looked upon the use of images in worship, and upon the
mass, as forms of idolatry, of a sin explicitly forbidden
in the decalogue. Similar uprisings of the populace took
place in France and in Scotland, and from the same
causes. The Protestant ministers and the Prince of
Orange, vnth. other chiefs of the liberal party, generally
denounced the image-breaking.^ The effect of it was dis-
astrous. What the iconoclasts considered the destruction
of the implements of an impious idolatry, the Catholics
abhorred as sacrilege. The patriotic party was divided,
and besides this advantage gained by the government, a
plausible pretext was afforded for the most sanguinary
retaliation. The Regent was obliged, however, to make
a truce with the Confederacy of nobles, in which it was
agreed that the Inquisition should be given up and Hb-
erty allowed to the new doctrine, while the confederates
in return, as long as the promises to them should be kept,
were to abandon their association. Orange undertook to
quell the disturbances in Antwerp, and Egmont in Flan-
ders ; the latter manifesting his loyalty to Cathohcism
and his anger at the iconoclasts, by brutal severities. The
Regent exhibited the utmost energy in repressing disorder,
and in pmiishing the offenders. Valenciennes, which en-
deavored to stand a siege, was taken and heavily pun-
ished. Order was everywhere restored. Orange foresaw
what course Philip would pursue. He would not take the
oath of unlimited obedience to what the King might
choose to command, and separating regretfully from Eg-
mont and Horn, who had more confidence in Philip, he
retired to Dillenburg, in Nassau, the ancient seat of his
family. From the moment when Phihp heard the news

1 Motley, i. 570. Whether the popular leaders encouraged the image-break-
ing or not, is one of the disputed points. That they did is maintained by Koch,
Untersuchungen iiber die Empurung m. den Abfall d. Niederlande von Spanien
(1861) p. 115 seq. Juste (ii. 184) holds the contrary opinion. Koch writes in a
polemical, partisan spirit, but some of his criticisms upon Motley are worthy
of attention.

THE COMING OF ALVA. 301

of the iconoclastic disturbances, he had no thought but
that of armed coercion and vengeance. While he was
preparing a military force so strong that he expected to
cut off all hope of resistance, he veiled his designs by as-
surances to the Regent and to the Council that his policy
was to be one of mildness, clemency, and grace, with the
avoidance of all harshness.^ It was fortunate that there
was one man whom he could not deceive.

What the Regent most deprecated was the sending of
the Duke of Alva to the Netherlands, to whom she had
a strong personal antipathy, and whose coming, as she
knew, would undo at once the work of pacification, which
she considered herself, through her resolute proceedings,
to have nearly accomplished. But in accordance with
Alva's advice, Philip had resolved on a scheme of savage
repression and punishment, and Alva was the person se-
lected to carry it out. His reputation was very high as
a military man, although his talents seem not to have
fitted him for the management of large armies ; he had a
contracted, but clear and crafty intellect, immeasurable
arrogance, inflexible obstinacy, and a heart of stone.
Conciliation and mercy were terms not found in his vo-
cabulary. His theory, like that of Philip, was that the
great lords were at the bottom of the disaffection of the
inferior nobility, and that these in turn were the movers
of sedition among the people. Neither the King nor
his General could comprehend a spontaneous, common
sentiment, pervading a nation. Alva conceived that the
great mistake of Charles V. had been in sparing the cap-
tive leaders in the Smalcaldic war. From the Emperor's
experience he derived a conclusive argument against every
policy but that of unrelenting severity in dealing with
rebels and heretics. Such was the man who was chosen
to settle the disturbances in the Netherlands. He con-
ducted a body of ten thousand Spanish troops from Italy

1 Gacharcl. i. xlviii. 487, 488.

302 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

to that countiy. As his course lay near to Geneva, Pope
Pius V. desired him to turn aside and exterminate this
" nest of devils and apostates." But he declined to devi-
ate from his chosen route, maintained perfect discipline
among his soldiers during the long and perilous march,
and even gave a sort of organization to the hundreds of
courtesans who followed his army. On his arrival, he
endeavored to disarm suspicion, and gradually made
known the extent of the authority committed to him,
which was equivalent to that of a dictator. The Regent
found herself wholly divested of real power. Egmont and
Horn were decoyed to Brussels by gracious and flatter-
ing words, and then treacherously arrested and cast into
prison. The terrible tribunal was erected, which was ap-
propriately named by the people, " the Council of Blood,"
and the work of death began. Soon the prisons were
crowded with inmates, not a few of whom were dragged
from their beds at midnight. The executioners were
busy from morning till evening. Among the victims, the
rich were specially numerous, since one end which Alva
kept in view, was the providing of a revenue for his
master. Every one who had taken part in the petitions
against the new bishoprics or the Inquisition, or in favor
of softening the edicts of persecution, was declared guilty
of high treason. Every nobleman who had been concerned
in presenting the petitions, or had approved of them ; all
nobles and officers who, under the plea of a pressure of
circumstances, had permitted the sermons ; every one
who had taken part, in any way, in the heretical mass
meetings, and had not hindered the destruction of the
images ; all who had expressed the opinion that the King
had no right to take from the provinces their liberty, or
that the present tribunal was restricted by any laws or
privileges, were likewise made guilty of treason. Death
and loss of property, were the invariable penalty. In
three months eighteen hundred men were sent to the scaf-

THE MEASURES OF ALVA. 303

fold. Persons were condemned for singing the songs of the
Gueux, or for attending a Calvinistic burial years before ;
one for saying that m Spain, also, the new doctrme would
spread ; and another for saying that one must obey God
rather than man. Finally, on the 16th of February,
1568, all the inhabitants of the Netherlands, with a few
exceptions that were named, were actually condemned to
death as heretics !

Orange was active in devising means of deliverance.
His brother, Louis of Nassau, entered Friesland, in April,
1568, at the head of an army, and gained a victory over
the forces commanded by Count Aremberg. In order to
strike terror and to secure himself in the rear, Alva hur-
ried through the process against Egmont and Horn, and
they were beheaded m the great square at Brussels. Alva
then marched against the army of Louis, which he de-
feated and dispersed. He succeeded, also, by avoiding a
combat, in baffling William, whose army was composed of
materials that could not long be kept together. The rule
of Alva was the more firmly established by the unsuc-
cessful attempts to overthrow it, and he pursued for several
years longer his murderous work. The entire number of
judicial homicides under his administration, he reckoned
himself at eighteen thousand. Multitudes emigrated from
the country ; manufactories were deserted, and business
was paralyzed. In 1569, he determined to put in opera-
tion a system of taxation that should fill the coffers of the
King. He ordained that an extraordinary tax should be
levied, of one per cent, on property of all kinds ; and that
a permanent tax should be paid, of five per cent, on every
sale of real estate, and ten per cent, on every sale of mer-
chandise. This scheme, as ill calculated for its end as it
was barbarous in its oppressiveness, raised such a storm of
opposition, tliat Alva himself was moved to make a com-
promise, which consisted in postponing the execution of it
for two years. His enemies, Granvelle and others, were

304 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

continually laboring to undermine the King's confidence
in him, and not wholly without success. In 1570, an act
of amnesty was solemnly proclaimed at Antwerp, which,
however, left the old edicts in full force, and only or-
dained that those agamst whom nothing was to be charged,
should go unpmiished, provided within a definite time they
should penitently sue for grace and obtain absolution from
the Church ! The spirit of resistance had been slowly
awakening, and it gathered strength from these senseless
proceedings. When, on the 31st of July, 1571, Alva com-
manded that the taxes should be levied according to his
scheme, the shops were closed, and the people of all the
provinces assumed so menacing an attitude that he deemed
it best to except four articles — corn, wine, flesh, and beer
— from the operation of his decree. But this did not
produce the desired effect : labor and traffic were sus-
pended. Alva was deeply incensed and ready to set the
hangman at work agam, when he heard of the capture of
Briel by the " sea-beggars " as they were called ; the
hardy inhabitants of the coasts of Holland and Zealand,
who had organized themselves into predatory bands, under
their admiral, William de la Mark. The Prince of Orange
was unremitting in his exertions to raise forces capable of
effecting the deliverance of his country. Holland and
Zealand tlu-ew off the yoke of Alva, and, in accordance
with William's suggestions, adopted a free constitution.
By the estates of Holland, William was recognized as the
Kmg's Stadtholder, the show of a connection with Spain
being not yet abandoned. He was at the head of an
army with every hope of success, when the news of the
slaughter of St. Bartholomew and of the death of Coligny,
which cut off the expectation of aid from Prance, disap-
pointed this hope. Mons, where his brother was, had
to be given up, and the army melted away. But Alva
was weary of his office and began to be sensible of his
failure to effect the result which he had been so confident

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. 305

of his ability to secure. The boundless hatred of the
people against him was daily manifest. He read it in
the looks of all whom he met. Philip, though slow to
learn, began to see that his hopes had not been fulfilled.
Alva sought and obtained a recall, and, at the end of the
year 1573, left the Netherlands, never to return.

From the capture of Briel may be dated the com-
mencement of the long and arduous struggle which
resulted in the building up of the Dutch Republic, and
the ultimate prostration of the power of Spam. The
most powerful empire in the world was kept at bay, and
eventually defeated by a few small states which were
goaded to resistance by vmparalleled cruelty, and in-
spired with an unexampled degree of patriotic self-
sacrifice. The hero of this memorable struggle was
Wilham of Orange. Requesens, the successor of Alva,
equaled his predecessor in military skill, and was even
more dangerous, in consequence of his conciliatory tem-
per, which might divide and deceive his antagonists. A
delusive amnesty was more to be dreaded than open and
fierce hostility. In the field, the Spaniards were victori-
ous. In 1574, Louis of Nassau was defeated and slain.
But they experienced a reverse in the unsuccessful siege
of Leyden, whose heroic defense is one of the most nota-
ble events of the long war. A new Protestant state was
growing up in the North, under the guidance of Orange ;
and all negotiations looking to peace were fruitless, since
Spain refused to grant toleration. This was the one
thing which Phihp would not yield. He could not con-
sent to rule over heretics. In the South, where Catholi-
cism prevailed, Requesens was more successful. But the
death of this commander, in 1576, was followed by a
frightful revolt of his soldiers in the various cities where
they were stationed ; and the scenes of murder and pil-
lage that attended it, which were most appalling in pop-
ulous and wealthy Antwerp, taught the southern prov-

20

306 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

inces what they had to dread from Spanish domination.
The nobles of Flanders and Brabant, instead of seeking
help from Philip, apphed to Orange and the northern
provinces ; and in the pacification of Ghent, for the first
time, the Netherlands were united in an agreement to
expel the Spaniards, and to maintain religious toleration.
Don John, of Austria, the successor of Requesens, was
brought to the point of issuing an edict which conceded
the points contained in the Ghent pacification. The re-
jection of these terms by William of Orange has been
considered, by his adversaries, proof positive that ambi-
tion, not patriotism, was his ruling motive. But the con-
cessions of Don John involved the exclusion of the public
profession of Protestantism from all places where it was
not established at the date of the pacification ; and, con-
sequently, the banishment from their homes of thousands
of peaceful families, as well as the insecurity of the prov-
inces where Protestantism was allowed to continue. More
than all, William distrusted the sincerity of Spain, and
his suspicions, which had their ground in former experi-
ences of false dealing, were strengthened by information
acquired from intercepted letters.^ It was too late for a
reconciliation with Philip. But the Flemish and Bra-
bant nobles were jealous of the eminence conceded to the
Prince of Orange. The Union was weakened, and the
war broke out again, in which the troops of Don John
gained the victory. But the same year, on the 1st of
October, 1578, their leader died, wearied with the diffi-
culties of his office, and disheartened by the treatment
which he had received at the hands of Philip.

Alexander of Parma, perhaps the ablest general of the
time, was next entrusted with the reins of government.
Experience had shown the patriotic party that the nobil-
ity of the southern provinces were not to be relied on ;
and, in January, 1579, there was formed, in the North,
1 Motley, iii. 106.

APOLOGY OF WILLIAM. 307

the Utrecht Union, in which were combined Holland,
Zealand, and five other provinces. It was a confederacy
for common defense, and was the germ of the Dutch
Republic. It was formed " in the name of the King ; "
but two years afterwards, this fiction was dropped, and in-
dependence declared. In March, 1580, Philip proclaimed
William an outlaw, and set a price on his head. Philip
taxed him with ingratitude for the favors which had been
bestowed on him by Charles V., charged him with hav-
ing fomented all heresy and sedition, with having ac-
tively countenanced the plundering of the churches and
cloisters ; in fine, with being responsible for all the mis-
eries of the country. The document further charged
him with cherishing jealousy and mistrust, like Cain and
Judas, and from the same cause, an evil conscience.
Any one who would deliver him, dead or alive, was to
receive twenty-five thousand crowns, to have pardon for
all offenses, and, in case he belonged to the burgher class,
to be elevated to the rank of a nobleman. In response
to these accusations, William pubhshed his " Apology,"
or defense. He counted this outlawry and accumulation
of charges against him, as the greatest honor, since they
showed that he had done all in his power to establish the
freedom of a noble nation, and to dehver it from a god-
less tyranny. He respected Charles V., but the favors
which he had received from the Emperor had been re-
turned in full measure by the public services which Will-
iam had rendered at great cost. To the unfounded
aspersions of a personal nature which Philip had inter-
woven with his indictment, William retorted with accu-
sations equally grave against the private life of the King.
Philip had stigmatized him as a foreigner, because he
happened to have first seen the light in Germany ; but
his ancestors were of higher rank than those of Philip,
and had held power in the Netherlands for seven genera-
tions. Philip had set out to trample under foot the

308 THE REFORM AI ION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

rights and institutions of the country. He talked only of
unconditional obedience, as if the people of the Nether-
lands were Neapolitans, or Milanese, or savage Indians.
The Emperor Charles had predicted the evils that would
result from the Spanish pride and insolence of his son ;
but neither the admonition of so great a father, nor
justice, nor his oath, could change his nature, or curb his
tyrannical will. He had beaten the French by means of
William's countrymen, and owed the treaty of peace, in
good part, to William himself ; but so far was Philip
from feeling any emotion of gratitude, that William, to
his amazement, had heard from the lips of Henry II., of
Alva's secret conferences -with him upon the extermina-
tion of all Protestants, in both countries. William, since
his boyhood, had given little attention to matters of faith,
and of the Church ; but, he says, from his compassion for
the victims of the Inquisition, and his indignation at the
tyranny practiced against his country, he had resolved to
exert all his powers to remove the Spaniards out of it,
and to suppress the bloody tribunals. He had never ap-
proved of the iconoclasm, and similar outbreakings of vio-
lence. That he had sufficient reason for flying from the
country, was fully evinced by the execution of Egmont
and Horn, the carrying of his innocent son, who was a
student at Louvain, to Spain, by Philip's order, the con-
fiscation of his property, and the sentence of death pro-
nounced against him. Everywhere, said William, Philip
has trodden under foot our rights and broken his oath ;
we must, therefore, rise in self-defense against him and
repel this unparalleled tyranny. As for mistrust, De-
mosthenes inculcated that as the strongest bulwark against
tyranny ; and yet the Macedonian Philip was a feeble
novice in tyranny compared with the Spanish Philip.

There is no reason to question the sincerity of William's
patriotism.^ His indifference respecting the controverted

1 Writers who would make ambition the moving spring of his character, do

ASSASSINATION OF WILLIAM. 309

questions of religion was broken up by the sight of the
atrocious cruelties inflicted by the Inquisition upon his
countrymen. He examined the questions at issue, and
practically, as well as theoretically, embraced the Protes-
tant faith. It is no reproach to him that he early pene-
trated the character of the gloomy and perfidious ruler
who was bent on enslaving the Netherlands to himself
and to the Pope ; and that he had less and less hope of
the practicableness of procuring any amelioration of his
policy. But William, in the incipient stages of the con-
flict, was wisely resolved to keep within the limits of the
law, and to avoid extreme and violent measures, so long
as this moderation should be possible.^ If, at the outset
of his career, he was not free from ambition, his character
was more and more purified by danger and suffering.
He must be allowed a place among patriots like Epam-
inondas and Washington, and he deserves to be called the
father of a nation. At length, after six ineffectual at-
tempts of the sort, a fanatical Catholic succeeded, on the
18th of July, 1584, in assassinating William. It was
characteristic of Philip to pay grudgingly to the heirs of
the murderer the promised reward.

Upon the formation of the Utrecht Union, the greater
part of the Catholic provinces m the South entered into
an arrangement with Parma. Parma granted liberal
terms to the cities which, one after another, fell into his
hands. Antwerp was promised that its citadel should
not be repaired ; that a Spanish garrison should not be

full justice to his high intellectual powers. See, for example, Bentivogiio,
DeUa Guerra di Fiandra, i. 47, iii. 132.

1 Some candid historians, as Juste and Prescott, find a disagreeable Macchia-
vellian element in the shrewdness and reserve of William. To others, this
quality does not pass the bounds of a statesmanlike sagacity and a justifiable
prudence. Goethe, in his play of "Egmont," makes the Regent say of him:
" Oranien sinnt nichts Gutes, seine Gedanken reichen in die Feme, er ist heim-
lich,"etc. ; and Orange says to Egmont : " Ich trage viele Jahre her alle Ver-
haltnisse am Herzen, Ich stehe immer wie Uber einem Schachspiele und halta
keinen Zug des Gegners fur unbedeutend."

310 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

quartered on the inhabitants. On this one condition the
King insisted, that the Catholic worship should be restored,
and Protestantism be abolished. The utmost that he
could be persuaded to grant was that two years should
be allowed the inhabitants of every place either to become
Catholic or to quit the country. Brabant and Flanders
were recovered to Spain.

The archives of Simancas have disclosed the fact,
which was not known to Parma himself, in consequence
of his death before the execution of the design, that
Philip was on the point of removing him from his com-
mand. Instigated, perhaps, by jealousy, on the alleged
ground that Parma had given too httle authority to Span-
iards, and for other reasons of even less weight, Philip had
actually determined to displace the general who had re-
conquered for him the southern provinces of the Nether-
lands, and twice carried his victorious arms into France,
forcing Henry IV. to raise the siege of Paris and of
Rouen. The King did not shrink from the ingratitude
involved in such an act, and from the indignant condemna-
tion which the public opinion of Europe would have pro-
nomiced upon it.^ It was characteristic of Philip to
seek the accomplishment of his ends by indirection and
falsehood.

The death of William did not destroy the Republic
which he had called into being. In Maurice, his second
son — for his eldest son was detained in Spain and
brought up to serve the Spanish government — the party
of liberty found a head who was possessed of distin-
guished military ability. The new commonwealth grew
in power. The Dutch sailors captured the vessels of
Spain on every sea where they appeared, and attacked
her remotest colonies. The magnificent schemes of Philip
were doomed to an ignominious failure. His despotic
system had full sway in Spain, but it brought ruin upon

1 Gachard, ii. Ixxxi.

RELIGIOUS PARTIES. 311

the country. His colossal armada, which was slowly
prepared at enormous cost, for the conquest of England,
was shattered in pieces. He had planned to turn France
into a Spanish province, but he was forced to conclude
the peace of Vervins with Henry IV., and thereby to
concede the superiority of the French power. Under
Philip III., his imbecile successor, Spain was driven to
conclude a truce of twelve years with the revolted Neth-
erlands ; and finally, in the Peace of Westphalia, was
obliged to acknowledge their independence.

The absorbing interest of the great struggle with Spain
leaves in the background the distinctively religious and
theological side of the Reformation in the Netherlands.
Anabaptists were numerous, but their wild and disor-
ganizing theories received a check through the influence
of Menno, who, after the year 1536, exerted a wholesome
influence among them, organizing churches which he
taught and regulated for many years. The Mennonites
were free from the hcentious and revolutionary principles
which had covered the name of Anabaptist with reproach.^
Apart from their peculiarity respecting baptism, their re-
jection of oaths, and their refusal to serve in war and in
civil offices, together with the ascetic discipline which
they adopted — a point on which they became divided
among themselves — they were not distinguished from
ordinary Protestants. Yet they continued to be con-
founded with the fanatical Anabaptists, and were objects
of a ferocious persecution, which they endured with heroic
patience. The Calvinists gradually obtained a decided
preponderance over the Lutherans. In 1561, Guido de
Bres and a few other ministers composed the " Confessio
Belgica," which was revised and adopted by a Synod at
Antwerp in 1566. This creed differs from the " Confessio
Gallica" chiefly in its more full exposition of Baptism, with

1 See the art. Menno u. die Mennoniten, by Van Oosterzee, in Herzog, Beal-
Encycl. ix.

812 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

special reference to the Anabaptist opinions. The Ana-
baptists are expressly condemned in another Article. The
Calvinists sent a copy of their Symbol, with a Letter,
to the King of Spain, in the vain hope to soften his ani-
mosity against them. They say in their Letter that
" they were never found in arms or plotting against their
sovereign ; that the excommunications, imprisonments,
banishments, racks, and tortures, and other numberless
oppressions which they had undergone, plainly demon-
strate that their desires and opinions are not carnal ; "
" but that having the fear of God before their eyes, and
being terrified by the threatening of Christ, who had de-
clared in the Gospel that he would deny them before
God the Father, in case they denied him before men,
they therefore offered their backs to stripes, their tongues
to knives, their mouths to gags, and their whole bodies to
the fire." ^

Yet the Calvinists of the Netherlands, notwithstanding
their own dreadful sufferings, did not themselves relin-
quish the dogma that heresy may be suppressed by the
magistrate. Their difference from their opponents was
not on the question whether heresy is to be punished, but
how heresy is to be defined. This dogma they introduce
into the Belgic Confession,^ and into their letter to the
King. They were disposed, where they had the power,
to inflict disabilities and penalties on the Anabaptists,
even when they were peaceful subjects. It must not be
forgotten that at the very time when Philip's agents were
doing their terrible work in the Netherlands, Queen Eliz-
abeth was likewise striving to enforce uniformity in Prot-
estant England. With one hand she helped the Calvin-
istic subjects of Philip ; with the other she thrust her own
Puritan subjects into loathsome dungeons. Not that
Protestants on either side of the sea were capable of the
atrocities for which Philip was responsible. And a dif-

1 Brandt, i. 158. ^ Art. xxxvi. " De Magistratu."

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 313

ference of degree in the exercise of the inhumanity, which
was the fruit of a false principle, is a circumstance of the
highest importance. But the principle was at the root
the same. Hence the doctrine of religious toleration,
which was avowed and practiced by William of Orange
and a part of his supporters, is the more honorable to
them, in contrast with the prevalent intolerance of the
age. As early as 1566, in his speech before the Regent
and the Council, William denounced persecution as futile,
and confirmed his assertion by an appeal to experience, to
historical examples, ancient and recent. " Force," he
said, " can make no impression on the conscience." He
compared inquisitors to physicians who, instead of using
mild and gentle medicines, are " for immediately burn-
ing or cutting off the infected part." " This is the
nature of heresy," he added, "if it rests, it rusts ; but
he that rubs it, whets it." ^ At a later time, he had
to withstand the importunities of his friends, Avho wished
to use force against the Anabaptists. St. Aldegonde re-
ports that to his arguments in behalf of such a measure,
his illustrious chief " replied pretty sharply," that the
affirmation of the adherents of that sect might take the
place of an oath, and that " we ought not to press this
matter further, unlegs we would own at the same time,
that the Papists were in the right, in forcing us to a re-
ligion that was incompatible with our consciences." " And
upon this occasion," adds St. Aldegonde, " he commended
the saying of a monk that was here not long since, who,
upon several objections brought against his religion, an-
swered : ' that our pot had not been so long upon the fire
as theirs, whom we so much blamed ; but that he plainly
foresaw that in the course of a pair of hundred years,
ecclesiastical dominion would be upon an equal foot in
both churches.' " St. Aldegonde himself states that a
multitude of nobles and of common people kept away

1 Brandt, i. 164.

314 THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

from the Calvinistic assemblies from the fear " of a new
tyranny and yoke of spiritual dominion." The Germans,
especially, he says, join the heterodox " because they
dread our insufferable rigidness." ^ In 1578, the National
Synod of all the reformed churches sent up to the Council
a petition for religious toleration, which they desired for
themselves and pledged to Roman Catholics. " The ex-
perience of past years," say the Synod, " had taught them
that by reason of their sins they could not all be reduced
to one and the same religion ; " and that without mutual
toleration, they could not throw off the Spanish tyranny .^
They refer to the rivers of blood that had been shed in
France to no purpose, in the effort to procure unanimity
in religion.

There was another question which gave rise to division
among the reformed, the question of the relation of the
Church to the civil authority. The Calvinists insisted on
their principle of the autonomy of the Church, and re-
jected ecclesiastical control on the part of the State. As
in Geneva and in Scotland, they demanded that the
Church should be not separate, but distinct. On the
contrary, a great part of the magistrates, and with them
an influential portion of the laity, especially such as cared
little for the peculiarities of Calvinism as distinguished
from Lutheranism, resisted this demand. These claimed
that the civil authority should have power in the appoint-
ment of ministers and in the administration of Church
government. In 1576, imder the auspices of William of
Orange, a programme of forty ecclesiastical laws was
drawn up, in conformity with this principle.^ The second
Synod of Dort, in 1578, endeavored to realize the idea of
ecclesiastical autonomy, through a system of presbyteries
and of provincial and national synods. But the result of
the strife was that the Church was limited to a provincial
organization, the provinces being subdivided into classes,

1 Brandt, i. 333. 2 pjid., i. 340. 8 ibid., i. 318.

LIBERALS A2qD CALVINISTS. 315

and each congregation being governed according to the
Piesbyterian order. The germs of the Arminian contro-
versy are obvious in the last quarter of the sixteenth cen-
tury. The party which called for full toleration, and
were impatient of strict creeds and a rigid discipline, con-
tended, also, for the union of Church and State. The
Spanish persecution confirmed the Liberals in the fear
that the Church would subject the State to an ecclesias-
tical tyranny ; it confirmed the Calvinists in the fear that
the State would subject the Church to a political des-
potism.

CHAPTER X.
THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

There is reason to believe that the Lollards, as the
disciples of Wickliffe were called, were still numerous
among the rustic population of England at the beginning
of the sixteenth century. We have records of the re-
cantation of some and the burning of other adherents of
this sect in the early part of the reign of Henry VIII.^
When John Knox preached in the North of England and
the South of Scotland, he found a cordial reception for
his doctrine in districts where the Lollards lived. The
revival of learning had also prepared a very different
class in English society for ecclesiastial reform. Linguis-
tic and patristic studies had begun to flourish under the
uifluence of Thomas More, Colet, Dean of St. Paul's,
Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, and other friends
of Erasmus, and under the personal influence of Erasmus
himself.^ Wolsey, whatever may have been his faults,
was a liberal patron of learning. He obtained leave to
suppress not less than twenty smaller monasteries, and to
use their property for the establishment of a noble col-
lege, Christ Church, at Oxford, and of another college
as a nursery for it, at Ipswich. His fall from power pre-
vented the full accomplislunent of the vast educational
plans which form his best title to esteem. Wolsey was
disinclined to persecution, and preferred to burn heretical

1 Burnet, History of the Reformation in the Church of England (ed. 1825,
6 vols.), i. 37. Hallam, Const. History of England, ch. ii.

2 G. Weber, Geschichte d. Kirchenrefortnation in Grossbrittanien, i. 140.

PECULIARITY OF THE ENGLISH REFORMATION. 317

books, rather than heretics themselves.^ Most of the
friends of " the new learning " were disposed to remedy-
ecclesiastical abuses.^ The writings of Luther early found
approving readers, especially among the young men at
Oxford and Cambridge. The younger generation of
Humanists did not stop at the point reached by Colet and
More. Tyndale and Frith, both of whom perished as mar-
tyrs, and their associates, read the German books with
avidity.^ Tyndale's version of the New Testament was
circulated in spite of the efforts of the government to
suppress it.* It was impossible that the ferment that ex-
isted on the continent should fail to extend itself across
the channel. Yet at first the signs were not auspicious
for the new doctrine. King Henry VIII. appeared in the
lists as an antagonist of Luther, and received from Leo
X., in retm'n for his polemical book upon the Sacraments,
the title of " Defender of the Faith." ^ Little did either
of them imagine that the same monarch would shortly
strike one of the heaviest blows at the Papal dominion.

The pecuUarity of the English Reformation hes, not in
the separation of a political community — in this case a
powerful nation — from the papal see ; for the same thing
took place generally where the Reformation prevailed ;
but it lies in the fact that it involved immediately so little
departure from the dogmatic system of the mediaeval

1 Blunt, History of the Reformation in England (from 1514 to 1547), gives an
interesting account, and presents a flattering estimate, of tlie services of
Wolsey.

2 See tlie sketch of Colet's sermon before the Convocation of Canterbury
(1572) in Seebohm, The Oxford Reformers o/1498: also in Blunt, p. 10. Mil-
man, Annals of St. Paul's, ch. vl., gives an interesting sketch of Colet's life.

8 Frith was burned at Smithfield in 1533. Tyndale was strangled and burned
near Brussels in 1536.

* Erasmus, in a letter to Luther, speaks of the warm reception of his writings
in England. Erasmi Opera, iii. 445. Warham, in a letter to Wolsey, under date
of March 8, 1521, reports to what extent Lutheran books had found readers at
Oxford. Blunt, p. 74.

5 This title was intended for himself personally, but was retained after his
preach with Rome, and transmitted to his successors Lingard, Iliittory of
England, vi. 90, n.

318 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

Church. At the outset, the creed, and, to a great extent,
the poUty and ritual, of the Church in England remained
intact. Thus in the growth of the English Reformation,
there were two factors, the one, in a sense, political ; the
other, doctrinal or religious. These two agencies might
coalesce or might clash with one another. They could
not fail to act upon one another with great effect. They
moved upon different lines ; yet there were certain
principal ends, which, from the beginning, they had in
common.

Owing to this peculiarity, the leaders of English Re-
form on the spiritual side did not play the prominent
part which was taken by the Reformers in Scotland and
on the Continent. In other countries, the political ad-
herents of Protestantism were auxiliaries rather than
principals. The foreground was occupied by men like
Luther, Calvin, and Knox. In England there were indi-
viduals of marked learning, energy, and courage ; but to a
considerable extent they were cast into the shade by the
controlling position which was assumed by rulers and
statesmen. The English Reformation, instead of pursu-
ing its ccurse as a religious and intellectual movement,
was subject, in an important degree, to the disturbing
force of governmental authority, of worldly policy.^

Henry VIII. had been married, in his twelfth year, to
Catharine of Aragon, the widow of his deceased brother
Arthur, and the aunt of the Emperor Charles V. A
dispensation had been obtained soon after from Pope
Julius II., marriage with a deceased brother's wife being
contrary to the canon law. Scruples had been entertained
early by some in regard to the validity of the dispensa-
tion, and, consequently, of the marriage. Whether
Henry himself shared these scruples prior to his ac-
quaintance with Anne Boleyn, it may not be easy to de-
termine. Nor can we say how far his disappointment in

1 Macaulay, Review of Hallam (Essays, i. 146).

DIVORCE OF HENRY VIH. 319

not having a male heir to his throne may have prompted
him to seek for a divorce. It is not improbable that the
death of his children excited in his mind a superstitious
feeling respecting the lawfulness of his connection with
Catharine. Yet accorduig to her solemn testimony, made
in his presence, the marriage with Arthur had not been
consummated ; and if so, the main ground of these al-
leged misgivings and of the application for the annulling
of the marriage had no reality. His appHcation to
Clement VII. for the annulling of the marriage, was
founded on two groiuids : first, that it is not competent
for the Pope to grant a dispensation in such a case ; and
secondly, that it was granted on the basis of erroneous
representations. Henry's passion for Anne Boleyn made
the delay and vacillation of Clement in regard to the
divorce the more unbearable. The Pope might naturally
shrink from annulling the act of his predecessor by a
decree which would involve, at the same time, a restric-
tion of the papal prerogative. But the real and obvious
motive of his procrastinating and evasive conduct was his
reluctance to offend Charles V. This temporizing course
in one whose exalted office implied a proportionate moral
independence, was not adapted to increase the loyalty of
the King or of his people to the Papacy. By the advice
of Cranmer, Henry laid the question of the validity of
the dispensation before the universities of Europe, not
abstaining, however, from the use of bribery abroad, and
of menaces at home. Meantime he proceeded to the
adoption of measures for reducing the power of the Pope
and of the clergy in England. Jealousy in regard to the
wealth and the usurpations of the hierarchical body, which
had long been a growing feeling, prepared the nation for
these bold measures. One sign of this feeling was the
satisfaction which had been felt at the restraints laid upon
the privilege of clerical exemption from responsibility to
the civil tribunals. In the preceding reign, a bishop had

320 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

said that such was the prejudice of a London jury against
the clergy, that it would convict Abel of the murder of
Cain. The fall of Wolsey, who was ruined by the failure
of the negotiations with Rome for the divorce, and by the
eimiity of Anne Boleyn, intimidated the whole clerical
body, and made them an easy prey to the King's rapacity.
" The authority of this Cardinal," says Hall, the old
chronicler, " set the clergie in such a pride that they dis-
dained all men, wherefore when he was fallen they fol-
owed after." ^ Early in 1531, Henry revived an old
statute of Richard H., and accused the clergy of having
incurred the penalties of praemunire — forfeiture of all
movable goods and imprisonment at discretion — for sub-
mitting to "Wolsey in his character of papal legate. As-
sembled in convocation, they were obliged to implore his
pardon, and obtained it only in return for a large sum of
money. In their petition, he was styled " the Protector
and Supreme Head of the Church and Clergy of England,"
to which was added, after long debate, the qualifying
phrase : "as far as is permitted by the law of Christ."
Acts of Parliament took away the first-fruits from the
Pope, prohibited appeals from ecclesiastical courts to Rome,
and, after the consecration of Cranmer, as Archbishop of
Canterbury, ordained that henceforward the consecration
of all bishops and archbishops should be consummated
without application to the Pope. Henry was married to
Anne Boleyn on the 14th of November, 1532. On the
14th of the preceding July, at Windsor, he saw Catharine
for the last time, who had been his faitliful wife for
twenty-three years. Eleven weeks after the marriage, the
king authorized Cranmer to decide the question of the
divorce without fear or favor ! Of course the divorce was
decreed. In 1534 the King was required by the Pope to
take back Catharine, on penalty of excommunication. On
the 9th of June of that year, a royal edict was issued,

1 D. 774.

ACT OF SUPREMACY. 321

abolishing the Pope's authority in England. Parliament
passed the act of supremacy, " That the King, our sov-
ereign lord, his heirs and successors, kings of this realm,
ahall be taken, accepted, and reputed the only supremo
head in earth of the Church of England, called the An
glicana Ecclesia." This was followed by another great
measure for the further humbling of ecclesiastical power
— thft abolishing; of the cloisters and the confiscation of
their property — in 1536. This fell, to a great extent, into
the hands of the nobles and gentry, and had a powerful
effect in binding them to the policy of the king. Subse-
quently, the larger monasteries, which had been spared at
first, shared the fate of the inferior establishments ; and
by the expulsion of the mitred abbots from the upper
House, the preponderance of power was left with the
secular lords.

Thus the kingdom of England was severed from the
Papacy, and the Church of England brought into subjec-
tion to the civil authority. The old English feehng of
dislike of foreign ecclesiastical control had at last ripened
into a verification of the words which Shakespeare puts
into the mouth of Kiug John, as a message to Pope Inno-
cent III. : — "^

" Tell him this tale; and from the mouth of England,
Add this much more, — that no Italian priest
Shall tithe or toll in our dominions;
But as we under Heaven are supreme head,
So under him, that great supremacy,
Where we do reign, we will alone uphold.
Without the assistance of a mortal hand.
So tell the Pope : all reverence set apart,
To him and his usurped authority."!

There had been no renunciation of Catholic doctrines.
The hierarchy still existed as of old, but with the King
in the room of the Pope, as its earthly head. There were
two parties side by side in the episcopal ofl&ces and in the
Council ; one of them disposed to press forward to other

1 King John, act iii., so. i.
21

322 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

changes in the direction of Protestantism ; the other bent
on upholding the ancient creed in its integrity. The Act
of Supremacy, as far as it had the sympathy of the peo-
ple, could not fail to shake their reverence for the entire
system of which the Papacy had been deemed an essen-
tial part, and to incline many to substitute the authority
of the Bible for that of the Church ; for to the Bible the
appeal had been made in the matter of the King's di-
vorce, and the Bible and the constitution of the primitive
Church had furnished the grounds for the overthrow of
papal supremacy. At the head of the party disposed to
Reform, among the bishops, was Cranmer, who had spent
some time in Germany, and had married for his second
wife a niece of a Lutheran theologian, Osiander. Cran-
mer is well characterized by Ranke as " one of those
natures which must have the support of the supreme au-
thority, in order to carry out their own opinions to their
consequences ; as then they appear enterprising and spir-
ited, so do they become pliant and yielding, when this
favor is withdrawn from them ; they do not shine by
reason of any moral greatness, but they are well adapted
to save a cause in difficult circumstances for a more favor-
able time." 1 Latimer, who became Bishop of Worcester,
was made of sterner stuff. Among the other bishops of
Protestant tendencies, was Edward Fox, who, at Smalcald,
had declared the Pope to be Antichrist. The leader of
the Protestant party was Thomas Cromwell, who was
made the King's Vicegerent in ecclesiastical affairs, who
had conducted the visitation of the monasteries which
preceded the destruction of them, and was an adherent of
the reformed doctrine. On the other side was Gardiner,

1 Englische Geschichte, i. 204. A severe, not to say harsh, estimate of Cran-
mer is given by Macaulay, Hist, of England, i. 48; Review of Hallam {Essays,
i. 448). "If," says Hallam, " we weigh the character of this prelate in an
equal balance, he will appear far indeed removed from the turpitude imputed to
him by his enemies; yet not entitled to any extraordinary veneration." Const
Hist., oh. ii.

THE TEN ARTICLES. 323

Bishop of Winchester, who upheld the King's Suprem-
acy, but was an unbending advocate of the Catholic theol-
ogy ; together with Tunstal of Durham, and other bishops.
The King showed himself, at first, favorable to the
Protestant party. The English Bible, which was issued
under his authority, and a copy of which was to be placed
in every church, had upon the title-page the inscription,
issuing from his mouth : " Thy word is a lantern unto my
feet." ^ In 1536, ten articles were laid before Convocation,
adopted by that body, and sent, by the King's order, to
all pastors as a guide for their teaching. The Bible and
the three ancient creeds were made the standard of doc-
trine. Salvation is by faith and without human merits.
The sacrament of the altar is defined in terms to which
Luther would not have objected. The use of images and
various other ceremonies, auricular confession, and the
invocation of saints, are approved, but cautions are given
against abuses connected with these things. The admis-
sion that there is a Purgatory is coupled with the denial
of any power in the Pope to deliver souls from it, and
with the rejection of other superstitions connected with
the old doctrine. These articles, unsatisfactory as they
were, in many respects, to the Protestants, were still re-
garded by them as a long step in the right direction.
The Catholic party were offended. A majority of the
nation still clung to the ancient religion. The suppres-
sion and spoliation of the monasteries, which were prized
as dispensers of hospitality and sources of pecuniary
advantage to the rustic population, had excited much
discontent, especially in the North and West, where
the Catholics were most numerous. The disaffection,
which was heightened by the leaning of the govern-
ment towards Protestant doctrine, broke out in the rebel-
lion of 1536, which, although it was put down without
concessions to the promoters of it, was succeeded by a

1 On the English versions of the Bible, see Anderson, Annals of the EngU
Bible (2 vols. 1845).

324 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

change in the King's ecclesiastical policy. The Catholic
faction gained the ascendency, and, notwithstanding the
opposition of Cranmer and his friends, the Six Articles
for " abolishing diversity of opinions " in religion, were
framed into a law. These decreed transubstantiation, the
needlessness of communion in both kinds, the celibacy of
the priesthood, the obligation of vows of chastity, the
necessity and value of private masses and of auricular
confession. Whoever denied transubstantiation was to
be burned at the stake as a heretic. Whoever should
publicly attack either of the other articles was to suffer
death as a felon, without benefit of clergy. Imprison-
ment, confiscation of goods, and death were threatened to
expressions of dissent from the last five of the articles,
according to its form and degree. The execution of
Anne Boleyn and the marriage of the King to Jane Sey-
mour (1536) ; and still more, the fall of Cromwell (1540),
the great support of the Protestant interest, which fol-
lowed upon the marriage of Henry to a Protestant prin-
cess, Anna of Cleve, and liis immediate divorce, increased
the strength of the persecuting faction. Those who de-
nied the King's supremacy and those who denied transub-
stantiation were dragged on the same hurdle to the place
of execution.^ Earnest bishops, as Latimer and Shaxton,
were imprisoned in the Tower. Cranmer was protected
by his own prudence and the King's favor.^

1 The amount of persecution under the Six Articles is discussed by Maitland,
Essays on the Reformation (London, 1846).

2 This is not the place to discuss at length the personal character of Henry
VIII. Sir James Mackintosh, after recounting the executions of More and
Anne, says: "In these two direful deeds Henry approached, perhaps, as nearly
to the ideal standard of perfect wickedness as the infirmities of human nature
will allow." History of England, ii. ch. vii. Macaulay pronounces him "a
king whose character may be best described by saying, that he was despotism
itself personified." {Review of Hallam.) Burnet gives a milder judgment: "I
do not deny that he is to be numbered among the ill princes, j'et I cannot rank
him with the worst." Hist, of (he Ref, i. p. i. b. iii. Lord Herbert, after
speaking of his willfulness and jealousy, says: " These conditions, again being
armed with power, produced such terrible effects as styled him, abroad and at

REFORM UNDER EDWARD VI. 325

The death of Henry put an end to this persecution.
He had attempted to establish an Anglican Church which
should be neither Protestant nor Roman Catholic, but
which should differ from the Roman Catholic system only
in the article of the Royal Supremacy. His success was
remarkable, and has been ascribed correctly to the extraor-
dinary force of his character, the advantageous position
of England with reference to foreign powers, the enormous
wealth which the confiscation of the religious houses
placed at his disposal, and the support of the neutral,
undecided class who embraced neither opinion.^ With
the death of Henry, the two parties, as if released from
a strong hand, assumed their natural antagonism. The
government could maintain its independence of the Papacy
only by obtaining the support of the Protestants. Henry,
with the assent of Parliament, had determined the order
of the succession, giving precedence to Edward, his son
by Jane Seymour, over the two princesses, Mary, the
daughter of Catharine, and Elizabeth, the daughter of
Anne Boleyn. Edward VI. was less than ten years old at
his accession in 1547 ; but as an example of intellectual
precocity he has seldom, if ever, been surpassed. He
was firmly attached to the Protestant laith. A Regency
was established, in which Somerset, the King's uncle, was
chief, and at the head of a Protestant majority. The
Six Articles were repealed. It was the period of the

home, by the name of cruel; which also hardly can be avoided." Life and
Reign of Henry VIII., p. 572. Mr. Fronde, in his History of England from
the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada, has presented a brill-
iant apology for Henry VIII. But he fails to offer any adequate defense of
the execution of More and of Fisher, an act of cruelty that at the time was rep-
robated everywhere; and still less for the destruction of Cromwell, whom
Froude, whether justly or not, praises up to the very foot of the scaffold.
Even if Aime Boleyn be supposed to be guilty of the charges brought against her,
there was a brutality in the circumstances of her imprisonment and execution,
and in the marriage with Jane Seymour the very next day, which it is impossible
to excuse. The contemporaries of Henry were right in distinguishing the
earlier from the latter portion of his reign. After the fall of Wolsey, he be-
came more and more willful, suspicious, and cruel.
1 Macaulay, History of England, i. 46.

326 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

Smalcaldic war and of the Interim in Germany, and the
hands of Cranmer and Ridley were strengthened by theo-
logians from the continent. Peter Martyr and Ochino
were made professors at Oxford in 1547, and Martin
Bucer and Paul Fagius were called to Cambridge in 1549.
The " Book of Homilies " appeared in 1547 — expositions
of Christian doctrine which were to be read by the clergy
in their churches every Sunday. Communion had been
ordered to be administered in both kinds. Transubstan-
tiation was now formally abandoned ; the second principal
step, after the declaration of the Royal Supremacy, in
the progress of the English Reformation. These changes
gave rise to a new " Order of Communion ; " but the
latter was superseded, in 1548, by the " Book of Common
Prayer," which was revised in 1552, when the use of con-
secrated oil, prayers for the dead, and auricular confes-
sion, were abolished. In 1552, the Articles were framed,
at first forty-two in number. Thus the Anglican Church
obtained a definite constitution and a ritual. Able and
zealous preachers, among whom were Matthew Parker,
Latimer, and John Knox, made many converts to the
Protestant doctrine. The progress of innovation, how-
ever, was somewhat too rapid for the general sense of the
nation. The spoliation of Church property for the profit
of individuals, in which Somerset was conspicuous, gave
just offense. Anxious to carry out the plan of Henry
VIII., for the marriage of the young Queen Mary of
Scotland to Edward, and desirous of uniting the two
countries in one great Protestant power, Somerset invaded
Scotland ; but, though his arms were successful, the an-
tipathy of the Scots to the domination of the English was
too strong to be overcome ; and Mary was taken to
France, there to be married to the Dauphin. A Catholic
rebellion in Cornwall and Devonshire was suppressed ;
but the opposition to Somerset on various grounds, which
was led by the Duke of Northumberland, finally brought

REIGN OF MARY. 327

the Protector to the scaffold ; and Northumberland, who
was now at the head of affairs, concluded a peace with
France, in which the project of a marriage of Edward
with Mary was virtually renounced. Under Cranmer's
superintendence a revisal of the ecclesiastical statutes,
including those for the punishment of heresy, was under-
taken ; but the work was not finished when the King died,
at the age of sixteen (1553).

The reactionary movement that attended the accession
of Mary to the throne, was heightened by the abortive at-
tempt of Northumberland to deprive her of it by persuad-
ing the dying King to bequeath the crown to Lady Jane
Grey, a descendant of Henry's sister, and a Protestant,
whom Northumberland had married to his son. The party
which thus sought to overthrow the order of succession that
had been fixed by act of Parliament, found that it was fee-
bly supported, soon became divided and effected nothing.
The insurrection under Wyat was punished by the death
of its leaders, and led to the execution of Lady Jane
Grey. Mary was narrow, with the obstinate will of her
father, and superstitiously attached to the religion of her
mother. She proceeded as expeditiously as her more
prudent advisers — of whom Philip of Spain was the chief
— would permit, to restore the Catholic system. She
soon dislodged the married clergy from their places. The
Prayer Book was abolished. Disdaining the suggestion
that she should marry an Englishman, she gave her hand
to Philip with a devotion in which zeal for the Catholic
faith was indistinguishably mingled with personal regard.
The point on which Parliament showed most hesitation
was the matter of the Supremacy. The opposition to *-
papal control was more general and better established
than the antagonism to Roman Catholic doctrine. Par-
liament insisted that the guarantee of the abbey lands to
their new possessors should be incorporated in the very
act which reestablished papal authority. Reginald Pole,

328 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

who was made legate of the Pope in 1554, and succeeded
Cranmer m the archbishopric, was the Queen's spiritual
counselor. The fourth of the great measures for the
destruction of Protestantism was the enforcement of the
laws against heresy. Gardiner lost no time in abandoning
the doctrine of the King's supremacy, which it is difficult
to believe that he ever sincerely held. He and Bonner,
the new Bishop of London, were active in persecution.
The foreign theologians were driven out of the kingdom,
and the foreign congregations dispersed. Not less than
eight hundred Englishmen, whose lives were in danger at
home, found an asylum among their brethren in Germany
and Switzerland. The noble fortitude with which Hooper,
Latimer, Ridley, and numerous other martyrs, endured
the fire, did much to strengthen the Protestant cause and
to break down the popularity of Mary. Cranmer, from
the day when he saw from his prison-tower the burning
of his companions, Ridley and Latimer, seems to have
lost his spirit. He was persuaded to make an abject re-
cantation ; but, notwithstanding this act, it was deter-
mined that he should die. What course he would have
pursued had he been permitted to live, it is impossible to
tell ; but, in the prospect of certain death, his courage
revived, and he exhibited at the end a dignity and con-
stancy which have gone far in the estimation of posterity
to atone for his previous infirmities. The fault of Cran-
mer was a time-serving spirit ; an undue subservience to
power ; a timidity, which is not compatible with the
highest type of manly honesty. An example of this is
seen in the course he adopted on taking the oaths of ca-
nonical obedience to the Pope, at his consecration as
Archbishop ; when he satisfied his conscience by a pro-
test to the effect that he did not consider himself bound
to abstain from measures for the reformation of the
Church.^ His participation in the condemnation of John

1 This protestation was not coniimmicated to the Pope. See Hallam's re-
marks upon it, Co7ist. Hist., ch. n. (Harpers' Am. ed., pp. 65, 66 and n.)

DEATH OF CRANMER. 329

Frith, who was burnt at Smithfield in 1533 for aenying
the corporal presence of Christ in the Sacrament ; and
still more, his part in the execution of Jean Boucher, or
Joan of Kent, who was called an Anabaptist, and was
burned, in the reign of Edward, for an heretical opinion
respecting the Incarnation — not to speak of other ex-
amples of a like intolerance — are a blot upon his memory.
In the last days of Edward, Cranmer and his associates
were engaged in shaping laws for the punishment of be-
lievers in doctrines which he had himself held not long
before, and for disbelieving in which he had assisted in
bringing Frith and others to the stake. The Protestant
bishops, says Lingard, the Catholic historian, " perished in
flames which they had prepared for their adversaries." ^
Yet Cranmer, as Burnet has justly said, was instigated
by no cruelty of temper. He was under the sway of the
idea that there must be uniformity, and that the magis-
trate must be responsible for securing it. This idea it
was, in connection with the pliant disposition which be-
longed to him by nature, which moved him, in the last
years of Henry VIII., to an unjustifiable concealment or
compromise of his opinions. It must be set down to his
credit that he raised his voice against the adoption of the
Six Articles, and interceded, when intercession, in how-
ever cautious a form, was hazardous, for the lives of Anne
Boleyn and Cromwell. But the burning of a man of his
venerable age, who had filled so large a space in the pub-
lic eye, whose hand had been pressed by Henry VIII.
when he was dying, and whose own death took place un-
der circumstances so affecting, could not fail to react to
the disadvantage of the Queen and of her creed. Various
other causes conspired to render her unpopular. In 1555
Paul IV., a violent bigot, and withal hostile to the Spanish-
Austrian House, became Pope. He insisted on a restora-

1 This is somewhat too severe, as the temporal penalties of heresy were to be
fixed by Parliament. See Hallam, Const. Hist, of England (later editions) ch. ii

330 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

tion of the Church property in England. He would have
the rumed monasteries once more tenanted by the monks.
That is to say, he was resolved to annul the condition on
which alone Parliament had consented to restore the papal
supremacy. Moreover, England was brought, through
Philip, to take part in the war of Spain against France,
which gave the victory of St. Quentin to the Spanish
king, but made the English smart under the loss of Calais.
The Queen, whose whole soul was bound up with the
cause of the CathoHc Church and who looked upon Philip
as its champion, was forced to witness the hostility of the
Pope to her husband, and to see Pole, who belonged to
that section of the Catholics which was inclined to Prot-
estant views of justification, and for this reason was dis-
liked by Paul IV., deprived of the legatine office. To
add to the perils of the situation, France was in alliance
with Scotland. Mary died on the 17th of November,
1558. The next night. Cardinal Pole died. It is remark-
able that within a short time before or after the Queen's
death, not less than thirteen of her bishops died also.

The nation welcomed Elizabeth to the throne. Her
bias, which resulted from her education and her native
habit of feeling, was towards a highly conservative Prot-
estantism. The point to which she was irrevocably at-
tached was that of the sovereign's supremacy. Her own
legitimacy and title to the throne depended on it, and her
natural love of power confirmed her attachment to it.
She did not reject the Protestant doctrines respecting
gratuitous salvation and the supreme authority of the
Scriptures, but she was disposed to retain as much as pos-
sible of the ancient ritual. She had a decided repugnance
to the marriage of the clergy, and was with difficulty dis-
suaded from absolutely forbidding it. She kept on the
altar of her own private chapel a crucifix and a burning
candle. On her accession, she is said to have notified
Paul IV. of the fact ; but this fanatical prelate haughtily

POLICY OF ELIZABETH. 331

replied that she must submit her claims to his decision.
At a later day, when Pius IV, offered to make important
concessions, such as the granting of the cup to the laity
and the use of the English Liturgy, the proposal was re-
fused. In the revision of the Liturgy, the passage in the
Litany relg,tive to the " tyranny of the Bishop of Rome
and all his detestable enormities " was omitted, as well as
the explanation of the rubric that by kneeUng in the
Sacrament no adoration is intended for any corporal pres-
ence of Christ. The Forty-two Articles were reduced to
Thirty-nine, in the revision by Convocation m 1563 ; and
its act was confirmed by Parliament in 1571. The Act
of Supremacy placed ecclesiastical power in the hands of
the Queen, and the Act of Uniformity made dissent in
public teaching and in the ceremonies of worship, unlaw-
ful. A Court of High Commission was established and
furnished with ample powers for enforcing uniformity,
and suppressing and punishing heresy and dissent.

The two classes of subjects against whom these powers
were to be exerted were the Catholics, and the party
which was growing up under the name of Puritans. That
the persecution to which Catholics were subject during
this reign was palliated, and that the severe proceedings
against them were in some cases justified, by the political
hostility which was often inseparably mingled with their
religious faith, is true. When the Protestantism of the
Queen was made the ground of attack upon her on the
part of foreign powers, and of conspiracies against her
life ; when at length she was deposed by a bull of Pius
v., and her subjects released from their allegiance, it was
natural that severity should be used towards that portion
of her subjects who were looked upon as the natural alhes
of her enemies. Yet it is likewise true that repressive
measures were adopted against the Catholics in many
cases where justice as well as sound policy would have
dictated a different course.

332 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

A consideration of the general character of the AngUcan
Church, as that was determined after the accession of
Elizabeth, will qualify us to understand the Puritan con-
troversy. The feature that distinguished the English
Church from the reformed churches on the Continent,
was the retention in its polity and worship of so much
that had belonged to the Catholic system. The first
step In the English Reformation was the assertion of the
Royal Supremacy. At the beginning this meant a declar-
ation of the nation's independence of Rome. But the
positive character of this supremacy was not clearly de-
fined. In the time of Henry VIII., and in the beginning
of Edward's reign, Cranmer and the bishops, like civil
officers, held their commissions at the King's pleasure.
On the death of Henry, Cranmer considered the arch-
bishopric of Canterbury vacant until he should be sup-
plied with a new appointment. As the head of the
Church, the King could make and deprive bishops, as he
could appoint and degrade all other ofiicers in the king-
dom. The episcopal pohty was retained, partly because
the bishops generally fell in with the proceedings of Henry
VIII. and Edward for the reform of the Church, and on
account of the compact organization of the monarchy, in
consequence of which the nation acted as one body. But
in the first age of the Reformation, and until the rise of
Puritanism as a distinct party, there was little con-
troversy among Protestants in relation to episcopacy.
Not only was Melancthon willing to allow bishops with a
jure humano authority, but Luther and Calvin were also
of the same mind. The episcopal constitution of the
English Church for a long period put no barrier in the
way of the most free and fraternal relations between that
body and the Protestant churches on the continent. As
we have seen, Cranmer placed foreign divines in very re-
sponsible places in the English Church. Ministers who
had received Presbyterian ordination were admitted to

THE EPISCOPAL QUESTION. 333

take charge of English parishes without a question as to
the validity of their orders. We find Cranmer, Melanc-
thon, and Calvin more than once in correspondence with
one another, in regard to the calling of a general Protes-
tant Council, to counteract the influence of Trent. The
great English divines were in constant correspondence
with the Helvetic reformers, to whom they looked for
counsel and sympathy, and whom they addressed in a
deferential and affectionate style. The pastors of Zurich,
BuUinger the successor, and Gualter the son-in-law of
Zwingle, were their intimate and trusted advisers. It
was a common opinion that there is a parity between
bishops and presbyters ; that the difference is one of office
and not of order. This had been a prevailing view
among the schoolmen in the Middle Ages. Though it
belonged to bishops to ordain and (in the Latin Church)
to confirm ; yet the priest, not less than the bishop, per-
formed the miracle of the Eucharist, the highest clerical
act. Cranmer distinctly asserted the parity of the two
classes of clergy. The same thing is found in the " Bish-
ops' Book," or Institution of a Christian Man, which was
put forth by authority in 1537.^ But Cranmer has left
on record an explicit assertion of his opinion.^ Jewel,

1 Burnet i. 468 (Addenda). Burnet says that it was "the common style of
that age " — derived from the schoolmen — "to reckon bishops and priests as
the same office." After the Tridentine Council, the doctrine of the institutio
divina of bishops prevailed in the Catholic Church. See Gieseler, i. i. 2.
§ 30, n. i.

2 See Burnet, i. (ii.) Collection of Records, xxi. The Resolutions oj" several
Bishops and Divines, oJ" some Questions Concerning the Sacraments, etc. "Ques-
tion 10. Whether bishops or priests were first? and if the priests first,
then the priests made the bishop." Cranmer answers: " The bishops and priests
were at one time, and were no two things, but both one office in the beginning
of Christ's religion." "Question 12. Whether in the New Testament be re-
quired any consecration of bishop or priests, or only appointing to the office be
sufficient? " Cranmer answers: "In the New Testament, he that is appointed
to be a bishop or priest, needeth no consecration by the Scripture, for election
or appointing thereto is sufficient." In answer to question 14, Cranmer says
that "it is not forbidden by God's law," if all the bishops and priests in a
region were dead, that "the King of that region should make bishops and

334 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

one of the great lights of the English Church in the early
part of the reign of Elizabeth, appears to hold this view.
Bancroft, the successor of Whitgift as Archbishop of
Canterbury, is thought to have been the first to maintain
the necessity of bishops, or the jure divino doctrine.^
There is no trace of such a doctrine in the " Apology
for the Church of England," and in the " Defense of the
Apology," by Jewel, which have been regarded by An-
glicans with just pride as an able refutation of Roman
Catholic accusations against their system. At a much
later time. Lord Bacon, in his " Advertisement concern-
ing Controversies of the Church of England," speaks of
the stiff defenders of all the orders of the Church, as
beginning to condemn their opponents as " a sect."
" Yea, and some indiscreet persons have been bold in
open preaching to use dishonorable and derogatory speech
and censure of the churches abroad ; and that so far, as
some of our men, as I have heard, ordained in foreign
parts, have been pronounced to be no lawful ministers.
Thus we see the beginnings were modest, but the ex-
tremes were violent." ^ Near the end of Elizabeth's
reign. Hooker, in his celebrated work in defense of the
Church of England, fully concedes the validity of Pres-
byterian ordination ; with tacit reference, as Keble, his
modern editor, concedes, to the continental Churches.

priests to supply the same." See also a Declaration signed by Cranmer and
other bishops, with Cromwell. Burnet, Ibid. Addenda V. After describing
in full the functions of the clergy, it is said : " This office, this power and au-
thority, was committed and given by Christ and his Apostles unto certain
persons only, that is to say, unto priests or bishops, whom they did elect, call,
and admit thereunto by their prayers and imposition of hands." " The truth is,
that in the New Testament there is no mention made of any degrees or distinc-
tions in orders, but only of deacons or ministers, and of priests or bishops."
Thirteen bishops, with a great number of other ecclesiastics, subscribed this
proposition.

1 Hallam thinks that not even Bancroft taught this view, where it is sup-
posed by many to be found, in his sermon at St. Paul's Cross (1588). Const
Hist., p. 22G (Harpers' Am. ed.).

2 Works (Montagu's ed.) vii. 48.

THE DOCTRINE OF PEEDES ITNATION. 335

Laud was reproved in 1604 for maintaining in his exer-
cise for Bachelor of Divinity at Oxford that there could
be no true church without bishops ; " which was thought
to cast a bone of contention between the Church of
England and the Reformed on the Continent." Even as
late as 1618, in the reign of James I., an English bishop
and several Anglican clergymen sat in the Synod of Dort,
with a presbyter for its moderator.

The Anglican Church agreed with the Protestant
churches on the continent, on the subject of predestina-
tion. On this subject, for a long period, the Protestants
generally were united in opinion. They adopted the
Augustinian tenet. The impotency of the will is af-
firmed by Luther as strongly as by Calvin. Melancthon's
gradual modification of the doctrine, which allowed to
the will a cooperative agency in conversion, only affected
a portion of the Lutheran Church. The leaders of the
English Reformation, from the time when the death of ^
Henry VIII. placed them firmly upon Protestant ground,
profess the doctrine of absolute, as distinguished from
conditional, predestination, which is the essential feature
of both the Augustinian and Calvinistic systems. It is
true that Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer have not left so
definite expressions on this subject in their writings as
as is the case with the Elizabethan bishops. But the seven-
teenth of the Articles cannot fairly be interpreted in any
other sense than that of unconditional election ; and the
cautions which are appended, instead of being opposed to
this interpretation, demonstrate the correctness of it ; for
who was ever " thrust into desperation, or into wretchless-
ness of most unclean living," by the opposite doctrine ? ^

1 It is important to observe, that in the inquiry whether the Articles are
" Calvinistic " or not, this term is used in contradistinction to Arminian. Among
the writers in defense of their non-Calvinistic character is Archbishop Lawrence,
Bamplon Lectures (1804). On the same side, with some hesitation, is Bishop
Harald Browne, who reviews the controversy. An Exposit. of the xxxix. Ar-
ticles (1858. ) Bishop Burnet, himself a Latitudinarian, in his dispassionate dis-

836 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

Bradford when in prison in London disputed on this subject
with certain " free-willers," of whom he wrote to his fel-
low-martyrs then at Oxford. Ridley's letter in reply cer-
tainly implies sympathy with his friend in this opinion ^
Strype says that Ridley and Bradford wrote on predesti
nation, and that Bradford's treatise was approved by
Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer. The relations of Cran-
mer to Bucer and Peter Martyr throw light on his opinion
relative to this question. Bucer, before he was called to
England, had dedicated his exposition of the Romans, in
which he sets forth the doctrine of absolute predestination,
to Cranmer. Peter Martyr elaborately defended this
tenet at Oxford, and replied to the anti-Calvinistic trea-
tises of Smith, his predecessor, and of Pighius, the oppo-
nent of Calvin. It was dimng the residence of Martyr
at Oxford, that the Articles were framed.^ On the ac-
cession of Mary, Cranmer oiBfered to defend, in conjunc-
tion with his friend Martyr, in a public disputation, the
doctrines which had been established in the previous reign.
It is impossible to believe that they materially differed
on this prominent point of theological belief.^ There is
more ground for the assertion that the formularies of the
Church of England are Augustinian, in distinction from

cussion of the subject, says: " It is not be denied that the Article [xvii.] seems
to be framed according to St. Austin's doctrine." "It is very probable that
those who penned it meant that the decree is absolute." Exposition of the
xxxrx. Ar-tides (Art. xvii.).

1 The moderation of Ridley is indicated in the remark that he dares not write
otherwise on this subject " than the very text doth, as it were, lead me by the
hand." Works (Parker Soc), p. 368.

2 " In das, von der Londoner Synode im Jahr 1552, aufgefasste Glaubens-
bekenntniss der Englischen Kirche, wurden die Lehre von der Erbsiinde, der
Praedestination, und der Rechtfertigung, aufgenommen, so wie Martyr, und
mit ihm alle gleichzeitigen protestantischen Theologen in England sie auf-
gestellt batten." Dr. C. Schmidt, Peter Martyr Vermirjli, Lehen u. ausyewiihlt,
Schriften, p. 117.

8 Upon the Calvinism of Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, see Hunt, Religiout
Thought in England, i. 33. Hunt refers to Cranmer's notes on the Great Bible,
as settling the point that he was a " moderate Calvinist."

CALVINISM IN ENGLAND. 337

Calvinistic.^ Yet it is admitted by candid scholars that
at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign " Cahinistic teach-
ing generally prevailed." ^ But through the whole reign
of Edward, also, Calvin's personal influence was great in
England. His controversy with Pighius, and the expul-
sion of Bolsec from Geneva in 1551, excited general at-
tention. It was about this time that election and kindred
topics began to be agitated in England. Under date of
September 10, 1552, Bartholomew Traheron wrote to
Bullinger : " I am exceedingly desirous to know what you

^ The particulars in which Calvin varied from Augustine are these. Augus-
tine made the fall of Adam, the first sin, the object of a permissive decree.
Calvin was not satisfied with a bare, passive permission on the part of God, and
makes statements which tend to the supralapsarian idea. (See supra, p. 202.) This
view was developed b}' Beza and a section of the Calvinists. But inf ralapsarian
or Augustinian Calvinism has had the suffrages of a majoritj'. It is found in the
Westminster Confession, and even the creed of the S3'nod of Dort does not go
beyond it. Augustine held to the pr»terition, instead of the reprobation of
the wicked ; or rather to their reprobation, not to sin, but to the punishment of sin.
(For the passages see Miinscher, Dogmengeschichte, i. 402.) High Calvinists
held to a positive decree of reprobation, analogous to that of election; yet
denied that God is the author of sin. Calvin differed from Augustine in hold-
ing to the perseverance of all believers; that is, that none but the elect ever
exercise saving faith. Augustine attributed to the sacraments a greater effect
on the non-elect. Thus he held that all baptized infants are saved. This sac-
ramental tenet is often declared to be a feature of the Anglican system, as op-
posed to that of Calvin. (See, e. g., Blunt, Diet, of Doctr. and Hist. Theol., p.
103.) But Calvin teaches, not indeed that a saving measure of grace is given
to all baptized children; but still that all such are " engrafted into the body of
the church," "accepted as His [God's] children by the solemn symbol of adop-
tion," and that " God has his different degrees of regenerating those whom He
has adopted." Inst., iv. xvi. 9, 31. He teaches that grace is imparted, to
some extent, to non-elect adults, who are thus rendered more inexcusable.
The ex opere operato theor}^ of the sacraments, the theory of their intrinsic
efficiency, independently of the feeling of the recipient, is denied — in the
XIII Articles, expressly — and "the wholesome effect or operation " of them
is confined "to such only as worthily receive the same." Article xvii. affirms
that " we must receive God's promises in such wise as they be generally set
forth to us in Holy Scripture." This is sometimes said to be anti-Calvinistic.
But Calvin says that " the voice of the Gospel addresses all men generally," and
that "the promises are offered equall3'to the faithful and the impious." Inst.,
III. xxii. 10, and ii. v. 10. The Article implies the Calvinistic or Augustinian
distinction between the "secret will," or purpose, and "that will of God"
which is expres.sly declared.

2 Blunt, Diet, of Doctr. and Historical Theol, art. " Calvinism," p. 105.
22

338 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

and the other very learned men, who live at Zurich, think
respecting the predestination and Providence of God."
" The greater number among us, of whom I own myself
to be one, embrace the opinion of John Calvin as being
perspicuous, and most agreeable to Holy Scripture. And
we truly thank God that that excellent treatise of the
very learned and excellent John Calvin against Pighius
and one Georgius Siculus should have come forth at the
very time when the question began to be agitated among
us. For we confess that he has thrown much light upon
the subject, or rather so handled it as that we have never
before seen anything more learned or more plain." ^ At
this time, as Bullinger indicates by his reply, even he was
not satisfied with the supralapsarian tenet, the modifica-
tion of Augustinism, which Calvin had broached ; the
theory that the first sin is the object of an efficient de-
cree.^ After the accession of Elizabeth, the Institutes of
Calvin " were generally in the hands of the clergy, and
might be considered their text-book of theology." ^

But while it is true that the Anglican divines of the
sixteenth century may be said to be Calvinistic in their
opinion respecting the divine decrees, it is also true that
they were, as a rule, not rigid in the profession and main-
tenance of this dogma. On this topic, they shared in the
prevailing belief of the Protestants of that age. But they
combined in their theology other elements which stood

1 Original Letters, p. 325.

2 After Peter Martyr took up his residence at Zurich (in 1556), Bullinger went
farther than before in his assertion of predestination. See Herzog, Real-Encycl.,
art. "Bullinger."

3 Blunt, ut supra. We find explicit proofs that Jewel, Newell, Sandj's, Cox,
professed to concur with the Reformers of Zurich and Geneva in every point of
doctrine. Ilallam, Const. Hist., ch. vii. Archbishop Grindal (then Bishop of Lon-
don), writing June 6, 1562, says, in reference to certain Lutherans at Bremen : " It
is astonishing that they are raising such commotions about predestination. They
should at least consult their own Luther on the ' bondage of the will.' For what
else do Bucer, Calvin, and Martyr teach, that Luther has not maintained in
that treatise?" (Zurich Letters, 2d ed., p. 142.) It was considered that these
leading Reformers were substantially united on this sul ject.

CALVINISM IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 339

out in more distinct relief. And the tendency to go back
to antiquity, to seek for moderate, and to avoid obnoxious
conceptions of doctrine ; in a word, the peculiar spirit
fostered by the whole Anglican system, tended more and
jnore to blunt the sharpness of doctrinal statements on
this subject. The contrast is marked, in this particular,
between Whitgift, a strenuous Calvinist, and Hooker,
who approved, in general, of the Calvinistic system, but
represents in his whole tone the school of distinctively
Anglican theologians which was acquiring an increasing
strength.! ^g jg^^g ^g 1595, the Lambeth Articles, con-
taining the strongest assertion of unconditional election,
and of reprobation also, were subscribed by Whitgift,
then Archbishop of Canterbury, by the bishops of London
and Bangor, and with slight verbal amendments, by the
Archbishop of York, and transmitted by Whitgift to the
University of Cambridge ; these Articles being, he said,
an explication of the doctrine of the Church of England.^
At this time dissent from Calvinism had begun distinctly
to manifest itself ; and gradually the Arminian doctrine
spread in England until, during the next reign, it became
prevalent in the established Church.

The great and almost the only topic of doctrinal con-

1 Hooker, in the copious Preface to his Treatise, lauds Calvin, whom he pro-
nounces "incomparably the wisest man that ever the French Church did enjoy,
since the hour it enjoyed him." He praises Calvin's " Institutes " and Commen-
taries, and has no contest with his doctrinal system. At the same time, Hooker's
work is tinged throughout with the characteristics of the Anglican school.
Principal Tulloch has interesting remarks on what he terms "the comprehensive-
ness and genial width of view" of the Anglican Calvinists, such as Jewel and
Hooker. English Puritanism and its Leaders, pp. 5, 7, 41.

2 The Lambeth Articles may be found in Neal, History of the Puritans, i.
209, and in Cardwell, History of the Articles (App. v.) p. 343. Cardwell prints the
Articles, both as written by Whitaker and as subscribed. If Art. V. asserts per-
severance in the exercising of true and justifying faith of the elect only. Art.
VI. affirms that all who are possessed of this faith have a full assurance and
certainty of their everlasting salvation. The Articles of the Episcopal Church
adopted in Ireland in 1615, were decidedly Calvinistic. Archbishop Usher, who
became Primate of the Irish Church in 1624, was a most learned advocate of this
type of theology.

340 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

troversy among Protestants in the early stages of the
Reformation, was the Lord's Supper. On this subject,
the Church of England allied itself to the Reformed or
Calvinistic branch of the Protestant family. It must be
remembered that Bucer and Calvin had struck out a
middle path between the Lutheran idea of the local pres-
ence of the body of Christ in the Eucharist, and the idea
of a mere commemoration, which was the original view
of Zwing-le. This middle doctrine denied the Lutheran
hypothesis of the ubiquity of Christ's body, asserted that
it is now confined to heaven, but at the same time affirmed
a real, though mysterious and purely spiritual reception
of Christ by believers alone, by virtue of which a vital-
izing power is communicated to the recipient, even from
His body. With this hypothesis of a real, but spir-
itual presence and reception of Christ, the Zwinglians
were satisfied. Even Zwingle and CEcolampadius were
not disposed to contend against it ; and it formed the
basis of union between Calvin and his followers, and the
Zwinglian Churches. At the outset, after giving up
transubstantiation, Cranmer adopted the Lutheran doc-
trine of consubstantiation ; but Ridley embraced the
Swiss doctrine, in its later form, and Cranmer avowed
himself of the same mind. On the 31st of December,
1548, Bartholomew Traheron writes to Bullinger of the
Disputation which had just been held in London, on the
Eucharist, " in the presence of almost all the nobility of
England." He says : " the Archbishop of Canterbury,
contrary to general expectation, most openly, firmly, and
learnedly maintained your opinion upon this subject.
His arguments were as follows : The body of Christ was
taken up from us into heaven. Christ has left the world.
' Ye have the poor always with you, but me ye have not
always,' etc. Next followed the Bishop of Rochester "
[Ridley]. "The truth never obtained a more brilliant
victory among us " — that is, in conflict with the Papists.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 341

" I perceive that it is all over with Lutheranism, now
that those who were considered its principal and almost
only supporters, have altogether come over to our side." ^
The exiles who fled from England on the death of Ed-
ward, were inhospitably received in Germany on account
of their Calvinism. In 1562, after the readoption of the
Articles under Elizabeth, Jewel wrote to Peter Martyr :
" As for matters of doctrine, we have pared everything
away to the quick, and do not differ from your doctrine
by a nail's breadth ; for as to the ubiquitarian theory " —
the Lutheran view — " there is no danger in this country.
Opinions of that kind can only gain admittance where
the stones have sense." ^ But there is no need of bring-
ing forward further evidence on this point, since the Arti-
cles explicitly assert the Calvinistic view. In speaking
of the English Reformers as Calvinistic, it is not implied
that they derived their opinions from Calvin exclusively,
or received them on his authority. They were able and

1 Craniiier himself says, referring to his translation, in the first year of Ed-
ward, of the Lutheran Catechism of Justus Jonas, in which it is affirmed that
the body and blood of the Saviour are received by the mouth: "Not long be-
fore I wrote the said Catechism, I was in that error of the real presence, as I
was many years past, in divers other errors, as transubstantiation " — here
he enumerates other papal doctrines which he had once held. Cranmer, Treat-
ises on the Lord's Supper (Parker Soc), p. 374. In the discussions respect-
ing the Sacrament, prior to the preparation of the xlii Articles of 1553,
Bucer thought Martyr too Zwinglian. See C Schmidt, Peter Martyr
Vermigli : Leben u. auscjewalilte Schriften, p. 103 seq.; Baum, Capito u.
Bucer, Leben, etc., p. 555; Hardwick, History of the Articles of Religion,
p. 96. But this led to no serious disagreement. Bucer and Martyr were both
substantially Calvinistic. The idea that Cranmer was disinclined to the " Swiss
doctrine " is contradicted by his own words: " Bucer dissenteth in nothing from
(Ecolampadius and Zwinglius," The Loi-cPs Supper (Parker Soc.) p. 225. The
changes in the Order of Communion, in the Revision of 1552, are Zwinglian in
their tone. See Cardwell, History of Conferences and other Proceedings con-
nected with the Revision of the Book of Common Prayer, pp. 4, 5. King Edward's
Catechism for all schoolmasters to teach, is definitely anti-Lutheran. The com-
memorative side of the Eucharist is emphasized. Faith is described as the
mouth of the spirit for receiving Christ. See Liturgies of King Edward
(Parker Soc.) pp. 516, 517. Bishop Coverdale, the friend of Cranmer, trans-
lated a writing of Calvin on the Sacrament.

2 February 7, 1562. Zurich Letters (2d series), p. 124.

342 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

learned men, and explored the Scriptures and the patristic
writers for themselves. Yet no name was held in higher
honor among them than that of the Genevan Reformer.
-. A controversy of greater moment for the subsequent
ecclesiastical as well as political history of England, was
that between the Anglicans and Puritans. From the
beginning, there were some in England who wished to
introduce more radical changes and to conform the English
Reformation to the type which it had reached among the
Reformed or Calvinistic Churches on the Continent.
This disposition gained force through the residence of the
foreign divines in England in the time of Edward, and
still more by the return of the exiles after the accession
of Elizabeth. The great obstacles in the way of obtain-
ing the changes which they desired, were the strength
of the Catholic party and the conservatism of Queen
Elizabeth. The controversy first had respect to the use
of the vestments, especially the cap and surplice, and
extended to other peculiarities of the ritual. The ground
of the Puritan objection was that these things were iden-
tified in the popular mind with the papal notion of a
particular priesthood. They were badges of Popery, and
for this reason should be discarded. When it was replied,
that the surplice, the cross in baptism, kneeling at the
Sacrament, are things indifferent in their nature, the re-
joinder was made that since they are misleading in their
influence, they are not indifferent, in the moral sense ;
but that if they are indifferent, the magistrate has no
right to impose them upon Christian people : it is an in-
fringement of Christian liberty. In this last affirmation
was involved an idea with regard to the Supremacy which
must lead to a difference of a more radical character.
Hooper, who is often styled the father of the Puritans,
had spent some time at Zurich while the Adiaplioristic
controversy, which related to the same subject of cere-
monies, was raging in Germany. Being chosen under

KISE OF PURITANISM. 343

Edward, in 1550, to the bishopric of Gloucester, he re-
fused to wear the vestments at his consecration. Finally,
after he had been imprisoned, the difficulty was settled
by a compromise. They were, in fact, very much laid
aside during this reign. At the beginning of Elizabeth's
reign there was a general feeling among her newly ap-
pointed bishops, most of whom had been abroad during
the persecutions under Mary, in favor of the disuse of
the vestments and of the offensive ceremonies. This was
the wish of Jewel, of Nowell, of Sandys, afterwards
Archbishop of York, of Grindal, who succeeded Parker
in the archbishopric of Canterbury. Only Cox, the
Bishop of Ely, who, in the church of the exiles at
Frankfort, had led the party which clung to the English
Liturgy, and Parker, who had remained in England
during the late reign, were on the other side ; although
Parker appears, at the outset, to have looked with doubt
or disfavor upon the vestments.^ Burleigh, Walsingliam,
Leicester, were in favor of giving them up, or of not
making their use compulsory. English prelates, in their
correspondence, speak of them in the same terms of de-
rision and contempt as the Puritan leaders afterwards
employed. For example, Jewel says in one of his letters
to Peter Martyr : " Now that the full light of the Gospel
has shone forth, the very vestiges of error must, as far
as possible, be removed, together with the rubbish, and,
as the saying is, with the very dust. And I wish we
could effect this in respect to that linen surplice." The
statements of Macaulay are sustained by the correspond-
ence of the English with the Swiss Reformers, and by
other evidence : " The Enghsh Reformers were eager to
go as far as their brethren on the continent. The^
unanimously condemned as anti-Christian numerous dog-
mas and practices to which Henry had stubbornly adhered
and which Elizabeth reluctantly abandoned. Many felt

1 Short, History of the Church of England, p. 250.

344 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

a strong repugnance even to things indifferent, which had
formed part of the polity or ritual of the mystical Baby-
lon. Thus Bishop Hooper, who died manfully at Glouces-
ter for his religion, long refused to wear the episcopal
vestments. Bishoj) Ridley, a martyr of still greater re-
nown, pulled down the ancient altars of his diocese, and
ordered the Eucharist to be administered in the middle of
churches, at tables which the Papists irreverently termed
oyster-boards. Bishop Jewel pronounced the clerical garb
to be a stage dress, a fool's coat, a relic of the Amorites,
and promised that he would spare no labor to extirpate
such degrading absurdities. Archbishop Grindal long
hesitated about accepting a mitre, from dislike of what
he regarded as the mummery of consecration. Bishop
Parkhurst uttered a fervent prayer that the Church of
England would propose to herself the Church of Zurich
as the absolute pattern of a Christian community." ^ But
the Queen, to whom the Royal Supremacy was the most
valuable part of Protestantism, was inflexibly opposed to
the proposed changes. Not without difficulty did the new
bishops succeed in procuring the removal of images
from the churches. The great fear of the Protestant
leaders was that the Queen would be driven over to the
Catholic Church, in case they undertook to withstand

1 History of England, i. 47. Strype says that when Grindal was appointed
Bishop of London, he " remained under some scruples of conscience about some
things; especially the habits and certain ceremonies required to be used of such
as were bishops. For the Reformed in these times generall}' went upon the
ground, that, in order to the complete freeing of the Church of Christ from the
errors and corruptions of Rome, everj' usage and custom practiced by that apo.s-
tate and idolatrous Church should be abolished, and that the service of God
should be most simple, stript of all that show, pomp, and appearance, that has
been customarily used before, esteeming all that to be no better than supersti-
tious and anti-Christian." Life of Grindal., p. 28. In the reign of Edward,
Martin Bucer, writing under Cranmer's roof at Lambeth, under date of April
26, 1.549, speaks of the retention of the vestments, chrism, etc., in the Anglican
ritual, and says: "They affirm that there is no superstition in these things,
and that they are only to be retained for a time, lest the people, not having j'et
learned Christ, should be deterred by too extensive innovations from embracing
his religion," etc. Original Letters, ii. 535.

DEVELOPMENT OF PURITANISM. 345

her wishes. Most of the eminent foreign divines on the
continent, whom they consulted, counseled them to rer
main in the Church, and not desert their offices, but to
labor patiently to effect the reforms to which the Queen
would not then consent. But many of the clergy did not
conform to the obnoxious parts of the ritual. This oc-
casioned much disorder in worship, and, as the Puritans
were not at all disposed to follow their own ways in si-
lence, it gave rise also to much contention. The Queen
resolved to enforce uniformity, and required her bishops,
especially Parker, to prosecute the delinquents. At
length, the Puritans began to organize in separate con-
venticles, as their meetings were styled by their adver-
saries, in order to worship according to the method which
they approved. They were numerous ; their clergy were
learned and effective preachers, and both clergy and peo-
ple were willing to suffer for the sake of conscience. The
cruel, but ineffectual, persecution of them, darkens the
reign of Elizabeth, especially the latter part of it.
Among the other ends for which the Puritans were always
zealous, were stricter discipline in the Church, and an
educated, earnest ministry, to take the place of the
thousands of notoriously incompetent clergymen.^

If Hooper was the parent of Puritanism in its incipient
form, a like relation to Puritanism, as a ripe and devel-
oped system, belongs to Thomas Cartwright, Lady Mar-
garet's Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. About the
year 1570, he began to set forth the principles respecting
the polity of the Church and the proper relation of the
Church to the State, which formed the creed of the body
of the Puritan party afterwards. The first point in bib
system is that the Scriptures are not only the rule of
faith, but also the rule for the government and disci-
phne of the Church. They present a scheme of polity

1 The objections of the Puritans to the Anglican Ritual are stated and ex-
plained by Neal, History of the Puritans, i. ch. v.

o46 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AN.) SCOTLAND.

from which the Church is not at Hberty to depart. The
second point is that the management of Church affairs
belongs to the Church itself and its officers, and not to
civil magistrates. Cartwright held to the old view of the
distinction between ecclesiastical and civil society. While
the magistrate may not dictate to the Church in matters
pertaming to doctrine and discipline, he still is bound to
protect and defend the Church, and see that its decrees
are executed. Caitwright was no advocate of toleration.
In his system, Church and State are indissolubly linked,
and there must be uniformity in religion. But what that
system of rehgion and worship shall be, which it belongs
to the magistrate to maintain, it is for the Church in its
own assemblies, and not for him to decide. Moreover,
Cartwright contended that the system of polity which the
Scriptures ordain is the Presbyterian, and that prelacy is,
therefore, unlawful.

This was, of course, a blow at the Queen's Supremacy,
as it had been understood and exercised. It is true that
Elizabeth disclaimed the title of Head of the Church and
called herself its Governor. The thirty-seventh Article,
which was framed under Elizabeth, expressly denies to
the civil magistrate the right to administer the Word or
the sacraments. But her visitatorial power had no defined
limits. She did not hesitate to prescribe what should be
preached and what should not be, and what : ites should
be practiced and what omitted, in a style whi.h reminds
one of the Byzantine emperors in the age of Justinian.
She was not satisfied with disposing of ecclesiastical pos-
sessions at her will. Sir Christopher Hatton, one of the
Queen's favorites, built his house in the garden of Cox,
the Bishop of Ely ; and when he attempted to prevent
the spoliation, she wrote him a laconic note, in which she
threatened with an oath to " unfrock " him if he did not
instantly comply with her behest. She forbade, in the
most peremptory manner, the meetings of clergymen for

THE INDEPENDENTS. 347

discussion and mutual improvement, called " prophesy-
ings." When Archbishop Grindal objected to her order
and reminded her that the regulation of such matters
belongs to the Church itself and to its bishops, she kept
him suspended from his office for a number of years.
The doctrine of Cartwright annihilated such pretensions.
But the controversy which it opened upon the proper con-
stitution of the Church, especially upon the questions relat-
ing to episcopacy, was destined to shake the English Church
to its foundations. He found a vigorous opponent in Whit-
gift ; and there were not wanting many other learned and
eager disputants on each side. Before the end of Eliza-
beth's reign a division appeared among the Puritans, /
through the rise of the Independents.^ They took the
ground that national churches have no rightful existence.
They differed from the other Puritans in being Separa-
tists. According to their system, as it is explained latere-''
by John Robinson, their principal leader, the local Church
is independent ; autonomic in its polity ; its members
being bound together by a covenant ; its teachers being
elected, and its discipline managed by popular vote. The
Independents did not recognize the Church of England,
in its national form, as a true Church ; but the separate
parish churches organized under it, might be true churches
of Christ. Their prime fault was the neglect of disci-
pline, in consequence of which some other proof of Chris-
tian character must be required, besides membership in
them. During the reign of Elizabeth, the Independents
had acquired no considerable power, although they were
the victims of cruel persecution.

About the end of the sixteenth century, a new turn
was given to the Puritan controversy by the great work
Df Hooker, the treatise on Ecclesiastical Polity. The

1 Hanbury, Hist. Memorials relative to the Independents (3 vols. London,
1839). Waddington, Congregational Church History from the Reformation to
1662. (London, 1862.)

348 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

elevated tone of this work, combined with its vigorous
reasoning and its eloquence, seemed to take up the con-
troversy into a higher atmosphere.^ Hooker endeavors to
go to the bottom of the subject by investigating the na-
ture of laws and the origin of authority. One of his fun-
damental propositions is that the Church is endued with
a legislative authority by its Founder, mthin the limits
set by Him. It may vary its organization and methods of
worship, and it is shut down to no prescribed system. He
holds that Episcopacy is an apostolical institution, and is
the best form of government ; but he appears to think
that the general Church, " as the highest subject of
power," is not absolutely bound to adhere to this system.
Since the Church is thus an authorized lawgiver, it is
factious to disobey the regulations which the Church es-
tablishes, where they do not contravene the laws of its
Founder. Hooker identifies Church and State, consider-
ing the two as different aspects or functions of one and
the same society. The supremacy of the king over the
Church is the logical corollary. It is remarkable that he
answers the complaint that Christian people are deprived
of a voice in the choice of their officers, by bringing for-
ward the theory of the social compact, the same theory as
that which Locke afterwards presented. In truth, this
theory is one of the cardinal principles of Hooker. It is
a government of laws, and not a despotism, which he ad-
vocates both for the State and for the Church. His con-
ception of a limited monarchy was one not agreeable to
the theory or practice of the Tudors. But he curiously
applies this theory to justify such customs as the control
exercised by patrons in the appointment of the clergy.

As we look back to the beginnings of the Puritan con-
troversy in the reign of Edward and at the accession of

1 The temper of Hooker may be judged from the following noble sentence :
"There will come a time when three words, uttered with charity and meekness,
shall receive a far more blessed reward than three thousand volumes written
with disdainful sharpness of wit." Ecclesiast. Polity : Prefaie.

THE PURITAN CONTROVERSY". 349

Elizabeth, it seems plain that the questions were those
on which good and wise men among the Protestants
might differ. Half of the nation was Catholic. The
clergy were of such a character that out of ten thousand
not more than a few hundred chose to leave their places
rather than conform to the Protestant system of Ed-
ward. A great part of them were extremely ignorant,
and an equal number preferred the Roman Catholic sys-
tem to any other. How can the people ever be won
from popery, the Puritans demanded, if no very percep-
tible change is made in the modes of worship and in the
apparel of the ministry ? If the distinctive emblems and
badges of popery are left, how shall the people be brought
out of that system, and be led to give up the whole theory
of priestly mediation ? But the state of things that moved
one party to adopt this conclusion, had an opposite effect
upon the judgment of their opponents. Protestantism
may fail altogether, they argued, if it breaks too abruptly
with the traditional customs to which a great part of the
nation are attached. Better to retain whatever is any-
wise compatible with the essentials of Protestantism, and
wean the people from their old superstitions by a gentler
process. Hold on to the apparel and the ceremonies, but
carefully instruct the people as to their real significance.
Thus the true doctrine will be saved ; and, moreover, the
religious life of the nation will preserve, in a degree, its
continuity and connection with the past. The tract of
Lord Bacon on the " Pacification of the Church," which
was written in the reign of the successor of Elizabeth, is
a calm and moderate review of the Puritan controversy,
in which both parties come in for about an equal share of
censure.^ He complains of the Puritans, among other
things, for insisting that there is one presci'ibed form of
discipline for all churches and for all time. He asserts
that there are " the general rules of government : but for

1 Bacon's Works (Montagu's ed.), vii. 61 seq.

350 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

rites and ceremonies, and for the particular hierarchies,
policies, and disciplines of churches, they be left at large." ^
He complains of " the partial affectation and imitation,"
by the Puritans, " of the foreign churches." But in re-
spect to many of the evils against which the Puritans pro-
tested, such as non-residence, pluralities, and the igno-
rance of the clergy, he is in sympathy with them. He
thinks that liberty should have been granted in various
things which were allowed by the ruling party to be in-
different. He would give up the required use of the ring
in marriage ; would give liberty in respect to the surplice ;
and he would not exact subscriptions for rites and cere-
monies, as for articles of doctrine. At the time when
Bacon wrote, the opponents of the Puritans were begin-
ning to look with favor on a theory which had not been
held by them before, that the episcopal polity is necessary
to the existence of a church. Thus the Episcopalians, as
well as the Presbyterians, contended alike for the exclu-
sive lawfulness of their respective systems.

The controversy of Churchman and Puritan is not ex-
tinct ; but however opinions may differ in regard to the
English Reformation and the merits of the principal actors
in it, every one at the present day must rejoice that no
tempest of iconoclasm ever swept over England. Who-
ever looks on those

" Swelling hills and spacious plains,

Besprent from shore to shore with steeple-towers,"

can partake of a brilliant French writer's admiration for
" that practical good sense which has effected revolutions
without committing ravages ; which, while reforming in
all directions, has destroyed nothing ; which has preserved
both its trees and its constitution, which has lopped off
the dead branches without leveling the trunk ; which

1 " I, for my part, do confess, that, in revolving the Scriptures, I could never
find any such thing; but that God had left the like liberty to the Church gov-
^mment as he had done to the civil government," etc. — Bacon's Works, vii.68.

CONDITION OF SCOTLAND. , 351

alone, in our days, among all nations, is in the enjoyment
not only of the present but the past." ^

The history of the Scottish Reformation is closely inter-
woven with that of Elizabeth's reign. Her security
depended on the divisions of her enemies, on the mutual
jealousies of the Catholic powers. To prevent them from
making common cause against her, was one of the prin-
cipal elements of her policy. It was, also, essential that
neither of them should acquire such strength and liberty
of action as would endanger her safety. Scotland, the
old enemy of England, and the old ally of France, was
the point from which, as she feared and her enemies
hoped, the most dangerous assault might be made upon
her and upon English Protestantism. The peril was
much augmented by the position of Mary, Queen of
Scots, in relation to the Catholic governments, and by
the schemes and aspirations that grew out of her claims
to the English throne.

/"^In Scotland the spirit of feudalism was not reduced, as
it was in England : the feeling of clanship was strong,
and the nobles felt none of that deference to the sover-
eign which was manifested in the neighbor country and
in France. The Scottish King was without a standing
army or even a body-guard, and must depend for his per-
sonal protection, as well as for his support in war, on the
feudal militia of the country, who took the field under
their own lords. The natural roughness of the aristoc-
racy of Scotland was little softened, except in a few in-
stances, by their intercourse with the polite nobility of
France. On the contrary, " their dress was that of the
camp or stable ; they were dirty in person, and abrupt
and disrespectful in manner, carrying on their disputes,
and even fighting out their fierce quarrels, in the presence
of royalty, which had by no means accomplished the

1 Taine, History of English Literature, ii. 517-

352 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

serene, imperial isolation which the sovereigns of France
had achieved since the days of Francis I. With the ex-
ception of one or two castles, which had been built in the
French style, the best families were crowded into narrow
square towers, in which all available means had been ex-
hausted in strength, leaving nothing for comfort or
beauty." ^ The royal residences, with the exception of the
new palace, Holyrood, were little better. The common
people, poor but proud, self-willed and boisterous in their
manners, could not, as in France, be kept at a distance from
royalty. In the reign of James V., and generally during
the regency of his Queen, the clergy and the sovereign
were allied by a common desire to curb the power of the
nobility. The clergy profited by the forfeitures and pen-
alties inflicted on the aristocracy. This was one reason
why the nobles were inclined to favor Protestantism.
The lay gentry had their eyes fixed on the vast estates of
their clerical rivals.^ The Protestant tendency, however,
was opposed by the fixed, hereditary feeling of hostility
to England and to the predominance of English influence.
Perhaps there was no country where the Church stood
in greater need of reformation, than Scotland. The clergy
were generally illiterate. In the fifteenth century, three
universities had been founded in Scotland — St. Andrews,
Glasgow, and Aberdeen ; but they appear to have ac-
complished little in elevating the character of the clergy,
although they arose in time to serve effectually the cause
of the Reformation. In Scotland, the Reformation was
not preceded, but followed, by the revival of letters.
Not only was the law of celibacy practically abolished,
but the priestly order was extremely dissolute. Half of
the property of the kingdom was in their hands. The
covetousness of the lay lords and a prevalent just indig-
nation at the profligacy of the clerical body were the
moving forces of the Reformation. It should be men-

1 Burton, History of Scotland, iv. 173. 2 Burton, iv. 25.

THE REGENT MARY. 353

lioned that praiseworthy, but ineffectual, attempts were
made by the old Church to abolish the most crying
abuses.^ After the Protestant spirit began to manifest
itself, when the clergy met the rebukes that were ad-
dressed to them with cruel persecution, the popular indig-
nation acquired a double intensity. We find, throughout
the Scottish Reformation, a tone of unrelenting hostility
to the papal system of religion ; a temper identical with
that of the prophets of the Old Testament in reference
to formalism and idolatry in the Jewish Church.

There were martyrs to the Reformation in the reign of
James V., the most noted of whom was Patrick Hamilton,
who had been a student at Marburg, and whose death
made a profound impression. Under the regency of the
widow of James, after the assassination of Cardinal Bea-
ton, the principal instigator of persecution, there was, for a
long time, a mild policy in the treatment of heresy. The
Earl of Arran, the Lord Protector, at first favored the
Protestant side. During the reign of Mary of England,
the hostility of France to Philip of Spain and to his
English Queen, operated to secure a lenient treatment in
Scotland for Protestant refugees from across the border.
The Conspiracy of Amboise had not then taken place,
and the Guises, the brothers of the Regent, had not fairly
entered on their grand crusade against the Huguenots
and the House of Bourbon. But Mary of England died
in November, 1558, and was succeeded by Elizabeth.
Events were hastening toward a religious war in France :
the Conspiracy of Amboise was formed in 1560. At the
instigation of her brothers, as it is supposed, the Regent
changed her course, and undertook to carry out repressive
measures. It was in 1559 that John Knox returned to
Scotland from the Continent, and the crisis of the Scottish
Reformation soon ensued.

^ Burton, iv. 40. Lee, Lectures on th» IJistory of the Church of Scotland^
i. 72 seq.

23

854 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

Little is known of the parentage of Knox. At the
University of Glasgow, he was a contemporary of the cel-
ebrated scholar and historian, George Buchanan ; and he
had among his teachers John Mair, or Major, who had been
in the University of Paris, and had brought home with
him the Galilean theory of church government, together
with radical opinions upon the right of revolution, and the
derivation of kingly authority from popular consent. Ma-
jor had also imbibed the opinion of the ancients that ty-
rannicide is a virtue. He was not an able man ; yet he
may have contributed somewhat to the development of
kindred opinions in the mind of Knox.^ Knox read dili-
gently Augustine and Jerome, and heartily embraced the
Reformed faith. Beaton was assassinated in 1546 by con-
spirators, some of whom were moved by resentment for
private injuries, and some by a desire to deliver the country
from his cruelties. Knox himself professes to acquiesce
in this event, so far as it was providential, or the act of
God ; though it is evident, likewise, that he has little, if
any, repugnance towards it, considered as the act of
man. The enemies of Beaton took refuge in the Castle
of St. Andrews. Knox joined them, with private pupils,
whom he was then instructing. There he was called to
preach, and reluctantly complied with the imperative
summons of his brethren. But the castle was taken by
the French ; he was carried as a captive to France, and
experienced hard usage there. After his release, he was
actively employed in preaching, principally in the North
of England, and produced a great effect by his honesty,
earnestness, and blunt eloquence. Not fully satisfied with
the ecclesiastical system established by Cranmer, he de-
clined a bishopric in the English Church. During the
reign of Mary, he was for a while at Frankfort, and there
led the party in the Church of the exiles, who were op-

1 McCrie, Life of Knox (6th ed., 1839), p. JO. Mair is ridiculed by Bachanaii
Lee, i 33, 34.

KNOX AND THE LORDS OF THE CONGREGATION 355

posed to the use of the English Prayer-book, without
certain alterations which they demanded. The most of
this period he spent at Geneva, in the society of Calvin
and the other Genevan preachers, and in active labor as
pastor of a church composed of English and Scotch resi-
dents. It was at Geneva that he put forth his unlucky
pubHcation, entitled the " First Blast of the Trumpet
against the Monstrous Regimen of Women;" a work
which was specially aimed, as he afterwards explained to
Mary of Scotland and to Elizabeth, at " the bloody Jeze-
bel " who was then reigning in England, but which denied
the right of women to rule nations, as a general proposition
in ethics. Notwithstanding the inconvenience which this
doctrine occasioned him afterwards, he had the manliness
to refuse to retract it. His clumsy attempts at apology,
for he was even more awkward in framing apologies than
Luther, did not conciliate the good-will of Elizabeth.

During the reign of Mary of England, while there was
war between France and Spain, the Scottish exiles were
able to come back to their country. Knox returned in
1555, and in the following year the Scottish Protestant
lords united in a solemn Covenant to defend their relig-
ion against persecution. The government once more
renewed its repressive measures, and Knox, who had held
his meetings in various places with much effect, was again
forced to leave. The Scottish " Lords of the Congrega-
tion " now resolved at every hazard to put an end to tlie
persecution. The jealous feeling which was awakened
respecting the designs of France upon Scotland, and which
was augmented by the marriage of Mary to the Dauphin,
combined a powerful party against the Regent. The
lords and the Protestant preachers stood in opposition to
the Queen and the Catholic clergy. Knox returned and
thundered in the pulpit against the idolatry of the Romish
worship. In Perth a sermon in denunciation of the wor-
ship of images was followed by a rising of what Knox

356 THE REFORMATIOX IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

calls " the rascal multitude," which demolished them, and
pulled down the monasteries. The same thing was done
elsewhere ; and this iconoclasm is one of the character-
istic features of the Scottish Reform. In the armed con-
test that ensued, the Regent gained such advantages that
Elizabeth was reluctantly obliged to furnish open assist-
ance to the Protestant party, to save Scotland from falling
into the hands of the French. Her position was an em-
barrassing one to herself. She detested Knox and his
principles. She abhorred, especially, the political theory
which the Scottish Protestants avowed and put in prac-
tice, that subjects may take up arms against their sove-
reign. Yet the political situation was such that she was
obliged, as a choice of evils, to render them aid. This
she had done before clandestinely. But now the peril
was so imminent, that she was forced to come out in the
face of day and send her troops to the assistance of the
lords. Even the King of Spain, the champion of Cathol-
icism, was so unwilling to see the French masters of
Scotland, that he rejoiced in the success of Elizabeth's
interference. The Treaty of Edinburgh, by which the
French were to evacuate Leith and leave the country,
limited essentially the prerogatives of the Scottish sove-
reign : war and peace could not be made without the con-
sent of the Estates. The Queen-regent died on the 10th
of June, 1560. The Estates convened in August. The
Calvinistic Confession of Faith was approved, the Roman
Catholic religion was abohshed, and the administering of
the mass, or attendance upon it, was forbidden — the
penalty for the third offense being death. " On the
morning of the 25th of August, 1560, the Romish hier-
archy was supreme ; in the evening of the same day,
Calvinistic Protestantism was established in its stead." ^
But whether the Acts of Parliament would abide and
be effectual or not, " depended on events yet to come."

1 Burton, iv. 89.

ACCESSION OF MARY. 367

Knox and his fellow-ministers found themselves at va-
riance with their lay supporters on the question of the
adoption of the " First Book of Discipline," the restraints
of which were not at all acceptable to the lords and lairds
who had received the Calvinistic doctrines with alacrity.
There was involved in this dispute another question which
came up separately — that of the disposition to be made of
ecclesiastical property. Knox and the preachers were
bent upon devoting it to the new Church, for the sus-
tenance of ministers, schools, and miiversities. To this
measure the lords of the congregation, among whom the
desire for the lands and possessions which they were able
to appropriate at the overthrow of the old religion, was
quite as potent as religious zeal, would not consent. The
new Church was obliged to content itself with a portion
of the property that had belonged to the old. Knox,
who was skillful in penetrating the political schemes of his
adversaries, gave his lay friends credit for more sincerity
and disinterestedness than they really had. It was a
weakness that sprang out of his own simple-hearted hon-
esty and zeal. But in this matter of the " Book of Dis-
cipline " and the Church property, he saw their motives,
and gave free utterance to his wrath.

Francis II., the young husband of Queen Mary, died
on the 5th of December, 1560. By this event, Catha-
rine de Medici, who hated Mary, acquired power, and set
about the work of mediating between the two contending
parties that divided France, that she might control them
both. Scotland was relieved from danger arising out of
the ambitious plans of the Guises. Mary returned to her
native kingdom to assume her crown. We need not give
credence to the extravagant praises of such admirers as
Biantome, who accompanied her on her voyage to Scot-
land ; but that she was beautiful in person, of graceful
and winning manners, quick-witted, accomplished, with
a boundless fund of energy, there is no doubt. She

358 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

had grown up in the atmosj^here of deceit and corruption
which surrounded the French court, in the society, if not
under the influence, of Catharine de Medici. Brantome
himself, the licentious chronicler, and Chatelar, the ill-
starred poet, another of her French attendants, who was
afterwards beheaded for hiding himself under her bed,
suggest in part the character of the associations in
which she had been placed. She came to reign over &
kingdom where the strictest form of Calvinism had been
made the law of the land. No contrast can be more
striking than that presented by this youthful Queen, fresh
from the gayeties of her " dear France " and from the
homage of the courtiers that thronged her steps, and the
homely and austere surroundings of her new abode.
Brantome records that she wept for hours together on the
voyage ; and when she saw the horses that had been sent
to convey her from Leith to Holyrood, she again burst
into tears. The situation was such that any active oppo-
sition to the newly established religion would have been
futile and disastrous to herself. The Guises were ab-
sorbed in the civil contest in France, and could not undo
the work which the Protestants in Scotland had effected.
Whatever hopes Mary had of either succeeding or sup-
planting Elizabeth would have been destroyed by a pre-
mature exhibition of an anti-Protestant policy. Mary
contented herself with celebrating mass in her own
chapel and in other places where she sojourned. The
principal direction of affairs was left in the hands of her
half-brother, the Earl of Murray, the leader of the
Protestant nobles. She even united with Murray in
crushing the Earl of Huntley, the richest and most
powerful of the Catholic lords, who, however, had not
shown himself a steady or disinterested friend of the old
religion. The enthusiastic admirers and apologists of
Mary maintain that she was sincerely in favor of tolera-
tion. They would make her a kind of apostle of religous

POLICY OF MARY, 359

liberty. It is an unreasonable stretcli ol charity, how-
ever, to suppose that she woukl not from the beginning
have rejoiced in the restoration, and, had it been feasible,
the forcible restoration of the old religion. It is one of
her good points that she never forsook her own faith
from motives of self-interest, and never swerved from her
fidelity to it, save in one instance and for a brief interval,
when she was carried away by her passion for Bothwell.
That she should " serve the time and still commode her-
self discreetly and gently with her own subjects," and
" in effect to repose most on them of the reformed relig-
ion," was the policy which had been sketched for her in
France, as we learn from her faithful friend. Sir James
Melville.^ Her letters to Pope Pius IV., and to her
uncle, the Cardinal of Lorraine, in 1563, plainly declare
her inclination to bring back the old religious system to
its former supremacy. She steadfastly withheld her as-
sent from the acts of Parliament which changed the re-
ligion of the country ; and it was an unsettled constitu-
tional question whether acts of this nature were valid
without the sovereign's approval. Murray conducted the
government with a view to keep in check both of the re-
ligious parties, to maintain the Protestant establishment,
but at the same time to protect Mary in the personal en-
joyment of her own worship.

The resolution of the Queen to have mass in her chapel,
and the secret design, which Knox more and more believed
her to cherish, to reestablish popery, found in that reformer
an immovable antagonist. His " History of the Reforma-
tion of Religion in Scotland," that quaint and original
work, in which he describes his o^vn career, narrates the
rise and progress of the great conflict, in which the Queen,
with her rare powers of fascination and influence, stood on
one side, and he on the other. When the preparations for
the first mass were perceived (on the 24th of August,

1 Memoirs, p. 88.

360 THE RKFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

1561), " the hearts of all the godly," he says, " began to
be bolden ; and men began openly to speak, ' shall that
idol be suffered again to take place within this realm ?
It shall not.' " ^ It was proposed that the " idolater priest
should die the death accordino; to God's law." But Mur-
ray guarded the chapel door " that none should have en-
trance to trouble the priest." Murray's excuse was,
however, " that he would stop all Scotsmen to enter the
mass." After a little while, the Protestant lords, out of
respect to the Queen's declaration that her conscience
bound her to adhere to the obnoxious rite, were disposed
to permit her to do so. They were bewitched, as Knox
thought, by the enchantress ; and he inveighed in his
pulpit against idolatry, declaring that one mass was
" more fearful unto him than if ten thousand armed en-
emies were landed in any part of the realm, of purpose
to suppress the holy religion." The Queen resolved to
try the effect of a personal interview, and of her skill in
reasoning, upon this most intractable and powerful of all
the professors of the new faith. None were present,
within hearing, but Murray. It was the first of the
memorable conferences or debates which Knox had with
the Queen. We follow his own narrative. " The Queen,"
he says, " accused him, that he had raised a part of her
subjects against her mother and against herself ; that he
had written a book against her just authority — she
meant the Treatise against the Regimen of Women —
which she had and should cause the most learned in
Europe to write against it ; that he was the cause of great
sedition and great slaughter in England ; and that it was
said to her that all that he did was by necromancy. To
which the said John answered, ' Madam, it may please
your majesty patiently to hear my simple answers. And
first,' said he, ' if to teach the truth of God in sincerity,
if to rebuke idolatry, and to will a people to worship God

1 Knox, History, etc. (Glasgow, 1832), p. 247.

KNOX AND QUEEN MARY. 361

according to His Word, be to raise subjects against their
princes, then cannot I be excused ; for it has pleased God
of His mercy to make me one, among many, to disclose
unto this realm the vanity of the papistical religion, and
the deceit, pride, and tyranny of that Roman Antichrist.'"
He began with this perspicuous statement of his position.
He went on to say that the true knowledge of God pro-
motes obedience to rulers, and that Mary had received as
unfeigned obedience from " such as profess Christ Jesus, "
as ever her ancestors had received from their bishops. As
to his book, he was ready to retract if he could be con-
futed, but he felt able to sustain its doctrines against
any ten who might attempt to impugn them. Knox had
an unbounded confidence in his cause, and no distrust of
his own prowess in the defense of it. " You think," said
Mary, " that I have no just authority ? " To this direct
inquiry, he replied by referring to Plato's " Republic," in
which the philosopher " damned many things that then
were maintained in the world ; " yet this did not prevent
him from living quietly under the systems of government
which he found existing. " I have communicated,'' he
added, " my judgment to the world ; if the realm finds
no inconveniency in the regimen of a vvoman, that which
they approve I shall not further disallow, than within
my own heart, but shall be as well content to live under
your grace, as Paul was to live under Nero. And my
hope is that as long as that ye defile not your hands with
the blood of the saints of God, that neither I nor that
book shall either hurt you or your authority ; for, in very
deed, madam, that book was written most especially
against that wicked Jezebel of England." " But," said
the Queen, " ye speak of women in general." To this
Knox responded that he could be charged with mak-
ing no disturbance, but that his preaching in England and
elsewhere had promoted quietness. As to the charge of
necromancy, he could endure that, seeing that his Master

362 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

was accused of being " possessed with Beelzebub." Leav-
ing Knox's offensive book, Mary reminded him that God
commands subjects to obey their princes, and asked him
how he reconciled his conduct in persuading the people
" to receive another religion than their princes can allow,"
with that precept. Knox replied that subjects are not
" bound to frame their religion according to the appetite
of their princes," and appealed to the example of the
Israelites in Egypt, and to the example of Daniel, on
which he dilated at some length. " Yea," said she ;
" none of them raised the sword against their princes."
Knox answered that still they denied obedience to their
mandates. Mary was not to be driven from her point,
and replied : " But yet they resisted not by the sword."
" God," said he, " Madam, had not given them the power
and the means." " Think ye," said she, " that subjects
having power may resist their princes ? " "If their princes
exceed their bounds," said he, " Madam, and do against
that wherefore they should be obeyed, it is no doubt but
they may be resisted, even by power ; " and he compared
this resistance to the restraint imposed by children upon a
frenzied father. " At these words, the Queen stood, as it
were, amazed, more than a quarter of an hour ; her coun-
tenance altered, so that Lord James began to entreat her,
and to demand, ' What has offended you, Madam ? ' At
length she said, ' Well, then, I perceive that my subjects
shall obey you, and not me ; and shall do what they list,
and not what I command : and so must I be subject to
them, and not they to me.' " Knox demurred to this
conclusion. " My travail is that both princes and sub-
jects obey God." Kings and queens were to be foster-
fathers and nurses to the Kirk. Excited by the debate,
Mary went, perhaps, further than she had designed.
" But ye are not the Kirk that I will nurse. I will defend
the Kirk of Rome, for it is, I think, the true Kirk of
God." " Your will," said he, " Madam, is no reason ,

KNOX AND QUEEN MARY. 363

neither doth your thought make that Roman harlot to be
the true and immaculate spouse of Jesus Christ. And
wonder not, Madam, that I call Rome a harlot ; for that
Kirk is altogether polluted with all kind of spiritual for-
nication, as well in doctrine as in manners." He offered
to prove that the " Kirk of the Jews," when it crucified
Jesus, was not so far removed from true religion " as that
Kirk of Rome is declined." " My conscience," said
Mary, " is not so." Conscience, he answered, requires
knowledge ; and he proceeded to say that she had en-
joyed no true teaching. Descending to particulars, he
pronounced the mass " the invention of man," and there-
fore " an abomination before God." To his harangue,
Mary said : "If they were here whom I have heard, they
would answer you." Knox expressed the wish that the
" most learned Papist in Europe " were present, that she
might learn " the vanity of the papistical rehgion," and
how little ground it had in the Word of God. Knox de-
parted, wishing that she might be as great a blessing to
Scotland " as ever Deborah was in the commonwealth of
Israel." He remarks that she " continued in her massing ;
and despised and quietly mocked all exhortation." Being
asked by his friends at the time what he thought of her,
he said : " If there be not in her a proud mind, a crafty
wit, and an indurate heart against God and his truth, my
judgment faileth me." In Knox, as he appears in these
interviews, one may behold the incarnation of the demo-
cratic spirit of Calvinism.

On another occasion he was summoned to the presence
of the Queen, m consequence of his preaching about the
dancing at Holyrood. Knox said that in the presence of
her Council she was grave, but " how soon soever the
French fiUocks, fiddlers, and others of that band gat into
the house alone, then might be seen skipping not very
comely for honest women," It must be remarked that
the dances in vogue then would not now be deemed verj

364 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

comely, even by liberal critics.^ " He was called and
accused, as one that had irreverently spoken of the Queen,
and that travailed to bring her into hatred and contempt
of the people." " The Queen," he says, " made a long
harangue," to which he replied by repeating exactly what
he had said in the pulpit. In the course of the conver-
salion he freely expressed his opinion of her uncles,
whom he styled " enemies to God and unto his Son Jesus
Christ," and declined her request that he would come and
make what criticisms he had to make upon her conduct,
to her personally. He could not wait upon individuals,
but it was his function " to rebuke the sins and vices of
all " in his sermons, which he invited her to come and
hear. He was too shrewd to consent to be silent in public
for the sake of the privilege of conversing with her in
private. She showed her displeasure. But " the said
John departed with a reasonable merry countenance ;
whereat some Papists, offended, said, ' He is not afraid ; '
which heard of him, he answered, ' Why should the
pleasing face of a gentlewoman fear me ? I have looked
in the faces of many angry men, and yet have not been
afraid above measure.' "

The mass and auricular confession were not wholly
given up, especially in the western districts south of the
Clyde. " The brethren," says Knox, " determined to
put to their own hands," and no longer wait for King or
Council, but " execute the punishment that God had ap-
pointed to idolaters in his law, by such means as they
might, wherever they should be apprehended." The
brethren had begun this work of executing the law for
themselves, when the Queen, who was at Lochleven, sent
for Knox. He defended the proceeding. Where kings
neglect their duty of executing the laws, the people may
do it for them, and even restrain kings, he added, in case
they spare the wicked and oppress the innocent. " Thf

1 Burton, iv. 209.

KNOX AND QUEEN MARY. 365

examples," he said, " are evident, for Samuel feared not
to slay Agag, the fat and delicate King of Amalek, whom
King Saul had saved : neither spared Elias Jezebel's false
prophets and Baal's priests, albeit that King Ahab was
present. Phineas was no magistrate, and yet feared he
not to strike Cozbi and Zimri " — and he specified in the
plainest words the sin of which they were guilty. He
informed Mary that she must fulfill her part of " the
mutual contract," if she expected to get obedience from
her subjects. 1 " The said John left her," but, much to
his surprise, early the next morning, she sent for him
again. He met her " at the hawking, by West Kincross.
Whether it was the night's sleep, or deep dissimulation,
that made her to forget her former anger, wise men may
doubt." She conversed with him in a familiar and confi-
dential style, asking his good offices to restore peace be-
tween the Earl of Argyle and his wife ; and wound up
the conference by alluding to the interview of the pre-
vious night, and by promising " to minister justice " as
he had required. Many arrests were actually made, ap-
parently in pursuance of her promise. But from about
this time (1563), symptoms of a Romish reaction were
manifest. The Queen's influence began to have its effect.
Knox was not ignorant of her communications with
France, Spain, and the Papal Court ; for he had his own
correspondence on the continent.^ From this time Knox
and the Queen were really engaged in a contest, each for
the extermination of the other.^ When it was known
that she was considering the question of a marriage with
the Archduke of Austria, or with Don Carlos, the son of
Philip II., and when Knox found the Protestant nobles
lukewarm or indifferent on the subject, he did not hesi-
tate to thunder in the pulpit against the scheme, and to
predict direful consequences, should the nobles allow it to
be carried out. Exasperated at this new interference,

1 History, p. 285. 2 Burton, iv. 219. 3 ibid.

366 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

the Queen summoned him to her presence, and with pa8-
sionate outbursts of weeping, denounced his impertinent
meddling with affairs that did not belong to him. Knox
maintained his imperturbable coolness, although he de-
clared that he had no pleasure in seeing her weep, since
that he could not, without pain, see the tears of his own
boys when he chastised them. Dismissed from the
Queen's presence, he was detained for a while in the adja-
cent room, where he " merrily " uttered a quaint homily
to the ladies of the court on their " gay gear " and on the
havoc that death would make with their flesh and all
their finery ; a ' speech in a tone that has been aptly
likened to that of the soliloquy of the grave-digger in
Hamlet.

In the summer of 1563, during the absence of the
Queen from Edinburgh, her followers who were left be-
hind, attempted to hold mass in the chapel at Holyrood.
An unusual number from the town joined them. " Divers
of the brethren, being sore offended, consulted how to re-
dress that enormity." They resorted to the spot in order
to note down the names of such as might come to partici-
pate in the unlawful rite. It appears that the chapel door
was burst open, " whereat, the priest and the French
dames, being affrayed, made the shout to be sent to the
town." Two of the party were indicted " for carrying
pistols within the burgh, convention of lieges at the
palace, and invasion of the Queen's servants." Knox,
who had been clothed with authority to summon the
faithful together in any grave emergency, issued a circular
calling upon them to be in Edinburgh on the day which
had been designated for the trial. The Queen imagined
that she had now caught him in a plain violation of the
law. He was required to appear before her and the
Privy Council, to which were joined a considerable num-
ber of government officers and nobles. He gives a
graphic description of the scene and of the colloquies

KNOX AND QUEEN MARY. 367

that took place. He states also that " the bruit rismg in
the town that John Knox was sent for by the Queen, the
brethren of the Kirk followed in such number that the
inner close was full, and all the stairs, even to the cham-
ber door where the Queen and Council sat." This gather-
ing of his supporters would, of itself, disincline the Coun-
cil to molest him ; but, independently of the immediate
danger attending such a step, the Protestant lords, the
subtle and unprincipled Lethington, for example, however
they might charge him with fanaticism, were not at all
disposed to assume a position of hostility towards him.
He had leave to depart, but did not go until he had
turned to the Queen and prayed that " God would purge
her heart from Popery and preserve her from the counsel
of flatterers." It is a mark of the steadfast honesty of
Knox that he broke off intercourse, for a long time, with
Murray, whom he honored and loved, but whom he
blamed, in conjunction with the other lords, for neglect-
ing, in the Parliament of 1563, the first Parliament after
the Queen's arrival, to ratify the treaty of peace made in
1560, and the establishment of the Protestant religion.^
The principal business done at that session was to give
a legal security to the appropriations that had been made
of the church lands, by which the nobles had so much
profited. It was a short time after this meeting of Par-
liament that Knox preached the famous sermon to which
we have referred, on the Queen's marriage.

The gloomy prospects of the cause of reform led Knox
to adopt a form of public prayer for the Queen, in which
the Almighty was besought to " deliver her from the
bondage and thraldom of Satan," and thus save the realm
" from that plague and vengeance that inevitably follows
idolatry," as well as her own soul from " that eternal
damnatic>n which abides all obstinate and impenitent unto
the end." At an assembly of the Kirk in the summer of

1 McCrie, p. 255.

368 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

1564, the propriety of this prayer came up for discussion.
At this meeting the lay lords, Murray, Hamilton, Argyle,
Morton, Lethington, and others, entered into debate with
the clerical leaders on this question and on the proper
treatment of the Queen. But Knox and his associates
asserted that the mass is idolatry, and, by Old Testa-
ment law and precedents, must be punished with death.
No vote was taken ; but it was soon evident to the lay
leaders that there was no room for a middle party,
and no hope that the Queen would abandon her " idol-
atry.''

It is obvious that Knox and his followers were no dis-
ciples of the doctrine of toleration. Two things, how-
ever, deserve to be noticed. First, there was no kingdom
where Roman Catholics having the relative strength of
the Calvinists of Scotland would have endured for a
moment a Protestant sovereign. The story of Henry
IV. of France shows what the Catholic party demanded,
even when there was a powerful minority opposed to
them. Secondly, Knox and his associates were well con-
vinced that the Queen, notwithstanding her fair profes-
sions, only waited for a favorable opportunity to extirpate
them and to bring back the papal system, the abolition
of which she did not concede to be legal. But, apart
from these considerations, the Roman Catholic rites, in
the eyes of Knox, were idolatry which must be capitally
punished and utterly suppressed ; otherwise the judgmentn
of heaven would fall on the land. He attributed the
partial failure of the crops to the wrath of God at the
Queen's mass.

The Protestants had a feeling of insecurity, a feeling
that their cause was being cautiously undermined. They
watched with eager attention the various negotiations
having respect to the Queen's marriage. Had they been
fully aware of the efforts that were made to effect a mar-
riage between Mary and Don Carlos of Spain, which

THE QUEEN S MARRIAGE WITH DARNLEY. 369

were defeated by the macliinations of Catharine de
Medici, through her jealousy of the house of Guise, they
would have been filled with alarm and indignation. The
propositions of Elizabeth, including that of a marriage
of Mary to Leicester, fell to the ground. How far the
English Queen was sincere in them it is impossible to
say, since even her most sagacious advisers could not
fathom her duplicity. One obstacle in the way of Eliza-
beth's matrimonial schemes for Mary was the steady re-
fusal of the former definitely to guarantee the succession
to her sister of Scotland. She meant to retain this safe-
guard for her life in her own hands. All plans of this sort
were cut off by Mary's marriage with Darnley. It was a
case of mutual love at first sight. Darnley was Mary's
cousin, and the grandson of Margaret, the sister of Henry
Vni., and of the Earl of Angus, whom she married after
the death of her first husband, James IV. Mary was
charmed with his personal appearance — his tall form,
the breadth of his shoulders, and his smooth, handsome
face. Darnley was a Cathohc. Murray and the Prot-
estants opposed the marriage as a decisive step towards
the restoration of the old religion. They complained that
the laws against idolatry were not enforced. Mary had
taken a husband without consulting her Parliament, which
if not illegal, was indecorous ; and she had proclaimed
him as King of Scots, which was considered an unconsti-
tutional act.i The Queen had married against the remon-
strance of Elizabeth and had incurred her displeasure.
The hopes of Mary centered in the King of Spain and her
other friends on the continent. The discontented barons,
with Murray at their head, took up arms, but not receiv-
ing the promised aid from England, their forces were dis-
persed, and the leaders were compelled to fly across the
border. Just at this juncture, it was apprehended that
France and Spain would join hands in a common attack

1 Burton, iv. 279.
24

370 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

upon Protestantism.' It was supposed, though errone-
ously, that Catharine de Medici and her son had signed a
league at Bayonne, at the instigation of Alva, for this
end. It was believed, also, that Mary had formally at-
tached her signature to the same bond. The political sit-
uation was so perilous for England and English Protes-
tantism that Elizabeth was led falsely to disavow all con-
nection with Murray and his enterprise. Had Darnley
been an able man, and had his Queen been possessed of a
wisdom and self-control equal to her acuteness and vivac-
ity, the subsequent history of Scotland, and of England
too, would have been essentially altered. But it took but
a short time for the incompatibility between Mary and
Darnley to manifest itself. Elated by his elevation, he of-
fended the nobles by his insolence and airs of superiority.
His drunkenness and other low vices soon disgusted, and at
length completely ahenated his wife. Mary was impru-
dent enough to bestow so many marks of favor on Rizzio,
an Italian whom she had made her Secretary, that he be-
came an object of bitter hatred to the nobility. They de-
spised him as an upstart and an adventurer who had
usurped that place in the counsels and good graces of the
Queen which belonged to themselves. Rizzio had pro-
moted the marriage with Darnley. He was considered
one of the props of the Roman Catholic faction. Parlia-
ment was about to assemble, " the spiritual estate," to
quote from a letter of Mary herself, " being placed there
in the ancient manner, tending to have done some good
anent restoring the auld religion, and to have proceeded
against our rebels according to their demerits." ^ The
estates of Murray and his confederates were to be for-
feited. On the 9th of March, 1566, Rizzio was mur-
dered as the result of a plot of which Darnley on the one

1 Mary had applied to the King of Spain for help against her subjects. Hos-
ack, Mary and htr Accusers, i. 114.

2 Letter of Mary to her Councillor, the Bishop of Ross, in Labanoff, i. 342
See Burton, iv. 304.

THE MURDER OF RIZZIO. 371

part, who was moved by jealousy of Rizzio, and Ruthven
and other Protestant lords on the other, who were enraged
at the influence acquired by Rizzio, were the authors and
executors. Darnley was angry that the crown matri-
monial was withheld from him. It was stipulated in a
secret agreement of Darnley with the lords that the ban-
ished nobles should be restored and the Protestant religion
maintained. Rizzio was dragged out of the apartment
in which the Queen was supping, and slain in the adja-
cent room. It was only three months before the birth
of the Queen's son, afterwards James VI., whose life, as
well as the life of his mother, were exposed to immi-
nent peril by this scene of brutal violence. The Queen's
power of dissembling now served her well. She won the
feeble Darnley to a cooperation with her scheme, and es-
caping on Monday, at midnight, from Holyrood — the
murder of Rizzio was on Saturday evening — she rode for
five hours on horseback, and reached the strong fortress
of Dunbar at daylight. The banished lords had appeared
in Edinburgh on Sunday, the day after the murder. The
new turn that was given to affairs by the Queen's bold
and succcesful movement obliged Morton, and the other
lords who had been directly participant in the destruction
of Rizzio, to take refuge for a while in England. The
others, including Murray, were received into favor. From
this time, as we follow this tragic history, we tread at
almost every step upon disputed ground. Around these
transactions there have gathered the conflicting sympa-
thies of religious parties, not to speak of the personal feel-
ings which cluster about events of pathetic interest, events
which have been selected by great poets as an appropriate
theme for the drama. But there are some leading facts
that are fully ascertained, and whether they are in every
ease admitted or not, they cannot plausibly be disputed.
One of these facts is the complete estrangement of the
Queen from Darnley. He had been mean and treacher

872 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

ous enough to appear before the council and solemnly to
affirm, what everybody knew to be false, that he had had
no concern in the slaying of Rizzio. He incurred the
vindictive hatred of all who had been his confederates in
the commission of that act. But Mary took no pains to
conceal, she rather took pains to manifest publicly, her
thorough dislike and contempt for him. He was despised
and shunned by all. The birth of his son, afterwards
James VI. of Scotland and James I. of England, which
took place in Edinburgh Castle, on the 19th of June,
1566, did not affect the relations of his parents to one
another. The repugnance with which Mary regarded
Darnley was known to everybody, and was reported to
foreign courts. Another fact is her growing fondness for
Both well, which was, also, a matter of common observa-
tion, and was manifested by unmistakable signs. Both-
well was a brave, adventurous, resolute man, with some
exterior polish acquired at the court of France, but un-
scrupulous and unprincipled. Though connected with
the Protestant side, he had stood faithfully by the Queen
Regent, Mary's mother, and by Mary herself. He had
taken no part in the murder of Rizzio, but on that occa-
sion had himself escaped from Holyrood, and had lent
her timely and effective assistance. Although the fact
is still questioned by Mary's enthusiastic defenders, it is
nevertheless established that her attachment to him grew
into an overpowering passion.^ Bothwell had a wife to
whom he had not long been married ; Mary had a hus-
band. Such were the hindrances in the way of their
anion. It was affirmed subsequently by Argyle and
Huntley that they, together with Bothwell, Murray, and
Lethington, used the disaffection of the Queen towards her
husband as a means of obtaining her consent to the par-
don and return of Morton and others, who were in banish-
ment on account of their agency in the death of Rizzir.

1 Burton, iv. 324 seq.

THE MURDER OF DARNLEY. 373

They began by proposing to her a divorce, but " the one
thing clear is that a promise was made to rid the Queen of
her unendurable husband, and that without a divorce." ^
Morton was allowed to return, but refused to take an active
part in the plot, unless he were furnished with a written
authorization from Mary, which could not be procured .^
Murray claimed with truth that he never entered into an
engagement for the murder of Darnley ; but Lethington,
according to the statement of Argyle and Huntley, had
said that Murray would " look through his fingers " —
that is, stand off and not interfere. Whether Murray was
aware of the plot, and was willing to have it succeed by
other hands than his own, is a question which cannot be
determined. The Queen, just before, gave a striking
proof of her affection for Bothwell by paying him a visit
when he was ill, at the peril of her own life. Darnley
had been taken ill and went to Glasgow, where he was
cared for under the direction of his father, the old Earl of
Lennox. The Queen amiovmced her purpose to visit
him. She made the visit, and after they met, a conver-
sation occurred between Darnley and Crawford, a gentle-
man in the service of Lennox, whom the latter had in-
structed to observe and report whatever he saw and heard.
The Queen had arranged with Darnley that he should
be taken to Craigmillar Castle and there receive medical
treatment. Both Crawford and Darnley expressed to
one another their dislike of this arrangement, in such
terms as imply a suspicion that evil, even murder, might
possibly be intended. Darnley expressed to Mary his
penitence, and his ardent desire for the restoration of the
old relations between them. She met his advances ap-
parently in a friendly spirit, and gave him fair promises.
A few days later he was removed to Edinburgh, but in-

1 See Burton, iv. 332 seq.

2 Morton, in the confession that he made before his execution, owned that he
was urged by Bothwell to join in the plot, and said, as a reason for not reveal-
ing it to the Queen: " She was the doer thereof."

374 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

stead of being taken to Craigmillar, or to Holyrood, he
was conveyed to a place close to the city wall, called the
Kirk-of-field, to an uninhabited house that belonged to
Robert Balfour, a dependant of Bothwell, several rooms
of which had been fitted up for the King's reception. The
Queen slept several nights in the room under Darnley's
apartment ; but on Sunday evening, the 9th of February,
1567, she left his bedside to attend the festivities con-
nected mth the wedding of one of her servants at Holy-
rood. That night the house was blown up with gunpowder,
which Bothwell and his followers had placed in the
Queen's bedroom, under Darnley. His body was found
at some distance from the house. Whether he was stran-
gled, or otherwise killed, before the explosion or not, is
still a controverted point. The conspirators had provided
themselves with false keys and had deliberately perfected
all their arrangements. Whether or not the Queen was
privy to the murder, her conduct afterwards was suffi-
ciently imprudent to confirm the worst suspicions. Both-
well, who was known to be the principal criminal, was
shielded by a trial so conducted as to be nothing short of
a mockery of justice.^ Instead of experiencing her dis-
pleasure, he rose still higher in her favor, and was honored
with an accumulation of offices which rendered him the
most powerful man in the kingdom. The next great
event is the abduction of the Queen by Bothwell, who,
at the head of a body of retainers, stopj)ed her on her
way, and without any resistance on her part, conducted
her to Stirling Castle. Previousl}^ at a supper which he
gave in Edinburgh, possibly through the fear that he in-
spired, he had prevailed on most of the first men of Scot-
land to sign a paper recommending the Queen to marry
him. In Mary's own account of her capture and of the
occurrences at Stirling, she represents that force was

1 Melville says that everybody suspected Bothwell of the murder. Memoirs,
p. 78.

MARY A PRISONER. 375

used, but merely to such a degree, and accompanied with
such protestations of love — which had the more effect
from her sense of the great services he had rendered her
— that she could only forgive her suitor for this excess
and impatience of affection. Sir James Melville, her
faithful friend, who had warned her, at the risk of his
life, against marrying Bothwell, was with her when she
was stopped by him ; and he dryly remarks that Cap-
tain Blackader, who captured him, told him " that it was
with the Queen's own consent." ^ Spottiswoode, who wrote
his history at the request of James I., her son, says that
" No men doubted but this was done by her own liking
and consent." ^ Bothwell was divorced from his wife,
and the public wedding that united him to the Queen
followed. He now governed with a high hand. Mary
herself, to her own cost, soon became more fully ac-
quainted Avith his coarse and despotic nature, and was
an unhappy wife. Meantime the principal barons were
combining and preparing to crush Bothwell, and they
entered into communication with Elizabeth, from whom
they sought assistance. At Carberry Hill the forces of
Bothwell and the army collected by the lords were ar-
rayed against each other. But a battle was avoided by
the surrender of Mary, after a long parley and in pursu-
ance of an arrangement which permitted the escape of
Bothwell. She was led to Edinburgh, and treated with
great personal indignity, especially by the people, who
generally believed in her criminality. From there she
was taken as a prisoner to Lochleven. The lords had in-
tercepted a letter, as they asserted, from Mary to Both-
well, which showed that her passion for him had not
abated. Sir James Melville, speaking of a letter to the
Queen from the Laird of Grange, written at this time,
says : " It contained many other loving and humble ad-

1 Memoirs, p. 158.

2 History of the Church of Scotland (Edinb. ed., 1851), ii. 51.

376 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

monitions, which made her bitterly to weep, for she could
not do that so hastily which process of time might have
accomplished^'''' that is, '■'■ put him [Both well] clean out of
mind.^^ ^ This is one among the abundant proofs that
whatever constraint had been put upon her movements
by Bothwell, the chain that bound her to him was the
infatuation of her own heart.

The statements in the foregoing sketch rest upon evi-
dence which is independent of the famous " casket let-
ters " — the letters and love-sonnets addressed by Mary
to Bothwell, together with contracts of marriage between
them, which, it was alleged, were found in a silver casket,
that Bothwell, after his flight, vainly endeavored to pro-
cure from the Castle of Edinburgh. If the casket letters
are genuine, they prove incontestably that in the murder
of Darnley, Mary was an accomplice before the act.
The genuineness of them has been more or less elab-
orately discussed, and has been maintained by the most
eminent historians, as Hume, Robertson, Laing, Burton,
Mackintosh, Mignet, Ranke. Their genuineness has been
defended lately by Mr. Froude, in his " History of
England." The most acute of the writers on the
other side is Mr. Hosack, the author of a recent work
upon Mary and her accusers.^ No candid critic can deny,
whatever may be his final verdict, that the letters contain
many internal marks of genuineness which it would be
exceedingly difficult for a counterfeiter to invent, and that
the scrutiny to which they were subjected in the Scottish
Privy Council, the Scottish Parliament, and the English
Privy Council was such that, if they were forged, it is
hard to account for the failure to detect the imposture.
Moreover, the character of Murray, although it may be
admitted that he was not the immaculate person that he is
sometimes considered to have been, must have been black

1 Memoirs, p. 1G8.

2 Mary Queen of Scots and her Accusers. By John Hosack, Barrister at Lavr
3d edition. 2 vols. London, 1870.

THE CASKET LETTERS. 377

indeed if these documents, which he brought forward to
prove the guilt of his sister, were forged. But Murray is
praised not only by his personal adherents and by his party,
but by men like Spottiswoode and Melville.^ Ranke, who
considers the letters to be genuine, though somewhat al-
tered in passing through the various translations, still
hesitates to pronounce a decision in regard to the Queen's
foreknowledge of the murder. Another interpretation of
the matter was broached — that Mary was actually be-
coming drawn to her penitent husband, that their recon-
ciliation was sincere ; and that Both well, seeing the danger
that his prize would slip from his grasp, hastened the
consummation of his plot. Ranke observes that the so-
lution of the problem belongs to the poet who can open
up the depths of the heart, those abysses in which the
storms of passion rage, and actions are born which
bid defiance to law and to morality, and yet have
deep roots in the human soul.^ It does not appear,
however, in what way it is possible to reconcile the
genuineness of the casket letters, as Ranke affirms it,
with any other supposition than Mary's complicity in
the plot in which Both well was the chief actor. There
is decisive proof that they have not been materially in-
terpolated.^

1 " A man truly good, and worthy to be ranked amongst the best governors
that this kingdom hath enjoyed, and, therefore, to this day honored with the
title of 'the good Regent.' " — Spottiswoode, History of the Church of Scotland,
ii. 121.

2 Englische Gsch., i. 267. Of the abduction of Mary, Eanke says: "Halb
freiwillig, halb gezwungen, gerieth sie in seine Gewalt, und dadurch in dit
Nothwendigkeit, ihm ihre Hand zu geben " (p. 269).

3 Burton, v. 181. As to the vexed questions of the guilt or innocence of Mary,
and of the genuineness of the casket documents, questions that still interest
the minds of men, notwithstanding Mr. Herbert Spencer's judgment upon
the frivolity of the whole inquiry, the recent works of Burton on the one side,
and of Hosack on the other, fortunately present the case so adequately that
every reader can form a conclusion for himself. Lawson's edition of Bishop
Keith's History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scothiiul (printed for the
Spottiswoode Soc, 1845), a work favorable to Mary, presents in the editor's
'iopious notes a large amount of valuable material. Buchanan, in his History

378 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

At Lochleven, Mary signed two documents, the one
abdicating the throne, the other appointing Murray Re-
gent during the minority of her child. From this date,
in public records, the reign of James VI. commences.
The infant King was crowned at Stirling, on the 29th of
July, 1567.

In December, a Parliament assembled, which confirmed
the Acts of 1560 for the establishment of Protestantism.
From this time the new Kirk was able to set on foot a
more efficient discipline than had been possible before.
One sign of the change was the ecclesiastical censure to
which all publications were subjected. In the constitu-
tion and government of the Scottish Church, the lay
eldership has a prominent place. In 1578, the " Second
Book of Discipline " embodied the complete Presbyterian
hierarchy, ascending from the parish sessions through the
presbyteries and provincial synods up to the General As-
sembly, which was supreme. Superintendents were re-
tained, whose function it was to carry out the measures
of the Assembly. At Frankfort, Knox had composed a

but especially in his Detection of the Actions of Mary Queen of Scots, which
was written under the auspices of Murray, made a rhetorical, yet powerful and
effective attack, which reflects the popular feeling, adverse to Mary, that ex-
isted at the time in Scotland. Lesly's Defence of the Honor of Mary, by one
of her zealous adherents, was a plea on the other side. He was followed by
other advocates of Mary on the continent De Thou, the great French historian,
believed with Buchanan, and could not be induced by James I. to retract his
verdict against the King's mother. Camden, the English historian of the
seventeenth century, maintained her innocence. Anderson and others pub-
lished the documents. Keith and Goodall wrote in favor of IMary. Tytler,
Whitaker, and Chalmers, argued on the same side. Robertson appended to the
third volume of his Hhto-ry of Scotland a carefully studied Dissertation on
King JJenry's Murder, to which he considers that Mary was privy ; and Hume
maintained the same view in his fourth volume, in the text and in an elaborate
note. Both contend for the genuineness of the casket documents. Gilbert
Stuart replied to Robertson. An extensive discussion, in agreement with the
views of Hume and Robertson, fills two volumes of Malcolm Laing's His-
tory of Scotland. Prince Alexander Labanoff published, in 1844, a collection,
in seven volumes, of Queen Mary's Letters. Mr. Froude's condemnation of
Mary has lately revived the controversy. Mary Queen of Scots and her latest
English Historian, by James F. Meline (New York, 1872), is a polemical work
against Froude.

POLITY AND WORSHIP OF THE SCOTTISH KIRK. 379

book of devotion for public worship, which he used in his
church at Geneva : " The Forme of Prayers and Minis-
tration of the Sacraments, &c., used in the Englisli Con-
gregation at Geneva, and approved by the famous and
godly learned man, John Calvin." This, with a few
changes, became the " Book of Common Order " for the
Scottish Church. It contains no form of absolution. It
includes a Confession of Faith, which differs from that
which Parliament and the General Assembly adopted.
This new Confession is derived from Calvin's Catechism,
relating to the Apostle's Creed. The doctrine of the
Sacrament is identical with that of Calvin, as distin-
guished from the Lutheran and the earher Zwinglian
theory. There was a general form of expulsion of un-
worthy persons from the Lord's table, in connection with
the ministration of the Sacrament. This was called
excommunication or " fencing; of the tables." Marriages,
as well as baptisms, were celebrated in church and on
Sundays. This " Book of Common Order " continued in
use for about a hundred years, when it was dropped, in
connection with the contest against the English Prayer
Book. After the Presbyterian system had been estab-
lished by the Assembly, the old polity of the Church re-
mained as a matter of law. There were bishops, and also
abbots and priors ; these places being filled, after 1560,
by Protestants, and sometimes by laymen. In 1572, it
was agreed between the ecclesiastical and civil authorities
that the old names and titles of archbishops and bishops
should continue, although the incumbents were to have
no power greater than that of superintendents, and were
to be subject to the Kirk and General Assembly in spirit-
ual things as they were to the King in things temporal.
The temporalities of the sees had mostly flowed into the
hands of laymen. This was what Knox condemned ; the
revival of episcopacy, in the shadowy form just described,
appears to have excited in him little or no opposition.^

1 Compare McCrie, p. 326 seq., with Burton, v. 318. Th* documents may

380 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

After about twenty years, the Presbyterian system, pure
and simple, was established, under the auspices of Andrew
Melville. Subsequently, the attempts of James VI. to
establish the royal supremacy, and to introduce not only
the Anglican poHty, but the Anglican ritual, also, began
that contest between the Throne and the Ivirk, which sig-
nahzed the next reign, and brought Charles I. to the
scaffold.^

The Queen of England professed, and probably with
sincerity, her high indignation at the treatment of Mary
by her subjects. It was a flagrant disregard of Eliza-
beth's great political maxim " that the head should not
be subject to the foot." But in Murray she had a per-
spicacious and firm man to deal with. It was evident to
the coimsellors of Ehzabeth and to Elizabeth herseK, that
if she interposed to put down the Protestant lords, who
had imprisoned Mary and compelled her abdication, they
would make common cause with France, and her o^vn
throne would be shaken. This conclusion, however, was
not reached at once. Mary escaped from Lochleven on
the 2d of May, 1568, and an army quickly ralhed to her
standard. It was then the wish of Elizabeth and her
Cabinet to restore her to her throne, without any inter-
vention of the French, and under such circumstances as
would effectually secure the safety of England and the

be found in Calderwood, Histwy of the Kirk of Scotland (Wodrow Society), iii.
170 seq. See also Principal Lee, History of the Church of Scotland, i. 306, ii.
1 seq.

1 The last days of Knox were not free from peril and conflict. When the
Queen's party obtained the ascendency (in 1571) in Edinburgh, he retired to St.
Andrews. James Melville, afterwards a minister, tlien a student in the college,
has left a very interesting description of him, a decrepit old man, with marten
fur about his neck, with a staff in hand, and helped along the street by his
faithful servant, Richard Bannatyne, " and by the said Richard and another
servant lifted up to the pulpit, where he behovit to lean at his first entry, but
ere he had done with his sermon, he was so active and vigorous, that he was
likely to ding the pulpit in blads and fly out of it." (McCrie, p. 330.) Ban-
natyne wrote interesting Memonals of Knox. Knox died on the 24tli of Nj-
vember, 1572. Morton said, over his grave, "that he neither feared nor flat-
tered any flesh." (Burton, v. 327.)

CONFLICT OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. 381

ascendency of Elizabeth in her counsels. But Mary's
army was defeated at Langside, when she was attempt-
ing to march to Dumbarton Castle, and she escaped by a
precipitate flight into England, where she threw herself
on the protection of Elizabeth. The ardent and perse-
vering solicitations of Mary for an interview with the
English Queen were put off until she should be cleared
of the crime that was imputed to her. Murray and his
associates were called upon to justify their proceedings,
and brought forward the " casket documents," to substan-
tiate their charges.

Elizabeth might dislike the religious system of the vic-
torious party in Scotland and abhor their political max-
ims ; but they were, in the existing situation of Europe,
her allies, and to put Mary back upon her throne would
have been an act of suicide. It must be remembered that
she never renounced her claim to the crown of England.
At this juncture, it was fortunate that the slow and cau-
tious Philip declined the offensive alliance that was of-
fered him by France. In 1569, the victory over the Hu-
guenots in France was followed by a Catholic rebellion
in the North of England. The demand was that Mary's
title to the succession should be acknowledged. The ex-
communication of Elizabeth by Pius V. succeeded.
Thenceforward, all who sympathized with the spirit of the
Catholic reaction in Europe, and acknowledged the Pope's
authority, were under the strongest temptation to treat
Elizabeth as a usurper who ought to be actually dethroned.
The rebellion, under the lead of Norfolk, was undertaken
with the express and warm approbation of the Pope, and
Philip was only deterred by prudential motives from
sending his forces in aid of it ; he preferred to wait until
the insurgents should have seized on the person of the
Queen. The current of events was gradually leading to
an open conflict with Spain, which both the Queen and
PhiHp were reluctant to begin. For her own security

382 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

she secretly provided assistance to the revolted subjects
of Philip in the Netherlands, which pleased France, as
her aid to the Scottish rebels had gratified Philip. The
consequence was that favorable terms were granted to the
Netherlands in the Pacification of Ghent, in 1576. It
was material to her interests that the Huguenots should
not be subdued, and she covertly gave them help while
she was in friendly relations with the French government
that was seeking to crush them. At length the desperate
condition of the Protestants in the Netherlands imposed
on her the necessity, in 1585, of openly sending her
troops, under the command of Leicester, for their deliver-
ance. Shortly after, Drake appeared before St. Domingo
and took possession of that island.

Mary Stuart was the centre of the hopes of the ene-
mies of Protestant England and of Elizabeth. Their
plots looked to the elevation of Mary to the throne which
Elizabeth filled. Political ambition and religious fanati-
cism were linked together m this great scheme. Mary's
life was regarded by the wisest of the English statesmen
as a standing menace. When her complicity with the
conspiracy of Babington, which involved a Spanish inva-
sion and the dethronement and death of Elizabeth was
proved, the execution of Mary followed (1587).

Apart from the interference of Elizabeth in the Nether-
lands, England and Spain had long been engaged in a des-
ultory warfare on the ocean, where the treasure ships of
Philip were captured by Drake and his compeers, and
the Spanish colonies harassed by their attacks. The
cruelty of the Inquisition to English sailors in Spain
quickened the relish of the great English mariners for
this kind of retaliation. The sailing of the invincible
Armada for the conquest of England was at once the cul-
mination of this prolonged, indefinite conflict, and the
supreme effort of the Catholic reaction to annihilate the
Protestant strength. The valor of the English seamen,

PROTESTANTISM IN IRELAND. 883

with the winds for their aUies, dispersed and destroyed
the mighty fleet, and " the northern ocean even to the
frozen Thule was scattered with the proud shipwrecks of
the Spanish Armada." ^ A death-blow was given to the
hopes of the enemies of Protestant England (1588).

A sketch of the Reformation in Great Britain would be
incomplete without some notice of the attempts to plant
Protestantism in Ireland. Ireland, one of the last of the
countries to bow to the supremacy of the Holy See, has
been equaled by none in its devotion to the Roman
Church, although the independence of the country was
wrested from it under the warrant of a bull of Adrian
IV., which gave it to Henry II. Protestantism was asso-
ciated with the hated domination of foreigners, and was
propagated according to methods recognized in that age
as lawful to the conqueror .^ Invaders who were engaged
in an almost perpetual conflict with a subject race, the
course of which was marked by horrible massacres, could
hardly hope to convert their enemies to their own relig-
ious faith. Hemy VIII., having made himself the head
of the English Church, proceeded to establish his eccle-
siastical supremacy in the neighboring island. This was
ordained by the Irish Parliament in 1537, but was re-
sisted by a great part of the clergy, with the Archbishop
of Armagh at their head. George Browne, a Avilling
agent of the King, who had been Provincial of the
Augustine friars in England, was made Archbishop of
Dublin. The Protestant hierarchy was constituted, but
the people remained Catholic. The mistaken policy of
seeking to Anglicize the country was pursued, and the ser-
vices of religion were conducted in a tongue which they
did not understand. The Prayer Book, which was intro-
duced in 1551, was not rendered into Irish, but was to

1 Milton, Of Reformation in England, b. ii.

2 Hallam, Const. Hist., ch. xviii.

384 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

be rendered into Latin, for the sake of ecclesiastics and
others who were not acquainted with EngUsh ! On the
accession of Mary, the new fabric which had been raised
by Henry VIII. and his son, fell to pieces without resist-
ance. As the Catholic Reaction became organized in
Europe, and began to wage its contest with Queen Eliza-
beth, the Irish who had to some extent attended the
English service, generally deserted it. Protestantism
had no footing outside of the Pale, or where English
soldiers were not pi^esent to protect it or force it upon
the people. The Episcopal Church in Ireland wore a
somewhat Puritanic cast, and in its formularies set forth
prominently the Calvinistic theology. The New Testa-
ment was not translated into Irish until 1602 ; and the
Prayer Book, though translated earlier, was not sanc-
tioned by public authority, and was little used.^ Among
various Avise suggestions in Lord Bacon's tract, written in
1601, entitled " Considerations touching the Queen's ser-
vice in Ireland," is a recommendation to take care " of
the versions of Bibles and catechisms, and other books
of instruction, into the Irish language." ^ With equal
sagacity and good feeling, he counsels the establishment
of colonies or plantations, the sending out of fervent,
popular preachers and of pious and learned bishops, and
the fostering of education. He recommends mildness
and toleration rather than the use of the temporal sword.
But the policy which the great philosopher and states-
man marked out, was very imperfectly followed.

1 Hardwick, History of the Reformation, p. 270.

* This tract is ia voL y. of Montagu's edition of Bacon's writings.

CHAPTER XL

THE KEFORMATION IN ITALY AND IN SPAIN: THE
COUNTER-REFORMATION IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC
CHURCH.

Protestantism, which in the course of one genera-
tion spread over a great part of Central and Northern
Europe, penetrated beyond the Alps and the Pyrenees.
But here, in the Italian and Spanish peninsulas, it en-
countered the first effectual resistance. Here were organ-
ized the forces that were to arrest its march, and even to
reconquer territory which had been surrendered to the
new faith.

After the emancipation of Italy from the control of the
German emperors, by the downfall of the Hohenstaufen
line, in the middle of the thirteenth century, a period of
two centuries and a half elapsed prior to the invasion of
Charles VIII. Then Italy became the field and the prize
of the conflict between the Spanish- Austrian house and
France. The long interval of independence preceding
this epoch, notwithstanding the turbulence and confusion
that marked the political history of Italy, was the era in
which art, letters, trade, and commerce flourished most ;
the period in which the intellectual superiority of Italy
among the European nations was most conspicuous. But
municipal liberty was gradually lost. The conflicts, in
the northern and central cities, between the nobles and
the commons, generally issued in the triumph of the lat-
ter ; but the next step was the grasping of supreme power
by a single family. The dominion of a tyrant or lord

25

886 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

was built up on the ruins of i^epublicanism. Florence
followed the fate of other cities, and fell at last under the
rule of the Medici.^ The division of Italy into states, at
the beginning of the fifteenth century — of which Naples,
the Papal Kingdom, Florence, Milan, and Venice, were
the chief — was favorable to the Reformation. There was
no one central government with power to crush the new
opinions. It might be possible for those who were perse-
cuted in one city to flee into another. On the other hand,
the decline of the spirit of liberty, which took place in
the age before the Reformation, the brilliant age of liter-
ature and art, was an inauspicious event.

Italy was a near spectator of the venality and profli-
gacy of the Roman curia, and the victim in the strife that
was kindled by the ambition of the pontiffs to extend
their temporal dominion and to aggrandize their relatives.
The rebukes that were thundered from the pulpit of Sa-
vonarola were not stripped of their influence in consequence
of his death, for which the enmity of Alexander VI. was
largely responsible. In the Council of the Lateran, in
1512, ^gidius, General of the Augustinian Order, and the
Count of Mirandola, among others, denounced the abuses
that menaced the Church and religion itself with ruin.
The arraignment of the papal administration by the
Transalpine reformers would naturally meet with a sym-
pathetic response in Italy. Yet there was a national
pride connected with the Papacy ; and this sentiment was
strengthened by the circumstance that the Papacy was
often attacked as an Italian institution, and in a style that
was adapted to wound Italian feeling.

As far back as the twelfth century, Arnold of Brescia,
inspired by the teachings of Abelard with a love of truth,
and catching the spirit which the struggle for municipal

1 On the condition of Italy in the 15th century, see Sismondi, Hist. d. Republ
Ital. d. Moyen Age, vii. ch. x. ; Hallam, Europe duiing the. Middle Ages, ch. iii
p. ii.

THE RELIGIOUS POSITION OF DANTE. 387

liberty was beginning to nourish, demanded that the
clergy should renounce their worldly possessions and tem-
poral power, and retm^n to a life of apostolic simpUcity.
For a time his eloquence carried the day in Rome itself.
He perished at last, a martyr to his principles. ^ The
folhes and vices of the clergy, even the iniquitous doings
of Popes, had been castigated by Italian writers from the
dawn of the vernacular literature. The lofty and bitter
invectives of Dante are aimed at the temporal ambition
and at particular misdeeds of incumbents of the Holy See.
At the very opening of the " Inferno," he paints the ex-
isting Church, clothed with temporal power, as —

" A she-wolf, that with all hungerings,
Seemed to be laden in her meagreness,
And many folk has caused to live forlorn." 2

Pope Anastasius he charges with heresy and places among
the lost ; ^ Pope Celestine V., for abdicating the papal
chair to give room for Boniface VIII. , lies at the mouth
of hell among those whom mercy and justice both disdain ; *
and Boniface himself expiates his crimes in a deeper abyss
of perdition.^ The Popes had turned from shepherds into
wolves, and neglecting the Gospels and the Fathers, had
only conned the Decretals : —

" Their meditations reach not Nazareth." 6

Manfred, the son of the Emperor Frederic II., died ex-
communicate ; but in Purgatory he was found having the
promise of everlasting happiness : —

" By malison of theirs is not so lost
Eternal love, that it cannot return,
So long as hope has anything of green." '

But Dante receives the dogmas of the Church ; his whole
work is cast in the mould of the traditional theology ; he

1 For the literature respecting Arnold of Brescia, see Schmidt's article in
Herzog's ReaUEncycl., i. 547.

2 Inferno, i. 49-51. 3 ibid., xi. 8. ■* Ibid., iii. 59.

6 Ibid., xix. 53. 6 Paradiso, i.x. 137. "^ Purgatorio, iii. ISS-l'o

388 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

places in the joys of Paradise, in " the heaven of the
sun," Aquinas, Bonaventura, Albertus Magnus, Peter
Lombard, and the other great hghts of orthodoxy.^ Her-
esiarchs groan under a doom from which there is no de-
Uverance. ^ It is the abominations in the conduct of
ecclesiastics, and especially their seizure of worldly do-
minion, with the wealth and pride which accompany it,
that move the solemn poet's ire. Against this temporal
rule and party spirit of his successors, St. Peter inveighs
in Paradise. He exclaims : —

" In garb of shepherds the rapacious wolves
Are seen from here above o'er all the pastures." 3

Dante's ideal is the empire restored to universal rule and
having its seat in Italy. This theory of a monarchy is
the subject of his political ti^eatise.* Petrarch takes the
same general position, although his denunciations of the
pollution of the Papal curia, the mystical Babylon of the
Apocalypse, surpass in intensity the most fiery declama-
tion of Protestants in later times. Boccaccio goes a step
further. His treatment of the Church, had we no other
knowledge of him than what the Decamerone affords,
would even lead to the conclusion that he had no rever-
ence for its teaching. Ecclesiastical persons are made to
figure in ludicrous and scandalous situations. One of his
tales, for example, is the story of a Jew whom a friend
endeavored to convert to the Christian faith. The Jew

1 Paradiso, x. 98, 99, 107; xii. 127.

2 Inferno, x. 8 Paradiso, xxvii. 55-56.

* A class of critics have unsuccessfully attempted to show that Dante was
really hostile to the spiritual sovereignty of the Popes. One theory is, that the
principal poets of that age belonged to secret anti-sacerdotal associations. This
theory is advocated by Gabriele Rossetti: Sullo Spirito nntipapale che jfrodusse
la Reforma, etc., translated into English by Miss Ward (London, 1834). Among
the instructive works upon Dante is that of Prof. V. Botta, Dante as Philosopher,
Patriot, and Poet, New York, 1865. A valuable list of works on Dante, some
of which relate directly to his theology, is given by Prof. Abegg in his Essay:
Die Idee der Gerechtigkeit u. die strafrechtUchen Grundscitze in Dantt''s gottl.
Comodie, in the Jahrb. d. deutschen Dante-Geselkchaft, i., p. 180, n. Se«
also Prof. J. R. Lowell's learned article on Dante, N. A. Review, July, 1872.

INFLUENCE OF THE HUMANISTS. 389

resolves to go from Paris to Rome in order to see Chris-
tianity at its bead -quarters — a purpose that strikes with
dismay his Christian friend, who doubts not that the in-
iquitous Hves of the Pope, of his cardinals and court, will
chase from the Jew's mind all thoughts of conversion.
But in due time he comes back a Christian believer,
and explains to his astonished friend that the spectacle
which he had beheld in the capital of Christianity had
convinced him that the Christian religion must have a
supernatural origin and divine support ; else it would
have been driven out of the world by the profligacy and
folly of its guardians.^

It is generally conceded that after the time of Dante,
Petrarch, and Boccaccio, the passionate study of the an-
cients, which these great writers had fostered, suspended
in a remarkable degree the development of Italian lit-
erature, in the path of original production.^ The Re-
naissance was antiquarian and critical in its spirit. All
that could be done for a long time was to count and weigh
the treasures of antiquity which enthusiastic explorers
discovered within the walls of monasteries, or brought
from the East. The revival of letters led to the exposure
of fictions, like the pretended donation of Constantine,
which Laurentius Valla, whom Bellarmine called a pre-
cursor of the Lutherans, disproved in a treatise that pro-
duced a general excitement. The sceptical tone of Italian
Humanism reduced to a low point the authority of the
Church among the cultivated class. But the Humanists
seldom possessed the heroic qualities of character which
qualified them to endure suffering for the cause of truth.
The love of fame, a passion which the Christian spirit in

1 This jest is reproduced in a different shape by Voltaire, who says of "our
religion " : " It is unquestionably divine, since seventeen centuries of Imposture
and imbecility have not destroyed it." Quoted by Morley, Voltaire, p. 305
On Boccaccio's treatment of ecclesiastics and of religion, see Ginguen^, Hist
Litteraire (V Itnlie, iii. 120 seq.

2 Sismondi, Hist. View of the Lit. of the South of Europe, i. 306.

390 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

the INIiddle Ages had kept in check, re-appeared, in an ex-
cessive measure, in the devotees of pagan literature. They
burned incense to the great on whom they depended for
patronage and advancement, but cai'ried into their dis-
putes with one another an acrimony and fierceness with-
out previous example. Poggio, one of the principal men
of letters in the first half of the fifteenth century, infused
into his polemical writings a ferocity which is only less
repulsive than the gross obscenity that defiles other works
from his pen.^ The Italian Humanists did a vast work
of a negative sort in sweeping away superstition, and in
undermining the credit of ecclesiastics and of their dogmas.
Their positive services in behalf of a more enlightened
religion are of less account. Yet good fruit often grew
out of the attention that was given to the Scriptures.^
Academies, or private literary associations, sprang up in
the principal cities ; and in them theological topics were
discussed with freedom. The wide-spread culture formed
a soil in which the seed of the new doctrine, mider favor-
able circumstances, might germinate.^

At an early day, the writings of Luther and of the
other Reformers were widely disseminated in Italy.
They were circulated under fictitious names, and thus

1 Tiraboschi, Storia della Letteratura Ital., vi. 1027 seq. On Pof^gio, see
also Hallani, Intr. to the Lit. of Europe, i. 66. Shepherd, Life of Poggio, p. 460.
Shepherd says of his indecency and levity, that they were " rather vices of the
times than of the man."

2 Upon the moral and religious tone, as well as upon the other characteristics
of the Renaissance, there are interesting statements in Burckhardt, Die Cultur
d. Renaissance in Italien (Basel, 1860). An excellent sketch of the Renaissance
in Italy, in its various features, is given by Gregorovius, Geschichte d. Stadt
Bom im Mittelalter, vol. vii. c. vi. (Stuttgart, 1870.)

3 Gerdesius, Specimen Italiae Refunnatee (Lugd. Bat., 1765). An excellent
work on the Reformation in Italy is that of Dr. McCrie, History of the Progress
and Suppression of the Refornuition in Italy (new edition, 1856). This, together
with the History of the Reformation in Spain, by the same author, are among
the most valuable of the monographs relating to the period of the Reformation.
Ranke, History of the Popes of Rome during the IQth and nth Centuries,
(the sequel of an earlier work, Die Fiirsten u. Volker von siidl. Europa), pre-
sents much additional matter of extreme value.

CHARACTER OF ITALIAN PROTESTANTISM. 391

eluded the vigilance of the ecclesiastical authorities.'
The war between Charles V. and the Pope, that broke
out in 1526, brought a host of Lutheran soldiers into
Italy, many of whom, after the sack of Rome, remained
long at Naples. Not only by their direct influence, but
by the freedom which their presence occasioned during
the progress of hostilities, the new doctrine was dissemi-
nated. The Augustinian theology took root in many
minds, and produced a greater or less sympathy with the
Protestant movement. The peculiarity in the case of It-
aly, and, still more, of Spain, is, that Protestantism could
not avow itself without being instantly smothered. De-
cided Protestantism could not live except in concealment.
Protestant worshippers could exist only as secret societies.
In considering the Reformation in these countries, we
must take into view the real but unavowed Protestant-
ism ; and also the leanings toward the Protestant system
which were not sufficient to prompt to a renunciation of
the old Church, or were repressed before they could ripen
into full convictions. There were some who only hoped
for the removal of the corruption that existed in the Papal
court and throughout the Catholic Church. Another
class sympathized with the Reformers in matters of doc-
trine, especially on the subject of Justification, but were
not disposed to alter materially the existing polity or
forms of worship. Still another class were deterred by
timidity, or lack of earnestness, or some more commend-
able motive, from declaring in favor of the Protestant
system which they, at heart, adopted.^ Protestantism
in Italy was thus a thing of degrees ; and in its earlier
stages developed itself in connection with tendencies
which diverged into the reactionary, defensive, and

1 Melancthon's Loci Communes were printed at Venice, the name of the au-
thor being given on the title-page, as Ij}j)oJilo da Terra Niyra, M;Cne, p. 29.
See also Cantu, Storia delta Lett. Ital., p. 287.

2 McCrie, n. 102.

392 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

aggressive force to which the Catholic Church owed its
restoration.

Before the death of Leo X., a reverent, devotional spirit,
opposed to the sceptical and epicurean tone of society,
manifested itself among a class of educated Italians.
Fifty or sixty persons united at Rome in what they
called the Oratory of Divine Love, and held meetings for
worship and mutual edification. Among them were men
who afterwards reached the highest distinction, but were
destined to separate from one another in their views of
Reform : Caraffa, Contarini, Sadolet, Giberto, all of whom
were subsequently made cardinals. The common bond
among them was the earnest desire for the removal of
abuses, and for the moral reformation of the Church in
its head and members. Contarini may be considered the
head of those who espoused a doctrine of Justification,
not materially distinguished from that of Luther. With
him were found, a few years later, at Venice, besides
former associates, Flaminio, a thorough believer in the
evangelical idea of gratuitous salvation, and Reginald
Pole, who adopted the same opinion. This party of
Evangelical Catholics were devoted to the Catholic
Church, and to the unity of it. Their aim was to purify
the existing body ; but in their views of the great doc-
trine, which formed the original ground of controversy,
they stood in a position to meet and conciliate the Prot-
estants. Their doctrine of Justification, bringing with
it a greater or less inclination to other doctrinal changes
in keeping with it, spread among the intelligent classes
throughout Italy.

In Ferrara, the reformed opinions were encouraged
and protected by Ren^e or Renata, the wife of Hercules
II., who was equally distinguished for her learning and
her personal attractions. At her Court the French poet,
Clement Marot, found a refuge ; and here Calvin resided
for some months, under an assumed name. Among the

PROGRESS OF PROTESTANTISM IN ITALY. 393

professors in the University at Ferrara was Morata, the
father of the celebrated Olympia Morata, and, like her,
imbued with evangelical opinions. At Modena, which
was renowned for the culture of its inhabitants, the new
doctrine found a hospitable reception ; especially among
the members of the academy, who looked with contempt
on the priests and monks. Cardinal Morone, the Bishop
of Modena, who had been absent in Germany on missions
from the Pope, writes, in 1542 : " Wherever I go, and
from all quarters, I hear that the city has become
Lutheran."^ In Florence, though it was the seat of the
Medici, and fui-nished in this age two popes, Leo X. and
Clement VII., many embraced the Protestant faith.
Among them was Brucioli, who published, at Venice, a
translation of the Scriptures, and a commentary on the
whole Bible. Not less than three translators of the Bible
in this period were born at Florence. At Bologna,
Mollio, a celebrated teacher in the University, after the
year 1533 taught the Protestant views on Justification
and other points, until he was removed from his office by
order of the Pope. Subsequently, through a letter to the
Protestants of Bologna, from Bucer, and through another
letter from them, we learn that they were numerous.
Venice, where printing and the book-trade flourished,
and where the internal police was less severe than else-
where, offered the best advantages both for the safe
reception and active diffusion of the reformed doctrines.
" You give me joy," said Luther, in 1528, " by what you
write of the Venetians receiving the word of God."
Pietro Carnesecchi, who afterwards died for his faith,
Lupetino, provincial of the Franciscans, who also per-
ished as a martyr, and Baldassare Altieri, who acted as
agent of the Protestant princes in Germany, were among
the most efficient in diffusing the Protestant opinions.^
Padua, Verona, and other places within the Venetian

1 McCrie, p. 54. 2 McCrie, p. 64.

394 THE RI<:F0RMATI0N in ITALY and SPAIN.

territory, likewise furnished adherents of the new faith.
The same was true of the Milanese, where the contiguity
to Swdtzerland, and the political changes in the duchy,
opened avenues for the introduction of heresy.

In Naples, Juan Valdez, a Spaniard, Secretary of the
Viceroy of Charles V., was an eloquent and influential
supporter of the evangelical doctrine, and won to the
full or partial adoption of it many persons of distinction ;
including, it is thought, Vittoria Colonna and other mem-
bers of the Colonna family. ^ In many other places, a
good beginning was made in the same direction. Not a
few among the numerous gifted and cultivated women in
that age, when zeal for the study of the ancient authors
had become a pervadmg passion, were attracted to the
evangelical doctrine. This doctrine gained many con-
verts among the middle classes. In a decree of the In-
quisition, three thousand school-masters were said to have
espoused it. Caraffa informed Paul III. that " the whole
of Italy was infected with the Lutheran heresy, which
had been extensively embraced both by statesmen and
ecclesiastics." ^ " Whole libraries," says Melancthon, in
a letter written probably in 1540, " have been carried
from the late fair into Italy." There is no doubt 'that
the evangelical doctrine was favorably regarded by
a large body of educated persons, for it was almost
exclusively among these that it found sympathy. The
most eminent preacher in Italy, Bernardino Ochino,
General of the Capuchins, who drew crowds of admiring
auditors at Venice, and wherever else he appeared in the
pulpit, and Peter Martyr Vermigli, an honored mem-
ber of the Augustinian order, who was hardly less distin-
guished, and a much abler theologian, were of this num-

1 See the learned article on Valdez by Dr. Ed. Biihmer, in Herzog, Real-
Encycl. d. Theol. There were two brothers, Alfonso and Juan. Alfonso was also
favorable to the Reformation. Dr. Bohmer presents a full description of th«
writings and opinions of Juan Valdez.

2 Quoted by McCrie, p. 113.

THE ORATORY OF DIVINE LOVE. 895

ber. Chiefly owing to the labors of Martyr, Lucca had,
perhaps, more converts to the evangelical faith than any
other Italian city. The little treatise on the " Benefits of
Christ," which was composed by Paleario, was circulated
in thousands of copies.^ We have the testimony of Pope
Clement VII. to the wide prevalence, in different parts
of Italy, of " the pestiferous heresy of Luther," not only
among secular persons, but also among the clergy. ^

In Venice and Naples, the Reformed Churches were
organized with pastors, and held their secret meetings.
Unhappily, the Sacramentarian quarrel broke out in the
former place, and was aggravated by an intolerant letter
of Luther, in which he declared his preference of tran-
substantiation to the Zwinglian doctrine : a letter, which
Melancthon, in his epistles to friends, noticed with strong
terms of condemnation.

Paul III., who succeeded Clement VII., in 1534, showed
himself friendly to the Catholic reforming party. He
made Contarini cardinal, and elevated to the same rank
Caraffa, Pole, Sadolet, and others, most of whom had
belonged to the Oratory of Divine Love, and some of
whom were friendly to the Protestant doctrine of salva-
tion. He appointed Commissions of Reform, whose
business it was to point out and remove abuses in the
Roman curia, such as had excited everywhere just com-
plaint. A commission, to which Sadolet and Caraffa
belonged, met at Bologna in 1537, and presented to the
Pope a consilium, or opinion, in which they described the
abuses in the administration of the Church as amounting
to " a pestiferous malady." Their advice was approved
by Paul III., and printed by his direction. Ridicule,
however, was excited in Germany, when it was knovsai

1 For a full account of Paleario, see M. Young, Life of Paleario : Hist, of
Italian Reformers in the IQth Century. 2 vols. (London, 1860.) Tne work ii
valuable as illustrative of the narrative of McCrie.

2 McCrie, p. 45.

896 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

that one of the measures recommended by the accom-
plished Sadolet, in connection with his associates, Tvas the
exclusion of the Colloquies of Erasmus from seminaries
of learning. The hopes of Contarini and his friends were
sanguine ; and it seemed not impossible that so great con-
cessions might be made that the Protestants would once
more unite themselves with the Church. At the Confer-
ence at Ratisbon, in 1541, Contarini appeared as Legate
of the Pope, and met, on the other side, Bucer and Me-
lancthon, the most moderate and yielding of all the Prot-
estant leaders. The political situation was such, that
the Emperor exerted himself to the utmost to bring about
an accommodation between the two parties. On the four
great articles, of the nature of man, original sin, redemp-
tion and justification, they actually came to an agree-
ment. The Primacy of the Pope, and the Eucharist,
were the two great points that remained. But the proj-
ect of union met with opposition from various quarters.
Francis I. raised an outcry against it, as a surrender of
the Catholic faith, his motive being the fear of augment-
ing the power of Charles. Luther was dissatisfied with
the platform, on account of its want of definiteness, and
had no confidence in the practicableness of a union. On
the opposite side, the same feeling manifested itself:
Caraffa did not approve of the terms of the agreement
which Contarini had sanctioned, especially in regard to
justification, and Paul III. took the same view. There
was jealousy of Charles at Rome : all of his enemies
combined against the scheme. Thus the great project
fell to the ground.

This event marks the division of the Catholic reform-
ing party. Caraffa, while severe and earnest in his de-
mand for practical reforms which should purify the
administration of the Church, from the Pope downwards,
was sternly and inflexibly hostile to every modification
of the dogmatic system. He stood forth as the repre-

THE ORDER OF JESUITS. 397

aentative and leader of those who were resolved to defend
to the last the polity and dogmas of the Church, against
all innovation, Avhile at the same time they aimed to
infuse a spirit of strict and even ascetic purity and zeal
into all its officers, from the highest to the lowest. It
was this party that revived the tone of the Catholic
Church, rallied its disorganized forces, and turned upon
its adversaries with a renewed and formidable energy.

There were two principal instruments by which this in-
ternal renovation and aggressive movement of the Catholic
Church were accomplished. These were the rise of new
orders, especially the order of Jesuits, and the Council
of Trent.

A revival of zeal in the Catholic Church has always
been signalized by the appearance of new developments
of the monastic spirit. In truth, monasticism arose at
the outset from a feeling of weariness and disgust at the
worldliness which had invaded the Church. When the
societies under the Benedictine rule lapsed from their
strictness of discipline and purity of life, new fraterni-
ties, as that of Clugni, sprang up, in which monastic
simplicity and severity were restored. As these in turn
felt the enervating influence of wealth, the great mendi-
cant orders, the Dominicans and Franciscans, were estab-
lished, the offspring of a more earnest spirit. One
palpable sign of the resuscitation of the Cathohc body
was the formation of new monastic fraternities, like the
Theatins, who were organized under the auspices of
Caraffa — priests with monastic vows, who did not call
themselves monks, however, and adopted no austerities
which interfered with their practical labors in preaching,
administering the sacraments, and tending the sick.
Their fervid addresses from the pulpit were the more
impressive from the knowledge which tl eir auditors had
.»f their devoted lives. They were gradually trans-
formed into a seminary for the training of priests. But

398 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

this and other new orders, significant and effective as
they were, were soon eclipsed by the more renowned and
influential Society of Jesus. Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish
soldier of noble birth, blending with the love of his
profession something of the religious spirit that had
characterized the mediicval chivalry, received in the war
against the French, at the siege of Pampeluna, wounds
in both his legs, which disabled him from military ser-
vice. In his meditations during his illness, the dreams
of chivalry were curiously mingled with devotional as-
pirations. The glory of St. Dominic, St. Francis, and
other heroes of the faith, seized on his imagination.^
More and more the visions of a secular knighthood trans-
formed themselves into visions of a spiritual knighthood
under Christ as the Leader. He exchanged the romance
of Amadis for the lives of the saints. The romantic
devotion of a knight to his lady turned into an analogous
consecration to the Virgin, before whose image he hung
up his lance and shield. Tormented for a long time
vsdth remorse and despondency, with alternations of
peace and joy, he at length found relief in the convic-
tion that his gloomy feelmgs were inspirations of the
evil spirit, and therefore to be trampled under foot and
cast out. He did not escape from his mental distress, as
Luther did, by resting on the Word of God and the re-
vealed method of forgiveness, but in a way more con-
sonant with the singular characteristics of his mind.^
The legal system of the Middle Ages had always pro-
duced a yearning for rapturous, ecstatic experiences,
which might afford that inward assurance of salvation
which the accepted theory of Justification could not yield.
At Paris, where Ignatius went to study theology, he
brought completely under his influence his two compan-
ions, Faber and Francis Xavier. In a cell of the Col

1 Maffeius, Ignatii LoiolcB Vita, ch. ii. (Conversio ejus ad Christum).

2 Ranke, History of the Popes, i. 183.

IGNATIUS LOYOLA. 399

lege of St. Barbara, the first steps were taken in the
formation of this powerfvil and celebrated society. Three
other Spaniards joined tlie same enthusiastic circle.
They took upon them the vow of chastity, swore to
spend their lives, if possible, at Jerusalem, in absolute
poverty, in the care of Christians, or in efforts to convert
the Saracens ; or, if this should not be permitted them,
they engaged to offer themselves to the Pope, to be sent
wherever he should wish, and to do whatever he should
command. In Venice, they were ordained as priests,
and here it became evident that the appointed theatre
of their labors was Europe, and not the East. In 1540
their order was sanctioned ; in 1543, unconditionally.
They chose Ignatius for their President. The new order
was exempt from those monastic exercises which con-
sume the time of monks generally, and was left free
for practical labors. These were principally preaching,
hearing confession, and directing individual consciences,
and the education of youth, a part of their work which
they regarded, from the beginning, as in the highest
degree essential. The " Spiritual Exercises " of Ignatius
was the text-book, on which the inward life of the mem-
bers was moulded, and which served as a guide in the
management of the confessional. The absolute detach-
ing of the soul from the world, and from all its objects of
desire, and the absolute renunciation of self, are a cardi-
nal element in the spiritual drill set forth in this manual.
It is a course of severe and prolonged introspection, and
of forced, continuous attention to certain themes of
thought ; the design of the whole being to bind the will
immovably in the path of religious consecration. This
effect is produced by exciting, and, at the same time,
subjugating the imagination. It is the narratives, not
the doctrines, of the Gospel, to which the mind is
riveted in prolonged contemplation. The aim is to give
to the mental perceptions the vividness of external vision.

400 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

Ignatius carries the " reign of the senses within the
sphere of the soul." To the imagmative piety of the
Middle Ages, that reveled in ecstacies and raptures, he
gives a systematic form, a definite direction. The effect
of a discipline like this, where reason gives up the throne
to imagination, which is ever excited and at the same
time enslaved, could not be otherwise than deleterious
upon the moral nature. Yet there is a wide contrast be-
tween the Jesuitism of Loyola and the degenerate Jesuit-
ism depicted in the "Provincial Letters." ^

The compact organization of the Society of Jesus, with
its three grades of membership, included provisions for
mutual oversight of such a character, that the General
even, notwithstanding his well-nigh unlimited power,
might be admonished, and, on adequate grounds, deposed
from his station. The one comprehensive obligation to
which the members were bound, was that of instant, un-
questioning, unqualified obedience. To go where they
were sent, if it were to a tribe of savages in the re-
motest part of the globe ; to do what they were bidden,
without delay and without a murmur, in a spirit of abso-
lute self-surrender, " utque cadaver," was the primal duty.
Such was the origin and general character of the Society
which was destined to wield an incalculable influence in
resuscitating Catholicism, as well as in weakening, and, in
some quarters, annihilating the power of its adversaries.

The second of the great agencies of Catholic renovation
was the Tridentine Council.^ For a long period, the

1 Martin, Hist, de France, viii. 205.

2 The history of the Council of Trent has been written by two authors of an
opposite temper, Father Paul Sarpi, an enemy of the Papal power, and Pallavi-
cini, its defender and apologist. Ranke has subjected these important works to
a searching criticism and comparison, in the Appendix (§ ii.) of the History of
the Popes. lie says: "Both of them are complete partizans, and are deticient
in the spirit of an historian, which seizes upon circumstances and objects in their
full truth, and brings them distinctly to view. Sarpi had the power to do so,
but his only aim was to attack: Pallavicini had intinitely less of the requisite
talent, and his object was to defend his party at all hazards." Of Sarpi, Ranke

THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. 401

project of a Council, which was a favorite one with the
Reformers for some time, and which the Emperor insisted
on, was repugnant in the highest degree to the wishes of
the Popes. A general council was their dread. It was
something, however, which it was more and more difficult
to avoid. The spread of heresy, even in Italy, was one
motive which made Paul III. willing to convoke such an
assembly. The Council of Trent was formally opened
in December, 1545. The great question was whether it
should begin with the reform of the Papacy, or with defi-
nitions of dogma. In other words, what attitude should
the Council take towards the Protestants ? A conciUa-
tory or antagonistic one ? Caraffa was sustained in his
policy by the Jesuits. The Papal influence predominated,
and having defined the sources of knowledge of Revealed
Religion in terms that left the authority of tradition un-
impaired, with anathemas against the Protestant doctrine
of the exclusive authority of the Scriptures, the Council
proceeded to condemn the Protestant doctrine of Justifi-
cation, disregarding the arguments of the evangelical
CathoHc party of Contarini, which was effectively rep-
resented in the debate. The success which Charles V.
was gaining in the Smalcaldic war, emboldened the ruling
party at Trent to assert the old dogmas without abate-
ment or concession. The theory of gradual justification
and of merit was followed by an equally positive asser-
tion of the old doctrine of the Sacraments. The history
of the Council is inseparably connected with the relations
of the Pope to Charles V. The fullness of the Empe-
ror's triumph, so much beyond the desires of Paul III.,
led to the attempted transference of the Council to Bo-
logna ; and the jealousy that was felt on account of the

observes again: " The authorities are brought together with diligence, are well
handled, and used with consummate talent : we cannot say that they are falsi-
fied, or that they are frequently or materially altered; but the whole work i«
'•olored with a tinge of decided enmit}' to the Papal power."

402 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

greatness of the power acquired by Charles at the end of
the war, and on account of the Interim and the rest of
his schemes of pacification, defeated the ends which the
Emperor had hoped to accomplish. Not to pursue the sub-
ject into its details, the result of all of the negotiations
and struggles of the Council was that the Papal power
escaped without curtailment. Efforts to reduce the pre-
rogatives of the Pope were ingeniously baffled. The
Professio Fidei^ or brief formula of subscription to the
Tridentine Creed, contained a promise of obedience to the
Pope. To this formulary all ecclesiastics and teachers
are required to give their assent. The Roman Catechism
was prepared and published under the direction of the
Pope, by the authority of the Council ; the Vulgate,
which had been declared authoritative in controversies,
was issued in an authorized edition, and a Breviary and a
Missal put forth for universal use. The Council of Trent
did a great work for the education of the clergy, the
better organization of the whole hierarchical body, and
the discipline of the Church. Its canons of reform regu-
lated the duties of the secular and regular priesthood, in-
culcated the obligations of bishops, and introduced a new
order and efficiency in the management of parishes.

The Creed of Trent was definite and intelligible in
its denial of the distinguishing points of Protestantism ;
but on the questions in dispute between Augustinian and
semi-Pelagian parties in the Church, it was indefinite and
studiously ambiguous. But the Council, both by its doc-
trinal formulas and its reformatory canons, contributed
very much to the consolidation of the Church in a com-
pact body. It was no longer necessary to seek for the
standard of orthodoxy in the various and conflicting writ-
ings of fathers and schoolmen, or in the multiplied declar-
ations of the Popes. Such a standard was now presented
in a condensed form and with direct reference to the an-
tagonistic doctrines of the time.

THE INQUISITION. 403

But there was another agency of a different character,
which was set in motion for the purpose of eradicating
heresy. This was the Inquisition. It was reorganized
in Italy on the recommendation of Caraffa ; he was placed
at the head of it ; and in 1555, the prime author and
the stern chief of this tribunal became Pope under the name
of Paul IV. The Inquisition was an institution which
had its origin in the early days of the thirteenth century,
for the extirpation of the Albigensian heresy. It is a
court, the peculiarity of which lies in the fact that it is
expressly constituted for the detection and punishment of
heretics, and supersedes, wholly or in part, in the dis-
charge of this function, the bishops or ordinary author-
ities of the Church. It is thus an extraordinary tribunal,
with its own rules and methods of proceeding, its own
modes of eliciting evidence. The Spanish Inquisition, in
its peculiar form, was set up under Ferdinand and Isa-
bella, in the first instance for the purpose of discovering
and punishing the converts from Judaism who returned
to their former creed. The atrocities of which it was
guilty under Torquemada make a dark and bloody page
of Spanish history.^ It grew into an institution coex-

1 Llorente, Bist. Critique de V Inquisition d' Espagne (1817-18). Llorente was
Secretary of the Inquisition, and having had the best opportunities for the in-
vestigation of its history, spent several years in the preparation of his work.
The French translation of Pellier was made under the author's eye. Llorente
was a liberal priest, in sympathy with the aims of the French Revolution, and
a supporter of the Bonaparte rule in Spain. He believed the Inquisition to be
'' vicious in its principle, in its constitution, and in its laws " (Pref., p. x.), and
he had no special reverence for the Popes. Yet at the time of the composition
of this work, his relation to the Catholic Church was not, as it afterwards be-
came, antagonistic. The work of Llorente has been unfavorably criticised by
Roman Catholic writers, especially by Hefele, Der Cardinal Ximenes, etc. {2d
ed., 1851), p. 241 seq. Hefele insists, in the tirst place, that the Spanish Inqui-
sition was predominantly an instrument of the government, and that the Popes
endeavored to check the severities of the Holy Office ; and, secondly, that the
charges of cruelty brought against the Inquisition have been greatly exaggerated.
Hefele's principal point is Llorente's alleged miscalculation of the number of vic-
timri of the Inquisition. It is to be observed that most of his animadversions
upon Llorente, Hefele is obliged to sustain by information which Llorente himself
furnishes. Hefele considers that Prescott has erred in some particulars, through

404 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

tensive with the kingdom, with an extremely tyrannical
and cruel system of administration ; and was so inter-
woven with the civil government, after the humbhng of
the nobles and the destruction of liberty in the cities,
that the despotic rule of Charles V. and of Philip II. could
hardly have been maintained without it. It was an en-
gine for stifling sedition as well as heresy. Hence it was
defended by the Spanish sovereigns against objections and
complaints of the Popes. The Inquisition, in the form
which it assumed in Italy, under the auspices of Caraffa,
differed from the corresponding institution in Spain, in
some respects, but it resembled the latter in superseding
the ordinary tribunals for the exercise of discipline, and
was founded on the same general principles. Six cardi-
nals were made inquisitors general, with power to consti-
tute inferior tribunals, and with authority, on both sides
of the Alps, to incarcerate and try all suspected persons
of whatever rank or order. The terrible machinery of
this court was at once set in motion in the States of the
Church, and although resistance was offered in Venice
and in other parts of Italy, the Inquisition gradually ex-
tended its sway over the whole peninsula. The result
was that the open profession of Protestantism was in-
stantly suppressed. In 1542, prior to the formal estab-
lishment of the Holy Office, Ochino and Peter Martyr,
unwilling longer to conceal their adhesion to the Protes-
tant faith, and being no longer safe in Italy, had left their
country and found refuge with the Protestants north of
the Alps. Equal amazement was occasioned when, in
1548, Vergerio, bishop of Capo d'lstria, a man of dis-
tinction, who had been employed in important embassies

the influence of Llorente. Prescott's account of the Inquisition is in his History
of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, i. ch. vii. Hefele has much to say of
the disposition of the Jews to make proselytes, which he considers a palliation
of the course taken by the Inquisition. But the vast ^umber of insincere Jew-
ish converts to Christianity, who furnished busine'ss to the Inquisition, provea
that the " proselyten-macherei " was not so much on the side of the Je\f9.

THE INQUISITION. 405

by the Pope, followed their example. A multitude of
suspected persons fled to the Grisons and to other parts of
Switzerland. The academies at Modena and elsewhere
were broken up. The Duchess of Ferrara was compelled
to part from all of her Protestant friends, and dependants,
and was herself subjected to constraint by her husband.
The Protestant church of Locarno was driven out, under
circumstances of great hardship, and found an asylum in
Switzerland. Imprisonment, torture, and the flames were
everywhere employed for the destruction of heterodox
opinions. At Venice the practice was to take the unhappy
victim out upon the sea at midnight and to place him on a
plank, between two boats, which were rowed in opposite
directions, leaving him to sink beneath the waves. Many
distinguished men were banished ; others, as Aonio Palea-
rio and Carnesecchi, were put to death. The Waldensian
settlement in Calabria was barbarously massacred. One
essential part of the work of the Inquisition, and a part
in which it attained to surprising success, was the sup-
pression of heretical books. The booksellers were obliged
to purge their stock to an extent that was almost ruinous
to their business. So vigilant was the detective police of
the Inquisition, that of the thousands of copies of the
evangelical book on the " Benefits of Christ," it was long
supposed that not one was left.^ It is only within a re-
cent period that a few surviving copies have come to light.
As a part of the repressive system of Caraffa, the " In-
dex " of prohibited books was established. Besides the
particular authors and books which were condemned, there
was a list of more than sixty printers, all of whose pub-
lications were prohibited. Caraffa put upon the Index
the Consilium or Advice^ which in connection with Sadolet
and others he himseK had offered to Paul III., on the
subject of a reformation, and in which ecclesiastical abuses

1 Macaulaj', in his Review of Ranke's History of the Popes {Ed. Rev., 1840),
said of this book : " It is now as hopelessly lost as the second decade of Livy."

406 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

had been freely censured.^ Later, under the auspices of
Sixtus v., the " Index Expurgatorius " arose, for the con-
demnation, not of entire works, but of particular passages
in permitted books. The sweeping persecution which was
undertaken by the Catholic Reaction did not spare the
evangelical Catholics, wliose views of Justification were
obnoxious to the faction that had gained the ascendency.
They were regarded and treated as little better than
avowed enemies of the Church. Even Cardinal Pole,
who had forsaken England rather than accede to the
measures of Henry VIII. , and had been made Papal Leg-
ate and Archbishop of Canterbury under Mary, was in
disgrace at the time of his death, which was simultaneous
mth that of the Queen. Cardinal Morone, the Arch-
bishop of Modena, charged with circulating Paleario's
book on the Atonement, vnth. denying the merit of good
works, and with like offeijses, was imprisoned for about
two years, until the death of Paul IV., in 1559, set him
free. The characteristic spirit of the dominant party is
seen in the impracticable demand of this Pope that the
sequestered property of the monasteries in England should
be restored. This party succeeded in virtually extin-
guishing Protestantism in Italy.

In Spain a literary spirit had early arisen from the in-
fluence of the Arabic schools.^ The Erasmian culture
found a cordial reception. " The Comphitensian Poly-
glot " was an edition of the Scriptures that reflects much
credit upon Cardinal Ximenes, by whom it was issued.
Yet, he was opposed to rendering the Bible into the ver-
nacular of the people, and was a supporter of the In-
quisition. The resentment which this odious tribunal
awakened, wherever a love of freedom lingered, predis-

1 For the proof of this, see McCrie, p. 61.

2 McCrie, History of the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in
Spain in the Sixteenth Century (new ed., 1856). This work is the companion
of the History of the Reformation in Italy, and of scarcely less value..

SPANISH PROTESTANTS. 407

posed some to the acceptance of the doctrine which it
persecuted. The intercourse with Germany and the
Netherlands, into which many Spaniards, both laymen
and clergy, were brought from the common relation of
these countries to Charles V., made the Protestant doc-
trines familiar to many, of whom not a few regarded
them with favor. It was observed that Spanish ecclesias-
tics who sojourned in England after the marriage of
Philip II. to Mary, came back to their country, tinged
with the heresy which they had gone forth to oppose.
The war of Charles V. against Clement VII., which led
to the sack of Rome and the imprisonment of the Pon-
tiff, and the presence of a great body of Spanish clergy
and nobles at the Diet of Augsburg, where the Protes-
tants presented their noble confession, were events not
without a favorable influence in the same direction. As
early as 1519, the famous printer of Basel, John Froben,
sent to Spain a collection of Luther's tracts in Latin, and
during the next year the Reformer's commentary on the
Galatians, in which his doctrine was fully exhibited,
was translated into Spanish. Spanish translations of the
Bible were printed at Antwerp and Venice, and notwith-
standing the watchfulness of the Inquisition, copies of
them, as well as other publications of the Protestants,
were introduced into Spain in large numbers. Some
Spaniards perished abroad, martyrs to the Protestant
faith ; as Jayme Enzinas, a cultivated scholar, who was
burned at Rome in 1546, and Juan Diaz, who was assas-
sinated in Germany by a fanatical brother, who had tried
in vain to convert him, and who, having accomplished his
act of bloody fratricide, escaped into Italy and was pro-
tected from punishment. It was at Seville and Valla-
dolid that Protestantism obtained most adherents. Those
who adopted the reformed interpretation of the Gospel,
generally contented themselves with promulgating it,
without an open attack on the Catholic theology or the

408 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

Church. It was the doctrine of justification by faith
alone which, here as in Italy, gained most currency. In
Seville the evangelical views were introduced by Rod-
rigo de Valero, a man of rank and fashion, whose char-
acter had been transformed by the reception of them, and
who promulgated them in conversation and in expositions
of the Scripture to private circles. He was saved from
the flames only by the favor of persons in authority, but
was imprisoned in a convent. The most eminent preach-
ers of the city. Dr. John Egidius, and Constantine Ponce
de la Fuente, who had been chaplain of the Empei'or,
enlisted in the new movement. The predominant opinion
in Seville was on the side of this real, though covert
Protestantism. It found a reception, also, in cloisters of
the city, especially in one belonging to the Hieronymites.
Both in Seville and Valladolid there were secret churches,
fully organized, and meeting in privacy for Protestant
worship. In Valladolid the Protestant cause had a dis-
tinguished leader in the person of Augustine Cazalla, the
Imperial chaplain, who was put to death by the Inquisi-
tion in 1559. There were probably two thousand persons
in various parts of Spain who were united in the Prot-
estant faith and held private meetings for a number of
years. A large proportion of them were persons dis-
tinguished for their rank or learning. The discovery of
these secret associations at Seville and Valladolid stimu-
lated the Inquisition to redoubled exertions. The flight
of many facilitated the detection of others who remained.
The dungeons were filled and the terrible implements of
torture Avere used to extort confessions not only from men,
but from refined and delicately trained women. In 1559
and 1560, two great autos dafS were held in the two
cities where heresy had taken the firmest root. The cere-
monies were arranged with a view to strike terror to the
hearts of the sufferers themselves and of the great throngs
that gathered as spectators of the scene. The condemned

EXTIRPATION OF PROTESTANTISM IN SPAIN. 409

were burned alive, those who would accept the offices of
a priest, however, having the privilege of being strangled
before their bodies were cast into the fire. The King
and royal family, the great personages of the court, of
both sexes, gave countenance to the proceedings by their
presence. Similar autos dafe occurred in various other
places, with every circumstance calculated to inspire fear
in the beholders. The officers of the Inquisition were so
active and vigilant, and so merciless, that there was no
hope for any who were inclined to Protestant opinions,
save in flight ; and even this was difficult. Covetousnesp
allied itself to fanaticism, for the forfeiture of all prop-
erty was a part of the penalty invariably visited upon
heresy. Thus Protestantism was eradicated.^ The re-
straints laid upon liberty of teaching smothered the intel-
lectual life of the country.

In Spain, as in Italy, the persecution did not spare the
Evangelical Catholics. Among these was Bartolome de
Carranza, Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain,
who had stood among the advocates of gratuitous justifi-
cation at the Council of Trent. He had accompanied
Philip II. to England and taken part in examining Prot-
estants who perished at the stake under Mary. He
was denounced to the Inquisition and imprisoned at Valla-
dolid. His intimacy with Pole, and mth Morone, Fla-
minio, and other eminent Italians who were inclined to
evangelical doctrine, was one fact brought up against him.
His catechism, partly for its alleged leaning, in some
points, to the Lutheran theology, and partly because it
was wi'itten in the vulgar tongue, was the principal basis
of the accusation. He was charged with not having ac
cused before the Holy Office leading Spanish Protestants,
of whose sentiments he had privately expressed his disap-
probation. At the end of seven years he was taken to

1 For details of persecution, see De Castros, Spanish Protestants (London,
1851).

410 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

Rome, and after various delays, Gregory XIII., in 1576,
pronounced sentence, finding him violently suspected of
heresy, prohibiting his catechism, requiring him to abjure
sixteen Lutheran articles, and suspending him from his
office for five years. At the expiration of this time, after
having been for eighteen years under some species of con-
finement, he died. A part of the material of accusation
against Carranza was derived from the words of consola-
tion which he had addressed to the dying Emperor,
Charles V., at the convent of Yuste. Kneeling at his
bedside, the Archbishop, holding up a crucifix, exclaimed:
" Behold Him who answers for all ! There is no more
sin ; all is forgiven ! " His words gave offense to some
who were present. Villabra, the Emperor's favorite
preacher, who followed, reminded his royal master that as
he was born on the day of St. Matthew, so he was to die
on that of St. Mattliias. With such intercessors, it was
added, he had nothing to fear. " Thus," writes Mignet,
" the two doctrines that divided the world in the age of
Charles V., were once more brought before him on the
bed of death." ^ Besides the Archbishop of Toledo, not
less than eight Spanish bishops, of whom the most had
sat in the Council of Trent, and twenty-five doctors of
theology, among whom were persons of the highest emi-
nence for learning, were likewise arraigned, and most of
them obliged to make some retraction or submit to some
public humiliation.

It is a remarkable evidence of the vitality of the Cath-
olic reaction that it went forward in spite of the want of
active sympathy on the part of certain popes with its
favorite measures, or the inconsistency of their policy with
its spirit and aims. What the new movement required,
and the result towards which it tended, was the union of
the Catholic powers ; especially an alliance of the Pope
and Spain. When Caraffa at the age of seventy-nine aa-

1 Robertson, Hist, of Charles V. (Prescott's ed.), iii- 491, 492.

THE CATHOLIC REACTION. 411

cended the Papal throne, his strongest passion seemed to
be his hatred of Charles V. and the Spaniards. With all
his zeal for the reform of which he had been one of the
earliest promoters, he advanced his relatives to high sta-
tions, not from that selfish ambition from which nepotism
had previously sprung, but in order to carry out his
schemes of hostility to Spain. His stoutest defenders
against Alva were Germans, most of whom were Protes-
tants ; he even invoked the help of the Turks. The de-
feat of his French allies at St. Quentin, followed by the
complete success of Alva, forced upon him a change of
pohcy. Forthwith he resumed with absorbing energy his
enterprises of reform, and discarded his relations, whom
he had found to be treacherous. This was the end of the
nepotism which so long had brought disgrace and weak-
ness upon the Papal office. But the war that he kindled
aided the cause of Protestantism in France and in the
Netherlands, and also in England. His political schemes
were partly responsible for his arrogant treatment of Eliza-
beth, whom he did not wish to marry Philip, and whom he
did wish Mary Stuart, the candidate of the Guises, to sup-
plant. In Pius IV. (1559-65) we have a pontiff who per-
sonally did not sympathize much with the Inquisition, yet
left it to pursue its course unhindered. He labored to
unite the Catholic world, and succeeded in pacifying the
divisions in the Council of Trent by skillful negotiations
with the different sovereigns. Pius V. (1566-72) was a
devoted representative of the rigid party, was zealous on
the one hand for the reformation of the Papal court, and
on the other for the destruction of heretics. He induced
Duke Cosmo of Florence to deliver up to him Carnesecchi,
an accomplished literary man, who, influenced by Valdez,
had early favored Protestantism, and had him brought to
Rome, wheie he was beheaded and his body committed to
the flames.^ He approved of Alva's doings in the Neth-

1 McCrie, Ref. in Italy, p. 20.

412 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

erlands. Gradually the Papacy came to join hands with
Spain in the grand effort to overcome Protestantism.
Sixtus V. excommunicated Henry IV. of France (1585).
He lent his most earnest cooperation to the effort to con-
quer England by the Armada. He was heart and soul
with Guise and the League, and upon the assassination of
Guise, excommunicated Henry HI. If he hstened favor-
ably to the efforts made to induce him to absolve and
recognize Henry of Navarre, his inclinations in this di-
rection were overcome by the energetic remonstrances of
Philip.i It was the hostile attitude of the Papacy that
strongly affected the Catholic adherents of Navarre, and
confirmed them in the disposition to require of him a pro-
fession of the Catholic faith.

Nothing can be more striking than the change in the
intellectual spirit of Italy, as we approach the end of the
sixteenth century .^ The old ardor in the study and imi-
tation of the ancients has passed away. Even the rever-
ence that spared the architectural remains of antiquity is
supplanted, in the mind of Sixtus V., for example, by the
desire to rear edifices that may rival them. A zeal for
independent investigation, especially in natural science,
takes the place of antiquarian scholarship ; but this new
scientific spirit, which often took a speculative turn, was
checked and repressed by the ecclesiastical rulers. Loy-
alty to the Church, and a religious temper, in the strict
form which the Catholic restoration engendered, pene-
trated society. Poetry, painting, and music were at once
renovated and moulded by the religious influence. Tasso,
who chose a pious crusader for the hero of his poem, the
school of Caracci, Domenichino, and Guido Reni, Pales-
trina, the great composer, suggest .the revolution in pubHc
feeling and taste in this age, in contrast with the age of

' Ranke, Eistory of the Popes, i. 387 seq., ii. 128 seq., iii. 115 seq. Hiibnet
Life of Sixtus V. (1872).
« Ranke, Hist, of the Popes, i. 493.

INFLUENCK OF THE JESUITS. 413

the Renaissance. The papal court, in its restored strict-
ness and sobriety, manifested its entire subjection to the
new movement. In a character like Carlo Borromeo, the
counter-reformation appears in a characteristic but pe-
culiarly attractive light. Of noble birth, and with temp-
tations to sensual indulgence thrown in his path, he de-
voted himself to a religious life with unwavering fidelity.
The nephew of Pius V., offices of the highest responsi-
bility were forced upon him, which he discharged with so
exemplary diligence and faithfulness, that such as were
inclined to envy or to censure were compelled to applaud.
But he welcomed the day when he could lay them down,
and give himself wholly to his diocese of Milan, where he
was archbishop. His untiring perseverance in works of
charity and reform, his visitations to remote, mountainous
villages, in the care of his flock, his zeal for education, his
devoutness, caused him to be styled, in the bull that can-
onized him, an angel in human form. His exertions in
making proselytes, and his willingness to persecute heresy,
are less agreeable to contemplate ; but they were essential
features of the Catholic reaction.

The Jesuits first established themselves in force in Italy,
and in Portugal, Spain, and their colonies. " Out of the
visionary schemes of Ignatius," says Ranke, " arose an in-
stitution of singularly practical tendency ; out of the con-
versions wrought by his asceticism, an institution framed
with all the just and accurate calculation of worldly pru-
dence." The education of youth, especially those of
higher rank, quickly fell, to a large extent, into their
hands. Their system of intellectual training was accord-
ing to a strict method ; but their schools were pervaded
by their peculiar religious spirit. It was largely through
'heir influence that the profane or secular tone of culture,
that had prevailed in the cities of Ital}^, was superseded
by a culture in which reverence for religion and the
Church was a vital element. From the two peninsulas

41-J THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

the new order extended its influence into the other coun-
tries of Europe. They formed a great standing army, in
the service of the Pope, for the propagation of Catholi-
cism. The University of Vienna was placed under their
direction ; thej'' estabhshed themselves at Cologne and
Ingolstadt and Prague, and from these centres operated
with great success in the Austrian dominions, the Rhen-
ish provinces, and other parts of Germany. The Duke
of Bavaria, partly from worldly and partly from religious
motives, enlisted warmly in the cause of the Catholic re-
action, and made himself its champion. In the ecclesias-
tical states of Germany, the spirit of Catholicism was
reawakened, and the toleration promised to Protestants
by the Peace of Augsburg, was frequently violated.
The Popes, in this period, were liberal in their conces-
sions to the Catholic princes, who found their profit in
helping forward the reactionary movement. In the last
quarter of the sixteenth century, mainly by the labors of
the Jesuits, and by the violent measures which they in-
stigated, the tide was turned against Protestantism in
Southern Germany, in Bohemia, Moravia, Poland, and
Hungary. In these countries, Protestantism had, on
the Avhole, gained the ascendency. Together with Bel-
gium and France, they constituted " the great debatable
land," where the two confessions struggled for the
mastery. In all of them, Catholicism, with its new
forces, was triumphant. The Jesuits did much to pro-
mote that increased excitement of Catholic feeling in
France, which showed itself in the slaughter of St.
Bartholomew and the wars of the League. From
Douay, the establishment founded by Cardinal William
Allen, they sent out their emissaries into England.
The order was active in Sweden, and, for a time, had
some prospect of winning that kingdom back to the
Catholic fold. Wherever they did not prevail, they
sharpened the mutual antagonism of the rival confes-

ARREST OF THE PROGRESS OF PROTESTANTISM. 415

sioiis. The progress of the Catholic restoration was
aided, especially in Germany, by the quarrels of Protes-
tant theologians. The mutual hostility of Lutheran
and Calvinist appeared, in some cases, to outweigh their
common opposition to Rome.

The question has often been asked, why, after so rapid
an advance of Protestantism for a half century, a limit
should then have been set to its progress ? Why was it
unable to overstep the bounds which it reached in the first
age of its existence ? Macaulay has handled this ques-
tion in a spirited essay, in which, with certain reasons,
which are pertinent and valuable, is coupled a singular de-
nial that the knowledge of religion is progressive, or at all
dependent upon the general enlightenment of the human
mind. Apart from his paradoxical speculation on this
last point, his statement of the grounds of the arrest of
the progress of Protestantism, though eloquent and
valuable, is quite incomplete. The principal causes of
this event we deem to be the following : —

1. The ferment that attended the rise of Protestantism
must eventually lead to a crystallizing of parties ; and
this must raise up a barrier in the way of the further
spread of the new doctrine. Protestantism was a move-
ment of reform, arising within the Church. At the out-
set, multitudes stood, in relation to it, in the attitude of
inquirers. They were more or less favorably inclined to
it. What course they would take, might depend on the
influences to which they would happen to be exposed.
They were not immovably attached to the old system ;
they were open to persuasion. But as the conflict became
warm, men were more and more prompted to take sides,
and to range themselves under one or the other banner.
This period of fluctuation and conversion would naturally
come to an end. As soon as the spirit of party was thus
awakened, it formed an obstacle to the further progress of

416 THE REFORMATION IN ITALY AND SPAIN.

the new opinions ; for this spirit communicated itself from
father to son.

2. The pohtical arrangements which were adopted in
different countries, in consequence of the rehgious division,
all tended to confine Protestantism within the limits which
it had early attained. This is a point of great importance,
and is not noticed by Macaulay. In Germany, the nego-
tiations and disputes produced by the religious contest,
issued in the adoption of the principle, " cujus regio, ejus
religio;" the religion of the State shall conform to that
of the prince. This principle, however, would not have
availed to arrest Protestantism. But the " ecclesiastical
reservation" did thus avail, since the conversion of an
ecclesiastical ruler to the new faith was attended with no
important gain to the Protestant cause : he must vacate
his office. The Avhole tendency of political arrangements
in Germany was to build up a wall of separation between
the two confessions, and to protect the territory of each
from the encroachments of the other. It must be remem-
bered that the spirit of propagandism did not, generally
speaking, characterize Protestantism. The Protestants,
especially in Germany, were satisfied if they could be left
to develop, without interference, their own system. The
utmost limit of their demand was room for its natural
expansion.^ In the Netherlands, the separation of the
Walloon provinces from the other states,, and the ad-
herence of the former to Spain, could have no other result
than to perpetuate their connection with the CathoHc
Church. In France, the civil wars and the political set-
tlement to which they led, resulted in the formation of
the Huguenots into a compact body, formidable for
defense, but powerless for the propagation of their faith.

1 " Wie wir ofter bemerkt, der Protestantismus ist nicht bekehrender Natur.
Es wird sich jedes Beitritts, der aus Ueberzeugiing entspringt, als eines Fort-
ganges seiner guten Sache freuen: sonst aber schon zufrieden sein, wcnn nur
selber verstattet ist, sich ungeirrt von fremder Einwirkung zu entwickeln.
Dies war es, wonach die evangelischen Fiirsten vom ersten Augenblick an streb-
ten." — Ranke, Dcutsclie Geschichte, v. 278.

AEREST OF THE PROGRESS OF PROTESTANTISM. 417

3. The counter-reformation in the CathoHc Church, by-
removing the gross abuses which had been the object of
righteous complaint, took a formidable weapon from the
hands of the Protestants. At the same time, the apathy
of the old Church was broken up, the attention of its
rulers was no longer absorbed in ambitious schemes of
politics, or in the gratification of a literary taste, which
made the Papal court a rendezvous of authors and artists ;
but a profound zeal for the doctrines and forms of the
Roman Catholic religion pervaded and united all ranks
of its disciples.

4. While this concentration of forces was taking
place on the Catholic side, Protestants more and more
wasted their strength in contests with one another.
Their mutual intolerance facilitated the advance of their
common enemy. Moreover, the warm, religious feeling
that animated the early Reformers and the princes who
defended their cause, passed away to a considerable
degree, and was succeeded by a theological rigidness, or
a selfish, political spirit. The appearance of such a char-
acter as Maurice of Saxony, in so marked contrast with
the Electors who listened to the voice of Luther, and
even with the Landgrave Philip of Hesse, indicates the
advent of an era when a more politic and selfish temper
displaces the simplicity of religious principle. Queen
Elizabeth, with her lukewarm attachment to the Refor-
mation, and her mendacious, crooked policy, is a pooi
representative of the religious character of Protestantism.
How much more intense and consistent was the religious
zeal of the secular leader of the Catholic restoration,
Philip IL ! The ardor of Protestants spent itself in
domestic discord, at the very time when the ardor of
Catholicism was exerted, with undivided energy, against
them.

5. The better organization of the Catholic Church was
a signal advantage in the battle with Protestantism

27

418 COUNTER-REFORMATION IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

which was divided into as many churches as there were
political communities that embraced the new doctrine.
On the Catholic side there could be a plan of operations,
having respect not to a single country alone, a separate
portion of the field of combat, but formed upon a survey
of the whole situation, and carried out with sole reference
to a united success.

6. Another source of power in the Catholic Church
grew out of the habit of availing itself of all varieties
of religious temperament, of turning to the best account
the wide diversity of talents and character which is de-
veloped within its fold. The dispassionate and astute
politician, the laborious scholar, the subtle and skillful
polemic, the fiery enthusiast, are none of them rejected,
but all of them assigned to a work suited to their respec-
tive capacities. Men as dissimilar as Bellarmine and
Ignatius were engaged in a common cause, and were
even mthin the same fraternity. This custom of the
Catholic Church is often attributed to a profound policy.
But whatever sagacity it may indicate, it is probably due
less to the calculations of a far-sighted policy, than to
an habitual principle, or way of thinking in religion,
which is inherent in the genius of Catholicism, It has
been justly observed that men of the type of Wesley,
who, among Protestants, have been forced to become
the founders of distinct religious bodies, would have
found within the Catholic Church, had they been born
there, hospitable treatment and congenial employment.
The host that was marshalled under the command of
the Pope, for the defense of Catholicism, was like an
army that includes light-armed skirmishers and heavy-
armed artillerymen, swift cavalry, and spies who can pen-
etrate the camp and pry into the counsels of the enemy.

7. It cannot be denied that in Southern Europe there
was manifested a more rooted attachment to the Roman
Catholic system, than existed among the nations which

THE CATHOLIC REACTION. 419

adopted the Reformation. In Germany, the common
people gladly heard the teaching of Luther. Protes-
tantism there had much of the character of a national
movement. In Italy and Spain, it was mainly the let-
tered class that received the new doctrine. Below a
certain grade of culture, few were affected by it. Even
in France, which had something like a middle position
between the two currents of opinion, it was the intel-
ligent middle class, together with scholars and nobles,
that furnished to Protestantism its adherents. In Italy
and Spain, the new doctrine did not reach down to the
springs of national life. Moreover, it is remarkable that
in these nations which remained Catholic, so many who
went so far as to receive the evangelical doctrine substan-
tially as it was held by the Protestants, were not im-
pelled to cast off the polity or worship of the old
Church. This circumstance is far from being wholly
due to timidity. The outward forms of Protestantism
were less necessary, less congenial to them ; the outward
forms of Catholicism were less obnoxious. Even in
France, this same phenomenon appeared in the circle
that early gathered about Lefevre and BriQonnet, and
especially in Margaret of Navarre and her followers.
The doctrine of gratuitous salvation through the merits
of Christ, the inwardness of piety, as fostered by the
evangelical doctrine, were grateful to them ; but they
were not moved to renounce the government or the
sacraments of the Church, or to afl&liate themselves with
the Protestant body.

Wlien all these circumstances are contemplated, it will
cease to be a matter of wonder that Protestantism, after
its first great victories were won, halted in its course and
was at length shut up within fixed boundaries.

But the Catholic party were destined to suffer from
internal discord. Before the close of the century, the fol-
lowers of Ignatius, who were semi-Pelagian in their the-

420 COUNTER-REFORMATION IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

ology, became involved in a hot strife with the Dominicans,
who in common with their master, Aquinas, were nearer
to Augustine in their view of the relation of grace to free-
will. The theological conflict that was thus kindled, was
of long continuance, and brought serious disasters upon
the Catholic Church, and, in its ultimate effect, upon the
Jesuit order. This was one of a number of adverse in-
fluences which conspired finally to paralyze the Cathohc
Reaction, and to stop the progress of the counter-reforma-
tion.

CHAPTER Xn.

THE STRUGGLE OF PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVEN-
TEENTH CENTURY.

The Catholic Reaction, of which the Pope was the
spiritual, and Philip II. the secular chief, experienced a
terrible reverse in the ruin of the Spanish Armada, and
the failure of that gigantic project for the conquest of
England. The establishment of Henry IV. on the throne
of France was a still more discouraging blow. France,
the Netherlands, and Great Britain were the principal
theatre of the efforts which had for their end the political
predominance of the Spanish monarchy and the spiritual
supremacy of Rome. The struggle of Protestantism con-
tinues through the greater part of the seventeenth cen-
tury. Gradually the Catholic Reaction expended its
force, and political motives and ideas subordinated the
impulses of fanaticism.

The principal topics to be considered are the thirty
years' war ; the English revolutions ; the domestic and
foreign policy of Richelieu and of Louis XIV. The reign
of Louis XIV. falls principally in the latter half of the
seventeenth century, or the period following the great
European settlement, the Peace of Westphalia. Yet some
notice of this reign is requisite for a full view of the
conflict of Protestantism and Catholicism. ^

Charles V. had found himself deceived in his political

1- Hausser, Geschichte des Zeitalters d. Reformation (1868). Von Raumer,
GescJiichte Europas seit d. Ende d. 15. Jahr., vol. iii. Laurent, Les Natimial-
itcs, 1. 1, ch. iv. Ranke, Geschichte Wallensteins (3d ed., 1872). Carlyle, History
of Frederic II., vol. i., b. iii., chaps, xiv., xvi.

422 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

calculations, and baffled by the moral force of the Prot-
estant faith in Germany. His final defeat in the attempt
to subjugate the Protestants left the Empire weak. It
is not true that Germany lost its political unity through
the Reformation, for this unity was practically gone
before : rather is it true that then it sacrificed the oppor-
tunity of recovering its unity and of placing it on an en-
during foundation. The Reformation in Germany, more
than in any other country, emanated not from statesmen
and rulers, but from the hearts of the people. It was
hindered from being universal by the obstacles cast in its
way and by its own internal divisions.

The Peace of Augsburg, unsatisfactory as its provis-
ions were to both parties, effected its end as long as
the emperors were impartial in their administration.
This was true of Ferdinand I., whose accession was
resisted by Paul IV., the enemy of his House ; and it
was true especially of Maximilian II., who was himself
strongly inclined to Protestant opinions, and was openly
charged with heresy by Catholic zealots. Under his
tolerant sway. Protestantism spread over Austria, with
the exception of the rural and secluded valleys of the
Tyrol. Charles V. had been obliged to relinquish
his wish to hand down the imperial crown to his son
Philip. Philip, in his fanatical exertions against Protes-
tantism, did not receive countenance or support from the
Austrian branch of his family. The cruelties of Alva in
the Netherlands, and the massacre of St. Bartholomew
were condemned and deplored by the Emperor. Philip
was so afraid that Maximilian himself would join the
Protestants, that he deemed it necessary to dissuade him,
by the most pressing exhortations, from taking such a
step. While the contest was raging in the Netherlands,
and between the Huguenots and their enemies in France,
the Lutherans of Germany remained for the most part
neutral. Their hostility to Calvinism had much to do

CAUSES OF THE TfflRTY YEARS' WAR. 423

in determining their position. They were warned by
William of Orange and other Protestants abroad, that
the cause was one, and that if Catholic fanaticism
were not checked, Germany would be the next victim.
In the latter portion of Maximilian's reign, which was
from 1564 to 1576, the Jesuits came in, and disturbances
arose. Rudolph 11. , his successor, had been brought
up in Spain, and was under the influence of this Order.
The same spirit characterized Matthias, who followed
next. In consequence of the incompetence of Rudolph,
the government of Austria and Hungary had, during his
life, been taken from him and given to Matthias, and he
in turn gave way, in like manner, to his cousin Arch-
duke Ferdinand, of Styria, a bigoted Catholic (1619-37).
Ferdinand and Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, were the
devoted champions of the Catholic Reaction. Matthias
had been compelled to grant a letter patent to the
Bohemians, which gave them full religious toleration
and equal rights with the Catholics. Violations of the
Religious Peace in- Germany on the side of the Catholics
were frequent. Bishops and Catholic cities drove out
their Protestant subjects and abolished Protestant wor-
ship. The indignation of the Protestants throughout
Germany was excited by the treatment of the free city
of Donauworth, which was exclusively Protestant, and
refused to allow processions from a Catholic convent,
these being inconsistent with a former agreement. The
city was placed under the ban of the Empire, and the
Bavarian Duke marched against it with an overwhelming
force, excluded Protestant worship, and incorporated the
town with his own territories (1607). Complaints were
made on the Catholic side of infractions of the Ecclesias-
tical Proviso, which ordained that benefices should be
vacated by incumbents who should embrace Protestant-
ism. The Protestants had permitted the Emperor, in
the Peace of Augsburg, on his own authority, to affirm

424 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

the Proviso, which they themselves at the same time
firmly refused to adopt ; just as the imperial declaration
for the protection of Protestant communities within the
jurisdiction of Catholic prelates, had been permitted by
the other party. Protestant princes had given to bene-
fices lying near them, which had already been gained to
tlie Reformation, bishops or administrators from their
own kinsmen ; and at the diets they urged the complete
abolishment of all such restrictions upon religious free-
dom.^ But the Proviso was rigidly enforced in the case
of the Elector of Cologne, who went over to Protestant-
ism in 1582. The outrage perpetrated against Donau-
worth led to the formation of the Evangelical Union
(1608), a League into which, however, all the Protes-
tant States did not enter, and which from the beginning
was weakly organized. But the Catholic League, which
was formed to oppose it, under the leadership of Maxi-
milian of Bavaria, was firmly cemented and full of
energy. On the Protestant side, in addition to other
sources of discord, the hostihty of the strict Lutherans
to the Calvinists was a continual and fruitful cause of
division. The Bohemians revolted against Ferdinand
IL in 1618, when their religious liberties were violated,
and " according to the good old Bohemian custom," as
one of the nobles expressed it, flung two of the imperial
councilors out of the window. When, shortly after, on
the death of Matthias, Ferdinand became his successor,
the Bohemians ref vised to acknowledge him as their
king, and gave the crown of Bohemia to Frederic V.,
the Elector Palatine, and the son-in-law of James I.
of England. Ferdinand, a nursling of the Jesuits, who
had early taken a vow to extirpate heresy in his do-
minions, which he had kept, up to the measure of his

1 Gieseler, iv. i. 1, § 11. Upon the history and interpretation of the Ecclesias-
tical Reservation, see Ranke, Deutsche Geschichte, v. 265, 274 seq. ( Werke, vii
7 seq.), Gieseler, iv. i. 1, § 9, and n. 40.

OPENING OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 425

ability, threw himself, as much from necessity as from
choice, into the arms of the Catholic League. He mani-
fested his ardor in the Catholic cause by an assiduous
attention to religious services. For example, he took
part in a procession in the midst of a storm of rain,
emulating thus the zeal which the Emperor Julian dis-
played in celebrating the rites of heathenism. Thus the
Austrian imperial house took up the work which had
been laid down by Charles V., of defending and propa-
gating Catholicism, in alliance with the Church. The
Catholic Reaction, which had found a representative in
PhiHp II., found another leader in the Emperor ; and
the two branches of the Hapsburg family were more
united in religious sympathies. The Elector, Frederic,
with his obtrusive Calvinism, and with a court whose
customs and manners were not congenial with Bohemian
feeling — receiving little support, moreover, from the
Protestant princes or from England — suffered a com-
plete defeat. Lutheran prejudices and the fear of coun-
tenancing rebellion and the revolutionary spirit, deprived
him of his natural allies. The result was that Bohemia
was abandoned to fire and sword. In the frightful perse-
cution which had for its object the eradication of Protes-
tantism, and in the protracted wars that ensued upon
it, the population was reduced from about four millions
to between seven and eight hundred thousand ! It was
only when the Palatinate was conquered and devas-
tated ; ^ when the electoral rank was transferred to the
Duke of Bavaria, and with it the territories of Frederic,
except what was given to Spain ; and when the enter-
prise of banishing Protestantism was actively undertaken
by the combined agency of the troops of the League and
of Jesuit priests, that the Protestant powers took up
the cause of the fugitive Elector. In 1625, England,
Holland, and Denmark entered into an alliance for his

1 The Heidelberg Librarj' was carried off to Rome.

426 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

restoration. Christian IV. of Denmark was defeated,
and the Danish intervention failed. By robbing Fred-
eric of the electoral dignity and conferring it on the
Bavarian Duke, a majority in the electoral body was
acquired by the Catholics. But the power and station
which the Duke gained, separated, in important partic-
ulars, his interests from those of Ferdinand. It was
through the aid of Wallenstein and his consummate
ability in collecting and organizing, as well as leading
an army, that Ferdinand was able to emancipate himself
from the virtual control of Maximilian and the League.^
Wallenstein was a Bohemian noble, proud, able, and
swayed by dreams of ambition ; unscrupulous in respect
to the means which might be required for the fulfillment
of his daring schemes. He had rendered valuable mili-
tary services to Ferdinand ; and, on the suppression of
the Bohemian revolt, had acquired vast wealth by the
purchase of confiscated property. He offered to raise
an army and to sustain it. He made it support itself by
pillage. It was a period of transition in the method of
prosecuting war, when the old system of feudal militia
had passed away, and the modern system of national
forces or standing armies had not arisen. Armies were
made up of hirelings of all nations, who prosecuted war
as a trade wherever the richest booty was to be gained ;
considering indiscriminate robbery a legitimate incident
of warfare. The ineffable miseries of the protracted
struggle in Germany were due, to a considerable extent,
to this composition of the armies. Bands of organized
plunderers, with arms in their hands, were let loose upon
an unprotected population, captured cities being given
up to the unbridled passions of a fierce and lawless
soldiery. The unarmed people dreaded their friends
hardly less than their foes. The good behavior of the

1 Ranke, Gesckichte Wallcnsteins (3d ed., 1872). This biography, as might be
expected, is highly instructive on the whole subject of the thirty years' war-

THE EDICT OF RESTITUTION. 427

Swedes was a marvel to the inhabitants with whom they
came in contact ; and even the Swedes, after the death
of their great leader, sunk down towards the level of the
rest of the combatants in this frightful conflict. It is
no wonder that Germany, traversed and trampled for a
whole generation by these hosts of marauders, was re-
duced almost to a desert ; that it endured calamities
from which it has never entirely recovered.

Victory attended the arms of Wallenstein and of
Tilly, the General of the League. Brunswick and Han-
over, Silesia, Schleswig and Holstein, fell into their
power. The dukes of Mecklenburg were put under the
ban of the Empire, and their territory given, as a re-
ward, to Wallenstein (1627). He was anxious to reduce
the German towns on the Baltic. But Stralsund offered
a stubborn resistance which he could not overcome, al-
though he vowed that he would have the town if it
were bound to the sky by chains of adamant. His am-
bitious schemes were quite independent of the schemes
of the League, which could not count upon his support.
Such was their jealousy and animosity towards the com-
mander who had made Ferdinand free from their dicta-
tion, that they induced him to remove Wallenstein from
his command. Shortly before this, however, they had
moved the Emperor to the adoption of a measure equally
dangerous to his cause, and one that put far distant the
hopes of peace. This was the famous Edict of Restitution
(1629), which declared that the Protestant States, after
the Treaty of Passau, had no right to appropriate the
ecclesiastical benefices which were under their lordship,
and that every act of secularization of this nature was
null ; that all archbishoprics and bishoprics which had
become Protestant since that Treaty, must be surren-
dered ; that the Declaration of Ferdinand I., giving liberty
to the Protestant subjects of ecclesiastical princes, was
invalid, and that such subjects might be forced to become

428 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

Catholics, or expelled from their homes. That is, the
parts of the Religious Peace that were odious to the
Protestants were to be enforced, according to the strict-
est construction, while the parts obnoxious to the Catho-
lics were to be abrogated. Moreover, the Edict ordained
that the Religious Peace should not avail for the protec-
tion of Calvinists, Zwinglians, or any other dissenters,
save the adherents of the Augsburg Confession. The
changes that had taken place since the Passau Treaty-
were of such a character, that the execution of the Edict
would have brought a sweeping and violent revolution
in the Protestant communities. It was evident that
nothing less was aimed at than the entire extinction of
Protestantism. The most lukewarm of the Princes,
including the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony,
were roused by this measure to a sense of the common
danger. Thus the Edict of Restitution and the removal
of Wallenstein from his command, the two measures
dictated by the League, aided the Protestant cause ; the
first by awakening and combining its supporters, and
the second by weakening the military strength of their
adversaries. Wallenstein was a sacrifice to the League
and to the ambition of Maximilian.

In the second act of this long drama, Gustavus Adol-
phus, of Sweden, is the hero. It had been his aim in
a conflict of eighteen years, with Denmark, Poland, and
Russia, to control the Baltic Sea. Not only was this
pohtical aim imperiled by the imperial conquests, but
they involved the danger of a Catholic reaction in Sweden
itself. Besides this motive, the Swedish King was im-
pelled to intervene by a genuine attachment to Protes-
tantism, such as had inspired German princes, like Fred-
eric of Saxony, and Philip of Hesse, in the first age of
the Reformation. He was not a crusader, who sought
to exterminate the opposing faith. Rather did he wish
both religious parties to respect each others' rights, and

DEATH OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. 429

dwell in amity. His interposition, full of peril to him-
self, was regarded by Brandenburg and Saxony with
jealousy and repugnance. It was not until the barbarous
sack and burning of Magdeburg by the savage troops of
Tilly (1631), that the neutral party was forced to side
with Sweden. The victory of Gustavus over Tilly, and
the triumphant advance of the Swedes into the South
of Germany, prostrated the power of the League. We
find that Gustavus was regarded with suspicion by the
princes but with cordiality by the German cities. Whether
his plan of peace, which embraced the repeal of the
Edict of Restitution, the toleration everywhere of both
religions, the restoration of the Elector Palatine to his
territories and to the electoral dignity, and the banish-
ment of the Jesuits, contemplated his own elevation to
the rank of King of Rome, must remain uncertain. No
alternative was left to Ferdinand but to call back Wallen-
stein from his estates, and give him absolute powers in
the conduct of the war — powers which made him inde-
pendent of all control, and exempt from liability to
another removal. The battle of Lutzen, in 1632, was a
great defeat of Wallenstein, and a glorious victory for the
Swedes ; • but it cost them the life of their king.

In the new phase which the war assumed after the
fall of Gustavus, the influence of Richelieu becomes more
and more predominant. The policy of the Cardinal was
to attain the end, which French politics had so long pur-
sued, of breaking down the power of Hapsburg, and, at
the same time, of profiting by the intestine conflict in
Germany, by extending the French frontier on the East.

The ground on which Richelieu vindicated himself for
lending aid to Protestants, was, that the war was not a
religious, but a political one. It was the old contest of
France against the ambitious effort of the house of Hpps-
burg, to destroy the independence of other nations, and
build up a universal monarchy. This imputation was in-

430 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

dignantly denied ; nor is tliere reason to think that such a .
design was seriously entertained by the Emperor and his
partisans. Yet a complete success in their mixed poHtical
and religious enterprise, would have given them a danger-
ous preponderance. Li the Avarfare of Philip II. against
Protestantism, the supremacy of Spain and the triumph
of the Catholic cause were linked together in his mind.
Richelieu, in turn, was charged with cherishing an equal
ambition in behalf of France. The accusation had so
much of truth, that he, doubtless, aimed to raise his
country to the leading place among the European nations.
Holland helped the anti-Austrian league by carrying on
its own contest against the troops of Spain, but was
deterred from entering further into the war by appre-
hensions in reference to France, and the consequences
that would follow the augmentation of French power.
Richelieu had refrained from engaging in the German
war, until the quelling of the Huguenots, and the capture
of Rochelle left his hands free. In return for the sub-
sidies which he furnished Gustavus, he had been able to
gain from the wary monarch no share in the control of
the war, but only the pledge that no attack should be
made vipon the Catholic religion as such. Oxenstiern,
the Swedish Chancellor, on whom the principal conduct
of affairs now devolved, was careful to retain for the
Swedes the supreme direction of the war, which was done
in the Heilbronn Treaty of 1633, when France entered
into an alliance with Sweden and the Protestant States.
Wallenstein became more and more an object of dread to
his imperial master, as well as to the League. The com-
mander, whom it was now impossible either to remove or
to control, was plotting to arrange for a peace, in which
he should settle with France and Sweden, satisfy the Prot-
estants, and probably reserve Bohemia, as a reward for
himself. He had sounded his officers, and confided in
their fidelity to their leader. The murder of Wallenstein

PREDOMINANCE OF RICHELIEU. 431

(1634) was the means chosen to punish his treasjii, and
avert the thi-eatened danger.

The imperial victory in the battle of Nordlingen, in
1634, had the effect to give to Richelieu the predominance
which he had long aspired after. The Swedish force was
broken. The aid of France had now become a necessity.
France and Sweden were thenceforward to have an equal
part in the management of the war. Brandenburg and
Saxony, to whom the connection with Sweden had always
been repugnant, made for themselves a separate treaty
with the Emperor, by which the Edict of Restitution, as
far as they were concerned, was abrogated. The treaty
between Saxony and the Emperor was concluded at
Prague, in 1635. That the Elector should enter into
this disgraceful arrangement was owing, in part, to his
jealousy of Sweden, and, in part, to the bigoted hostility
to Calvinism, that prevailed in his court. Richelieu's
desire to build up a French party among the Germans
seemed to be accomplished, when Bernard, of Weimar,
their foremost general, was taken into the pay of France.
Yet Bernard could not be relied on to consent to a per-
manent cession of territory to that country : in his tes-
tament, he expressly declared against it. The death of
Bernard in 1639 placed the Cardinal at the goal of all his
efforts ; for the prosecution of the war was left in the
hands of the French, and the armies came under the lead
of French officers. The character of the war had entirely
changed. Protestant states were fighting on the imperial
side, and paying a heavy price for their desertion of their
foi'mer allies. Eight more years of war were required to
bring the Court of Vienna to consent to a full amnesty
and to the restoration of the religious peace, involving the
surrender of the Edict of Restitution ; measures which
were indispensable to the termination of the weary con-
flict. An acquiescence in these necessary terms of peace
was at last wrung from the Emperor by his military
reverses.

432 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

The cruelties inflicted during this war, especially during
the last years of it, upon the defenseless people, are inde-
scribable. The population of Germany is said to have
diminished in thirty years from twenty to fifty per cent.
The population of Augsburg was reduced from eighty
thousand to eighteen thousand. Of the four hundred
thousand inhabitants of Wiirtemburg as late as 1641,
only forty-eight thousand were left. Cities, villages,
castles, and houses innumerable had been burned to the
ground. The bare statistics of the destruction of life and
property are appalling.

The Peace of Westphalia, in 1648, confirmed the Eccle-
siastical Reservation — fixing, however, 1624 as the normal
year, to decide which faith should possess ecclesiastical
properties. It modified the jus reformandi^ according to
which the religion of each state was to be determined by
that of the pruice ; and in this matter, also, 1624 was
made the normal year. That is to say, whatever might
be the faith of the prince, the religion of each state was
to be Catholic or Protestant, according to its position at
that date. As to their share in the imperial administration,
the two religions were placed on a footing of substantial
equality. Religious freedom and civil equality were also
extended to the Calvinists ; only these three forms of
religion were to be tolerated in the Empire. But the
Empire was reduced to a shadow by the giving of the
power to decide, instead of advising, in all matters of
peace, war, taxation, and the like, to the Diet, and by the
allowance granted to members of the Diet to contract al-
liances with one another and with foreign powers, pro-
vided no prejudice should come thereby to the Empire or
the Emperor. The independence of Holland and of
Switzerland was formally acknowledged. Sweden ob-
tained the territory about the Baltic, which Gustavus had
wanted, in addition to other important places about the
North Sea, and the mouths of the Oder, the Weser, and

ENGLAND UNDER JAMES I. 433

the Elbe ; in consequence of which cession Sweden, be-
came a member of the German Diet. Among tlie ac-
quisitions of France were the three bishoprics, Metz, Toul,
and Verdun, and the landgraviate of Upper and Lower
Alsace ; France thus gaining access to the Rhine. Both
Sweden and France, by becoming guarantees of the peace,
obtained the right to interfere in the internal affairs of
Germany. So great was the penalty paid for civil
discord.

England, during the reign of the Stuart kings, de
scended from the lofty position which it had held among
the European states, as a bulwark of Protestantism.
James I. (1603-1625) brought to the throne the highest
notions of kingly authority, and in connection with them,
a cordial hatred of Presbyterian ism, which his experiences
in Scotland led him to regard as a natural ally of popular
government. He expressed his conviction in the maxim,
" No bishop, no king." The contrast between obsequious
prelates on their knees before him, and the ministers of
the Kirk who pulled his sleeve as they administered their
blunt rebukes, delighted his soul. He found himself not
only deUvered from his tormentors, but an object of adula-
tion. He had once said of the " neighbor Kirk in Eng-
land " that "it is an evil-said mass in English;"^ but
he was cured of this aversion, if it was ever seriously
entertained. During the reign of James, the gulf be-
tween the Anglican Church and the Puritans was widened,
chiefly in consequence of two changes which took place in
the former. The episcopal polity which had been regarded,
in the age of Elizabeth, as one among various admissible
forms of Church government, came to be more and more
considered a divine ordinance, and indispensable to the
constitution of a Church ; so that, as Macaulay expresses
it, a Church might as well be without the doctrine of the

1 Calderwood, v. 105, lOG ; Burton, vi. 221-
28

434 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

Trinity or the Incarnation, as witliout bishops. The
other change was the spread in the Anghcan body, of the
Arminian theology, which introduced a doctrinal differ-
ence that had not existed before, between the established
Church and the Puritans. ^ As the common enemy, which
Anglican and Puritan combined to oppose, became less
formidable, since the great majority of the nation were
now hostile to the Catholic Church, the two Protestant
parties were less restrained from mutual contention, and
were led by the very influence of their conflict mth one
another to sharpen their characteristic points of difference.
James lost no time in evincing his hostility to the Puri-
tans. On his way to London, the Millenary petition,
signed by nearly a thousand ministers, who asked for the
abolishment of usages most obnoxious to the Puritans,
was not only received with no favor, but ten of those
who had presented the petition were actually imprisoned
by the Star Chamber, on the ground that their act tended
to sedition and treason. The petitioners were not Sepa-
ratists ; they made no objection to episcopacy. They
complained of non-residence, pluralities, and hke abuses,
and of the cross in baptism, the cap and surplice, and a
few other ceremonial peculiarities.^ The opportunity was
presented for a scheme of Comprehension, which, had it
been adopted, would have had the most important conse-
quences ; but that opportunity was not embraced. In the
Hampton Court Conference, where a few Puritan divines
met the bishops, the King treated the former with

1 James sent delegates to the Synod of Dort, who made to him full reports of its
proceedings. Some of them he rewarded with promotion in the Church. Mrs.
Hutchinson, writing of the interval between 1639 and 1G41, in the next reign,
says of the doctrine of predestination: " At that time this great doctrine grew
much out of fashion with the prelates, but was generally embraced by all relig-
ious and holy persons in the land." Life of Col. Hutchinson, p. 66 (Bohn's
cd.). The admirable picture of Puritan character presented in this memoir is
marred only by the writer's strong prejudice against Cromwell. The literature
on the history of Arminianism in the English Church is given by Cunninghain,
The Reformers and the Theology of the Reformation, p. 168 seq.

^ Haliam, ch. vi. (p. 173).

ENGLAND UNDER JAMES I. 436

unfairness and insolence. He plumed himself on the the-
ological learning and acumen which he fancied himself to
possess, and which formed one of his titles to the distinc-
tion, which his flatterers gave him, of being the Solomon
of his age. The praises lavished on him by the bishops,
— one of whom declared that he undoubtedly spoke by the
direct inspiration of the Holy Ghost — in connection with
their extravagant theory of royal authority, and of the
submission owed by the subject, filled him with delight.
This Conference had one valuable result. Dr. Reynolds,
one of the Puritan representatives, and perhaps the most
learned man in the kingdom, recommended that a new or
revised version of the Scriptures should be prepared ; and
this suggestion James, who complained of certain mar-
ginal observations in " the Geneva Bible," which were
unfavorable to the sacredness of royalty, caught up and
caused to be carried out.^ The desire of the clergy to
enhance their own authority by exalting that of the
crown, appears in the ambitious schemes of Bancroft, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, which encountered the resist-
ance of Coke, the great champion of the common law.
As long as Cecil was in power, the foreign politics of James
were not destitute of spirit ; but the timidity of the King,
joined with his desire to marry his son to a Spanish prin-
cess, prevented him from efficiently supporting his son-in-
law, the Elector Palatine, at the outbreaking of the thirty
years' war, and moved him basely to sacrifice Raleigh to
the vengeance of Spain. His want of common sense was
manifested in his attempt to impose episcopacy upon the
Scottish Church. His arbitrary principles of government,
which he had not prudence enough to prevent him from

1 The Hampton Court Conference is interesting and important, as presenting
the characteristics of the two ecclesiastical parties and of the sovereign. Most
of the accounts of it are derived from Dr. Barlow's report, who was on the
anti-Puritan side. See Fuller, Church History, v. 206; Neal, p. ii., ch. i.; Card-
well, History of Conferences, p. 121; Burton, History of Scotland, vi. 218 seq.
Hallam {Const. Hist., ch. vi.) has candid and just remarks on *he behavior o!
ihe king and of the bishops.

436 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

constantly proclaiming, prepared the way for the great
civil contest that broke out in the next reign.

Charles I. (1625-1649) made the deliberate attempt
to govern England without a Parliament. There is no
doubt that it was his design to convert the limited monar-
chy into an absolute one. Although a sincere Protes-
tant, he sympathized fully with what may be termed the
Romanizing party in the English Church, or the party
which stood at the farthest remove from Puritanism, and
nearest to the religious system of the Church of Rome.
Charles's treatment of the Papists was vacillating. Now
the laws would be executed against them, and now the
execution of them would be illegally suspended by the
King's decree. But the occasional severities of the gov-
ernment towards them could not efface the impression
which had been made by the sending of an English fleet to
aid in the blockade of Rochelle (1625), which the French
King was seeking to wrest from the Huguenots. Laud, an
honest but narrow-minded and superstitious man, became
Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1633. To advance, in re-
spect to doctrine and ceremonies, as near as possible to the
Roman Catholic system, without accepting the jurisdic-
tion of the Pope, was his manifest inclination. He re-
cords his dreams in his diary. On one occasion he
dreamed that he was reconverted to the Church of
Rome.^ It was an unpleasant dream, since it related to
a danger that, as he doubtless felt, attended his meas-
ures, but which he meant to escape. His impracticable
character and lack of tact, even James I. accurately dis-
cerned. " The plain truth is that I keep Laud back from
all place of rule and authority, because I find that he
hath a restless spirit, and cannot see when matters are
well, but loves to toss and change, and to bring things to
a pitch of reformation, floating in his own brain, which
may endanger the steadfastness of that which is in a

1 Burton, Ilist. of Scotlawl, vi. 390.

THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 437

good pass." Of Laud's plans respecting the Scots, James
added : " He knows not the stomach of that people." ^
By means of the Com't of High Commission, a species
of Protestant Inquisition, he engaged with a vigilant and
merciless zeal in the persecution of Puritans. They were
even prosecuted for not complying with new ceremonies
which Laud himself had introduced, and for preaching
Calvinism ; and they were punished for declining to read
in the churches, the " Book of Sports," which recommended
games and pastimes, of which they did not approve.
The Star-Chamber, and the High Commission, are em-
blems, as they were effective instruments, of the ecclesi-
astical and civil tyranny to which the English people
were subjected. The endeavor to force the English
Prayer-book upon Scotland, called out, in 1638, the
Solemn League and Covenant of the Scots for the de-
fense of Presbyterianism. In 1642, hostilities began
between the Long Parliament and the King, the imme-
diate occasion being the abortive attempt of Charles, in
violation of his pledges, to arrest Pym and his associates,
in the House of Commons. The same year Parliament
convoked the Westminster Assembly to advise them in
the matter of reconstructing the Church of England. At
the outset, a majority of its members were not only con-
forming ministers, but would have been content with a
moderate episcopacy. It has been said with truth that
moderate EpiscopaHans of the school of Usher, and mod-
erate Presbyterians of the stamp of Baxter, had little dif-
ficulty in finding a common ground on which they could
unite. A second party which, if not numerous in the
Assembly, was growing in the nation, was that of the
Independents who held to the self-governing power of
the local congregation or church, into the communion of
which they would receive none who did not give proof of

1- The authority for this statement of James is Bishop John Hacket. Burton
ri. 338.

438 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

being spiritual or regenerated persons. Rejecting the
government of prelates and of synods, they favored vol-
untary associations for counsel, and for the prosecution,
in concert, of Christian work. The Independents were
denied the liberty which they strove to obtain at the
hands of the Presbyterians ; and the rejection by them of
a scheme of comprehension, which would have united both
sections of the Puritan party, has been deplored, even by
Neal and Baxter, advocates of the Presbyterian system.
The Erastians, among whom in the Assembly were
Lightfoot and Selden, of all the members the most emi-
nent for their learning, were in favor of giving the regu-
lation of all ecclesiastical affairs to the state. The influ-
ence of the Scots, and the necessity of a union with them,
in order successfully to withstand Charles, were power-
ful considerations with the whole Puritan body. Parlia-
ment adopted the Scottish Covenant, and the Assembly
the Presbyterian polity. But Parliament steadily re-
fused to concede to this system a divine right, or to yield
up its own supremacy, as a court of ultimate appeal.
The Calvinistic theory of the Church, as a distinct power,
having the complete right to excommunicate its members,
or to interdict communion, was not allowed. It was a
point which the Scottish influence was not strong enough
to carry. The Confession and Catechism, prepared by
the Assembly, were made the Creed of the Church of
England, and their " Directory " was put forth by au-
thority of Parliament, for the regulation of worship, in
the room of the Prayer-book. Between one and two
thousand ministers who refused the new subscriptions,
were deprived of their places.^ The Presbyterian system,
similar to that in Scotland, Avith the exception that ap-
peals might be taken from the highest ecclesiastical tri-
bunals to Parliament, was now legally established in

1 As to the number and character of the ejected ministers, se« Val ^liaa
English Nonconfurmity, p. 127.

THE INDEPENDENTS. 439

England. But shortly after the new regulations were
passed, the Independents, of whom Cromwell was the
chief, attained to supreme power in the state. The con-
sequence was, that Presbyterianism was never fully es-
tablished in more than two counties, Middlesex and Lan-
cashire. Cromwell set up a Board of " Triers " for the
examination and approval of candidates for benefices ;
and without the certificate of this Board, composed mostly
of Independent divines, no person could take an ecclesi-
astical office. Their certificate was a substitute for insti-
tution and induction. But the Puritans, when they
found themselves in possession of power, interdicted the
use of the Prayer-book in private houses as well as in
churches, and imitated, but too successfully, the persecut-
ing spirit of their opponents. Cromwell himself, in com-
parison with the Puritan leaders generally, was of a lib-
eral and tolerant spirit. The Independents were, gener-
ally speaking, favorable to religious toleration. Yet,
it was only a few, at first, who fuHy adopted the princi-
ple that the magistrate should use no coercion whatever
in matters of religious belief, or the principle that the
state should leave entirely to the congregations the pecu-
niary support of the ministry. The doctrine of religious
liberty found, at that day, some warm advocates, such
as Vane, and John Milton, the ornament of the Indepen-
dent party.

The settlement of New England was a result of the
religious conflicts among the Protestants of England.
In the reign of James I., a congregation of Independents
escaped from persecution in England, under circum-
stances of great difficulty and hardship, and found an
asylum in Holland. A portion of this church of emi-
grants, at Leyden, having received the benediction of their
pastor, John Robinson, crossed the Atlantic in the May-
flower, and in December, 1620, began the settlement of
Plymouth. Afterwards, in the reign of Charles I., bands

440 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

of non-conformists from England, organized the colony
of Massachusetts. The Plymouth settlers were Separa-
tists ; the INIassachusetts settlers were not. But as Rob-
inson had predicted, " unconformable Christians " of both
classes, found no difficulty in agreeing in Chureli principles,
as soon as they found themselves out of the kingdom of
England, and at full liberty to regulate their ecclesiastical
affairs for themselves. They adopted in common the Con-
gregational system of Church government. The settlers
of Massachusetts organized a State as well as a Church.
They founded a religious commonwealth ; a community in
which all political power was placed in the hands of mem-
bers of the Church ; a theocratic State. They have been
censured for the practice of intolerance towards opponents
of their creed, and of their ecclesiastical and political
order. On this point, a distinction is to be made between
the settlers of Massachusetts and those of Plymouth.
Among the latter, religious liberty was cherished. It is
important to remember that the Massachusetts colony
was not a full-blown commonwealth, but a society or-
ganized under a charter ; at most, an incipient State.
What may be safe and tolerable in a mature, fully
established political community, may be unsafe and de-
structive in an infant society of this character ; especially
in an age of religious ferment and violent agitation. Yet
it must not be supposed that the founders of Massachu-
setts and of the other New England colonies, except
Rhode Island, which were soon after formed, were ad-
vocates of " liberty of conscience." They generally be-
lieved that it belongs to the civil magistrate to protect
orthodoxy. They had not advanced to the more liberal
doctrine as to the rights of the individual, to the more re-
stricted notion of the province of the state, which Inde-
pendents of the school of Milton and Vane expressed, and
which formed one of the pecuHarities of Roger Williams.^

1 Among the multitude of books on the principles of the founders of New

REIGN OF CHARLES II. 441

Under the Protector, England once more took the high
and commanding place in Europe, which she had lost
since the death of Elizabeth. Heavy blows were struck
at the Spanish monarchy. Protestants, wherever they
were oppressed, found in the English Ruler a defender
whose arm was long enough to smite their assailants.

The English people, after the death of Cromwell
(1658), were more and more impatient of the rule of
the army, and yearned for their old institutions of gov-
ernment. Hence they gave a cordial welcome to Charles
II. (1660). The fatal mistake was made of requiring
from him no formal guaranties of civil and religious
liberty. The restoration was effected by a combined
effort of the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians.^ The
Presbyterians had stood aloof from the extreme meas-
ures of the reigning party under the commonwealth :
the Presbyterian members had been expelled from Par-
liament before the trial of the King. This party had
warm hopes, not only from the agency which they had
exerted in bringing back the King, but also from his
promises. In the Declaration from Breda, prior to his
return, Charles had declared that no man should " be
disquieted or called in question for diuerences of opinion
in religion which do not disturb the peace of the king-
dom." He had promised " a liberty to tender con-
sciences " and " an indulgence " to be secured by Act
of Parliament. The Worcester House Declaration of
the King, shortly after the Restoration, more than con-
firmed these pledges ; but they were all to be falsified.

England, we may refer to Palfrey's learned and able History of New Enrjland,
vol. i. ; to the Lectures of Dr. George E. Ellis on The Aims and Purposes of
the Founders of Massachusetts, and Their Treatment of Intruders and Dis-
sentients, and to Historical Discourses, by Leonard Bacon (1839).

1 Forster, Life of Cromwell, in the Statesmen of the Commonwealth, vols. iii.
and iv.; T. Carlyle, Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell (.3d ed., 1857}.
Besides the English historians, Hume, Clarendon, Godwin, Macaulay, and the
others, we have, on this period, the works of Guizot, History of the Knglish
Revolution, and Hist, of Cromwell, the Commonwealth, and the Restoration
(1854-57).

442 PEOTESTANTISiM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

The Presbyterians found themselves deceived, Charles
was himself a good-natured sensualist, secretly fond of
the Romish Church, to which he conformed on his death-
bed. But had he been disposed to be indulgent to Puri-
tanism, the wave of the Anglican Reaction, which rose
higher day by day ; the Reaction in which a tender senti-
ment of loyalty to the family of the King was mingled with
resentment against the party by whose instrumentality
his father had been brought to the block, and with love
to the Church, which had fallen with the throne, might
have hindered him from carrying out his inclination. The
anti-Puritan measures had the potent support of Clar-
endon. The Savoy Conference, in May, 1661, between
twenty-one Anglican, and as many Presbyterian divines,
after acrimonious debates, in which the Churchmen
showed no disposition to come to an accommodation
with their opponents, which would have retained in the
Church a vast number of able and useful ministers, broke
up without any result. Thus another great opportunity
for Comprehension, for converting the Anglican establish-
ment into a Broad Church, in which, with uniformity in
essentials, there should be room for diversity in things of
less moment, was thrown away. The Episcopal system
was re-instated by Parliament. It was required that all
mmisters who had not been ordained by bishops should
receive episcopal ordination ; that all ministers should
make a declaration of unfeigned assent and consent to
the Prayer-book and to the whole system of the Church
of England, should take the oath of canonical obedience,
abjure the Solemn League and Covenant, and, moreover,
solemnly abjure the doctrine of the lawfulness of taking up
arms against the King or any commissioned by him, on any
pretense whatsoever. Two thousand ministers — many
of whom were among the best in the kingdom, men like
Richard Baxter — who refused to comply with the terma
of the Act of Uniformity, Avere in one day, in 1662, ejected

EJECTION OF PURITAN MINISTERS. 443

from their livings.^ This hard measure may, to be sure,
be looked upon as a retaliation for what was done to the
Episcopal clergy under the Long Parliament. But those
who rejected the Covenant received a fifth of the income
of their places, for the supply of their immediate necessi-
ties. In their case, also, there was a great political di-
vision, a civil war in which the ejected ministers were
against the Parliament ; while the ministers who were
driven from their parishes in 1662 were loyal supporters
of Charles, without whom he might never have obtained
his throne.

Whoever would form a vivid idea of the demoralization
of the English Court, should read the Diaries of Pepys
and Evelyn, both of them Royalists, and the latter a man
of elevated character, as well as of high culture. Men
who had risked their lives for the fallen dynasty, but who
retained some respect for morality and decency, were
compelled to hide their heads with mortification at the
shameless profligacy that was encouraged by the example
of the King.

In 1670, Charles II. entered into the secret treaty with
Louis XIV., which has been described as " a coalition
against the Protestant faith and the liberties of Europe."
It was agreed that Charles, at the fitting time, should
avow himself a Catholic, and, with the help of Louis,
establish the Catholic religion and absolute government

1 Documents relating to the Settlement of the Church of England by the Act
of Uniformity, 1662. (London, 1862.) This is a valuable compilation. An
excellent monograph on the Restoration in its ecclesiastical aspects, is the work
of Stoughton, Church and State Two Hundred Years Ago : From, 1660 to
1663 (1862). The Life and Times of Richard Baxter, is a most instructive
and entertaining contemporaneous authority. Baxter played a prominent
part in the events of the period. If his scholarship was not accurate, his read-
ing was vast. His mind was acute and fertile, and his piety was honored by
his adversaries. But in public affairs, he was singularly destitute of tact, and
he had a most exaggerated faith in the efficacy of disputations and of "a few
necessary distinctions," where hostile parties were to be reconciled. On the
treatment of Baxter and his associates in 1662, there are good remarks by Cole-
ridge in his Notes on the Old Divines, in 'he section: Notes on Baxter's Life Oj
Himself.

444 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVEN lEENTH CENTURY.

in England. In return, Charles was to help Louis in hifl
ambitious designs upon the Netherlands. The dominions
of Spain in America were, if practicable, at a later day,
to be divided between the two contracting powers. It ia
hardly probable that Louis expected to cany out the plot
contained in this treaty, so far as the forcible establish-
ment of the Catholic religion in England is concerned.
It was enough for him, if the King and Parliament
remained in a constant disagreement, and if England
could be at least prevented from interfering Avith his
schemes of conquest. The hesitation of Charles about
professing his Catholicism retarded the movement for the
accomphshment of the treaty. Strenuous opposition had
sprung up in Parliament to the King, and especially to his
brother, the Duke of York, who was an avowed Catholic.
Fresh severities against Dissenters were undertaken, for
the purpose of conciliating the Anglican clergy. The real
designs and poHcy of Charles became evident, after the
commencement of the war against Holland. In 1673, a
Declaration of Indulgence, suspending the penal laws
against Dissenters, was issued, for the purpose of Avinning
their support, or of deluding them into a false sense of
security. Charles 11. died in 1685.

James II., with the same subservience to foreign pow-
ers, and the same arbitrary notions of government which
had belonged to his brother, was of a slower and more
obstinate mind, and differed from Charles in cherishing
a sincere and bigoted attachment to the Catholic religion.
In 1686, the Court of High Commission, which had been
abolished forever by the Long Parliament, was revived,
and the notorious Jeffreys placed at its head. Finding
that the Episcopalians were not to be won by the per-
secution of the Puritans, the Declaration for Liberty of
Conscience was issued in 1687, for the sake of enlisting
the Dissenters in behalf of his scheme of arbitrary govern-
-nent. However just the measure might be, it involved

REVOLUTION OF 1688. 445

in itself a violent stretch of prerogative. But it was recog-
nized as a part of a scheme, which, if accomplished, would
bring upon Nonconformists and Churchmen alike a re-
newal of persecution in the most unrelenting form. The
combination of parties, which was produced by the plot
of James for subverting the Protestant religion and
establishing Popery, gave rise to the Revolution of 1688,
and the establishment of William of Orange upon the
throne, who had married the eldest daughter of James,
and had defended Holland and Protestantism against the
assaults of Louis XIV. At the accession of William and
Mary, says Hallam, " the Act of Toleration was passed
with little difficulty, though not without murmurs of the
bigoted Churchmen. It exempts from the penalties of
existing statutes against separate conventicles, or absence
from the established worship, such as should take the
oath of allegiance and subscribe to the Declaration
against Popery, and such ministers of separate con-
gregations as should subscribe the thirty-nine Articles of
the Church of England, except three, and a part of a
fourth. It gives, also, an indulgence to Quakers, with-
out this condition. Meeting-houses are required to be
registered, and are protected from insult by a penalty.
No part of this toleration is extended to Papists, or such
as deny the Trinity." The subscription to the Articles
of Faith was practically dispensed with ; " though," adds
Hallam, " such a genuine toleration as Christianity and
philosophy alike demand, had no place in our statute
book before the reign of George III."

The ministry of William HI., when they introducnd
the Toleration Act, introduced, also, a Comprehension
Bill, which released Nonconformists from the necessity
of subscribing the Articles and Homilies, and delivered
ihem from the obligation to fulfill certain ceremonies that
were most obnoxious. Had this scheme been adopted,
Presbyterians would have been admitted to the charge

446 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTUKV.

of parishes without re-ordination. It failed by the force
of the opposition to it in Convocation, to which it was
referred. Moderate churchmen, Uke Tillotson, Burnet,
StilHngfleet, Patrick, and Beveridge, were outnumbered
by those who were resolutely averse to any modifications
of the Prayer-book. The measure was lost, partly from
the strength of this Anti-Puritan feeling, partly from
the fact that Independents, Baptists, and Quakers were
left out of the arrangement, wliich was shaped for the
benefit of the Presbyterian ministers exclusively. The
fear of strengthening the Church too much, which was
apt to be an ally of arbitrary government, influenced, in
some degree, the minds of certain statesmen. The great
danger connected with this measure, a danger that was
better appreciated afterwards, was that of giving a great
augmentation of strength to the party of non-jurors, who
had forfeited their benefices rather than acknowledge the
new dynasty, and who, had the Liturgy been remodeled,
might have grown into a powerful sect. It is stated,
also, by Hallam and Macaulay, that the Presbyterian
ministers, who at the head of large churches in London,
had a much higher and more comfortable station than
fell to the lot of the degenerate and often ill-treated
parish clergy, were lukewarm in favoring the adoption
of the scheme, if not decidedly opposed to it. That they
took this position is, however, questioned by other well-
informed writers.^

The Revolution of 1688 led to the permanent estab-
lishment of the Presbyterian as the national Church of
Scotland.^ Under Charles II., Episcopacy was estab-
lished by law in Scotland, although some latitude was
granted, under the name of Indulgence, with regard to
the forms of public worship. A fierce resistance was made

1 Vaughan, p . 461. The character of the scheme and the proceedings of
Convocation are fully described b}' Macaulay, iii. 424 seq.

2 See Hallam, Const. Hist., ch. xvii. Slacaulay, Hist, of England (Harpers'
A.m. ed.), i- 172; ii. 103 seq.; 115 seq., 192; iii. 225, 622.

FRANCE AFTER THE DEATH OF HENRY IV. 447

by adherents of the Covenant during this reign and in
the reign of James II., at whose instance it was made a
capital offense to preach in a Presbyterian conventicle,
or to attend such a meeting in the open air. James
wanted to have the Roman Catholics delivered from the
operation of penal laws, but to allow no favor to the
Covenanters. The concessions which he was at last com-
pelled to make to them were reduced to the narrowest
compass. But they stood by their cause with stubborn
bravery, through all those troubled

"times,
Whose echo rings through Scotland to this hour."

In 1690, the system which was obnoxious to the body
of the Scottish people was abolished, and the synodical
polity established in its place. In the course of this
revolution, the vindictive fury of the populace was ex-
pressed in outrages upon the Episcopal clergy, who
suffered numerous indignities. In the language of the
time, they were " rabbled."

Henry IV., at the time of his death, was just ready to
intervene in the affairs of Germany, in pursuance of the
traditional French policy, which looked to the reduction
of the power of Austria, and the enlargement of the
boundaries of France. In the ten years that followed his
death, after Sully had retired from office, when the
government was in the hands of Mary de Medici, the
factions which had been held in restraint, were once more
let loose, and the path which Henry had entered was for
the time abandoned.

To maintain an alliance with Spain, which was to be
cemented by a double matrimonial connection, was the
purpose of the Queen. Nobles who were disaffected with
the government, courted the support of the Huguenots,
from interested motives. These influences, in conjunc-
tion with the various sorts of persecution to which they

448 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

were constantly subject, by the permission, if not at the
instigation of the government, and through the hostile
preaching of the Jesuits, kept the Huguenot churches
in a state of perpetual alarm and discontent. Their
counsels were divided, some advising a resort to arms,
and others, like the aged Du Plessis Mornay, advising
patience. The invasion of Lower Navarre and Beam
bv the King, in 1620, the seizure of Church property,
which had long been in the hands of the Protestants,
and the infliction of atrocious cruelties upon them moved
the National Synod, in 1621, by a small majciity, to
decide upon war. The Huguenots, a great part of whom
remained passive and neutral, were worsted, but the suc-
cessful resistance of Montauban, and, in the next year,
of Montpellier, led to a treaty in which the Protes-
tants were confirmed in the possession of their rehgious
rights, and Montauban and Rochelle were still left in
their hands. Their peculiar circumstances gave them
more and more the character of a poHtical party, with
which malcontents of all shades would naturally ally
themselves within the kingdom, and which would borrow
strength by a connection with the Protestants of other
countries. A spirit of hostility to the Crown and a love
of independence would naturally grow in the Huguenot
ranks ; and this took place at the very time when the
Crown was entering upon the work of fully subjugating
feudalism.^

With the reign of Louis XIII., and the administration
of Richelieu, there was a return, as regards foreign affairs,
to the policy of Henry IV. The aim of Richelieu (1624-
42), as far as the government of France was concerned,
was to consolidate the monarchy, by bringing the aristoc-
racy into thorough subjection to the King, and by inflicting
a deadly blow on the old spirit of feudal independence.
Under him began the process of centralization, of officers

1 De Felice, Hist. d. Prot. d. France, p. 307.

THE CHARACTER AND POLICY OF RICHELIEU. 449

appointed and paid by the government, which was fully
developed in France after the great Revolution. His
policy involved the annihilation of the Huguenot party,
as a distinct political organization, a state within the
state ; and this he accomplished when La Rochelle, the
last of their towns, fell into his hands (1628).

The foreign policy of Richelieu receives the general
applause of Frenchmen ; not so his domestic rule. The
interests of the State must prevail over every other con-
sideration. This was his first maxim. To this end,
absolute obedience must be exacted of all orders of men,
and disobedience be punished with unrelenting severity.
The Prince must allow no interference of the Church or
the Pope with the rights of the civil authority. Nobles
must be prevented from oppressing the people, and must
serve the State in war. The Judges in Parliament must
be kept from interfering with the prerogatives of the
Crown. The people must be kept in absolute subjection,
and be subject to burdens not so heavy as to crush them,
nor so light as to induce them to forget their subordi-
nation. Care should rather be had for the culture and in-
struction of a part of the nation, than of the whole, which
might be mischievous.^ Richelieu abolished anarchy, but
he made it possible for the selfish and ruinous despotism
of Louis XIV. to arise in its place. His destruction of
the political power of the Huguenots left them open to
the deadly assaults of rulers more fanatical than himself.
Had he been inclined, or if inclined, had he been able, to
draw the Huguenot power on his side, and to use it
against Spain, the final result might have been happier
for France.^ In truth, the capture of La Rochelle gave
an impulse to the emigration of Protestants, and France

i Richelieu's political Testament is well epitomized by Hausser, p. 586. Of
the part taKen by Richelieu in the composition of the Testament and Memoirs,
see Ranke, v. 137 seq., Martin, xi. 591 seq.

2 Martin says of the Huguenot party, that it retarded the encroaching
wave of despotism. "Mieux eut valu lancer les Rochelois sur I'Espagne que

450 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

began to lose the most valuable portion of its population.^
Abroad, Richelieu joined with Sweden and with the Prot^
estants of Germany in making war upon the Hapsburg
dynasty, and succeeded in his double purpose of breaking
down the imperial power, and amplifying the territory of
France. The work of Richelieu was carried forward in
the same spirit by Mazarin, in the early part of the reign
of Louis XIV. The design of this monarch was to make
himself an absolute ruler in France, even in ecclesiastical
affairs, without an actual separation from the Papacy ; in
other words, to imitate Henry VIII., as far as was compat-
ible with maintaining the connection of the French
Church with Rome ; and, in relation to foreign powers, he
aspired to be the dictator in the European commonwealth.
His quarrel with the Pope, his persecution of the Jansen-
ists, and his persecution of the Huguenots, are the three
principal events in his domestic religious policy. His con-
troversy with Innocent X., grew out of the King's attempt
to extend the right called la regale — that is, the right to
appropriate the revenues of a see and temporarily fill the
vacancy, until a new incumbent should take the oath of
fidelity to the King — to extend this prerogative over Bur-
gundy, the old English portion of France, and portions of
the kingdom, where the privilege in question belonged
to the local ecclesiastical authorities. He required the vas-
sals' oath of the bishops in these districts, and they were
supported in their refusal to grant it by the Pope. Under
the pontificate of Innocent XI., the Assembly of the
French Clergy, in 1682, supporting the views of the
King, passed the famous four propositions of Galilean

de les d^truire. Richelieu n'abusa point de sa victoire, mais il rendit facile a un
autre d'en abuser apres lui; La Rochelle debout, ou n'eut os^ restaurer I'^re des
persecutions et revoquer I'edit de Nantes." xi. 307. Michelet observes that
Henry IV. and Richelieu both aimed at national unity, but by different means
— the first by the use, the second by the destruction of the vital forces. Hist.
de France, xi. 461. Upon Richelieu's personal traits, see Sismondi, Jlist. des
Frangais, xxiii. 1 seq. Ranke judges him more favorably.
1 Smiles, The Huguenots in England, etc., 1867.

JANSENISM. 461

liberty: that the Pope has authority only in spiritual
matters, not over kings and princes ; that the authority
of a General Council is above that of the Pope ; that the
Pope is bound by the Church laws, and by the particular
institutions and usages of the French Church ; and that
the doctrinal decisions of the Pope are not irreformable,
unless they are supported by the concurrence of the
whole Chiu'ch. The long controversy was at length
adjusted by an accommodation, under Innocent XII., in
which Louis retained his prerogative, which had formed
the original subject of dispute, but gave up the four
propositions. He allowed bishops to retract their assent
to them, but would not suffer them to be compelled to do
so. Bossuet had assumed the post of a literary champion
of the Galilean theory, in behalf of the King ; but, in
consequence of the settlement just referred to, his cele-
brated work against the ultramontane type of Catholicism
did not see the light until 1730.

Jansenism was a reaction within the Catholic Church,
against the theology, casuistry, and general spirit of the
Jesuit order. Molina and other theologians set up a mid-
dle type of doctrine, between the system of Augustine
and that of Pelagius. The Mohnists ingeniously reserved
to the will a cooperative part in conversion. Jansenism was
a revival of the Augustinian tenets upon the inability of
the fallen will and upon efficacious grace. In this respect,
the Jansenists were on the same path as the Reformers ,
but, unlike these, instead of going back of the Fathers
in order to abide by the teaching of Scripture, they
rested upon patristic authority and were content to follow
implicitly the great founder of Latin theology .^ Bajus,
professor at Louvain, towards the end of the sixteenth
century, led the way in this re-assertion of Augustinian
principles. But it was Jansenius, also a professor at
Louvain and Bishop of Ypres, and his fellow-student,

1 Ranke, History of the Popes, iii. 143 seq.

452 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

Duvergier, Abbot of St. Cyran, who subsequently gave
a new impetus to the movement. St. Cyran, Pascal, Ar-
nauld, Nicole, and their associates, who were called Port
Royalists, from their relation to the cloister of that name,
became the leaders of the party. If we glance at the
Jesuit fi'aternity as it was in the middle of the seventeenth
century, we find that its character had altered for the
worse. 1 Its professed members were no longer confined
to spiritual duties, but shared with the coadjutors the
management of colleges and the administration of secular
affairs. The religious fervor that had existed earlier, was
very much cooled. The obligation to renounce property,
as a private possession, was evaded. A " mercantile
spirit " crept even into the institutions of education which
had been established by the order. In the room of de-
fending the Papacy, it generally sided with France in the
contests with the Holy See. By the policy adopted in its
Asiatic missions, the Jesuit order at length came into con-
flict with the Capuchins and Franciscans, as it had of-
fended the Dominicans by opposing the doctrines of
Thomas Aquinas. The Jesuits gradually ceased to be
absorbed in a great object, the restoration of the Papal
dominion and the extension of it over the globe, and di-
rected their energies to the preservation of their own
power. But it was their lax ethical maxims, which more
than any other cause, undermined their reputation. The
" Provincial Letters " of Pascal, in which their loose casu-
istry was chastised with the keenest satire, inflicted upon
them a deadly wound. While the Jansenists, who were in
favor of the independence of the Church, in opposition to
ultramontane usurpations, supported the King in his con-
flict with the Pope, they enjoyed the royal favor ; but
when they set themselves against his effort to bring the
Church under his feet, he turned against them a'ld gave his
ear to the inimical suggestions of the Jesuits. Finally, in

1 Ranke, iii. 131 seq.

PERSECUTION OF THE HUGUENOTS. 453

L710, he pulled down the cloister of Port Royal, and ban-
ished the Jansenist leaders. In 1708, Clement XI. had
issued a bull, prohibiting the " Moral Reflections " of
Quesnel, a work which had been approved by Bossuet and
by Noailles, the Archbishop of Paris. This was followed
by a heavier blow at the Jansenist party in 1713, in the
form of the famous bull, Unigenitus, which explicitly con-
demned one hundred and one propositions of the same
book. The Pope was forced into this action by the
French Court, vmder the influence of Father Le Tellier,
who had declared that there were more than a hundred
censurable propositions in the book. Clement was obliged
to make good the declaration by condemning one hundred
and one. It was not the Jansenists alone, but all true
Galileans, who were attacked m these proceedings. This
controversy was continued in the next reign, after the
death of Louis XIV., between the Opposants or Appell-
ants on the one hand, and the AcceptanU or Constitution'
aires, the adversaries of the Jansenists, on the other.
The Papal authority was brought to bear against the
Jansenist opinions, in subservience to the dictation of the
Court, and this coercion had a demorahzing effect upon
the French clergy, many of whom were forced into a de-
nial of their real convictions. The Jansenists survived in
the separatist archiepiscopal Church of Utrecht, and still
more in combination with the tendencies to liberalism,
out of which grew the political and religious revolutions
that marked the close of the last century.^

The Huguenots, under Richelieu and Mazarin, had been
protected in their religious freedom. It was only as a
political organization that these statesmen had made war
upon them. After the death of Mazarin, in 1661, a
party that was hostile to the Protestants gained an in-
creasing influence over the King, whose personal vices
were attended with forebodings of remorse, and with su-

1 Niedner, Kirch engeschichie, p. 751.

454 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

perstitious anxieties that sought relief in the persecution
of heresy. He fell under the influence of his Jesuit Con-
fessor, La Chaise, with whom were joined the war-minis-
ter, the Marquis de Louvois, and even Madam Maintenon,
his wife, formerly a Protestant. Hence the great attempt
to make proselytes by the use of all varieties of cruelty.
" For many years," says Martin, the government of Louis
XIV. " had been acting towards the Reformation as
towards a victim entangled in a noose, which is drawn
tighter and tighter till it strangles its prey." Declara-
tions and edicts of the most oppressive character had fol-
lowed one another in rapid succession. At length the
atrocious scheme of the dragonade^ or the billeting of
soldiers in Huguenot families, was resorted to. Over the
pretended conversions effected by such means, the profli-
gate rulers of France sang praises to God. Louis XIV.
endeavored to quiet his own fear of hell by making a
hell for his unoffending subjects. The penalty of death
was denounced against all converts who relapsed to the
Huguenot faith. In the course of three years, fifty thou-
sand families had fled from the country. In 1685, the
Edict of Nantes, the great charter of Protestant rights,
was revoked. The churches of the Huguenots were
seized ; and although emigration was forbidden to the
laity, not far from a quarter of a million of refugees es-
caped, to enrich Protestant countries to which they re-
moved, by their skill and industry. Many remained firm
under the severest trials, and assembled in forests and by-
places to celebrate their worship. It was not until 1788
that their marriages, which had been treated as invalid,
were pronounced legal ; and they did not gain their rights
in full, until the Revolution.

" France was impoverished," writes Martin, " not only
in Frenchmen who exiled themselves, but in those much
more numerous, who remained in spite of themselves,
discouraged, ruined, whether they openly resisted perse-

TRIUMPHS AND DEFEAT OF LOUIS XIV. 455

cution, or suffered some external observances of Catholi-
cism to be wrung from them, all having neither energy in
work, or security in life ; it was really the activity of
more than a million of men that France lost, and of the
million that produced most." It is a significant fact,
m the light of recent events, that many of the refugees
w«re received by the Elector Frederic, and helped to build
up Berlin, then a small city of twelve thousand inhab-
itants.

After the close of the war of the Spanish Succession
(1713), at the instigation of Le Tellier, who had suc-
ceeded La Chaise as a kind of minister of ecclesiastical
affairs, the persecution against the Protestants was re-
newed, in forms of aggravated and ingenious cruelty.

In his foreign policy, Louis XIV. succeeded brilliantly
for a time, but was doomed to terrible disappointment
and defeat. He made himself as formidable by his
power and ambition as Philip II. had been in the latter
part of the preceding century ; and like him he was des-
tined to experience a mortifying failure, as well as to lay
the foundation of untold calamities for his nation. His
attack on the Spanish Netherlands, which were regarded
by Holland as a bulwark against his inroads and aggres-
sion, led to the triple alliance of Holland, England, and
Sweden, in 1668, the object of which was to compel him
to conclude a peace with Spain. The same year he con-
cluded with Spain the Peace of Aix la Chapelle. The
resentment of Louis against Holland, led him to form,
in 1670, the secret treaty with Charles II., in behalf
of CathoHcism and absolutism. But tbe unpopularity
oi th 3 war against Holland among the English, and the
necessity under which Charles was placed, of making
peace with the Dutch, together with a like course on
the part of other allies of Louis, led to the Treaty of
Nimeguen in 1678-9, by which he gained a numb^n* of
towns and fortresses in the Netherlands, besides cer-

456 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

tain German places. Holland was left in the same state
as before the war. The continued aggressions of Louis
occasioned the grand alliance of the European powers
against him, and the war of ten years, in which William
of Orange was the foremost leader among the allies. In
the early part of the previous war, when Holland was
overrun by the French armies and reduced almost to
despair, the Republican magistrates were overthroAvn
and the government placed in the hands of William.
By him the courage of the nation had been roused, and,
as the only means of defense, they had cut through the
dikes and inundated the country. Thenceforward Will-
iam was the most determined and dangerous antagonist
of Louis, and the moving spirit of the coalitions formed
against him. Li the Peace of Ryswick, in 1697, Louis
renounced his support of the Stuarts, and admitted
William IH. to be the rightful king of Great Britain
and Ireland. The war of the Spanish succession, in
which Louis sought to supplant the Austrian House in
Spain and to combine Spain with France, by placing his
grandson, Philip, Duke of Anjou, on the Spanish throne,
was closed in 1713, by the Peace of Utrecht. It was
provided that France and Spain should never be united
under one sovereign ; the Spanish Netherlands were
transferred to Austria ; and the Bourbon Prince was left
on the throne of Spain, and his title was acknowledged
by the allies, in 1714. The " grand monarch " came
out of the wars which had been kindled by his ambition,
thwarted and reduced to distress. A significant feature
of the Peace of Utrecht was the recognition of the
Elector of Brandenburg as king of Prussia. As Sweden
sank down from the eminence which it held for a time,
as the leading Protestant power in the North, Prussia
was rising to take her place.

The reign of Louis XIV. effected the utter paralysis
and prostration of the Catholic Reaction. The Popes

PROSTRATION OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 457

found themselves unable to contend with the temporal
power.^ The disposition of several pontiffs to favor the
side of Spain and Austria, sharpened the antagonism
between them and the French king, and subjected them
to humihation. When Clement XI. abandoned the anti-
French policy, he was obhged to succumb to the threats
of the imperialists. Treaties of peace were concluded
between the European nations, in which the interests
and even rights of the Popes were involved, but in re-
gard to which they were not consulted. The Church of
France remained Catholic ; it was even guilty of a re-
volting persecution ; but it united with the monarch in
abridging the power and thwarting the designs of the
Holy See. Not only was the Cathohc world divided
into two parties, the Austrian and French, which the
Pope could not control, but the Protestant States ac-
quired a preponderance of power ; and the Court of
Innocent XI. naturally sympathized with the coalition,
although its forces were predominantly Protestant, the
end of which was to curb the ambition of Louis XIV.

Even the persecuting measures which Louis XIV.
adopted ostensibly in behalf of the Cathohc rehgion,
were in the highest degree harmful to it ; for the hatred
of these atrocious proceedings contributed to swell the
current of antipathy to the Church and to religion,
which was gathering force in the minds of men. The
Bull Unigenitus, as it condemned Jansenism and Aug-
ustmian doctrine, brought the Jesuits into alhance with
the Papal See. But this Bull, with the cognate meas-
ures, divided the clergy and excited all the elements of
opposition to the Papal supremacy over the Galilean
Church. The Jansenists became virtual auxiliaries of
the rising party, in whom the spirit of innovation had
full sway.

Louis XIV. died in 1715. Voltaire was then about

1 Ranke, iii. 156.

458 PROTESTANTISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

twenty-one years old. The age of philosophy and illum-
inism, of religious and political revolutions, was approach-
ing. The third estate, the middle class, was preparing to
grasp the power which had been wrested from the nobles
and concentrated in the throne. Freethinkmg, trans-
planted from England, was taking root and spreading
through all orders of French society, thence to be dif-
fused over Europe. The fabric of pohtical and religious
despotism which Louis XIV. had erected, was to go
down before the end of the century, in a revolutionary
tempest.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

Protestantism, under whatever diversities of form
it appeared, and notwithstanding the varieties of character
and of opinion which are observed among its leaders, is
distinguished as a system of belief by two principles.
These are justification by faith alone, and the exclusive
authority of the Scriptures.^

The subject round which the Protestant discussions re-
volved, and out of which they originally sprang, is the
reconciliation of man to God. The controversy with the
Roman Catholics did not relate to the branches of theol-
ogy on which the ancient councils had spoken. The
Apostolic symbol, the creeds of Nicaea and Chalcedon,

1 Among the books of reference respecting the Protestant and the Catholic
Theology, are the Collections of Creeds; the Lutheran (edited by Hase, 1846);
The Reformed (by Niemeyer, 1840); The Roman Catholic (by Streitwolf u.
Klener, 1846). Calvin's Institutes and Melancthon's Loci Communes are
the principal doctrinal treatises on the Protestant side, in the age of the Ref-
ormation. Bellarmine is still the ablest controversialist on the Catholic side
since the Tridentine Council; Disputationes de Controversiis Christian<B Fide%
ndv. hujus Teviporis hcereticos (Rome, 1581, 1582, 1593). The ablest antagonists
of Bellarmine were Martin Chemnitz, Examen Condi. Trid. (1565-73), and the
Huguenot theologian, Clianiier, Panstratim Catholiccs, etc. (Geneva, 1626;
Frankfort, 1629). A convenient manual of Catholic Theology is Perrone,
Pnelectiones Theologicce (2 vols., 1847). Among the modern works on Prot-
estant Theology are Planck, Gsch. d. prat. Lehrbegriffs (1781 IS'.'IO); Gass,
Gsch. d.prot. Dogmatik (1862); A. Schweizer, Die prot. Central-dogmen inner-
halb d. ref. Kirche (1854); Heppe, Dogmatik d. deutsch Prot. (1857); Dorner,
Gsch. d.prot. Theol. (1867); Schenkel, Das Wesen d. Prot. (1846). See also
Werner, Gsch. d.kath. Theol. seit d. Trid. Cone. (1866). To these are to be
added numerous modern works on Symbolics and on the History of Doctrine;
by Neander, Klee (Roman Cath. ), Baumgarten-Crusius, Hagenbach, Baur,
Mcihler (Rom Cath.), Nitzsch, Winer, Shedd, etc.

460 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

were accepted in common by both parties. In respect to
the Trinity and the person of Christ, they stood on the
same ground. On the subject of Anthropology, the doc-
trine of sin, it is true that the Reformers earnestly asserted
the Augustinian views, in opposition to that modified opin-
ion, less hostile to the Pelagian tenet, which had been dis-
tinctly espoused by one of the leading mediaeval schools,
the followers of Scotus, and had affected all of the
scholastic systems. It was in their profound sense of the
reaUty of sin, and of its dominion in the human will,
that the Protestants laid the foundations of their theol-
ogy. Zwingle alone, of all the foremost Reformers, called
in question the fact of native guilt, as this is asserted in
the Augustinian theology ; and even he did not adhere
uniformly to his theory. But the doctrine of sin was
only indirectly and subordinately brought into the de-
bate.^ The same might be said of the Atonement, since
the body of the reformers rested on the Anselmic idea of
satisfaction, which likewise formed a part of the opposing
creed.^ The point of difference was on the vital question
how the soul, burdened with seK-condemnation, is to ob-
tain the forgiveness of sins and peaceful reunion to God
in the character of a reconciled father. In the teachings,
injunctions, services, ceremonies of the Church, the Re-

1 The Protestants held that the moral perfections — that is, the holiness — of
the first man are concreated ; the Catholics, that they are superadded gifts of
grace. Cat. Rom., i. ii. qu. 19. This doctrine of the donum supernaturale is
drawn out in full by Bellarmine, Grat. jirimi Ham., ii. The effect of the fall is
said by the Catholics to be the loss of the donum supernaturale, and a conse-
quent, though indirect, weakening of the natural powers (rubiera naturw); by
the Protestants it was held to be a positive depravation of human nature. Bel-
larmine, Amis. Grat., iii. 1.; Conf. August., p. 9; 4^0^. August. Cora/*., p. 51;
Conf. Helvet., ii. cc. viii., ix.

2 The doctrine common to Anselm and Aquinas, that the satisfaction of Christ
is absolute in itself, and infinite, was denied only by the school of Scotus, who
held that it is finite, but is accepted by the divine will — acceplilatio — for more
than its intrinsic worth. The Tridentine creed denies that pardon carries with
it the remission of all punishment; but asserts that the satisfaction rendered by
the sinner is available only through the satisfaction of Christ. Sess xiv. c-
viii. See Baumgarten-Crusius, Dogmengscli., ii. 273, n. a.

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 461

formers had sought for this infinite good in vain. They
found it in the doctrine of gratuitous pardon, from the
bare mercy of God, through the mediation of Christ ; a
pardon that waits for nothing but acceptance on the part
of the soul — the belief, the trust, the faith of the pen-
itent. Everything of the nature of satisfaction or merit
on the part of the offender is precluded, by the utterly
gratuitous nature of the gift, by the sufficiency of the
Redeemer's expiation. Every assertion of the necessity
of works or merit on the side of the offender, as the
ground of forgiveness, is a disparagement of the Re-
deemer's mercy and of his expiatory office. Faith, thus
laying hold of a free forgiveness and reconnecting the
soul with God, is the fountain of a new life of holiness,
which depends not on fear and homage to law, but on
gratitude and on filial sentiments. Christ himself nour-
ishes this new life by spiritual influences that flow into
the soul through the channel of its fellowship with Him.
Justification is thus a forensic term ; it is equivalent to
the remission of sins. To justify, signifies not to make
the offender righteous, but to treat him as if he were
righteous, to deliver him from the accusation of the law
by the bestowal of a pardon. Saving faith is not a vir-
tue to be rewarded, but an apprehensive act ; the hand
that takes the free gift. Such, in a brief statement, was
the cardinal principle of the Protestant interpretation of
the Gospel.^ The Christian life has its centre in this ex-
perience of forgiveness. Virtues of character and vic-
tories over temptation grow out of it. Christian ethics
are united to Christian theology by this vital bond.

But to what authority could the Reformers appeal in
behalf of their proposition ? What assurance had they
of its truth ? How did they arrive at the knowledge of

1 This idea of justification is the key-note in Luther's Commentary on the
Epistle to the Galatians, and in Melancthon's Commentary on the Epistle to the
Romans. It is the distinctive feature of the Protestant exegesis of the writings
of Paul.

462 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

it ? They had found this obscured and half-forgotten
truth recorded, as they believed, with perfect clearness, in
the Scriptures. The authority of the Scriptures was fully
acknowledged by the Church in which they had been
trained, however it inight superadd to them other authori-
tative sources of knowledge, and however it might deny
the competence of the individual to interpret the Bible
for himself. That Christ spoke in the Scriptures, all ad-
mitted. What his voice was the Reformers could not
doubt ; for the truth that he uttered was one of which
they had an immediate, spiritual recognition. Their in-
terpretation verified itself to their hearts by the light and
peace which that truth brought with it, as well as to their
understandings on a critical examination of the text.
The Church, then, that denied their interpretation and
commanded them to abandon it, was in error ; it could
not be the authorized, infallible interpreter of Holy Writ.
Thus the traditional belief in the authority of the Roman
Church gave way, and the principle of the exclusive
authority of the Scriptures, as the rule of faith, took its
place. By this process the second of the distinctive
principles of Protestantism was reached. That the mean-
ing of the Bible is sufficiently plain and intelligible was
implied in this conclusion. Hence, the right of private
judgment is another side of the same doctrine.

In the adoption of this, which has been called the for-
mal, in distinction from the first, which is termed the
material principle of Protestantism, there was no dissent
among the churches of the reformed faith. Thus the
Anglican body, which surpassed all other Protestant
churches in its deference to the fathers and to the first cen-
turies, affirms this principle. It accepts, in the eighth
article, the ancient creeds, on the ground that they may
be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture ;
it declares, in the nineteenth article, that the Church of
Rome, as well as those of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and An-

ROMAN CATHOLIC DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION. 468

tioch have erred in matters of faith ; and in the twenty •
first article it asserts that general councils may err and
have erred in things pertaining to the rule of piety, and
that their decrees are to be accepted no farther than they
can be shown to be conformable to the sacred writings.

The two principles are united in the fundamental idea
of the direct relation of Christ to the believer as his per-
sonal Redeemer and Guide.

The Roman CathoHc theory of Justification may be so
stated as to seem to approximate closely to that of the
Protestants ; but on a close examination, the two doc-
trines are seen to be discordant with one another. In
the formula which defines the condition of salvation to
be faith formed by love — fides formata caritate — a
separation between faith and love is conceived of, in
which the latter becomes the adjunct of the former ; and
inasmuch as love is the injunction of the law, a door is
open for a theory of works and human merit, and for all
the discomforts of that legal and introspective piety from
which the evangelical doctrine furnished the means of
escape. Faith, in the Protestant view, is necessarily the
source of good works, which flow from it as a stream from
a fountain ; which grow from it as fruit from a tree.
The tendency of the Catholic system is to conjoin works
with faith, and thus to resolve good works into a form of
legal obedience. Moreover, Justification does not begin,
as in the Protestant theology, with the forgiveness of
sins ; but the first element in Justification is the infusion
of inward, personal righteousness, and pardon follows.
Justification is gradual.^ By this incipient excellence of
character, the Christian is made capable of meriting
grace ; and however this doctrine may be qualified and
guarded by founding all merit ultimately on the merits
of Christ, from which the sanctification of the disciple
flows, the legal characteristic cleaves to the doctrine.
1 Concil. Trident. Sess. vi. c. x.

464 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

But the wide difference of the Catholic conception from
the Protestant becomes evident, when it is remembered
that accordmg to the former, for all sins committed after
baptism, the offender owes and must render satisfaction —
a satisfaction that derives its efficacy, to be sure, from
that made by Christ, but yet is not the less indispensable
and real. And how is Justification imparted? How
does it begin ? It is communicated through baptism,
and, hence, generally, in infancy. It is Justification by
baptism rather than by faith ; and for all sins subse-
quently committed, penances are due ; satisfaction must
be offered by the transgressor himself. We are thus
brought to the Avhole theory of the Church and of the
Sacraments, in which the discrepancy between the two
theologies is most manifest.

If the conflict of the two theologies were limited to this
topic of Justification, and of the relation of faith to works ;
if the dispute could be shut up to subtle questions and
tenuous distinctions of theological science, it might be
more easily settled. On these questions a meeting-point
might possibly be found. But the Protestant interpre-
tation of the Gospel involved a denial of the prerogatives
of the vast Institution which assumed to intervene be-
tween the soul and God, as the almoner of grace and the
ruler of the beliefs and lives of men.

The Reformers, in harmony with their idea of the way
of salvation which has been described, brought forward
the conception of the invisible Church. The true Church,
they said, is composed of all believers in Christ, all who
are spiritually united to Him ; and of the Church as thus
defined. He is the Head. This is the Holy Catholic
Church, to which the Apostles' Creed refers, and in
which the disciple professes his belief ; " for we believe,''
said Luther, referring to this passage of the creed, " not
in what we see, but in what is invisible." The visible
Church, on the contrary, is a congregation of believers

DOCTRINE RESPECTING THE CHURCH. 465

in which the word of God is preached and the sacra-
ments administered essentially as they were instituted
by Christ. But no single visible body of Christians can
justly assume to be the entire Church ; much less exclude
from the pale of salvation all who are not included in
their number. The true Church is an ideal, which is
realized but imperfectly in any existing organization.
External societies of Christians are more or less pure ;
they approximate, in different degrees, to a conformity
to the idea of the real or invisible community. The
Protestants carefully refrained from arrogating for the
bodies which they organized an exclusive title to be con-
sidered the Church. When charged with being apostates
from the Church, and when themselves denouncing the
Papacy as the embodiment of Antichrist, they never
denied that the true Church of Christ was on the side of
their opponents, as well as with themselves. " I say,"
said Luther, " that under the Pope is real Christianity,
yea the true pattern of Christianity, and many pious,
great saints." Calvin has similar expressions ; for ex-
ample, in his noted Letter to Sadolet.

The Roman Catholic theory affixes the attributes of
unity, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity to the exter-
nal, visible society of which the Bishop of Rome is the
chief, and declares that outside of this body there is no
salvation. The notes of the true Church belong to this
society ; and accordingly the promises made in the New
Testament to the Church, and the privileges there
ascribed to it, are claimed for this body exclusively.
The Church, says Bellarmine, is something as tangible
as the Republic of Venice. In opposition to the second
of the Protestant principles, the traditions of the oral
teaching of Christ and of the Apostles, which, it is
claimed are infallibly preserved in the Church, through
the supernatural aid of the indwelling Spirit, are put
on a level with Scripture ; and of Scripture itseK, the

30

466 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

Church is the appointed, unerring expounder. It was
not an uncommon thing in the Middle Ages for doc-
trines to be attributed to revelations made to the
Church, subsequent to the Apostolic age ; doctrines not
supposed to be contained in the Scriptures. But the
prevailing Catholic doctrine since the Reformation finds
the entire revelation as a complete deposit, in the written
and oral teaching of Christ and the Apostles. The con-
nection of the individual with Christ is not possible,
except through his connection with the Church. In the
Catholic theory, the invisible Church is not only included
in the visible organization in communion with the Papal
see, but it cannot exist out of it or apart from it.^

As an inseparable part of the Catholic theory of the
Church stands the doctrine of a particular priesthood
and of the sacraments. The idea of the sacraments was
fully developed by the Schoolmen, and the number,
which had been indefinite and variable, was fixed at
seven. It is essential to the conception of the sacrament
that it should efl&ciently convey the hidden gift of grace
which it symbolizes. It is the channel through which
the grace is communicated ; the ordained and indispens-
able vehicle by which it passes to the individual ; the
instrument by the direct operation of which the divine
mercy reaches the soul.^ Hence the efficacy of a sacra-
ment is independent of the personal character of the

1 In the later editions of his Loci, Melancthon treats of the visible church
alone. He was led to this course, not by a change of opinion respecting the
reality of the conception of the invisible church, but in consequence of the
aberrations, in a spiritualistic direction, of the Anabaptists. He is concerned to
guard against the notion that the invisible church is a mere ideal, or is to be
sought for outside of all existing ecclesiastical organizations — a mere Platonic
republic. See Julius Miiller, Dogmatische Abhandlungen (Die unsichtbare
Kirche), pp. 297, 298.

•2 "Per quae omnis vera justitia vel incipit, vel coepta augetur, vel amissa
reparatur." Concil. Trid. Sess. vii. Proemium. "Siquis dixerit sacramenta
novae legis non esse ad salutem necessaria; " "siquis dixerit, per ipsa novaa
legis sacramenta ex opere operato non conferri gratiam, anathema sit." Ibid.
IV. viii.

ROMAN CATHOLIC DOCTRINE OF THE SACK VMENTS. 467

administrator, provided he have the intention to perform
the sacramental act ; for such an intention is requisite.
The sacrament, moreover, imparts a divine gift which is
not involved in, nor produced by, the faiih of the recip-
ient : it is ex opere operato. The effect is wrought, in
case the recipient interposes no obstacle.^ The sacra-
ments are the means of grace, and are essential to the
beginning and growth of the Christian life ; they meet
the individual at his birth, and attend him to his burial.
They are to the soul and the religious life, what bread is
to the body ; nor is their effect confined to the soul ; it
extends even to the physical nature. In the Sacrament
of the Altar, the body and blood of Christ are literally
present. Christ is once more offered, an unbloody sacri-
fice, through which the benefits of the sacrifice on the

1 This is the declaration of the Council of Trent (sess. vii. can. vi. ): " Si quis
dixerit sacramenta nova legis non continere gratiam, quam significat; aut
gratiara ipsam non ponentibus obicem non conferre .... anathema sit." The
later Schoolmen taught that the sacraments are efficacious, unless a mortal
sin creates an obstacle in the way of the working of divine grace. Duns Sco-
tus (1. iv. d. 1. qu. 6) says: "Non requiritur ibi bonus motus interior, qui merea-
tur gratiam," etc. Gabriel Biel {Sententt, 1. iv. d. 1. qu. 3.) maintains the
same proposition. It is this tenet which the Reformers attacked. After the
Reformation, Bellarmine says (De Sacr., ii. 1.): " Voluntas, fides et poenitentia
in suscipiente adulto necessario requiruntur ex parte subjecti," etc. MiJhler
(Symbolik, c. iv. § 28), reaffirms this last doctrine. One of the first propositions
which Cajetan required Luther to retract was : Non sacramentum, sed fides in
Sacramento justificat. The modification of the Catholic representation on this
point since the Reformation, is referred to by Winer, Coviiiarative Darstdlung,
p. 126; Hase, Prot. Polemik, p. 350 seq. See also Nitzsch, Prot. Beantwortung
auf M older {Studien u. Kritiken, 1834, p. 853). It is still to be observed, how-
ever, that the "fides," which Bellarmine requires in the recipient of the sacra-
ment, is not faith, in the Protestant sense, but the assent to doctrinal truth.

A:3 to the " intention " in the priest which is requisite to the validity of the sac-
rament, some make it external — an intention to do, as to the outward form of the
sacrament, what the church does; while others make it "internal " — an intention
t ) fulfill the end or design of the sacrament. The Council of Trent leaves the
point doubtful. Sess. vii. xi. Perrone, one of the most eminent of the recent
Catliolic theologians, holds to the necessity of the "internal " intention. PrtB'
lectiones Theolog., ii. 118 (p. 232). This is more commonly considered to be
most consonant with the Tridentine declaration. Klee, DogmengescMchte, ii.
132. Thus a secret intention of the priest may deprive the recipient of th«
benefit of a sacrament.

468 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

cross are obtained and appropriated. In the converted
substance of the wafer, the recipient actually partakes of
the Redeemer's body. The sacrifice of the Mass is the
central act of worship.

Of course, this conception of the sacraments presup-
poses a consecrated priesthood, a hierarchical order,
which is authorized to dispense them. They stand in
the position of mediators, from whose hands the means
of salvation must be received ; by whom, acting in a
judicial capacity penances, or the temporal punishments
due to mortal sin after repentance and confession, are
appointed ; and who have it in their power to pronounce
against contumacious offenders the awful sentence of
excommunication, which blots their names out of the
book of life. Between the mdividual and Christ stands
a fully organized, self-perpetuating body of priests,
through whose offices alone the soul can come into the
possession of the blessings of salvation. It is true that
baptism, without which one cannot be saved — unless,
indeed, the intention to receive it is prevented from being
carried out, without the candidate's fault — may be per-
formed by unconsecrated hands, in emergencies where
no priest can be summoned. But the other sacraments,
Confirmation, the Lord's Supper, the allotment of Pen-
ance and Absolution, Marriage, Ordination, Extreme
Unction, belong exclusively to the priest, and have no
validity unless performed by him. Standing thus, not
as a member on a level with the general congregation of
believers, but as an intermediate link between the body
of believers and God, the priest is naturally subject to
the rule of celibacy. He stands aloof from the ordinary
relations of this earthly life.^

In direct opposition to this theory of a sacerdotal class,
the Protestants maintained the doctrine of the universal
priesthood of believers. The laity stand in no such de-

1 Neander, CathoUcismus v. Protestantismus, p. 210.

PROTESTANT DOCTRINE OF THE SACRAMENTS. 469

pendence on a priestly order. Every disciple has the
right of immediate access to God ; none can debar him
from a direct approach to the Redeemer. The officers
of the Church are set apart among their brethren, for
tho performance of certain duties ; but the clergy are
not a distinct and superior order, clothed with mediatorial
functions. The idea of the direct relation of the soul to
Christ, which is involved in the doctrine of justification
by faith alone, and in that of the general, as opposed to
a particular priesthood, carried with it an essential modi-
fication of the previous doctrine of the sacraments. The
sufiiciency of the sacrifice once made, dispensed with
such a supplement as was sought in the repeated sacrifice
of the Mass ; and transubstantiation was rejected as a
gross perversion of the Scriptural and primitive doctrine.
The sacraments were declared to be but two in number,
Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The other five had
been added to the number without warrant of Scripture.
Of these, extreme unction was set aside as an unauthor-
ized superstition. Marriage might be concluded without
the intervention of a priest. Penances vanished with
the doctrine of human merit ; and auricular confession,
instead of being a duty owed to the priest, an obligation
to recount to him all remembered sins of a heinous
character, was resolved into the general privilege which
disciples enjoy, of confessing to one another their faults,
for the purpose of receiving from brethren rebuke,
counsel, and comfort. Moreover the efficacy of the sac-
raments was made dependent on the spiritual state of
the communicant, or the disposition with which they
were received. Everything like a magical efiiciency was
denied to them ; without faith, the sacrament of the
Suppei brought no benefit.^ But while the Protestants

1 Yet both Lutherans and Calvinists held that in he sacraments the outward
sign represents the inward operation of the Holy Spirit, which gives to the sac-
rament its efficacy. Thus in the Conf. Belgica (art. xxxiii.), it is said of the

470 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

held that the validity and use of the sacraments are not
dependent on the personal character of the officiating
minister, they also asserted that they are equally inde-
pendent of his secret intention. They recoiled from the
doctrine that the priest, by a contrary intention, may
annul the effect of the sacraments ; whereby it is always
left in some degree uncertain whether they are in fact
received.

With the Catholic doctrine of penance, or temporal
punishments following upon the remission of mortal sin,
the doctrine of purgatory also disappeared, and conse-
quently that of the lawfulness or need of prayers for the
dead. The invocation of the Virgin and of the saints
was connected with ideas concerning the character of
Christ, which were at variance with the Protestant con-
ception of his compassionate feeling and mediatorial rela-
tion ; and such practices disappeared, almost of themselves.
It is only in recent times that the immaculate conception
of the Virgin has been proclaimed as a dogma ; but the
cultus of Mary, in the Middle Ages, especially under the
auspices of the Franciscans, had been carried to a porten-
tous height ; and this exalted service offered to the mother
of Jesus the Reformers discarded. The worship of images,
or that homage to images which the Catholic theology
permits, and the veneration of the relics of saints, van-
ished with the worship of the saints themselves, and was
renounced likewise as a species of idolatry, or as involving
a temptation to an idolatrous service. Pilgrimages and a
great variety of ascetic usages were given up from their
perceived inconsistency with the Protestant doctrine of
justification, and of the liberty from ceremonial ordinances

sacraments: "Per quiE ceu media deus virtute spiritus sancti in nobis opera-
tar." In the Conf. Helv. ii. (xix.) it is said of the sacraments: " Signa et
res significatffi inter se sacramentaliter conjunguntur, conjunguntur, inquam, vel
uniuntiir per significationem mysticam et voluntatem vel consilium ejus, qm
sacramenta constituit." See also Con/*, ^n^r?., art. xxv. ; Conf. Gall., art xxxiv.;
Cat. Genev., p. 519.

MONASTICISM AND CELIBACY. 471

which is a corollary of that doctrine. It is a striking
proof that the central principle of Protestantism is logi-
cally inconsistent with these practices, that they dropped
off from the system of worship without any struggle it:
behalf of them, wherever that principle was intelligently
received and professed. Monasticism, together with the
celibacy of the clergy, as a compulsory rule, shared the
same fate and on the same ground. As the Catholic the-
ology made a distinction between mortal and venial sins,
presenting thus a quantitative rather than a qualitative
standard of conduct, which Protestantism rejected, so that
theology made a distinction between two types of Chris-
tian character, the one being a salvable degree of excel-
lence such as is gained by complying with the command-
ments of the Gospel, the other being the more exalted
type of excellence, which is reached through compliance
with the counsels or recommendations of the Gospel. On
this distinction was founded the monastic system, with its
three vows of poverty, chastity (including celibacy), and
obedience. The Protestants rejected the distinction as
belonging to a legal system at war with the spirit of Chris-
tian ethics, where the fundamental characteristic is not obe-
dience to that which is exacted, but a free and willing and
grateful self-consecration ; where the question is not " how
much must I," but " how much can I " do for the Saviour ?
For this reason they cast away also the rule of celibacy for
the clergy, and for the additional reasons that it was one
of the artificial barriers which had been set up to give a
greater sanctity to the priesthood than of right belongs
to the Christian ministry ; that it puts a stigma upon the
marriage institution ; and that it had proved a source of
corruption in the Church. "Works of supererogation and
the idea of a treasury of supererogatory merits of saints
were cast away, as human inventions, which had sprung out
of an eclipse of the truth that the merits of Christ are the
sole and sufficient ground of salvation. With the abro«

472 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

gation of penances, and with the denial of purgatory, there
was no room left for indulgences or for absolution, con-
sidered as a judicial act of the priest. Absolution, where
it was retained by the Protestants, was a declaration of
the forgiveness of the Gospel, not to an individual by
himself, but to the assembly of believers, and was founded
on a general, not a detailed, on a common, not an auricu-
lar or private confession of sin.

Of the theological divisions among the Protestants, the
earliest and most noteworthy was the Sacramentarian con-
troversy between the Lutherans on the one hand, and the
Zwinglians first, and then the Calvinists, on the other ;
the controversy that raged in the first age of the Reforma-
tion. This has been described in preceding pages. The
Arminian controversy, which is, perhaps, next in import-
ance, related to the subject of predestination, and arose
towards the close of the sixteenth century. The Reform-
ers had followed Augustine in the assertion of uncondi-
tional predestination and election, which they assumed to
be the correlate of salvation by grace alone. By Beza,
the puj)il of Calvin, who succeeded him at Geneva, this
doctrine was taught in the extreme, or what was called
the supra-lapsarian form. Calvin, to say the least, had
not uniformly inculcated this phase of the doctrine, ac-
cording to which the first sin of man is the object of an
efficient decree ; the salvation of some and the condem-
nation of others being the supreme end in reference to
which all the rest of the divine decrees are subordinate.
But this type of doctrine spread extensively in the Re-
formed or Calvinistic branch of the Protestant Church.
The followers of Melancthon adopted the doctrine of con-
ditional predestination, in the room of the Augustinian
view, and the Lutherans at length practically acquiesced
in the same opinion. In Holland, therefore, where the
Lutheran teaching was early introduced, there had been,
before the time of Arminius, more or less dissent from

THE SYSTEM OF ARMINIUS. 473

the Calvinistic dogma. But this dissent first acquired
strength through his influence. James Arminius, born
at Oudewater, in 1560, was one of the most learned and
accomplished theologians of his age. He studied at the
University of Ley den, but received his education princi-
pally at Geneva, where he was under the instruction of
Beza. After travelhng in Italy, he returned to his native
country, and in 1603 became Professor of Theology at
Leyden, and a colleague of Gomarus, a strenuous advo-
cate of the supra-lapsarian theory. This view Arminius
had been called upon to defend against the preachers of
Delft, who had avowed their adhesion to the milder, or
infra-lapsarian form of the doctrine, according to which
election has respect to men already fallen into a state of
sin. But in the examination of the subject, into which
Arminius was thus led, he came to sympathize with the
opinion which he was set to oppose, and at length to go
beyond it, and reject unconditional election altogether.
In short, he gave up what had come to be considered the
characteristic dogma of Calvinism. A dispute arose be-
tween him and Gomarus, and the debate spread through
Holland. Episcopius, the learned successor of Arminius
at Leyden, and Uytenbogaert, who had been a fellow-
pupil of the former at Geneva, became the leaders of the
party which the movement of Arminius had called into
being. The main peculiarities of their creed were con-
tained in the Remonstrance — which gave the name of
Remonstrants to the party — that was addressed to the
states of Holland and West Friesland in 1610. This
document embraces five points, namely, Election based
on the foreknowledge of faith, universal Atonement, in
the room of Atonement made for the elect only, the
resistibility of Grace, in connection with the need of Re-
generation by the Spirit, and the doubtfulness of the Cal-
vinistic tenet of the perseverance of all believers.

A great political line of division was also run between

474 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

the two theological parties. The Arfninians were Repub-
licans, and in favor of a closer union of Church and State,
or a partial control of the State over the Church. The
Calvinists adhered to the house of Orange, and were for
the independence of the Church in relation to the State.
In the progress of the conflict. Olden Barneveldt was
beheaded, and Grotius, the illustrious ornament of the
Arminian party, was banished. The Synod of Dort was
assembled, in 1616, for the purpose of giving judgment
upon this theological controversy. While this Synod
declined to give an express sanction to the supra-lapsarian
views of Gomarus, it declared its judgment in opposition
to the Arminians, on all the characteristic points of their
system, and put forth, by way of antithesis, what have
been called the five points of high Calvinism : uncondi-
tional election ; limited atonement (designed for the elect
alone) ; the complete impotency of the fallen will ; irre-
sistible grace ; and the perseverance of behevers. The
Arminians introduced into their theology other deviations
from the current system. In particular, they modified
the accepted doctrine of Original Sin, excluding native
guilt in the literal and proper sense of the term ; and
through the celebrated treatise of Grotius in answer to
Socinus, and in the writings of other eminent theolo-
gians of the party, they substituted for the Anselmic
doctrine of the Atonement what has been termed the
governmental view.^ The Arminian party, from the out-

1 Grotius meets the objections of Socinus by denying that atonement or satis-
faction is the payment of a debt. The ruler is at liberty to pardon, provided
public order is not endangered. The end of punishment is the prevention of
future transgressions, or the security of the commonwealth. The death o^
Christ, in its moral effect, as a means to this end, is equivalent to the legal pen-
alty; since it equally manifests God's hatred of sin. Hence it permits the
ruler to pardon, on such conditions as he may judge it wise to impose. The
seeds of the Grotian doctrine are in the Scotist theology, which affirmed that the
atonement is not intrinsically the equivalent of the penalty, but takes its place
by the divine acceptance or consent (acceptilatio); though Grotius, on verbal and
technical grounds, repudiates this term. Defensio Fidei Cathol. de Satisfactione
Christi adv. F. Soctnum (1617). Grvtii Opera, iv. 297.

THE Al^ABAPTISTS. 475

set, cultivated Biblical studies with an earnest, scholarly
spirit, and made important contributions in this branch of
theological science. They were marked, partly as a natu-
ral consequence of the position of their party and of the
persecution to which they were subject, by a liberal and
tolerant disposition. They were in favor of reducing the
doctrinal tests at the foundation of Christian union, to
the briefest possible compass. Indeed, a comparative in-
difference in respect to creeds, or a low estimate of their
value, was one of their characteristic traits. The Ar-
minian theology, besides the progress which it made in
the country where it had its origin, by degrees supplanted
Calvinism, for the most part, in the English Episcopal
Church. It was adopted substantially by John Wesley,
the principal founder of Methodism, and in this way won
a numerous and powerful body of adherents.

In the ferment of thought and discussion which was
produced by the Protestant movement, a new impetus, as
well as liberty, was given to speculation. Slumbering
tendencies of opinion were awakened to fresh life, and
new sects sprang up, which were equally dissatisfied with
the old Church and with the position taken by the Re-
formers.

Among the advocates of more radical changes who
considered that the Protestant leaders had stopped half-
way in their work, is that numerous and widely scattered
class, which comprehended under itself many subordinate
divisions, but which was known by the name of Anabap-
tists.^ They received this title from their rejection, in
common, of the baptism of infants, and from their insist-
ing that those who joined them should be baptized anew.
One prevailing feature of their system was a belief in
immediate or prophetic mspiration, which, if it did not
supersede the written Word, assimilated them to its au-

1 Erbkam, Geschichte d. prot. Sekten im. Zeitalt. d. Ref. (1848). Dorner, Hist
<^Prot. Theology, i. 125.

476 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

thors. This was the position of the prophets who stiiTed
up the commotion at Wittenberg, while Luther was at ;he
Wartburg, and who gained over Carlstadt to their cause.
One consequence of this form of enthusiasm was a con-
tempt for human learning and for study. The immediate
teaching of the Spirit renders the laborious exertions of
the intellect superfluous. Another of their tenets was a
Itelief in the visible kingdom of Christ, which was to be
erected on the ruins of Church and State. In some cases
they held that temporal rule belongs to the saints alone,
and carried out their fanatical theory by seizing on the
city of Miinster and dispossessing the magistrates. Some-
times their conduct was marked by an ascetic moraUty,
and sometimes by licentious maxims and practices ; oppo-
site phenomena which freqently coexist in sects of this
nature. They appear to have generally held a peculiar
notion about the Incarnation ; that the body of Christ is
not formed from that of the Virgin, is different from the
flesh and blood of other men, and was deified at the
Ascension. Such a doctrine was held by Jean Boucher,
who was put to death in England, after being examined
by Cranmer. Such was the opinion also of tlie mystic,
Caspar Schwenkfeld, a German nobleman of pious and
zealous character, a leader of one of the most worthy of
the Anabaptist sects, who died not far from 1561. It
was in Holland that the Anabaptists were most numerous.
Many of them were guilty of extravagances which afforded
a fair pretext, though no just apology, for treating them
with extreme severity. After the disturbances connected
with the seizure of Miinster, the more sober class of Ana-
baptists found a leader in the person of Menno, who trav-
elled from place to place, and organized them into
churches. They were a simple and honest people, aiming
to shape their lives according to the precepts of the Bible,
discarding infant baptism, the oath, and the use of arms ;
admitting that civil magistrates are necessary in the pres-

THE .\NTITRINITARIANS. 477

ent condition of the world, but refusing for themselves
to hold civil office. Between the followers of Miinzer,
who entered into the rebellion called the Peasants' war,
in whom a rehgious enthusiasm which had been kindled
partly by the Lutheran movement, was mingled with the
desire to deliver themselves from the oppression of the
German princes — between these enthusiasts and the
humble and pious Mennonites of the Netherlands, who
abjured the use of force altogether, there was a very wide
difference ; and yet both were branches from a common
stock. Both were fruits of a widely diffused religious
excitement, which, in its diverse phases, retained certain
common characteristics.

Very different in many of their traits, and yet cu-
riously connected with the Anabaptists, were the Anti-
trinitarians of the age of the Reformation.^ It was in
Italy, among the cultured class, in men of inquisitive
and cultivated minds, that the Antitrinitarians appeared.
The pecuHar tone of the belles-lettres culture that fol-
lowed upon the revival of learning was often congenial
with these new opinions. There was a disposition to
examine the foundations of religion, to call in question
the traditional doctrines of the Church, and to sift the
entire creed by the application of reason to its contents.
The writings of Servetus doubtless had much influence
in diffusing antitrinitarian opinions ; but most of the
conspicuous Unitarians who first appear, are of Italian
birth ; generally exiles from their country on account of
their belief. After the publication of the antitrinitarian
work of Servetus, in 1531, it is said that not less than
forty educated men in Vicenza and the neighborhood
were united in a private association, all of whom held
Unitarian opinions. The Unitarian doctrine was found
in the churches of Italian refugees at Geneva and at

1 F. Trechsel, Die prot. Antitrinitarier vor F. Socin. (1839 and 1U4). Fock,
Der Socinianismus (1847).

t78 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

Zurich. Blandrata, a learned physician and afterwards
an influential propagator of Unitarianism in Poland
and elsewhere, was their leading adherent at the former
place ; while at Zurich the eminent preacher, Bernar-
dino Ochino, embraced the same theology. Gentili was
put to death in Berne in 1566, for his opinions. Alciati,
ar associate of Blandrata at Geneva, found an asylum
in Poland. But the most eminent of this class of men,
and the one who gave a name to the adherents of Uni-
tarianism, was Faustus Socinus. Born of a noble family
at Sienna, in 1539, and endued with uncommon talents,
he devoted himself first to the study of law. He had
been left an orphan, and his education had been negli-
gently conducted. He soon manifested an interest in
theology, and was guided by the letters and conversa-
tions of his uncle, Lselius Socinus, a man of an inquir-
ing mind, versed in classical learning, who sought the
society of the Reformers in various countries, and cau-
tiouslj'^ betrayed his predilection for Unitarian tenets.
The persecution to which his family were exposed com-
pelled Faustus to leave Italy. After spending three
years in Lyons he went to Zurich to take possession of
the manuscripts of his deceased uncle, which, though con-
sisting of fragmentary papers, furnished him with hmts
and observations of much value. For twelve years he
resided at the court of Francis de Medici at Florence,
and enjoyed high honors and favors, but was drawn
away from the study of theology to which he was
strongly inclined. Leaving Florence, he spent four years
in Basel, where he labored on his theological system, and
diffused his opinions by conversation and by his writ-
ings. At length he resorted to Poland (1579), where the
remainder of his life was spent. At first he was not
received by the Unitarians into their church, because he
refused to be rebaptized. His own view was that Chris-
tian baptism was intended only for converts from heath-

SOCINUS AND HIS SYSTEM. 479

enism. But the Polish Unitarians, like their brethren
in Italy and like Servetns, were opposed to the practice
of infant baptism. Socinus finally succeeded in impress-
ing his views upon the Unitarians about him, and took
the post, for which his talents fitted him, of an acknowl-
edged leader. His intellectual power and his polished
manners commended him to the favor of the Polish
nobles ; and his influence was augmented by his marriage
with a daughter of one of them. By Socinus and by
the scholars who were trained in the Polish schools, of
whom Crell is the most distinguished, the Unitarian
system of doctrine was ably stated and defended.
LaeHus Socinus, from whom Faustus derived his funda-
mental principles, had too much general reverence for
religion to be satisfied with the Deism and Atheism
which were so common among cultivated Italians about
him. But he first studied the Bible to find principles
which he could place at the foundation of a system of
jurisprudence. There was no definite centre from Avhich
his religious life emanated ; no crisis of religious expe-
rience. He resorted to the Scriptures as a text-book of
revealed doctrine, and brought to their interpretation the
rationalistic temper which was the natural result of his
studies and associations. Hence his supernaturalism
stood in no vital connection with his inward life, and
was therefore something, as it were, apart, having no
living roots within the soul.^ It seems at first remark-

1 Neander, Dogmengeschickte, ii. 220 seq. It is interesting to observe how
the type of theology, the interpretation of the Gospel, varies according as men
have or have not a definite centre of religious life, a crisis or turning-point;
such, for example, as Luther had. This diversity may be seen where there is
no real discrepancy in doctrine; even in the Apostolic age, between Paul and
the disciples who were subject to a gradual training. It appears, in some de-
gree, in the contrast between Zwingle and the other great Reformers, Luther at i
Calvin. It is still more marked in its consequences in Erasmus and in many »f
ihe learned Arminians of Holland, when compared with their opponents. In
the Socinians, this difference in theology, having its source in the peculiarities
of religious experience, reached its cl'max.

480 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

able, and yet it is characteristic of the Socinian tone of
thought, that supernaturalism was pushed to an ex-
treme ; that the arguments of natural religion, even for
the being of God, were held in light esteem, and Revela-
tion was declared to be the source of our knowledge,
even in the case of the first truths of religion. Revela-
tion, it was held, may contain things above reason, but
nothing contrary to reason ; and this canon was so ap-
plied in the interpretation of the Bible, that various
doctrines, especially the Trmity, were excluded on the
ground of their alleged inconsistency with intuitive
knowledge. The prime characteristic of the Socinian
theology was the denial of the divinity and satisfaction
of Christ. He is a teacher and legislator, the appointed
head of a spiritual kingdom ; but while his prophetic and
kingly offices are held, his priestly or expiatory function
is denied, or it is limited to the work of intercessory sup-
plication. The church doctrine of original sin is mate-
rially modified. The image of God in man is said to be
identical with his dominion over the lower orders of
creation, and the effect of the first sin is made to be the
propagation of physical mortality. The doctrine of the
annihilation of the wicked is substituted for that of
eternal punishment. The separation of ethics from re-
ligion, the disjunction of ethical character from Chris-
tian faith, was a characteristic tendency of the Socinian
type of thinking, and a corollary of the extreme, but
one-sided supernaturalism, to which we have adverted.
The logical and exegetical ability of the Socinian leaders
gave a wide currency to their doctrine. When persecu-
tion arose against the Unitarians of Poland, in conse-
quence of the Catholic Reaction and the acts of the
Jeisuits, many fled into Holland, and came into friendly
relations with the Arminians. Some also joined the
churches of the Mennonites. It was ihe ingenious and
formidable attack of Faustus Socinus upon the Anselmic

PROJECTS OF REUNION. 481

theory of the Atonement, which gave rise to the treatise
of Grotius, and indirectly occasioned a modification of
the orthodox doctrine, which has found a wide accept-
ance.

The difference between the Lutheran and Calvinistic
creeds was not so great as to preclude efforts to unite the
two parties.^ The chief hindrance to their success was
the intolerant prejudice of rigid Lutherans, especially
after their triumph over the Philippists, the adherents of
the milder theology of Melancthon. The abandonment
of Lutheranism by several of the German states, among
which was the Palatinate, and the oppression to which
Lutheran preachers were sometimes subject, in conse-
quence of the adoption of Calvinism by their rulers,
embittered the opposition to a union. Earnest and long-
continued efforts in this direction were made, from the
early part of the seventeenth century, by the theologians
of Helmstadt, of whom CaKxtus was the most eminent.^
The Huguenot Synods of France were distinguished for
their liberal and friendly course m reference to nego-
tiations with the Lutherans.

Projects for the reunion of the entire body of Protes-
tants with the Roman CathoKcs met with no better suc-
cess.^ On various occasions, as at Augsburg, in 1530,

1 The Form of Concord (1580, Hase, p. 570) sets forth the Lutheran
theology, in opposition to the system of Melancthon, and in contrast with Cal-
vinism. It denies Synergism and all power in man to cooperate in his conver-
sion: but it also denies irresistible grace, attributes the rejection of Christ to
the resistance of man to the Holy Spirit, and affirms the universality of the
offers of the Gospel. Everything like Reprobation is excluded. This logically
amounts to conditional predestination, which was really the Lutheran doctrine
in the 17th century. This was the first point of difference with the Calvinists.
The other points were the Lutheran Consubstantiation, with which were con-
nected the communication of divine attributes to the human nature of Jesus,
and the ubiquity of his body; together with the use of pictures and other minor
peculiarities of the ritual.

'^ For an account of these successive efforts, see Hering, Gsch. <?'. Mrchl.
Uniomvermche seit d. Ref. (2 vols.), 1836. Niedner, pp. 787, 819 seq Giese-
ler, IV. iii. c. i. i.

8 Giesekr, iv. i. 2, iii. §§ 51, 52.
31

482 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

on the occasion of the Diet, in the Conference at Ratis-
bon, and in the Augsburg Interim, the Cathohcs had
evinced a disposition to make concessions. The Emperor,
Ferdinand I., recommended conciHatory measures to the
Council of Trent in 1562 ; and, faihng in his purpose, he
encouraged the theologians near him, in particular George
Cassander, by their writings and personal intercourse
with leading Protestants, in different countries, to labor
for the reconciliation of the two contending parties. The
position of Erasmus, that the creed should be confined to
fundamental articles, and that no agreement should be
required on matters of less moment, was substantially
taken by most of the advocates of reunion. Cassander
proposed to go back to the Scriptures, and to the Church
of the first five centuries. Calixtus adopted the same
principle. Irenical movements of this character are
specially interesting from the part that was taken in
them, by two of the ablest men in the Protestant body,
Grotius and Leibnitz. The latitudinarian tendency of
Erasmus, and the conciliatory spirit and opinions of
Melancthon once more found strong representatives.
The persecution which Grotius suffered at the hands
of his Protestant brethren, the Calvinists of Holland ;
his observation of the rigid attachment of the Protestant
sects to minor peculiarities of doctrine, and their bitter
theological strife among themselves ; his sorrow at the
distracted condition of Europe in the early part of the
seventeenth century, and at the calamities resulting from
the wars of religion, inclined him to set a high value upon
the restoration of ecclesiastical unity. His interconrse
with moderate and enlightened Catholics in France con-
firmed this disposition. The differences among Chris-
tians appeared to him small in comparison with the
points on which they were united. Tlie tendencies of
thought peculiar to him as a statesman, a scholar, and a
theologian, conspired to make him an advocate of coir-

GROTIUS. 483

promise and union among ecclesiastical parties. It is not
surprising that now he was charged with Socinianism,
and now accused of being a Roman Catholic. He em-
ployed his vast erudition in the endeavor to soften Protes-
tant antipathies to the Catholic Church and its doctrines.
He wrote a treatise to prove that the Pope was called
Antichrist through a misinterpretation of the Apoca-
lypse.^ In this and in other publications, he assumed
the position of an apologist for the Catholic theology .^
In his idealized interpretation, he finds it possible even to
accept transubstantiation ; he does not consider the use
of images in worship absolutely unlawful, though he
regrets the abuses connected with it ; ^ he thinks that the
invocation of saints and prayers for the dead are not
inadmissible ; and finds great advantages in episcopal
government, and in the primacy of the Pope. Even the
interference of the Popes with the election of Emperors,
has a ground in the fact that the Popes may be considered
the representatives of the Roman people. Grotius gives
a place to tradition in the exegesis of Scripture. His
real position is, that the propositions on which all Chris-
tians can unite, are to be ascertained by a universal
council, composed of all parties, and that the conclusions

1 Grotii Opera (Basel, 1732), iv. 457 seq.

2 Votum pro Face eccl. contra examen A. Eiveti, Ibid., p. 653, Via ad Pacem
eccl., Ibid., p. 535, etc.

3 He denies the universal validity of the Decalogue under the new dispensa-
tion. He appeals to the commandment respecting the Sabbath, which Luther,
Calvin, Melancthon, Zwingle, and the other Reformers, united in denying to be
so far obligatory that the observance of one day in seven is, on the ground of
it, required of Christians. Calvin, Institutes, ii. 8, 29, 34. Luther, Catechis-
mus major, in Hase, Libri Symbolici, p. 424. Melancthon, Loci Communes,
(Erlangen, 1828), pp. 123, 124. Zwingle thinks it belter to mow, cut, hew, or
to do other necessary work which the season demands, after divine worship,
than to be idle; "for the believer is above the Sabbath." Werke, i. 317. Such
work is recommended in the acts of the Synod of Homberg, in Hesse, on the
same grounds. Hassenkamp, Lcben F. Lamberts, p. 42. The Puritans asserted
the perpetual validity of the fourth commandiuent, only that the day is changed
by divine authoritj'. On the history of the observance of Sunday, see Hesse,
Bampto7i Lectures (1860). Hallam, Const. /list., ch. vii.

484 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

ot such a council are trustworthy. The canon of Vincent
of Lerins — that what is accepted always, everywhere,
and by all, is Catholic truth — is laid hold of by Grotius
to serve as a basis for his scheme of comprehension and
latitudinarian orthodoxy.^

In the latter part of the seventeenth century, Spinola,
another theologian from the Court of Vienna, who had
been a Franciscan General in Spain, signalized himself
by a pacific undertaking similar to that of Cassander.
In the course of his labors at the Hanoverian court, in
behalf of syncretism, as the projected union of the diverse
religious bodies was termed, he had much intercourse
with the Lutheran theologian, Molanus ; and a correspond-
ence arose between Molanus, and, afterwards, Leibnitz, on
the one side, and Bossuet on the other.^ Leibnitz con-
ducted a long correspondence also, much of which relates
to the same subject, with the Landgrave Ernest, of Hesse-
Rheinfels, who had gone over to the Catholic Church, in
1652.^ The position taken by Leibnitz closely resembles
that of Grotius. Each brought vast stores of learning,
and a marvelous outlay of philosophical acuteness to the
task of harmonizing conflicting dogmas. Leibnitz found
the dogma of transubstantiation harder to deal with than
any other article of the opposing creed ; but in the
alembic of his subtle criticism, discordant opinions were
made to assume a likeness to one another. He lays great
stress on the foundations of religion, and declares that the
question whether the love of God is necessary for salva-
tion, is incomparably more important than the question
whether the substance of the bread remains in the Eucha-
rist, or the question whether souls must be purified before

1 That Grotius died, as he had lived, in the Protestant Church, is proved, if
proof were necessary, by the narrative of the Lutheran clergyman who attended
iiim in his last hours. See Bayle's Dictionary, art. "Grotius;" and Luden,
Hugo Grotius nach seinen SchicJcsalen u. Schriften (Berlin, 1806), p. 338 seq.

2 Von Rommel, Leibnitz u. Lnrulgrnf Ernst von Hessen-Rheinfels. .Yin
ungedruckter Brief wechsel, etc. 2 vols. (Frankfort, 1847).

8 On the part taken by Leibnitz, see Hering, ii. 276 seq.

LEIBNITZ AND BOSSUET. 486

being admitted to the vision of God. The questions in
dispute between Rome and Augsburg he affirms to be of
less consequence than the points in debate between the
Jansenists and their opponents, within the pale of the
Catholic Church.^ He went so far as to admit the right-
ful primacy of the Bishop of Rome, and he professed him-
seK to stand in an inward connection, though not in
external union, with the Roman Church/'' But in reply
to pressing invitations to conform outwardly to this
Church, he declined, on the ground that within its fold
he could not hold in peace his philosophical opinions,
with which, in reality, the Church had no right to
meddle ; he denied that he was a schismatic, therefore,
by his own fault, and maintained the same ground in
respect to Luther and the Protestants generally.^ The
Church universal, according to Leibnitz, ever holds and
is authorized to teach the essentials of religion ; but it is
not authorized to go beyond this hmit. Li case it does
so, and thus invades the rights of conscience, an in-
dividual, or a body of individuals, are not injured by
excommunication ; and, when they find themselves, with-
out their fault, in this position, their ministry and their
administration of the sacraments become valid and accept-
able to God. His remedy for the divisions of Christen-
dom, was a general council, in which all parties should
appear, and by which their common faith should be de-
fined ; everything else being left to the free judgment of
individuals, and of national churches. The point on which
Leibnitz and Bossuet could not unite, was the authority
of the Council of Trent. Bossuet asserted that the Cath-
olic Church could make explanations, but no retractions ;
and that the creed of Trent could not be altered.* Leib-
nitz did not allow that the Tridentine Council is an oecu-

1 Von Rommel, ii. 367. 2 ibid., p. 19. 3 jbid., ii. 365.

* It is interesting to notice that Dr. Pusey's recent argument for union, An
Eirenicon, etc. (18G6), was met by Archbishop Manning with the same demand

486 THE PROTESTANT THEOLOGY.

menicjil body ; and he objected to some of its determina-
tions : for example, to those relating to marriage.^ The
outbreaking of the Jansenist persecution, and the tyranny
and persecuting policy of Louis XIV., dashed in pieces
whatever hopes of union sanguine persons may have been
led to entertain, in consequence of these conferences
between Protestant and CathoUc leaders.

for the acknowledgment of the Tridentine Council. But the representations
of Roman Catholic theologj- by men like Bossuet and Mohler must be read with
the recollection that there is a stricter orthodoxy than is found in them.

1 Leibnitz wrote " a theological system " about the year 1684, which purports
to be from the hand of a Catholic. His design was to exhibit that moderate
type of Catholicism which must be offered on the Catholic side as a basis of
negotiations for reunion. In regard to his own position he says, in a letter to
T. Burnet, in 1705: *' On a eu la menie opinion de moi [as of Grotius], lorsque
j'ai explique en bonne part certaines opinions des docteurs de I'Eglise Komaine
contre les accusations outrees de nos gens. Mais quand on a voulu passer plus
avant et me faire accroire, que je devais done me ranger chez eux, je leur ai
bien montr^ que j'en ^tais fort eloign^." See Niedner, Kirchengsch., p. 818.
On the Eucharist, Leibnitz writes: "Quant a moi (puisque vous en demandez
mon sentiment. Monsieur), je me tiens a la Confession d'Augsbourg, qui met une
presence r(?elle du corps de Jesus Christ, et reconnoit quelque chose de rayste-
rieux dans ce Sacrament." Letter to M. Pelisson (without date). Xjeibnitdi
Opera, ed. Dutens, i. 718.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PROTESTANT CHUECHES
AND THEIR RELATION TO THE CIVIL AUTHORITY. ^

In Scotland and Geneva the Reformation was estab-
lished by public authority, as the result of a political rev-
olution ; in most other places, also, it was introduced by
the free act of princes or municipalities, who acted as
the organs of the popular will. In France, and wherever
the government was not carried into the new movement,
it was organized independently of the civil authority. In
some countries — in England, for example — civil rulers
took a more active and controlling part than elsewhere in
shaping, as in bringing in, the new order of things. More
of the previous ecclesiastical system was retained in some
of the regions where Protestantism prevailed than in
others. In short, the circumstances under which the revo-
lution was effected, as well as the varied character of the
communities in which it took place, had an important
effect on the form of the new institutions.

1 Upon the topics of the Lecture, the principal Catholic manual is Walter,
Kirchenrevht (13th ed., 1861) ; the principal Protestant work of a like character is
Richter, Lehrhuch d. hath u. prot. Kirchenrechts, Leipzig, 1866. See also
G. J. Planck, Gsch. d. Enstehung u. AusbiMung d. christl. kirclil. GesellscJuifts-
verfassung, 1803 seq., 5 vols.; Richter, Gsch. d. evang. Kircheriverfassung in
Deutschl., 1851; Lechler, Gsch.d. Presbyteri(d-Verfassung,l%b\. There are val-
uable articles by Jacobson in Herzog's Recd-Enc. d. Theol., viz., Consistorial-
verfassung (vol. iii.), Collegiahystein (vol. ii.), Epislcajmlsysteni (vol. iv.),
Territorialsyslem (vol. xv. ). See also Rotteck u. Welcker, Staats L(x{ko7i, art.
Kirche, Kirchenverfassung. A concise discussion of the possible and actual
relations of Church and State is given by Bluntschli, Stnatsrecht , ii. 250. See
also Von Mohl, Staatsrecht, Volkerrecht u. Poiitik, ii. 171, and Laurent, L'Egline
et L'Etat (1860).

488 CONSTITUTION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

The Reformers generally agreed in discarding the hie-
rarchical idea, and in holding that the body of the Church
is the original repository of ecclesiastical authority. It
was government by the laity, in distinction from govern-
ment by a priestly class. This fundamental principle
was adhered to, and nowhere more than in England, where
the fabric of the old polity was least altered. The Re-
formers generallj'^ held, also, that Church and State are
so far distinct that neither is subject to the absolute con-
trol of the other, or can merge in the other its own exis-
tence. They opposed, on the one hand, enthusiasts and
fanatics, who clamored for the subordination or surrender
of secular rule to " the saints," and thus for the estab-
lishment of a theocracy ; they opposed, on the other hand,
an absorption of ecclesiastical power in the State, such as
marked the Roman Empire under heathenism, and the
Greek Empire in Christian ages.

The Lutheran Reformers professed principles upon the
government of the Church and upon its relation to the
civil authority, which they considered it impracticable to
realize. Luther declared that all power resides in the
congregation, or body of believers — the Church collect-
ive. In their hands are the keys, or the right to exercise
Church discipline, the sacraments, and all the powers of
government. The clergy are commissioned by the people
to perform offices which belong to all in common, but
which all cannot discharge. They are therefore committed
by the voice of the community to such as are qualified to
fulfill them. The sacrament of ordination is nothing but
the rite whereby persons are put into the ministry ; but
they are not constituted an order of priests. The churches
have the power to elect and ordain their ministers, for it
is the churches to whom the command is addressed to
preach the Gospel. The Church is endued with the right
to govern itself; the right of excommunication belongs

ECCLESIASTICAL FUNCTION OF CIVIL RULERS. 489

not to a body of ecclesiastics, but to the congregation and
its chosen pastors. ^

But these abstract doctrines Luther and his associates
thought themselves prevented by circumstances from car-
rying into practice. They were led, also, by the situation
in which they were placed, to modify, in important par-
ticulars, these theoretical statements, especially on the
point of the relations of the civil authority to the Church.
The Germans, Luther said, were too rough, wild, and
turbulent, and too unpracticed in self-government, to take
ecclesiastical power, in this way, into their hands at once,
without producing infinite disorders and confusion. The
princes must take the lead in ecclesiastical arrangements,
and the people must conform to their wholesome arrange-
ments. The authority of civil rulers in the ecclesias-
tical sphere, was pronounced to rest partly on the old
right of patrons, and on kindred prerogatives which had
been enjoyed by the secular guardians of the Church, and
partly on the principle that princes and magistrates, as
the principal members of the Church, are entitled to be
heard with respect ; a doctrine quite compatible with the
general theory that Church government pertains not to
the clergy alone, but to the laity, to the whole congrega-
tion. It was held, moreover, that it belongs to civil
rulers to maintain order, by the regulation even of the ex-
ternals of worship. This indefinite function thus conceded
to the State, was variously interpreted ; but the tendency
of events was to induce the Reformers to amplify rather
than abridge it. The peasants' war and the subsequent
strife with the Anabaptists, in which the coercive agency
of the princes was necessarily called in, were influential
in this direction. There was a strong reaction against the
extreme view of the enthusiasts who proposed to divest
the magistrate of every kind of authority. Luther is at

1 For the passages from Luther and from the Augsburg Confession, see Giese-
ler, IV. i. 2, § 46.

490 CONSTITUTION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

times positive in the assertion that the jurisdiction of the
civil rulers is restricted to temporal affairs, to the protec-
tion of life and property. This is the definition of the
Augsburg Confession. Yet, as special questions arise,
both Luther and Melancthon attribute to the State a
much larger measure of power in matters of religion than
these terms would naturally suggest. Villages and cities
should be compelled, they say, to have schools and
preachers, just as they are compelled to construct bridges
and roads. But this is not all. It would be right for the
Elector to enjoin the use of the Catechism, without which
the people would not learn what it is to be a Christian.
They proceed further and declare that the civil magis-
trate should take cognizance of offenses against the first,
as well as against the second table of the law. He is
morally bound to suppress and punish blasphemy ; and
this function, as the Reformation made progress, was
held to embrace the right and duty of abolishing the
mass. Such is the teaching of Melancthon in his doc-
trinal treatise, the " Loci Communes," and such was the
judgment of both Reformers in response to special inquiries
addressed to them by princes. Luther, writing in 1531
to the Margrave, George of Brandenburg, refers him to
the example of the Hebrew King, Hezekiah, who did
right in breaking in pieces the brazen serpent of Moses,
although his act gave the same offense to people as the abol-
ishing of the mass would give. The Reformers recurred to
the instance of Constantine, who, in his office of protector
of the Church, was disposed to quell the Arian contro-
versy, and to this end convoked the Council of Nicffia.
Yet Luther, as well as Melancthon, foresaw that the
Church would be liable to oppression at the hands of the
State ; that whereas the State, under the old system, had
been stripped of its rightful powers and influence, an evil
just the reverse was now likely to emerge, from the inter-
meddling and tyranny of civil rulers. Hence, both were

THE LUTHEEAN POLITY. 491

willing that ia the Protestant organization bishops should
be retained or appomted, who should have only a jure hio-
mano authority, but who might serve as a counterpoise to
the formidable influence of the State. This feature, how-
ever, was not introduced into the Lutheran organization.
The bishops generally not taking the side of reform, other
provisions had to be made for the management of church
affairs. The political arrangements, especially after the
Peace of Augsburg, which suspended the spiritual juris-
diction of Roman Catholic prelates over the adherents of
the Augsburg Confession, and made the religion of each
secular state dependeut upon that of its ruler, had the
effect to put into the hands of princes more and more con-
trol in ecclesiastical affairs.

The two principal characteristics of the Lutheran
pohty, as it was formed in Saxony and most Lutheran
communities, were the superintendents and consistories.
Superintendents were first appointed in the Church of
Stralsund, and next by the Elector of Saxony, in the in-
structions to the Visitors who were sent, at the request of
the theologians, to the Saxon churches, in 1527.^ The
superintendents, in their respective districts, took the
place of bishops, and exercised an oversight upon the doc-
trine and the worship of the churches, and upon the pas-
tors. The consistories arose from the need of a compe-
tent tribunal to adjudicate upon questions relating to
marriage and divorce. With the abolishing of the canon
law, many of the provisions of which clashed with Prot-
estant principles, and with the loss of the old episcopal
tribunals, numerous and often perplexing questions were
brought before the Lutheran pastors. Not a few of the

1 The "Instructions to Visitors " were drawn up by Melancthon. They in
eluded a directory for divine worship and for the instruction of the people
They established a uniform system in the government and worship of the
Saxon Churches. The ignorance of the people and of their teachers so im-
pressed Luther, that he was led to compose his Catechisms. The sj'stem estab
lished by the Visitation was carried out by force of law.

492 CONSTITUTION Or THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

letters of Luther himself and of his associates are in re-
sponse to petitions for advice from princes and private per-
sons, respecting marriage and divorce. The unsettled
views on this subject — the state of things inevitably
consequent on the renunciation of the old system of
ecclesiastical laws, which in many points the Reformers
judged to be vmscriptural and unreasonable — must be
taken into account, in considering the conduct of the Wit-
tenberg Reformers in the case of the scandalous double-
marriage of the Landgrave of Hesse. But marriage was
partly a secular matter, falling under the cognizance of
the civil tribunals, and partly ethical and religious, and
so coming within the province of the Church and clergy.
Hence mixed tribunals, composed partly of clergy and
partly of jurists, were constituted by the civil authority,
and into the hands of these bodies, called consistories, the
same name which the former episcopal courts had borne,
the whole ecclesiastical administration, including the right
of excommunication, was committed. The only right
left to the churches in the election of pastors, was that
of confirming or rejecting the nominations made by the
patrons.

In Brandenburg and Prussia, where the bishops were
not averse to the Protestant movement, the episcopal
system lingered until 1587. In Denmark it was sup-
pressed in 1536 ; the Danish superintendents being ap-
pointed by the king. Sweden alone of the Lutheran
countries has continued the episcopal organization.

A remarkable attempt was made in Hesse to establish
a church system of a quite different character. This was
made under the auspices of Philip, Landgrave of Hesse,
who was governed by the advice of Francis Lambert, a
converted Franciscan, a native of Avignon, who had em-
braced Protestantism, and had resided first with Zwingle
at Zurich and then at Wittenberg. The Church consti-
tution, to which we refer, was devised at a synod at

THE SYNOD OF HOMBERG. 493

Homberg, in 1526, and was democratic in its principles.
The Gospel was to be preached in every place, and then
a Church was to be organized, to consist of true believers
who were willing to unite in a common subjection to the
rules of discipline. The body thus composed was to choose
its own pastors, who were called bishops, and might be
taken from any profession, and to exercise self-government
including the administration of a strict discipline and of ex-
communication where it should be required. Every year
each Church was to be represented by bishops and dele-
gates in a general synod, where all complaints were to
be heard, and doubtful questions solved. The business of
the synod was to be prepared beforehand by a commit-
tee of thirteen ; and at each meeting three visitors were
to be chosen to investigate the condition of each Church.
The plan may be described as the Congregational sys-
tem with an infusion of Presbyterian elements. " The
features of it," says Ranke, " are the same as those on
which the French, the Scottish, and the American Church
was afterwards established ; upon them, one may say, the
existence, the development of North America rests. They
have an immeasurable, world-historical importance. At
the first experiment, they appear in a complete form: a
little German synod adopted them."

Luther considered the people quite unprepared for such
arrangements. He often complained of the indocile
roughness and obtuseness of the rustics, who could not
be brought to undertake the support of their own minis-
ters. Before the Homberg Synod he had become con-
vinced that Church arrangements, so much at variance
with those with which the Germans had been famil-
iar, would prove impracticable and abortive. Artificial
legislation, not a historical growth, was contrary to his
ideas : even Moses, he said, had set down what was cus-
tomary and traditional among his people. In all such
matters he held that we must proceed with slow stepa

494 CONSTITUTION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

" Little and well " was the motto which he adopted.
Such a mass of new laws, he wrote to the Landgrave, he
could not approve of : it was a great thing to make a
law, and without the Spirit of God no good could come
of it. Partly from Luther's opposition, and still more
from the influence of the causes on which his objections
were founded, the Hessian constitution was never fully
set in operation.

The course of events in Germany had brought the
government of the Church into the hands of the Protes-
tant princes within their respective states. Theologians
and jurists proposed various theories in explanation or
justification of this fact. At the beginning of. the seven-
te(3nth century, the " episcopal system " was advocated,
according to which the civil rulers were held to have
received their ecclesiastical powers from the Emperor,
by the Treaty of Passau and the Peace of Augsburg.
Some held that these powers were provisionally be-
stowed, by " devolution," until the opposing churches
should be reunited ; others, that they were now restored
to the place where they had originally and rightfully be-
longed. At the end of the seventeenth century, the
" territorial system " was set up, in which episcopal
authority — jus episcopale — was identified with the con-
ceded right of the princes to reform abuses in religion —
the "jus reformandi." This system made the govern-
ment of the Church, not including, however, the deter-
mination of doctrinal disputes, a part of the prince's
proper function, as the ruler of the State. This theory
was advanced by Thomasius, whose opinion was shared
for substance by Grotius, and by Selden, the English de-
fender of the theory which denies the autonomy of the
Church, and is known under the name of Erastianism.
Professed at first in the interest of toleration, the " terri-
torial system " became the potent instrument of tyranny.
Another theory, the " collegial system," was elaborated

POLITY OF THE CALVINISTIC CHURCHES. 495

by Puffendorf and Pfaff. This made the Church origi-
nally an independent society, which devolved, by contract,
episcopal authority upon tHe civil rulers. The oppression
of the Church by the State — what the Germans call
Ccesaro-papismus — has been a prolific source of evil in
Lutheran communities.

In the Reformed branch of the Protestant family there
was the same theory respecting the rights of the Church
to govern itself, and respecting the relation of Church
and State as auxiliary to one another. The inde-
pendence of the Church upon secular control was in
general maintained with much more distinctness and
tenacity, partly from the circumstance that several of
the Calvinistic Churches — for example, the churches of
France, Scotland, and the Netherlands — framed their
organization as sects, with no sympathy from the civil
rulers. This fact was not without its influence in stamp-
ing more republican features upon their polity. In Zu-
rich, Zwingle saw, as Luther had seen, that the body of
the people were not ripe for self-government according to
a popular method ; and accordingly ecclesiastical author-
ity was placed in the hands of the great Council, which
governed the city, and was considered to represent the
ecclesiastical as well as civil community. The clergy
were nominated or presented by the magistracy, the
privilege being given to the people, who were convened
for the purpose, of objecting to the candidates. Zwingle
held, also, that excommunication should be left to the
Christian magistracy, as long as they did not neglect
their duty in this particular. In 1525, a court composed
of pastors and civilians was constituted for the decision
of questions pertaining to marriage and divorce. The
infliction of all punishments was relegated to the civil
authority. The principle of the parity of the clergy was
strictly adhered to. Q^^colampadius at Basel endeavored
to restore church discipline to the Church itself, but his

496 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

efforts in this direction, though partially successful for
a time, soon failed ; and the Zurich system, in its es-
sential characteristics, was adopted in the other Swiss
Cantons.

The doctrine of Calvin with regard to the proper con-
stitution of the Church and the connection of Church and
State, is set forth with his usual clearness in the Insti-
tutes. The officers of the Church are, besides deacons,
lay elders who, in conjunction with the clergy, have
charge of church discipline. The equality of the clergy,
or the identity of presbyters and bishops, is affirmed.
The officers are to be chosen by the congregation, under
the lead and presidency of the officers already existmg.
Calvin, in speaking of the constitution of the State, does
not conceal his partiality for an aristocratic form modified
by democratic elements ; and this feeling, notwithstand-
ing his view that power resides ultimately in the congre-
gation, betrays itself in his remarks on the proper method
of electing officers of the Church. The Church has no
authority to use force or inflict civil punishments of any
sort. Its functions are purely spiritual. On the other
hand, the State has no moral right to intrude within the
jurisdiction of the Church or to diminish its liberty.
Nevertheless, the State is bound to cooperate with the
Church, and to aid it by the efficient use of distinctly
civil instrumentalities. Calvin rejects the theory that
the State has cognizance only of the worldly concerns of
men. It is the first and most imperative duty of the
magistrate to foster religion, and hence he is solemnly
bound to punish and extirpate heresy. He says that if
" the Scripture did not teach that this office (of the
magistracy) extends to both tables of the law, we might
learn it from heathen writers ; for not one of them has
treated of the office of magistrates, of legislation, and
civil government, without beginning with religion and
divine worship." It belongs to government to see " that

CALVINISTS ON CONNECTION OF CHURCH AND STATE. 497

idolatry, sacrileges against the name of God, blasphemies
against his truth, and other offenses against religion, may
not openly appear and be disseminated among the peo-
ple." " Civil government is designed, as long as we Hve
in this world, to cherish and support the external wor-
ship of God, to preserve the pure doctrine of religion,
to defend the constitution of the Church," as well as to
promote the temporal interests of men. This idea of
the relation of government to religion prevailed among
Calvinists ; it is distinctly asserted in the Confession of
the Westminster Assembly. Nor was it peculiar to
them ; it is stated by Melancthon in language simOar to
that employed by Calvin. It is substantially the view
which had been held in the Catholic Church. It has
been said of Calvin with truth, that " he labored to pro-
duce in men a deeper reverence for religious acts and
persons, to make them conscious of the mystic union that
subsists among all true believers, and especially to invest
the doctrine of the visible Church with new significance,
on the ground that it is instituted, not as any mere con-
ventional establishment, but for the training and matur-
ing of human souls in faith and holiness." He fought
a battle in defense of the prerogative of the Church to
excommunicate offending members, and to deny the
Eucharist to the unworthy ; and he vindicated this right
against the interference of the civil authority. He first
established the eldership in full vigor, committing the
regulation of doctrine and discipline to a body of clerical
and lay pastors, there being twice as many laymen as
ministers on the board. Geneva being so small a terri-
tor}^ the synodal constitution could not be developed as
it was in other Calvinistic churches. The powers that
were attributed to the Church by Calvin's theory tended
to give the entire system of government at Geneva the
character of a theocracy ; but this tendency was modi-
fied in its effect by the agency given to the Councils in

32

498 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

the selection of cliurch officers, and by other features
in which there was a departure from the strict principle
of independence and self-government on the part of the
Church.

The Presbyterian constitution was adopted, with special
varieties of form, in the Protestant churches of Scotland,
France, and the Netherlands. In Scotland, there was
at first an approximation, on one point, at least, to the
Lutheran system ; since in 1531, superintendents were
appointed, their jurisdiction being coextensive with the
ancient diocesan divisions. But this was a transient
arrangement. Nowhere did the hatred of prelacy, and of
everything that looked like it, become more fervent than
in Scotland. The Presbyterian system was fully estab-
lished, and affirmed to exist by divine right. There were
two classes of elders constituted — ruling, or lay elders,
and preaching elders — who together formed the Kirk-
session and exercised government in the Church. Vacan-
cies in the lay part of the session were filled by the body
itself, on the nomination of the pastor. The highest tribu-
nal for the exercise of Church authority was the General
Assembly or National Synod, in which the ministerial
representatives were on a footing of perfect equality. In
France, the chiirches being separately organized, were at
first autonomic in their polity, the preacher with the lay
elders and deacons forming the consistory or senate, the
governing body. While in Geneva, the elders were cho-
sen for life, in France they were elected only for a term
of years. Vacancies were filled on the nomination of
the consistory itself. In France the elders confined them-
selves to the exercise of government and discipline, and
did not, as at Geneva, visit the houses or cooperate offi-
cially with the pastors in the cure of souls. This auxil-
iary service was devolved on the deacons. In 1559, the
synodal constitution was introduced, by which the au-
thority that had resided in the consistories was limited ,

CHUKCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND. 499

supreme jurisdiction being placed in the National Synod,
which formed the highest court, and exercised a general
superintendence in matters of doctrine and discipline.^
The Presbyterians have always manifested a jealousy of
state-control and a disposition to keep the government of
the Church in its own hands. But in England, at the
epoch of the Long Parliament and the Westminster As-
sembly, concessions had to be made, in consequence of
the want of unanimity in the adoption of Presbyterian
principles and the refusal of Parliament to surrender
the supreme power in ecclesiastical affairs.^

The relation of the established Church to the State in
England, where the principal control in ecclesiastical af-
fairs was assumed by the civil authority, has been vari-
ously defined. For a while, the Byzantine theory, which
conceives of the King as possessed of a sort of priestly

i A serious dispute broke out in the French Church in 1571 between the ad-
vocates of a type of Congregationalism, of whom the celebrated Ramus was
one, and the defenders of the established system, which lodged the powers of
government in the Consistory. The Massacre of St. Bartholomew caused the
subject to be forgotten. For notices of this interesting controversy, see Martin,
Hist.de France, ix. 277, n. 2; Weber, Darstellung d. Calvinismus, p. 59 n. ; Von
Polenz, Geschichte d. franzoaisch. Calv., i. 422, 709; Schlosser, Leben Beza, p.
219.

2 The crder of worship which was adopted in the different Eeformed Churches
was in accord with their respective ideas of doctrine and polity. Luther re-
tained many of the ancient forms ; but he gave to the sermon a place of central
importance, and was careful to insist that the arrangements of the Witten-
berg Service Book should not be imposed on others. We must be masters of
ceremonies — not let them be masters of us — was his motto. The singing of
hymns assumed a prominent place in Lutheran worship. The changes of Zwin-
gle were much more radical. In Zurich, church singing was given up until
1598. At Basel and some other Swiss towns, however, the German Psalms ^^ere
sung. The Church of Geneva followed substantially the Zurich service, but
used the French versions of the Psalms, by Marot and Beza. The Genevan
Service Book served as a model for various other Reformed Churches. On this
whole subject, see Gieseler, iv. i. 2, § 47, where the literature is given. The
Liturgy of the Anglican Church was largely drawn from the old service-books.
See F. Procter, A History of the Book of Common Prayer (7th ed., New York,
1868). A. J. Stephens, The Book of Common Prayer, vnth note?, legal and his-
torical {18iQ). W. Maskell, The Ancient Liturgy of the Chuich of England
(2d ed., 184G). C. W. Shields, The Book of Common Prayer, as amended bv
the West. Divines ; with a Hist, and Liturgical Treatise (1867''.

500 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

function, as being an ecclesiastical as well as a civil per-
son, seems to have been tacitly held. His headship over
the Church and control in ecclesiastical government were
justified on this hypothesis. The Erastian doctrine, ac-
cording to which the Church, as such, has none of the
prerogatives of government, which inhere wholly in the
State, had its adherents in England, and left its influence
upon the English polity. It was the theorj^ of Hooker
that the Church of any particular country, and the State
there existing, are one and the same society. They are
not two distinct societies which unite or coalesce in a de-
gree ; but they are one and the same social body, which,
as related to temporal concerns, and all things except
true religion, is the commonwealth ; as related to religion,
is the Church.i The supremacy of the King, if the gov-
ernment is monarchical, over the Church, is the corollary of
this proposition. Among the modern advocates of this
hypothesis, one of the ablest is the late Dr. Arnold. In
idea, the Church and State, he thinks, are identical. Their
end, their ergon, is the same. He rejects, with all his
heart, the modern theory that the design of the State is
limited to the protection of body and goods. The State,
in its very idea, is religious, and is bound to aim at the
promotion of religion. Rejecting, also, the doctrine of
apostolic succession and of a priestly order, Arnold finds
in the King's supremacy an emblem and a realization of
the truth that the laity have a right to govern in the
Church. The more the State is pervaded by the spirit of
Christianity, the more is the Church, as a separate body,

1 Ecclesiast. Polity, b. viii. "We say that the care of religion being com-
mon to all societies politic, such societies as do embrace the true religion have
the name of Church given unto every one of them for distinction from the
rest." "When we oppose, therefore, the Church and Commonwealth in Chris-
tian society, we mean by the Commonwealth that society with relation to all
the public affairs thereof, only the matter of true religion excepted: by the
Church, the same society with onlj' reference unto the matter of true religion,
without any affairs besides."

THEORIES OF WARBURTON AND COLERIDGE. 501

superseded. The ideal towards which we are to strive is
the identification of the two.^

The theory of Warburton proceeds upon a denial of
the identity of Church and State.^ They are in their
own nature and originally, distinct and separate societies.
But this mutual independence does not of necessity con-
tinue. They may enter into an alliance with one another
upon certain terms, the result of which is a connection
and mutual dependence of the two. The Church enters
into a relation of subordination to the State, the State
making stipulations which bind it to support the Church.
There is a contract with conditions to be fulfilled on
either side. If the State should fail to fulfill these en-
gagements, the Church may withdraw from the connection,
and then falls back upon its original condition of inde-
pendence.

Coleridge has suggested a theory somewhat diverse
from that of Warburton.^ The hypothesis of Coleridge,
as far as it is peculiar, is founded on a distinction between
the visible Church of Christ, as it may be found in any
particular country, and the national or established Church
of that country. The visible Church is a kingdom not of
this world ; it manages its own affairs, appoints and sup-
ports its own ministers. The State is competent neither
to appoint nor to displace these ministers, nor is it re-
sponsible for their maintenance. The national Church,
on the contrary, is a public and visible community, having
ministers whom the nation, through the agency of a con-
stitution, has created trustees of a reserved national fund,
upon fixed terms, and with defined duties, and whom in the
case of breach of those terms, or dereliction of those du-

1 See Arnold's Life, and Correspondence (by Stanley), />«wsiwi; and Arnold's
Miscellaneous Wntings. The eminent German theologian, Rothe, has advocated
a similar theorj', in his Christliche Ethik, and in his posthumous Do^ mntik,
vi. 32 seq.

2 This and other theories are sketched in the Preface to Coleridge's Church
and State, by H. N. Coleridge. Coleridge's Works (ed. Shedd), vol. vi.

8 Works, vol. vi.

502 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

ties, the nation, through the same agency, may discharge."
But the ministers of the one Church may also be the min-
isters of the other ; the ministers of the visible Church
of Christ may be, also, the ministers of the national or
established Church. This is, for many reasons, expedi-
ent, and is actually the case. Thus the titles, emolu-
ments, and political power of the clergy, belong to them,
not as ministers of the Church of Christ, which is not
national or local, but as an estate of the realm ; as a body
charged with the vast responsibility of preserving and
promoting the moral culture of the people. In this ca-
pacity they may sit in Parliament, which is the great
Council of the nation.

Mr. Gladstone, in his work on " Church and State,"
some of the doctrines of which he has since renounced,
does not differ materially from Coleridge.^ Mr. Glad-
stone holds, that the State is a moral person, bound to act
in the name of Christ and for the glory of God, and to
make religion the paramount end in guiding and govern-
ing the nation. But he claims that the true Church,
which has in it the apostolic succession, must be the body
chosen by the nation for the performance of this high
office. He admits that there may be a condition of
religious opinion, where this alliance of the State with
the Church is impracticable, as is the case in the United
States ; but in all such communities, he considers the life
of the State maimed, imperfect, conventional.

Chalmers maintains that an establishment is necessarj''
to the proper effect of Christianity upon a people. ^ The
State, he thinks, is bound to select and support some one
denomination, and maintain its religious teachers. In
making the selection, the State must be governed, if this
be practicable, by a consideration of the truth or error of
the tenets of the various religious bodies. It must in-

1 The State in Connection with the Church (4th ed., 1841).

2 Works, vol. xvii.

THEORIES OF AN ESTABLISHMENT. 503

quire, what is truth. But if religious opinion is so
divided, or the circumstances are such, that this cannot
be made the sole criterion, some one " Protestant,"
" evangelical " denomination must be chosen.

Macaulay, in his review of Gladstone's book, repre-
sents the lowest, or most moderate type of opinion among
the advocates of an Establishment.^ He denies that the
direct end of government is the propagation of religion.
The direct end of governments is the protection of life
and property. This is the proper and only essential
function of the State. But while pursuing this end, the
State may and should, as a collateral object, have in view
the moral and religious improvement of the people.
Especially may public education be defended as neces-
sary to the safety of the State. The promotion of re-
ligion is an incidental, not a direct or main business of
the civil organization. In selecting its Church, or the
religious instructors of the people, the State or govern-
ment must be determined, not, indeed, by the mere ^vill
of a majority, but not by its own views of truth exclu-
sively ; but must act in such a way as to secure the
largest proportion of truth with the smallest admixture
of error. Hence the religious views and prejudices that
prevail in the community must always be consulted and
respected.

In the English system, the filling of all high ecclesi-
astical offices devolves on the sovereign, the ecclesiastical
bodies not being at liberty to refuse the formal concur-
rence which is required to fulfill the election. The two
provinces of York and Canterbury have each its Convo-
cation, composed of two houses, the first consisting of the
bishops, and the second, of the rest of the clergy ; and
the two Convocations may combine. But Convocation
cannot assemble without authority from Parliament, nor
is it possible for any ecclesiastical laws or canons to be

1 Macaulay's Essays, vol. iv.

504 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

passed without the consent of Parliament. The result
has been that for nearly two centuries, Convocation has
had little more than a nominal existence. To this extent
has synodal government vanished in the English Church,
and the government of the Church been surrendered to
the State.i

Turning to the Catholic Church, we find, in the latter
part of the sixteenth century, a singular development of
doctrine on the origin and nature of civil authority.
High views of Papal authority, as extending over mun-
dane affairs, were promulgated by the Popes themselves,
and by the Catholic theologians, especially those of the
Jesuit order. The centralization of Europe, which gave
such increased vigor to national feeling and to temporal
authority, made it for the interest of the Papal See to
divest that authority of a portion of its sanctity. Bellar-
mine adopted the figure which had been used by Thomas
Aquinas to define the distinction, but close connection,
of the civil and the Papal authority. The former is to
the latter as the body to the soul. The two are not the
same, but the one is inferior and subordinate to the other ;
at the same time that the body has functions of its o^vn.
Bellarmine affirmed only an indirect control on the part
of the Pope over the temporal power. The Pope does
not immediately legislate in temporal affairs. Yet as the

1 Convocation, in 1665, surrendered the privilege of taxing the clergy, which
had before pertained to it, to the House of Commons. Within the last twenty
years attempts have been made to revive Convocation, and to invest it with some
real function. Boswell records a vigorous expression of Dr. Johnson, on this
matter, under date of August 3, 17G3 : " I had the misfortune before we parted
to irritate him unintentionally. I mentioned to him how common it was in the
world to ascribe to him very strange sayings. Johnson. — ' What do they
make me say, sir V ' Boswell. — 'Why, sir, an instance very strange in-
deed (laughing heartily as I spoke). David Hume told me j'ou said that you would
stand before a battery of cannon to restore Convocation to its full powers.'
Little did I apprehend that he had actually said this ; but I was soon convinced
of my error; for, with a determined look, he thundered out: 'And would I
not, sir? Shall the Presbyterian Ki7-k of Scotland have its General Assembly,
and the Church of England be denied its Convocation? ' "

JESUIT DOCTRINE OF POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY. 505

guardian of religion and morals, he may interfere to pre-
vent the passing or execution of a bad law. He may
absolve subjects from their allegiance to a heretical
or unworthy king. A vast and sweeping, though, in
form, an indirect prerogative, in reference to the govern-
ment of States, is thus attributed to him. The right to
rebel against heretical sovereigns, and to dethrone them,
was taught by the Jesuits, William Allen and Parsons,
who were laboring to overthrow Elizabeth, and by other
Catholic teachers in the time of the League, and of the
assassination of Henry HI. The right of rebellion, in the
case supposed, was solemly affirmed by the Sorbonne.
The first defense of regicide had come from a priest,
Jean Petit, who delivered a discourse in 1408, defending
the murder of the Duke of Orleans by the Duke of Bur-
gundy. It had required the strenuous exertions and
repeated harangues of Gerson, at the Council of Con-
stance, to procure from that body a condemnation of the
doctrine of Petit. The attempt of the Poles to obtain
from Martin V., and from the Council, a condemnation
of the book of Falkenberg, which was of kindred tenor,
and which aimed to stir up insurrection in Poland, en-
tirely failed. The Jesuits were expelled from Paris in the
early days of Henry IV., on the charge of inculcating
the right to slay, by private hands, a heretical ruler.
The old doctrine of tyrannicide assumed a new form, and
found adherents among doctors of the Church. But in
the theory of popular sovereignty, and of the social com-
pact, the peculiar tendencies of Catholic theology are
most apparent. This was advocated by Lainez, the
second General of the Jesuit Order, by the eminent
Spanish Jesuit, Mariana, and by Bellarmine. It is tht
doctrine that power, as far as temporal rule is concerned,
originally resides, by the gift and appointment of God, in
the people. Government is a divine ordinance, but what
form that government shall take, and in whom it shall be

506 THE COXSTITUTIOX OF THK PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

vested, it is for the people to determine. What the Prot-
estants asserted respecting ecclesiastical government, the
Jesuits declared of civil government. As the former
taught that ecclesiastical power is originally deposited in
the body of the Church, the latter declared that temporal
power inheres, originally, in the body of the people.
The political theory of the Jesuits had the advantage
of placing the authority of the Pope and his tenure of
office, on a more solid foundation than that of the power
of any particular dynasty or king. The rule of the Pope
was given him directly from God, and, therefore, could
neither be questioned nor ^vrested from him by men. The
authority of the king, on the contrary, came to him
mediately, through the people, and might be recalled at
their will. This political doctrine, moreover, furnished a
sufficient defense for a popular rebellion, especially if it
were undertaken with the sanction of the Pope. It is
curious to observe that the radical speculations of Locke,
Rousseau, and Jefferson, as to the origin of government,
and the right of revolution, were anticipated by the
Jesuit scholars of the sixteenth century. It is remark-
able, moreover, that, in opposition to these novel dogmas,
there appeared, on the Protestant side, a theory of the
divine right of kings, and the related doctrine of passive
obedience, a theory not known to the cultivated heathen
nations of antiquity, and drawing no real sanction from
Hebrew history. The extreme devotees of the principle
of authority stand forth as the champions of tlie most
liberal, and even revolutionary notions, in politics ; the
advocates of freedom and of revolt against spiritual author-
ity, are equally strenuous for slavish maxims of political
obedience.

Transplanted to America, the various ecclesiastical
systems were furnished with a new theatre for the mani-
festation of their characteristic features, but underwent
changes, from the effect of the new circumstances ic

THE SETTLERS OF NEW ENGLAND. 507

which they were placed. The followers of John Robin-
son, who settled Plymouth, were Independents. Their
cardinal principles were, first that the local Church is
clothed with complete powers of seK-government, in the
sense that no Synod or Council has any jurisdiction over
it ; and secondly, that none are to be admitted to the
Lord's Supper, except on the credible profession of in-
ward piety ; that is, that the Church should be composed
of true believers only. The liberal and philosophical
mind of Robinson had attained to principles which ap-
proach, though they do not reach, the modern doctrine
of toleration and of the limited sphere of the State. He
has sagacious observations on the inexpediency and mis-
chievous consequences of coercion by the magistrate in
matters of religion, and confutes the popular argument
for it, which was founded on the example of the Hebrew
kings. He shrewdly comments on the difference in the
sentiment respecting toleration, which is felt by the ad-
herents of a creed when they are in power, from that
which they feel when they form an oppressed minority.^
The colony of Plymouth was honorably distinguished
from the other New England governments — with the ex-
ception of Rhode Island — by a greater liberality in the
treatment of religious dissent. The settlers of Massa-
chusetts Bay were not Separatists, like the Leyden im-
migrants, who had preceded them ; but still the settlers
of Massachusetts, finding themselves on ground of their
own, and at liberty to shape their polity to suit their pref-
erences, established the system of Congregationalism,
in full agreement with the Church constitution of Plym-
outh. But Massachusetts set up a sort of theocratical
system, in which members of churches were endued with
the exclusive privilege of holding civil offices and exer-
cising the right of suffrage ; in which, moreover, the
civil authority was authorized and obliged to punish

1 Woi-ks of Robinson (Boston, 1851), i. 40.

508 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

heresy and schism, and to secure uniformity in worship
and in the public profession of religion. The same sys-
tem was established in the colony of New Haven ; but
in Connecticut, civil rights were not thus limited to
church members. The principle of the independence of
the local Church as to government, one of the two cardi-
nal elements of the creed of the Independents, was re-
tained in the Congregational churches of New England,
as far as the relation of one church to other churches is
concerned. The office of other churches was limited to
giving counsel. But the autonomy of the local Church
was materially abridged in another direction, in the co-
ercive power granted to the civil magistracy, and the
intimate union of Church and State. Roger Williams
brought forward the new doctrine as to the State, which
limits the function of the magistrate to the cognizance
of offenses against the second table of the law. This
doctrine involves the toleration of all forms of religious
belief and worship, as far as they do not directly disturb
the peace of society, or impinge on the authority of the
magistrate in his own proper sphere. The principle of
religious hberty, which Williams asserted in Massachu-
setts, was incorporated in the government of the colony
which he founded in Rhode Island, and is the principle
to which the American systems of government have
gradually conformed.^ In this country, nothing of the
nature of an establishment now exists. But with re-
gard to the relation of the civil authority to Christianity,
a distinction is to be made between the Federal Govern-
ment, and the several States, especially the older States,
that compose the Republic. The General Government
was created artificially, for certain purposes, and with a

1 In Maryland, founded by Lord Baltimore, a Roman Catholic (1632), although
thero was religious freedom for all "who believe in Christ," there was an es-
tablishment. Such a colony, subject to England, would have brought ruin on
tself by attempting to persecute Protestants. But its professed principles were
truly liberal for that age. See Bancroft, Hist, of the United States, i. 242, 2.54,
Hildreth, Hist, of the United States, i. 348.

THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES. 509

defined circle of powers. The National Constitution con-
tains no explicit recognition of Christianity, and lends no
special sanction to any form of religion. On the contrary,
a general recognition of Christianity lingers in the consti-
tutions of many of the older States, at least, and is im-
plied in various statutes ; so that Christianity must be
considered, in some sense, a part of their public law.

Both the Episcopal and the Presbyterian Churches,
as organized in this country, modify respectively their
early formularies, so that the control of the magistracy
in respect to synods and ecclesiastical affairs generally,
is left out ; and the governing bodies in these denomina-
tions are free, of course, to exercise Chm'ch authority,
independently of the State.

The Roman Catholic Church, in the United States, is
consistent with its dogmas and traditions in advocatmg
the distinction between Church and State. So far, the
American system may be, and is, approved and lauded
by theologians of that body. They join with American
Protestants m opposing rehgious establishments, such as
exist in other Protestant countries. They do not, how-
ever, renounce the old doctrine of the subordination of the
State to the Church, and of the authority of the latter
in matters of civil government and legislation. So far
from this, the right of the Roman Catholic Church to
exercise this sort of control is frankly and boldly asserted.^

1 See, for example, the first article in " The Catholic World " for July, 1872.
The writer says : "With the means of instant intelligent communication and
rapid transportation. It is not an impossibility to hope that the head of the
Church may again become the acknowledged heac' of the re-united family of
Christian nations; the arbiter and judge between pi inces and peoples, between
jtovernment and government, the exponent of the supreme justice and the
highest law, in all important questions affecting the rights, the interests, and
the welfare of communities and individuals." The right of the Church to
regulate education and marriage is affirmed. "While the State has rights, she
has them only in virtue and bj' permission of the superior authority, and that
authority' can only be expressed through the Church ; that is, through the or-
ganic law, infallibly announced and unchangeably asserted, regardless of tem-
poral consequences." This ideal supremacy of the Church, it is said, "it in
within the power of the ballot, wielded by Catholic hands," to establish.

CHAPTER XV.

THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CULTDUE AKD
CIVILIZATION.

In order to judge rightly of the tendencies of Plotes-
tantism in relation to culture and civilization, or to com-
pare Protestantism, in this respect, with the Church of
Rome, something more is requisite than a bare enumera-
tion of historical facts. Facts in this case can form the
basis of induction, only so far as they are fairly traceable
to the intrinsic character of the respective systems. It is
the genius of the systems respectively, as it has revealed
itself in their actual operation, which we have to investi-
gate.

Protestantism and the Church of Rome have stood face
tb face, now for more than three hundred years. We
can look at the history and at the condition of the Prot-
estant nations and of the Roman Catholic nations. The
immediate impression made by a general comparison of
this sort upon a candid observer is difficult to be resisted.
What this impression is, may be stated in the language
of two modern English historians, who at least are
warped by no partisan attachment to the dogmatic sys-
tem of the Protestant churches. Macaulay, while con-
ceding that the Church of Rome conferred great benefits
on society in the Middle Ages, by instructing the igno-
rant, by curbing the passions of tyrannical civil rulers, and
by affording protection to their subjects, places in strong
contrast the influence of the Church of Rome during the
last three centuries, when she has been struggling tc per-

PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC NATIONS COMPARED. 511

petuate a sway wliich the developed intelligence of man-
kind had outgrown. " The loveliest and most fertile
provinces of Europe have, under her rvile, been sunk in
poverty, in political servitude, and in intellectual torpor,
while Protestant countries, once proverbial for sterility
and barbarism, have been turned by skill and industry
into gardens, and can boast of a long list of heroes and
statesmen, philosophers and poets. Whoever, knowing
what Italy and Scotland naturally are, and what, four
hundred years ago, they actually were, shall now com-
pare the country round Rome with the country round
Edinburgh, will be able to form some judgment as to the
tendency of Papal domination. The descent of Spain,
once the first among monarchies, to the lowest depths of
degradation ; the elevation of Holland, in spite of many
natural disadvantages, to a position such as no common-
wealth so small has ever reached, teach the same lesson.
Whoever passes in Germany from a Roman Catholic to a
Protestant principality, in Switzerland from a Roman
Catholic to a Protestant canton, in Ireland from a Roman
Catholic to a Protestant county, finds that he has passed
from a lower to a higher grade of civilization. On the
other side of the Atlantic the same law prevails. The
Protestants of the United States have left far behind
them the Roman Catholics of Mexico, Peru, and Brazil.
The Roman Catholics of Lower Canada remain inert,
while the whole continent round them is in a ferment
with Protestant activity and enterprise. The French
have doubtless shown an energy and an intelligence
which, even when misdirected, have justly entitled them
to be called a great people. But this apparent exception,
when examined, will be found to confirm the rule ; for in
no country that is called Roman Catholic has the Roman
Catholic Church during several generations, possessed so
little authority as in France." ^ Carlyle, in his quaint

1 History of England (Harpers' ed.), i. 45.

512 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

and vivid manner, thus writes of the peoples who threw
off their allegiance to Rome, in contrast with those which
rejected the Reformation : " Once risen into this divine
white heat of temper, were it only for a season, and not
again, the nation is thenceforth considerable through all
its remaining history. What immensities of dross and
cryptopoisonous matter will it not burn out of itself in
that high temperature in the course of a few years ! Wit-
ness Cromwell and his Puritans making England habita-
ble, even under the Charles-Second terms, for a couple of
centuries more. Nations are benefited, I believe, for
ages, for being thrown once into divine white heat in this
manner ; and no nation that has not had such divine par-
oxysms at any time is apt to come to much." " Austria,
Spain, Italy, France, Poland — the offer of the Reforma-
tion was made everywhere, and it is curious to see what
has become of the nations that would not hear it. In all
countries were some that accepted ; but in many there
were not enough, and the rest, slowly or swiftly, with
fatal, difficult industry, contrived to burn them out. Aus-
tria was once full of Protestants, but the hide-bound
Flemish -Spanish Kaiser-element presiding over it, obsti-
nately for two centuries, kept saying, ' No ; we, with
our dull, obstinate, Cimburgis under-lip, and lazy eyes,
with our ponderous Austrian depth of Habituality, and
indolence of Intellect, we prefer steady darkness to un-
certain new Light ! ' and all men may see where Austria
now is. Spain still more ; poor Spain going about at this
time, making its ' pronunciamentos.' " " Italy too liad
its Protestants ; but Italy killed them — managed to ex-
tmguish Protestantism. Italy put up with practical lies
of all kinds, and, shrugging its shoulders, preferred going
into Dilettantism and the Fine Arts. The Italians, in-
stead of the sacred service of Fact and Performance, did
Music, Painting, and the like, till even that has become
impossible for them ; and no noble nation, sunk from vir-

INFLUENCE OF PROTESTANTISM UPON LIBERTY. 513

tue to virtu, ever offered such a spectacle before." "But
sharpest-cut example is France, to which we constantly
return for illustration. France, with its keen intellect,
saw the truth, and saw the falsity, in those Protestant
times, and, with its ardor of generous impulse, was prone
enough to adopt the former. France was within a hair's-
breadth of becoming actually Protestant ; but France
saw good to massacre Protestantism, and end it in the
night of St. Bartholomew, 1572." " The Genius of Fact
and Veracity accordingly withdrew, was staved oif, got
kept away for two hundred years. But the Writ of Sum-
mons had been served ; Heaven's messenger could not
stay away forever ; no, he returned duly, with accounts
run up, on compound interest, to the actual hour, in
1792 ; and then, at last, there had to be a ' Protestant-
ism,' and we know of what kind that was." ^

Exception may, perhaps, be taken to some particulars
in the foregoing extract ; but still the spectacle of the
physical power, the industry and thrift, the intelhgence,
good government, and average morality of the Protes-
tant nations, is in the highest degree significant and im-
pressive.

The influence of Protestantism upon civil and religious
liberty is one point of importance in the present inquiry.
Since Protestantism involves an assertion of the rights of
the individual in the most momentous of all concerns, we
should expect that its effect would be generally favorable
to liberty. In considering this question, it is proper to
glance at the political consequences of the Reform ation.^

The first period after the beginning of the Reforma-
tion (1517-1556) is marked by the rivalry of Francis I.
and Charles V. Neither espoused the Protestant cause ;
but their mutual enmity left it room to exist and to de-

1 Hist, of Frederick the Second (Harpers' ed.), '• 202 seq.

2 Heeren, Historical Treatises, Oxford, 1836. The chronological divisions oi
Heeren are followed above.

614 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

velop its strength. Notwithstanding the religious divis-
ion, a new energy and vitahty were infused into the con-
stituent parts of the German Empire. The second pe-
riod (1556-1603) is signaHzed by the revolt of the Neth-
erlands. France, a kingdom divided against itself, was
reduced for a time to a subordinate position. Spain and
England were now the contending powers ; the Protes-
tant interest in Europe being led by Elizabeth, and the
Catholic interest being marshaled under Philip II. Eliz-
abeth herself was jealous of her prerogative and had no
love for popular rights ; but the Protestant party was,
nevertheless, identified with the cause of liberty, and the
Roman Catholic party with political absolutism. She
was obliged, for her own safety, to give aid to the insur-
gents in the Netherlands and in Scotland. During her
long reign, in England itself, under the inspiring influence
of Protestantism, there was an agitation of constitutional
questions, which augured well for the future. The great
Protestant commercial Republic of Holland arose, as it
were, out of the sea. In the third period (1603-1648)
France, under Henry IV., for a while regains its natural
position in Europe, but loses it by his untimely death.
England, on the contrary, under the Stuarts, with their
reactionary ecclesiasticism and subserviency to Spain,
sacrifices in great part her political influence. It is the era
of the Thirty Years' War ; at first a civil war of Austria
against Bohemia ; then acquiring wider dimensions by
the conquest of the Palatinate ; and finally, upon the re-
newal of the contest between Spain and the Netherlands
in 1621, interesting all Europe. The restored coopera-
tion and religious sympathy of Austi'ia and Spain, in-
volved peril not only for Protestantism, but for the bal-
ance of power in Europe, which was now an object of
pursuit. France, resuming its position under the guid-
ance of Richelieu, joined hands with Sweden in lending
support to the German Protestants. Sweden, by the part

POLITICAL EFFECTS OF THE REFORMATION. 515

which it took in this great war, and by the treaty which
followed it, acquired a political standing which it had not
before possessed. By this war, the northern powers were
brought into connection with the rest of Europe, so that
Europe, for the first time, formed one political system.^
The Treaty of Westphalia is the monument of this event.
It established a balance of power and terms of peace be-
tween the religious parties in Germany. During the
fourth period (1648-1702), Louis XIV. appears as the
champion of absolutism, and William III. comes forward
as the leader of Protestantism and of the cause of liber-
ty. Under his auspices, constitutional freedom is finally
established in England. Prussia, which began its politi-
cal career at the Reformation, rose in importance under
" the Great Elector" (1640-1688), and at length took
the place of Sweden, as the first of the northern pow-
ers. It was in the seventeenth century, during the reign
of the Stuarts, that the English colonies in North Amer-
ica were planted, and the foundations were laid for the
future Republic of the United States. Without the vic-
tory of constitutional libert}^ in England, and without the
political example of Holland, the North American Re-
public could not have arisen. Among the political effects
of the Reformation, must be reckoned the upbuilding of
Sweden and of Prussia. But when we are inquiring into
the influence of Protestantism upon political liberty, it
can be said with truth, that the Reformation made the
free Netherlands ; the Reformation made free England,
or was an essential agent in this work ; the Reformation
made the free Republic of America. " The greatest part
of British America," says De Tocqueville, " was peopled
by men who, after having shaken off the authority of the
Pope, acknowledged no other religious supremacy. They
brought with them into the New World a form of Chris-
tianity, which I cannot better describe than by styhng it

1 Heeren, p. 88.

516 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

a democratic and republican religion. This contributed
powerfully to the establishment of a republic and a de-
mocracy in public affairs ; and from the beginning, pol-
itics and religion contracted an alliance which has never
been dissolved." ^ The town system and the " town
spirit," in which this sagacious writer recognizes the germ
of our political institutions, stood in intimate connection
with the control of the laity in Church affairs, and with
the religious polity of the early colonists. It is true, as
this same writer has remarked, that the Roman Catholic
system is not unfriendly to democracy, in a certain sense
of the term ; in the sense of an equality of condition.
But this equality of condition is the result of a common
subjection of the high and the low to the priesthood ; and
it is attended, therefore, with two dangers : first, that a
habit of mind will be formed, which is unfavorable to per-
sonal independence, and therefore to the maintenance of
political freedom ; and secondly, that the ecclesiastical
rulers will be impelled to fortify their sway by an alli-
ance with absolutism in the State.

In opposition to the claim that Protestantism is friendly
to religious liberty, an appeal is sometimes made to facts.
It is said that the history of Protestant States contains
many instances of religious intolerance and persecution.
This must be conceded. The first effect of the Reforma-
tion was to augment the power of princes. The clergy
stood in an altered relation to the civil authority, and
were deprived of a shield which had given them a meas-
ure of protection against its encroachments. The old
idea that there should be, in a political community, sub-
stantial uniformity in the profession of religion and in
worship, was at first prevalent, and has slowly been aban-
doned. Catholic has been persecuted by Protestant;
among Protestants, Lutheran has been persecuted by
Calvinist, and Calvinist by Lutheran ; Puritan by Church-

1 Democracy in America, i. ch. xvii.

PROTESTANT INTOLERANCE. 517

man, and Churchnian by Puritan. Penal laws against
Catholics, or against the exercise of Catholic worship,
have existed in most Protestant countries. Much can be
said in defense of such enactments at the time of the
Catholic Reaction, when Roman Catholics were banded
together in Europe for the forcible destruction of the
Protestant religion. At that period, the Jesuit order in-
stigated Catholic rulers in different countries to multi-
plied acts of violence against their Protestant subjects.
Moreover, the doctrine was preached that it is lawful for
subjects to revolt against heretical sovereigns and to de-
throne them. Protestant rulers might naturally appre-
hend danger from those who acknowledged a foreign juris-
diction, the limits of which were not defined, but which
was often asserted to override the obligation of obedience
to the civil authority. The expulsion of the Jesuits from
Catholic, even more than from Protestant countries,
partly on political grounds, in the last century, is not to
be deemed an act of religious persecution ; any more than
the entire abolition of that Order by Clement XIV.,
in 1773. It must not be forgotten, however, that not
unfrequently, in times past, penal laws against Roman
Catholics or their worship have been framed on other than
poHtical grounds. The fact that they acknowledge some
other authority in religion than the Bible, or that theix
rites are considered idolatrous, has been the real and the
avowed reason for enactments of this character. Let it
be observed, however, of these and other instances of re-
ligious intolerance, which stain the annals of Protestant-
ism, that even by the concession of its adversaries, they
are incongruous with its principles and with its true spirit.
What is the charge commonly made against Protestants ?
That, while claiming liberty for themselves and a right
of private judgment, they have at times proved them-
selves ready to deny these privileges to Catholics and tc
one another. In a word, they are charged with inconsis-

518 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

tency, with infidelity to their own theory. The charge
is equivalent to the admission that the genius of Protes-
tantism is adverse to intolerance and demands liberty of
conscience. If this be true, then we should expect that
the force of logic, and the moral spirit inherent in the
Protestant system, would eventually work out their legit-
imate results. This we find to be the fact. Among
Protestant nations there has been a growing sense of ob-
ligation to respect conscience and to abstain from the use
of coercion in matters of religious faith. How does an
enlightened Protestant look upon the records of religious
intolerance in the past, among professed disciples of the
Reformation ? He does not justify acts of tliis nature ;
he reprobates or deplores them. He acknowledges that
they were wrong ; that deeds of this kind, if done now,
would deserve abhorrence, and that the guilt of those
who were concerned in them is only mitigated by their
comparative ignorance. This prevalent feeling among
Protestants at the present day indicates the true genius
and the ultimate operation of the system. Protestants
abjure the principles on which the codes of intolerance
were framed. How is it with their opponents ? It is
true that thousands of Roman Catholics would declare
themselves opposed to these measures which the Protes-
tant condemns. Their humane feelings would be shocked
at a proposition to revive the dungeon and the fagot as
instruments for crushing dogmatic error or an obnoxious
ritual. But the authorities of the Church of Rome do
not profess any compunction for the employment of these
instruments of coercion, in past ages ; nor do they repu-
diate the principles from which persecution arose and on
which it was justified. So far from this, one of the pes-
tilent errors of the age, which is thought worthy of spe-
cial denunciation from the Chair of Peter, is the doctrine
of liberty of conscience.^ The massacre of St. Bartholo-

1 In the Encyclical Letter of Pius IX. (December 8, 1864), addressed to all Ro.

INFLUENCE OF PROTESTANTISM UPON LITERATURE. 519

mew and the fires of Smithfield will cease to be justly
chargeable upon the Church of Rome when this Church
authoritatively disavows and condemns the principle of
coercing the conscience and of inflicting penalties upon
what is judged to be religious error, which was at the
bottom of these and of a long catalogue of like cruelties.
If the true tendency of Protestantism has evinced it-
self as friendly to religious and civil liberty, the Reforma-
tion has nevertheless not fostered an undue license and
revolutionary disorder. The modern history of England
and of the United States exhibits the gradual and whole-
some growth of free political institutions. With compar-
atively little bloodshed, English liberty went through the
crisis in which it won its victory, and embodied itself in
the organic law. In recent times it is the Roman Cath-
olic lands, in the Old World and in the New — France,
Spain, Italy, Mexico, the South American States — which
have been the theatre of most frequent revolutions.

We turn to the influence which the Reformation has
exerted upon the intellect, or its relation to Uterature and
science. Reference is frequently made by polemical

man Catholic bishops, the opinion is denounced as erroneous and most pernicious,
that "liberty of conscience and of worship is the right of every man; and that
this right ought, in every well-governed state, to be proclaimed and asserted
by law." The Encyclical of Pope Gregory XVI. Is quoted, in which this opin-
ion is called an insanity — " deliramentum." It is among the errors which,
Pius IX. declares, are to be abhorred, shunned, as the contagion of a pestilence.
This figure of a contagion or a plague has always been used as a description of
heresy, and lay at the foundation of the treatment of hei-etics ; with the differ-
ence that in this case the disease was held to be guilty, and deserving of extreme
penalties. The Syllabus of Pius IX., connected with the Encyclical (x. 78),
condemns, in countries where the Catholic Church is the established faith, the
allowance to others than Catholics to " enjoy the public exercise of their owu
worship." The Syllabus (x. 79) denounces as corrupting, the opinion that civil
.:.'^rty should be granted to every mode of worship, and that there should be
freedom of speech and of the press, with regard to religion. Tiie Dublin Re-
view (Jan. 1872, p. 2), speaks of the opposition of liberal Catholics to what is
called "persecution; i. e., the laws enacted and enforced, for repression of
heresy, during the ages of faith." The Review adds: " Now it is undeniable
that for the existence of such laws, the church is mainly responsible."

520 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

writers on the Catholic side to complaints which Erasmus
uttered, especially in the last twelve years of his life,
respecting the diminished interest in literature, which he
attributed to the deleterious agency of Protestantism.
The statements of Erasmus at that time, when his feel-
ings were embittered, are to be received with allowance.
Yet it is true that there was a period when the studies
in which Erasmus and the Humanists took special de-
light, were regarded with a less lively interest, and that
this may be set down as an effect of the Lutheran move-
ment. It is the ordinary complaint of men of letters
that in times of public agitation concerning the highest
interests of mankind, grammar and rhetoric are neglec-
ted. Even the true interests of learning in such eras
may suffer a temporary loss. In the old age of Erasmus,
the minds of men were intensely absorbed in religious
investigation and controversy ; and, as a natural result,
purely literary pursuits were for a while, even to a harm-
ful degree, eclipsed by other and more exciting studies.

In Spain, Protestantism was trampled out and the
Catholic system had unlimited sway. The golden age
of Spanish literature, when the most celebrated authors —
Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Calderon — flourished, dates
from the middle of the sixteenth century. This may
seem to speak well for the ecclesiastical system to which
the Spanish people were subjected. But this, if it was the
blossoming, was also the expiring era of Spanish letters.
A death-like lethargy, the inevitable result of superstition
and ecclesiastical tyranny, was creeping over the nation.
This decline of the Spanish intellect, and the causes which
produced it, have been well described by the Historian of
Spanish literature. " That generous and manly spirit,"
says Ticknor, " which is the breath of intellectual life to
any people, was restrained and stifled. Some departments
of literature, such as forensic eloquence and eloquence of
the pulpit, satirical poetry, and elegant didactic prose,

DECLINE OF THE SPANISH INTELLECT. 521

hardly appeared at all ; others, like epic poetry, were
strangely perverted and misdirected ; while yet others, like
the drama, the ballads, and the lighter forms of lyrical
verse, seemed to grow exuberant and lawless, from the
very restraints imposed on the rest ; restraints which in
fact forced poetical genius into channels where it would
otherwise have flowed much more scantily and with much
less luxuriant results." Of the books published in this
period, Ticknor adds : they " bore everywhere marks of
the subjection to which the press and those who wrote for
it were alike reduced. From the abject title-pages and
dedications of the authors themselves, through the crowd
of certificates collected from their friends to establish the
orthodoxy of works that were often as little connected
with religion as fairy tales, down to the colophon, sup-
plicating pardon for any unconscious neglect of the author-
ity of the Church, or any too free use of classical mythol-
ogy, we are continually oppressed with painful proofs,
not only how completely the human mind was enslaved
in Spain, but how grievously it had become cramped and
crippled by the chains it had so long worn." ^ These
effects were not due solely to the action of the Inquisition
or of the despotic civil government, but to that supersti-
tious habit of the nation, that unique mingling of relig-
ion and chivalrous loyalty to the king, which rendered
this whole system of intellectual tyranny possible. It
was this perversion of natural feeling which moved even
Lope de Vega and Cervantes to exult when six hundred
thousand industrious and unoffending Moors were driven
out of their native country.^ The same stern censors
who visited with death the least taint of heresy, tolerated
a drama more immoral than it had ever been before
The willing submission of the people to the yoke of the
Inquisition extinguished the last remaining sparks of inde
pendence and of intellectual freedom. As we approach
the conclusion of the seventeenth century, " the Inquisi-

1 History of Spanish Literature, i. 470. ^ Ibid., p. 4fi7.

522 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CULTURE.

tion and the despotism seem to be everywhere present.
and to have cast their blight over everything." ^

The history of the Italian people had been of such a
character, that a degradation like that which befell Spain,
could not happen to Italy. Yet, from the middle of the
sixteenth century, literature declined, and the intellectual
vigor of the nation appeared to waste away.^ The de-
struction of republican liberty and the dreadful calami-
ties under which the country had suffered during the half
century which followed the invasion of Charles VIII. , are
partly responsible for this result. The Spanish dominion,
which was extended over a great part of the peninsula,
was fatal to all free and manly exertion. But the
Church, stimulated by the spirit of the Catholic Reaction,
contributed directly to the repression of that mental ac-
tivity and power, which had made Italy the pioneer for
other nations in the path of culture and learning. In
this long period, extending through the seventeenth cen-
tury, only one great name — that of Tasso, who pub-
lished his principal work in 1581 — appears ; and Tasso
is not a poet of the first order. Art revived, for a time,
in the school of the Caracci ; but Art, too, had passed its
meridian, and its glory was departing. The writers of
the seventeenth century are called by the Italians the
" Seicentisti," a term which carries with it an association
of inferiority. In this period there abounded what the Ital-
ians aptly name dilettantism ; an indication that a litera-
ture has entered into the period of decay. Tlie zeal for
classical learning had grown cold. The little regard felt
even for perfection of literary form is illustrated by
such a work — which was one of the principal historical
productions of the time — as the Annals of Baronius.^
Yet in two directions signs of a fresh intellectual energy

1 History of Spanish Literature, iii. 208.

2 Sismondi, Hist, des Repitbl. Ital, xvi. 217 seq. Hist, of Lit. in Southern
Europe, i. ch. xvi.

3 Ranke, Jlistory of the Popes, i. 496.

PERSECUTION IN ITALY. 523

appeared. A class of philosopliers arose, who renounced
the authority of Aristotle, and plunged into bold specula-
tions upon the nature of the universe. This tendency
was checked by the authorities of the Church. Giordano
Bruno was carried to Rome and burned at the stake, in
1600. There was, however, a curiosity for physical re-
search, which kept within sober limits, and promised the
best fruits to science. But the heavy hand of the Inqui-
sition was laid upon these attractive studies. The perse-
cution of Galileo did not crush them ; they continued for
a long time to be the chief province in which the ItaUan
mind was distinguished ; but that event checked and dis-
couraged them. Galileo, a man of genius, whose emi-
nence as a discoverer in science had been well earned, was
directed by Pope Paul V., in 1616, through Cardinal
Bellarmine, to give up the doctrine of the earth's motion
round the sun, to teach it no more, and to write no more
on the subject.^ At the same time, the Congregation of
the Inquisition declared this opinion to be heretical. Co-
pernicus was a Roman Catholic and had dedicated his
book to Paul III. ; but orthodoxy had now grown more
timid and jealous of scientific researches. For fifteen
years Galileo abstained from publishing anything further
on the subject ; but in 1632 he put forth his Dialogues
relative to the two cosmical systems of Ptolemseus and
Copernicus ; having previously taken the precaution to
submit it to ecclesiastical censorship at Rome and at Flor-
ence. This publication, notwithstanding the former in-
junction laid upon him, was the occasion of his subse-
quent troubles. The old philosopher was obliged to repair
to Rome and answer before the Tribunal of the Inqui-

1 A. Von Reumont, Beitrage z. ital. Geschichte, i. 303-425 {Galilei u. Rom.),
Von Reumont is a learned Catholic scholar. See, also, The Private Life of
Galileo (London, 1870). The prohibition of Paul V. was: "Ut opinionem,
quod sol sit centrum mundi et immobilis, et terra moveatur, omnino relinquat,
Qec earn de cetero quovis modo teneat, doceat, autdefendit verbo aut scriptis."
Von lioumont, p. 317.

624 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

sition. Pope Urban VIII. insisted that the obnoxious
opinion must be forbidden, as contrary to the Scriptures.^
The explanations of Galileo, that he did not intend to
violate the former prohibition, and that he had presented
the Copernican doctrine only as an hypothesis, were of
no avail. He was required to abjure this doctrine on his
knees, as false, and was sentenced to imprisonment dur-
ing the Pope's pleasure. Although he was not shut up
in a cell, but was permitted to reside with friends, and in
his own villa, he was still subjected to uncomfortable and
humiliating restrictions, and to the repeated exercise of
an annoying surveillance. His aged limbs were not
stretched upon the rack ; but there was a moral torture
in being forced to deny what he believed to be the truth.
Of the deep distress which this inexorable demand occa-
sioned him we have ample proof, ^ It is true that per-
sonal enmities — the hatred of Gahleo's scientific enemies,
the feeling of the Barberini towards the Medici — had
an agency in the proceedings against Galileo, and that
the Pope imagined himself to be covertly ridiculed in the
condemned Dialogue ; but these hostile influences would
have been powerless, had not a prevailing spirit of intol-
erance been ready to lend itself to the persecution. Much
is said, by a class of writers, of the "imprudence" of
Galileo in attempting to harmonize his doctrine with
Scripture, and in entering at all into the province of exe-
gesis. But the most that he did in this way, was to af-
firm that the Bible accommodates its language to common
notions and does not aim to teach scientific truth ; and
his explanations of Biblical passages were, as the Inqui-
sition, in the Act of Condemnation, testifies, in answer to
objections alleged against his theory.^ He must not sug-

1 Von Reumont, p. 380.

2 Von Reumont, p. 393. Whewell entirely errs in what he says of the mood
of Galileo — as if these events were not felt by him to be serious. Uistory oj
the Inductive Sciences, i. 303 seq.

3 " And that, to the objections put forth to thee at various times, baseii on

LITERATURE IN FRANCE, 525

gest a different interpretation of the Scriptural passages
by which his adversaries were permitted to confute his
opinion ! The crime of his persecutors is not extenuated,
but aggravated, if their accusation is reduced to this
trivial charge of imprudence.

Of all the countries in which the Reformation failed,
France was the only one in which literature was not
blighted. In France, the reign of Louis XIV. is con-
sidered the Augustan age of letters. Three elements en-
tered into the creation of this brilliant era — the monarchy,
antiquity, and religion.^ The splendor of the throne, the
pride awakened by the conquests of the King and by the
apparent power of France, kindled the intellect of the
nation.^ The monarch was the sun, and the train of au-
thors were as planets moving about him, and basking in
his rays. Moreover, the classical tone of the Renaissance
had survived in full power. Most of the literary men
looked to antiquity for their models and rules of composi-
tion. With the poets and critics, the unities of the ancient
drama were laws to be sacredly observed. If we look at the
religious element, we see the deep traces of the Reformation
in the Jansenist school, from which emanated the Provin-
cial Letters of Pascal, pronounced by Voltaire the finest
specimen of French prose in this whole period. The great
figure in the religious world is Bossuet, the champion
of Galilean against ultramontane Catholicism, and the
author of the most liberal and the least obnoxious expo-
sition of the Catholic creed. The comparative freedom

and drawn from Holy Scripture, thou didst answer, commenting upon and ex-
plaining the said Scripture after thy own fashion." Life, p. 300. The letter
of Galileo to Castelli [Life, p. 74) expounds in a ver}"^ sensible way his idea of
the relation of the Bible to science. He gave great offense by a passage in
another letter in which he said that he had heard an eminent ecclesiastic — Car-
dinal Baronius was the person meant — say that the Holy Ghost had designed
to show us how to get to heaven, not how heaven moves. Von Reumont, p.
314. But the sentence of the Inquisition condemns the Copernican doctrine as
"false and contrary to the Holy Scriptures."

1 Villemain, Lit. au Dix-huitieme Siecle, i. 2.

2 Nvsard, fJist. de la Lit. Frani;., I. ch. vii. and p 430.

526 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

of thought that remained in France was an essential con-
dition of its literary activity. In the last days of Louis
XIV., literature declined. As we pass beyond his reign,
we enter the era in which a sceptical philosophy prevailed,
and in which literature was divorced not only from the
Church, but also from faith in the Christian Revelation.

In order to appreciate the influence of the Church of
Rome, after the Reformation, upon science and culture,
it is necessary to take into view the systematic censorship
of books, which that Church established, and the literary
and educational influence of the Order of Jesuits. In
1546, Charles V. obtained from the theological faculty of
Louvain a catalogue of publications which the people
were to be prohibited from reading ; his design being to
stop the progress of heresy in the Netherlands. His ex-
ample was followed by Paul IV., who published, in 1559,
a list of the same kind, with a denunciation of penalties
against all who should disregard its rigid prohibitions.
Under the auspices of the Council of Trent, there was
issued by the authority of Pius IV., in 1564, another
Prohibitory Index, which has since been frequently pub-
lished with successive enlargements. The Prohibitory
Indexes proscribe authors or entire works, without reser-
vation ; the Expurgatory Indexes, whether united with
these or not, specify passages to be expunged or altered.
The Index of 1564 contained ten stringent rules respect-
ing forbidden books, and the inspection of printing-ofiices
and book-shops ; to which, on various occasions, other
regulations have been added.

The long Prohibitory Catalogue, although it comprises
many of the principal works in history, general literature,
and philosophy, as well as in theology and morals, which
have been produced in modern times, conveys no ade-
quate idea of the power of such a tyrannical super-
vision in the countries where it was carried out with

THE PRESS m PROTESTANT LANDS. 527

rigor, to fetter the intellect and to paralyze its energies.^
Milton introduces into the " Areopagitica," a reminis-
cense of his intercourse with the learned men of Italy,
who " did nothing but bemoan the servile condition into
which learning amongst them was brought ; that this was
it which had damped the glory of Italian wits ; that
nothing had there been written now, these many years,
but flattery and fustian. There it was that I found and
visited the famous Galileo grown old, a prisoner to the
Inquisition, for thinking in astronomy otherwise than the
Franciscan and Dominican licensers thought."^

Violations of the liberty of opinion and of the press
are not exclusively the sins of Roman Catholics. In
Protestant countries, after the Reformation, the supervis-
ion of the printing and circulation of books, devolved on
the State. A teasing and meddlesome censorship, and
sometimes a severe penal code, were established by vari-
ous governments. In England, in the reign of Elizabeth,
printers and booksellers were restricted by rigorous en-
actments, and the importation of books was regulated by
proclamations from the Council. The law inflicted penal-
ties on the sale, or even the possession, of learned works
of Catholic theology. In some cases, libraries were

1 On the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (1870), are the names of such historians
as Hallara, Burnet, Hume, Gibbon, Mosheim, Sismondi, Bayle, Prideaux,
Botta, Sarpi, Ranke; of such philosophical writers as Malebraiiche, Spinoza,
Kant, Locke, Bacon, Des Cartes, Whatel}-, Cousin ; of publicists like Montes-
quieu and Grotius; of eminent poets, as Ariosto and Milton. The writings of
the Reformers, Protestant versions of the Bible, all Protestant catechisms, creeds,
Dublications of synodal acts, of conferences and of disputations, liturgies; also
dictionaries and lexicons — like the lexicon of Stephanus — unless they have
been previously purged of heretical passages, are prohibited en masse.

2 It was his own visit to Galileo at Arcetri that suggested to Milton tJ e com-
parison of the shield of Lucifer to

" the moor, whose orb

Through optic glass, the Tuscan artist views
At evening from the top of Fesol6,
Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands,
Rivers or mountains, in her spotty globe."

528 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

searched, and books, obnoxious only on account of their
doctrines, were seized. Whitgift caused the penal rules
on this whole subject to be sharpened, and exercised
vigilance in enforcing them. One of the charges against
Laud at his impeachment, in 1644, was, that he had sup-
pressed the Geneva Bible, and other books in which
popery was attacked. But the managers of the impeach-
ment coupled with this charge the accusation that he had
permitted to be introduced and sold works in which Ar-
minian and Roman Catholic opinions were countenanced.^
It was not his suppression of books, but of a particular
class of books, which constituted his offense. In the same
year, Milton dedicated to Parliament his ringing speech
for the Liberty of Unhcensed Printing, the " Areopagit-
ica," which he fitly prefaced by lines from Euripides,
begmning : —

" This is true liberty, when f reeborn men,
Having to advise the public, may speak free,
Which he who can, and will, deserves high praise." 2

But even Milton, it may be observed here, did not carry
his doctrine of liberty of conscience so far as to lead
him to favor the toleration of the mass and other cere-
monies of Roman Catholic worship, which, as being
idolatrous, he thought should be forbidden.^ Parliament,
in the Puritan period, passed severe ordinances and laws
for the restraint of printing.* But the Restoration re-

1 Neal, History of the Puritans, ii. 515 seq.

2 One of Milton's arguments is that "the infection, which is from books of
controversy in religion," is more dangerous to the learned than to the ignorant;
and he refers to the acute Arminius, who "was perverted" by reading "a
nameless discourse, written at Delft." It is curious that Milton, as his treatise
on Christian Doctrine proves, himself became an Arminian, and an Arian be-
sides. When he published "Paradise Lost," in 1667, he had some difficulty in
procuring a license ; partly on account of the illustration, in the first book, of
tlie eclipse, that

" with fear of change

Perplexes monarchs."
8 See his Tract, Of True Religion, Heresy, Schism, Toleration, etc. (1673).
* May, Const. History of Enyland, ii. lOi.

EDUCATION BY THE JESUITS. 529

newed the extreme severity of the old enactments, and
the Licensing Act placed all printing under the control
oi the government. Under the judges Scroggs and Jef-
fries, there was a cruel enforcement of the hateful pro-
visions of this act. It was not until after the Revolution,
wlien Parliament, in 1695, refused to renew this measure,
that the censorship of the press was given up by the law of
England. There might be continued persecution, through
the wide extension given to the law of libel ; but there
was a gradual progress towards the abolition of all unjust
restrictions upon the publication of printed matter. The
multiplying of newspapers was a practical assertion of
this hberty. Thus it appears that under Protestant in-
stitutions, although the freedom of discussion and of the
press was not at once attained, although tyrannical laws
were framed and executed, the tendency has still been in
the direction of an emancipation of the minds of men
from this as from other kinds of unjustifiable restraint.
That the genius of Protestantism requires this liberty, is
now almost universally conceded.

From the latter part of the sixteenth century, educa-
tion in Catholic countries fell very much into the hands
of the Jesuits. Among the members of this society, and
among the pupils who were trained by it, there is in-
cluded a long list of men who are distinguished for ser-
vices rendered to science and learning. But, generally
speaking, it is in mathematics, physical science, and anti-
quarian research — departments standing in no close
relation to their moral and dogmatic system — that they
have won their eminence. The Jesuit Society has pro-
duced acute writers in casuistry and polemical theology ;
such men as Suarez and Bellarmine. But it has accom-
phshed little in the higher walks of literature and philoso-
phy, which require the genial atmosphere of freedom :
and the effect of its training, as a rule, has not been to

34

530 THE RKLATION OF PROTEST ANTISM TO CIVII JZATION.

stimulate and fructify the mind, and to put it on the path
of original activity and production.

In all Protestant lands, the universal diffusion of the
Bible in the vernacular tongues, has proved an instrument
of culture of inestimable value. Apart from its direct
religious influence, the Bible has carried into the house-
holds, even of the humblest classes, a most effective means
of mental stimulation and instruction. By its history,
poetry, ethics, theology, it has expanded the intellect of
common men, and roused them to reflection on themes
of the highest moment. The scene which Burns depicts
in " The Cotter's Saturday Night " suggests not only the
religious power of the Bible in the homes of the poor, but
also its elevating and inspiring influence within the entire
sphere of mental action. The Church of Rome has
never, by a general prohibition, interdicted the use of the
Bible to the laity ; but it has done little to promote it.
On the contrary, the ten Rules relating to the censorship
of books, which emanated from the Council of Trent, im-
pose severe restrictions upon the circulation and reading
of the Scriptures in the vernacular languages. " Inas-
much," they say, "as it is manifest from experience, that
if the Holy Bible, translated into the vulgar tongue, be
indiscriminately allowed to every one, the temerity of
men will cause more evil than good to arise from it ; it is,
on this point, referred to the judgment of the bishops or
inquisitors, who may, by the advice of the priest or con-
fessor, permit the reading of the Bible, translated into
the vulgar tongue by Catholic authors, to those persons
whose faith and piety, they apprehend, will be augmented,
and not injured by it ; and this permission they must
have in writing. But if any one shall have the presump-
tion to read or possess it without such written permission,
he shall not receive absolution until he have first de-
liveied up such Bible to the ordinary. Booksellers, how-
ever, who shall sell, or otherwise dispose of Bibles in the

INFLUENCE OF THE BIBLE. 631

vulgar tongue, to persons not having such permission,
shall forfeit the value of the books, to be applied by the
bishop to some pious use ; and be subjected to such
other penalties as the bishop shall judge proper, accord-
ing to the quality of the offense. But regulars shall nei-
ther read nor purchase such Bibles without a special
license from their superiors." ^ This rule fairly indicates
the policy of the Church of Rome since the Tridentine
Council. This pohcy had its origin after the movements
of the laity, in Romanic countries, in the twelfth century,
against ecclesiastical abuses, when the Waldenses and
other sects resorted to the Bible, and encouraged the
reading of it. In England the opposition to Wickliffe
had a similar effect in leading the authorities of the
Church to discountenance the use of the Bible in the
vulgar tongue. The Jansenists, Arnauld and his asso-
ciates, advocated a more free reading of the Scriptures by
the laity ; but they were combated on this point, as on
other peculiarities of their system. Even in recent times
fulminations have been sent forth from the Vatican
against Bible societies ; and this hostility is not only
directed against translations made by Protestants, but
against the unrestricted circulation of any versions in the
language of the people. Back of all these rules and pro-
hibitions, however, there is another formidable hindrance
in the way of the general reading of the Bible among
Roman Catholic laymen. It arises from the doctrine that
they are incapable of interpreting it. In the early ages
of the Church, the Scriptures were rendered into the lan-
guages of the tribes to whom the Gospel was carried.
The Fathers were not opposed to the reading of them by
the people.. Even as late as Gregoiy I. they recommend it.
But the practice began to fall into disuse in consequence
jf the prevalent belief that laymen are incompetent to un-

1 App. i. ad Concil. Trid. De lihris prohib. Keg. iv. The rules are tran»
iated b)- Mendham, The Literary Policy of the Church of Rome, p. 63 seq.

532 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

derstand it — incapable of deciphering its meaning for
themselves. Protestant teachers, on the contrary, have
declared that the Bible is intelligible to plain men, and
have universally inculcated upon all the obligation to
read it habitually. The English version and the transla-
tion of Luther have entered into the intellectual life of
the nations to which they severally belong, with an ex-
citing and transforming energy, the wholesome effect and
full extent of which it is impossible to estimate. To say
nothing of a strictly religious influence, if we could sub-
tract from the German mind the effect, regarded only
from an intellectual point of view, of Luther's Bible, and
do the same in the case of our version in its relation to the
English-speaking race, how incalculable would be the loss !
The effect of the Reformation upon literature in Eng-
land is generally understood. The age of Elizabeth, the
era of Spenser and Raleigh, of Bacon and Shakespeare,
was the period in which the ferment caused by the Ref-
ormation was at its height, and when Protestantism
established its supremacy over the English mind. That
Protestantism was a life-giving element in the atmosphere
in which the eminent authors of that and of the follow-
ing ages drew their inspiration, admits of no reasonable
doubt. We have only to imagine that the reign of Mary
and her religious system had continued through the six-
teenth century, and we shall appreciate the indispensable
part which Protestantism took in the creation of that
great literary epoch. The great writers of the Eliza-
bethan period have been called " men of the Renaissance,
not men of the Reformation." ^ A brilliant French au-
thor has even grouped them together under the title of
the " Pagan Renaissance." ^ It, is quite true that they
derived their materials largely from the poets and novel-
ists of Italy ; that the influence of the Italian culture is

1 Matthew Arnold, Schools and Universities on the Continent, p. 154.

2 Taine, History of English Literature, i. 143 seq.

LITERATURE IN ENGLAND. 533

manifest in their works. From this point of view, the
classification just mentioned is not so incorrect. More-
over, the English writers of this grand era were true to
themselves ; they are marked by a fresh vigor and genu-
ine naturalness. At the same time, their veneration for
the great truths of religion, their profound, unaffected
faith, are equally conspicuous ; and by this quality they
are distino-uished from the school of the Renaissance in
Southern Em'ope. The same French critic to whom we
have referred, adverts, in another passage, to the constant
influence of " the grave and grand idea " of religion, and
adds: " In the greatest prose writers. Bacon, Burton, Sir
Thomas Browne, Raleigh, we see the fruits of veneration,
a settled belief in the obscure beyond ; in short, faith and
jjrayer. Several prayers written by Bacon are amongst
the finest known ; and the courtier Raleigh, whilst writ-
ing of the fall of empires, and how the barbarous nations
had destroyed this grand and magnificent Roman Empire,
ended his book with the ideas and tone of a Bossuet." ^
It is not more true that Shakespeare rises above all the
narrow confines of sect, than that his dramas reveal a
deep faith in a supernatural order, and are pervaded with
the fundamental verities of the Christian religion. The
boldness and independence of the Elizabethan writers,
their fearless and earnest pursuit of truth, and their
solemn sense of religion, apart from all asceticism and
superstition, are among the effects of the Reformation.^
This is equally true of them as it is of Milton and of
the greatest of their successors. Nothing save the im-
pulse which Protestantism gave to the English mind, and
the intellectual ferment which was engendered by it, will
account for the literary phenomena of the Elizabethan
times.

1 i. 378. The passage of Raleigh is the apostrophe, beginning: "0, elo-
quent, just, and mightie Death! "

2 A just view of this matter is presented by Hazlitt, Lextures on the Dramatu
Lit. of the Age of Elizabeth (lect. i.), where the influence of the Reformation
is eloquently traced.

534 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

The Reformation in Germany transferred literary ac-
tivity from the South to the North.^ Since that time,
the literary achievements on the Catholic side have been,
in comparison with those of the Protestants, insignificant.
A learned Catholic scholar has stated the difficulty which
he experienced in finding Catholic names worthy of note,
when he undertook the task of describing the state of
learning in Germany in the period after the Reformation.^
He attributes this intellectual dearth to the methods of
education adopted by the Jesuits, who obtained so exten-
sive a control over the instruction of the young. In the
seventeenth century, theological controversy and the des-
olating effects of war prevented Germany from emulating
England in the path of science and literature. But the
eighteenth century opens with the illustrious name of
Leibnitz ; and from that time, especially from the mid-
dle of that century, the achievements of the German
mind in all branches of human knowledge have surpassed
those of any other nation, ancient or modern. Germany
has earned the distinction of being the land of scholars.
It appears that in England, immediately after the Refor-
mation, the cause of learning suffered in consequence of
the injury done to schools by the confiscations of Henry
VIII., and by the rapacity of his courtiers and those of
Edward.^ The attention given to theological disputes in
the Universities tended for a while to the same result.
In Germany, most of the Protestant leaders were devoted
Humanists. In the ferment excited at first by the Wit-
tenberg Reform, there was danger that science and edu-
cation would be neglected ; and of this danger Melanc-
thon was painfully sensible.* He made schools an object

1 Gervinus, Gsch. d.poetisch. National-Lit., Th. iii. 20.

2 Dollinger, Vortrage, etc. (Munich, 1872).

8 Wartoii, History of English Poetry, i. § xxxvi.; Arnold, Sckook and Uni-
versities, etc., p. 153.

4 The anxiety of Melancthon on this subject, a few j'ears after the Lutheran
movement commenced, and the efforts in behalf of education to which he was
prompted, are described by Galle, Charakteristik Melanctkons, p. 119.

PROTESTANTISM IN HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 535

of earnest care. For his services in this direction he has
worn since the honorable title of " Preceptor of Ger-
many."

In no Protestant countries was the particular effect of
the Reformation which we are now considering, more
striking, than in Holland and in Scotland. Holland, as
it emerged victorious from its struggle with Spain, be-
came everywhere famous for the number and erudition
of its scholars, and for the universal intelligence of its
people. In the early part of the seventeenth century,
Leyden, which owed its University to the victory which
it gained over its besiegers in 1574, was the most re-
nowned seat of learning in Western Europe. Two thou-
sand pupils resorted to it at one time, and scholars like
Scaliger were drawn into the ranks of its teachers. In
the valor of its inhabitants and their culture, in connec-
tion with the diminutive size of its territory, Holland re-
sembled the Greece of ancient times. Even more con-
spicuous is the intellectual influence of Protestantism
upon Scotland. Holland was not wanting in intellectual
activity before the Reformation ; but Scotland owes al-
most everything to the religious reform. Before, the
mass of the people were ignorant and in a state of ser-
vile dependence on the nobles. The preaching of Knox
struck a deep root in the heart of the Scotch commons.
When the nobles faltered, or consulted expediency or
selfish interest, it was found that the middling and lower
orders of the people, who had embraced the Protestant
doctrine, could not be managed, but were steadfast in de-
fense of their liberty and religion.^ The freedom of
Scotland, its general intelligence, and the literary emi-
nence which a great aiTay of distinguished names in
science and letters have given it, are the result of the

1 This effect of the Reformation is well set forth by Mr. Froude, Short Studies
on Great Subjects, p. 128 (The Influence of the Reformation on the Scottish
Character).

536 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

Reformation. The minds of men were quickened and
invigorated by the discussion of religious questions. An
atmosphere was created in which the fruits of genius and
learning have appeared in abundance.

The peculiar character of the Reformation is manifest in
its influence on philosophy. The Scholastic theology and
ethics were intertwined with the system of Aristotle.
The subversion of his supremacy, as he was interpreted
and as his method was employed by the Schoolmen, in-
volved the overthrow of the whole fabric which they had
constructed by his aid, and was an indispensable means
to this end. This philosophical revolution was begun by
the Humanists, and consummated at the Reformation.
By the indirect effect of Protestantism, there arose
another philosophical method, on the foundation of which
the modern schools of metaphysics rest.

The path was broken for the assault upon the Scholas-
tic Aristotle, by the pure Aristotelians, as they were
called ; those Italian Humanists in the first half of the
sixteenth century, who set up the ideas which they pro-
fessed to derive from the original text of the Stagirite,
against the Scholastic interpretations of him. The rise
of a school of Platonists was not without an influence in
the same direction. The Reformers directly assaulted
the principles of the Aristotelian ethics, as far as they
were embodied in the Pelagian theology, and likewise
his dialectical method as underlying the endless subtleties
and bewildering casuistry of the mediaeval systems. It
is a mistake, however, to suppose that Luther was abso-
lutely hostile to philosophy. His declamation against
Aristotle is on the grounds just stated, and is qualified
by other expressions of a different tenor.^ Melancthon

1 "I would willingly," he said, " keep Aristotle's books on logic, rhetoric,
and poetics, or have tliem abridged, for they can be read with profit, and exer-
cise j'oung people in speaking and preaching well; but the comments and
minute divisions had better be left off." An den christl. Adel. (1520.) Foi
other passages from Luther, of a like tenor, see Gieseler, I. ii. 3, § 48, n. 5.

EFFECT OF PROTESTANTISM ON PHILOSOPHY. 537

was more and more impressed with the necessity of a
careful and thorough training for ministers, and of build-
ing up the study of philosophy as well as of classical lit-
erature in the German schools. Accordingly he prepared
text-books on the basis of the treatises of Aristotle, which
long held their place. Among the Protestant theologians,
Aristotle, in the shape in Avhich he was now studied, re-
gained his authority ; so that when Peter Ramus attacked
his logical system and endeavored to supplant it, the new
scheme was considered by many, among whom was Beza,
a dangerous innovation.

The ground which had been held by Aristotle could
not be left unoccupied. Philosophy must be recon-
structed. Yet a new system would have to fight its
way to acceptance ; for Aristotle, notwithstanding the
attacks of the Humanists and of the Reformers, still
maintained his hold in the Catholic universities — in
Paris, for example, and in the universities of Italy ; and
was defended as the prop of orthodox theology. The
two renovators of philosophy are Bacon and Des Cartes.
The systems of both are indirectly the product of the
Reformation. Bacon is not the originator of a new
method, much less of a new metaphysic ; but in his vig-
orous assault upon the scientific procedure of the School-
men, which was identified with the name of Aristotle,
and in his weighty appeal against the authority of tradi-
tion in physical study, and in behalf of independent
investigation by the inductive process, he harmonized
with the spirit and evinced the influence of Protestant-
ism. The name of Des Cartes is more properly con-
nected with the new method which characterizes modern,
as distinguished from raediaival philosophy. ^ In the
scholastic period, philosophy was subservient to theology.
Philosophy had its task set ; it must assume the truth of

1 Boiiillier, Hist, de la Philosophie Cartesienne (2 vols. 1854); Baillet, La Vit
de Descartes (2 vols. IGDl): Ritter, Gsch. d. chrisfl. Phil., vii. 1 sea.

538 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

a great body of propositions, and, as far as it was able,
vindicate them on rational grounds. As a consequence,
philosophy and theology were mingled together, in a way
prejudicial to each. The method with which the name
of Des Cartes is linked is utterly dissimilar ; first, in
separating philosophy, as a distinct department, from
theology ; secondly, in casting out all assumptions, all
propositions borrowed from other sources, all authority,
and in starting with the mind's own primitive intuitions,
on the foundation of which, with the aid of logic, the
whole superstructure is reared. The simple thesis, " I
think, therefore I am," is found, it may be, in Augustine ;
and it may have been derived from him ; but the orig-
inality of Des Cartes lies in his rejection of all extraneous
and incongruous matter, and in his placing this brief but
pregnant affirmation in the forefront of his system. On
this foundation he seeks to construct a proof of God,
of the soul's distinct existence, and of its immortality.
Philosophy thus takes nothing for granted, is no longer
" the handmaid " of any other branch of knowledge, but
brings up everything to be tested at its own tribunal.
Who can fail to detect in this transformation in the
character and position of philosophy the agency of the
Reformation, preceded and supported, to be sure, by
Humanism ?

Des Cartes was himself a Roman Catholic and edu-
cated in a Jesuit school. He made a constant effort to
avoid every sort of conflict with the Church and with the
champions of orthodoxy. Prudently, for the sake of his
own quiet, he made his residence in Holland and in Swe-
den. He carefully disavowed the intention to interfere
with the things of faith ; adopting, in this matter, lan-
guage similar to that of Montaigne and his followers in
the sixteenth, and of the free-thinkers of the eighteenth
century. In their case, these professions were ironical
and were made for the sake of avoiding an explicit an

DES CARTES. 539

tagonism to the Christian faith and its adherents. Des
Cartes was more serious and earnest in his convictions ;
yet the course that he took was quite as much prompted
by deference to a settled policy as by the dictates of
conscience. It was characteristic of him, as soon as he
heard of the condemnation of Galileo, to suppress his
own work on " The World," in which he had advocated
the Copernican view, and which was prepared for the
press. But all the wariness and painstaking of Des
Cartes did not avail. The empire of Scholasticism, of
which the Aristotelian system was a inain pillar, could
not be so easily undermined. The Cartesian system was
denounced by the Sorbonne, and in 1624 a decree of
Parliament was procured against it. Its principal advo-
cates were the gifted men of the Jansenist school. Pro-
hibitions and denunciations of the new philosophy went
forth from the Council of the King, the Archbishop of
Paris, the universities, and from most of the religious
orders, until near the end of the seventeenth century.^
The Jesuits, whom Des Cartes had tried hard to conciliate,
were his irreconcilable opponents. One of them, Valois,
in the presence of the assembled clergy of France, de-
nounced him and his followers as favorers of Calvin.^ In
1663, his " Meditations," with some of his other writings,
were placed on the Prohibitory Index at Rome, " donee
corrigantur ; " and there his name still stands, with the
names of Locke, Bacon, Kant, Cousin, and other leaders
in philosophic thought. The Sorbonne made a second
attempt to obtain from Parliament a condemnatory de-
cree against the Cartesian system, and were only baffled
by the wit of Boileau, combined with the reasoning of
Arnauld.3 After this time, the philosophy of Des Cartes
gained favor with the more free-minded scholars and
authors — not excepting Bossuet — who adorned the lit-
erature of France in this period.

1 Bouillier, i. 45 1. 2 ibid., i. 469. » Ibid., i. 456 seq.

640 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

It would be interesting to trace the effect of the Ref-
ormation upon the development of other branches of
knowledsre. The advance of the science of international
law in modern times is connected with the name of
Grotius ; and the rise of political economy with the
names of Hume and of Adam Smith. The natural and
physical sciences owe their unexampled progress to the
freedom with which their investigations are prosecuted,
and to the method of independent observation and ex-
periment which has displaced the deductive and con-
jectural procedure of a former age. But there is one
department with regard to which Protestantism is often
charged with exerting a chilling influence. It is that of
the fine arts. This imputation, however, will hardly be
made respecting music arid poetry. Nor, since the cre-
ation of the Gothic aTchitecture — a genuine product of
the Middle Ages and of the German mind — is there any
type of building which can be attributed to the Church
of Rome, as an offspring of its peculiar spirit. It is only
in respect to painting and sculpture, in which the ideals
of Art are embodied in visible form, that this objection
can be brought against Protestantism with any plausi-
bility. It is unquestionable that the special character of
Art varies with the nature and circumstances of the peo-
ples among whom it springs into being. It is also true
that the northern races of the German stock are, on the
one hand, less demonstrative, less impelled by an inward
impulse to give visible expression to their conceptions,
and more prone to abstract thought and quiet reflection,
than the Latin peoples, especially the Italians.-^ This
innate difference is not without its effect in producing in
the southern races a greater satisfaction with a ritual that
strikes the senses ; and this same peculiarity is associated
with an artistic impulse and skill. Yet these are not the

1 This difference is portrayed in a spirited way by Taine. See Art in the
Netherlands, pp. 31 seq., 64.

EFFECT OF THE REFORMATION ON RELIGION. 541

exclusive possession of any single branch of the human
family. The Teutonic race has, likewise, given evidence
of its capacity for the highest achievements in art, as
well as for the appreciation and enjoyment of its noblest
products. Italian painting and sculpture were tlie cre-
ation of the Renaissance ; and the Art of the Renaissance
was largely pagan. With the revival of Catholicism Art
declined. In the Netherlands there appeared a new and
original development of Art ; and in Holland, with its
monotonous scenery and cloudy skies — a country in
which Protestantism reigned — there arose a school of
painters, among whom is found one of the most original
and impressive of all artists, Rembrandt.

The most important topic connected with the present
discussion remains to be considered. It is the bearing of
the Reformation on religion. Religion is essential to
the permanence and progress of civilization, not only as
affording motives for the restraint of human passions and
the counteraction of selfishness, but as indispensable to
the healthful and fruitful exertion of the intellectual fac-
ulties. " When the religion of a people is destroyed,"
writes De Tocqueville, " doubt gets hold of the higher
powers of the intellect, and half paralj^zes all the others.
Every man accustoms himself to have only confused and
changing notions on the subjects most interesting to his
fellow-creatures and himself." " Such a condition cannot
but enervate the soul, relax the springs of the will, and
prepare a people for servitude." " I am inclined to think
that if faith be wanting in man, he must be subject ; and
if he be free, he must believe." ^ It is not strange that
the right which Pi-otestantism gives to the individual
with regard to his religious belief, should be thought by
some to put the interests of religion in peril. But this
right is, in another aspect, also a duty ; this freedom im-
poses a responsibility ; and in relegating religion more to

1 Democracy in America, ii. 24.

542 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CULTURE.

the individual, Protestantism does not call in question
the validity of religious feelings and obligations. Prot-
estantism fosters a spirit of inquiry ; but a religion
vy^hich, like Christianity, relies upon persuasion, and
appeals to the reason and conscience, is in the long run
profited by the full investigation of its claims and doc-
trines, whatever temporary evils may arise from the per-
verse or superficial application of the understanding to
questions in the solution of which moral and religious
feeling must bear a part. A brief historical review will
show that the Reformation is not responsible for tenden-
cies to scepticism and unbelief which have revealed
themselves in modern society. These tendencies dis-
covered themselves before Protestantism appeared. The
Renaissance in Italy was sceptical in its spirit. Pompo-
natius expressed the opinion that Christianity, like other
religions which had preceded it, had passed through the
periods of youtK and maturity and had arrived at the
stage of obsolescence and decay. Marsilius Ficinus saw
no help for religion for the time and until God should
appear by some miraculous manifestation, save in the
bolstering aid of philosophy and from the tenets of Pla-
tonism.i This infidelity sprang up in the bosom of the
Roman Catholic Church, partly as a reaction against
superstitious doctrines and practices which the Church
countenanced, partly from the Epicurean lives of ecclesi-
astics and the worldliness wliich had corrupted the piety
of the ofiicial guardians of religion. Independently of
these negative influences, however, there had come a
time when reason, conscious of itself and of its mature
strength, rose up to scrutinize the traditions which it had
accepted without a question, and to test the foundations
on which faith had rested. Such an epoch occurs in the
history of other religions. Had practical religion existed
in greater power, this natural crisis and period of transi

1 Neander, Wissenschaftl. Abhandl. p. 219.

SCEPTICISM m EUROPE. 643

tion niiglit have been safely passed, and the result would
have been at once a more enlightened and a more assured
faith. Protestantism, with the warm religious life which
attended its rise, did actually interpose an effectual bar-
rier to the spread of infidelity, and for the time smoth-
ered its germs. But the latent tendencies to which we
have adverted re-appeared, and, after the tide of religious
earnestness in which the Reformation began had sub-
sided ; after practical religion was lost, in a measure, in
the turmoil of theological controversy, and by the de-
moralizing effect of long and sanguinary wars, these
tendencies had full play. Moreover, Protestantism was
guilty of a degree of unfaithfulness to one of its own car-
dinal principles. The rigid enforcement of dogmatic
conformity, in connection with punctilious tests of ortho-
doxy, within the several Protestant communions, was felt
to be at variance with the Protestant principle of hberty.
Among the adherents of the Reformation a new scholas-
ticism arose. A new yoke was imposed, hardly less oner-
ous than that which the Reformation had cast off. Hence
there ensued a revolt, an extensive reaction, in behalf of
this negative principle of opposition to human authority
in religious concerns. Such a reaction, in the absence of
an adequate check, was pushed to an extreme ; so that
the positive, or religious element of Protestantism was
sacrificed. The cause of liberty of thought became iden-
tified with doubt or disbelief. Modern unbelief first
took the form of Deism, which spread in Europe until it
became the fashionable religion of the eighteenth cen-
tury. In England, the wearisome conflict of theological
parties impelled some to explore for a fundamental re-
ligion underlying these differences, for a creed which was
held by all in common. This contributed to the rise of
Free-thinking, or Deism, of which Lord Herbert of
Cherbury was the first advocate of distinction. It found
the most congenial home in France, whence it spread

544 IHE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

amons: other nations, which then looked to France for
their opinions as well as their manners and fashions.
The creed of Deism was an heirloom from Christianity.
The sense of the supernatural, weakened though it was,
still sustained the belief in a personal God, however he
mio-ht be set a distance from men. Pantheism was a sec-
ond legitimate step in the same path. It is the denial of
the supernatural altogether ; it merges the Creator in the
creation, or rather in nature, which is considered the
manifestation of an impersonal force or law. These
types of unbelief affected the Catholic and Protestant
nations alike. But France, Catholic France, was the
principal centre of scepticism in the last century. Even
in the reign of Louis XIV., Mersenne, the friend of Des
Cartes, said that there were fifty thousand Atheists in
Paris. It was doubtless an exaggerated statement ; yet
the number of the neutral class, which accepted neither
Catholicism nor Protestantism, was large ; and this class
either denied or doubted the truth of Revelation.^ Deism,
and finally Materialism and Atheism, became the creed of
the philosophers and of the educated class. When the
great Revolution burst forth, there was no principle of
religion in the hearts of the people to chasten and direct
the passions which had been excited to fury by a long
course of misgovernment and oppression. The persecu-
tion of the Jansenists and the expulsion of the Huguenots,
had deprived France of a moral force which might have
saved it from unspeakable calamities. At the present
day the religious scepticism of the educated classes in
Italy, Spain, and France is a notorious fact. History
demonstrates that the principle of authority, as it is
maintained by the Church of Rome, constitutes no safe-
guard against infidelity and irreligion. On the contrary,

1 Siiinte Beuve says of the rcififn of Louis XIV., that it was "mined" by
infidelitj' : " Le ri'gne de Louis XIV. en est comme mint'." Port Royal, iii. 237.
Bayle's Dictionary appeared in 1G97; and this may be considered u laudnark
in the development of scepticism.

GERMAN RATIONALISM. 545

the attempt to exert an undue control over reason and
conscience, tends to awaken a spirit of rebellion, which is
liable not only to reject the yoke that is sought to be im-
posed, but with it, also, the verities of religion. The
spectacle of superstitious beliefs and customs, retained in
an enlightened era, has a like effect. Neither Protes-
tantism nor Catholicism can afford an absolute guarantee
against the incoming and spread of unbelief. But as far
as phenomena of this sort can be traced to Protestantism,
it is to a Protestantism which is disloyal to its own prin-
ciples. Experience proves that coercion is not adapted
to procure conviction. No sounder wisdom, respecting
the treatment of dissent, has ever been discovered than
that of Gamaliel : " Refrain from these men and let them
alone ; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will
come to nought."

German Rationalism has assumed two forms, a critical
and a philosophical. On the one hand, in a movement
that began with the Arminian scholars of Holland, but
which dates in Germany from the theologian Semler,
there has appeared an activity in Biblical and historical
criticism without a parallel. Inquiries of this nature,
which have to do with the origin of the several books of
the Bible, their date and authorship, and their true in-
terpretation, with the history of the canon, and with the
nature of Inspiration, and of the authority conferred by
it, are consonant with the spirit of Protestantism, and are
even required by its principles. Ecclesiastical tradition
cannot be blindly accepted, but must be subjected to ex-
amination. Luther set the example of such criticism in the
judgments — whatever exceptions maybe justly taken to
their soundness — which he passed upon canonical books,
and in his comments upon various portions of Scripture ;
although, at the same time, his mind was imbued with the
deepest reverence for the Word of God. The investiga-
tions of German scholarship for the last century, whatevei

35

646 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

amount of error and groundless hypothesis may have been
incidental to them, have added vastly to our knowledge
of the 5ihle and of Christian antiquity. In the philo-
sophical direction, Rationalism was at first Deistic ; it
adopted for its creed the three facts of God, free-will, and
immortality, which Kant derived from the practical rea-
son. In the successors of Kant, the influence of Spinoza
was mingled with that of the philosopher of Konigsberg.
Pantheistic speculation supplanted Deism, and gave rise
to a new phase in Biblical and historical criticism. Eich-
horn and Paulus were succeeded by Strauss and Baiu'.
In the field of philosophy, the school of materialism has
also had its adherents. It is far from being true that
German science has been uniformly allied to scepticism
and unbelief. In Schleierraacher, deep religious feeling
appeared in union with the highest degree of critical and
philosophical acumen. He communicated an impulse to
many who dissent from his ojDinions. Through him there
has arisen a great body of scholars, who respect the claims
both of science and of the Christian faith, and have un-
dertaken, in a free and unbiased spirit, which Protestant-
ism demands, to explore the past and to investigate the
documents of the Christian faith, at the same time that
they have recognized the indestructible foundations of
religion, which are laid in the intuitions and necessities of
the soul, and in the facts of history. The origin of Ra-
tionalism, and its relation to the Reformation, have been
thus described by Neander : " The first living develop-
ment of Protestantism was succeeded, in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, by a stagnation. The Catholic
Church lay benumbed in its external ecclesiasticism ; the
Protestant in its one-sided engrossment in doctrinal ab-
stractions. Since the ruling form of doctrine was stiffly
held, in opposition to all free development, such as the
principle of Protestantism demands, reactions of this
original principle were called forth in the Lutheran aid

THE MULTIPLYING OF SECTS. 547

Reformed Churches. This reactionary tendency, in the
form of an emancipation from a dogmatic yoke, was car-
ried, in the eighteenth century, far beyond its original
aim. The reformatory movement, being negative, be-
came revolutionary. With this there was comiected a
new epoch in the general progress of nations. The
culture which had grown up under the rule of the Church,
sovight to make itself independent. Reason, striving after
emancipation from the thraldom in which it had been
held by the despotical power of the Church, revolted ;
and Christian doctrine was obliged to enter into a new
conflict with this opposing element; but, inasmuch as
Christian doctrine was possessed of a more powerful
principle, it could successfully withstand the danger.
The conflict served to purify it from the disturbing ad-
mixture of human elements, and to bring to view the
harmony of everything purely human with that which
is divine. Thus there arose, especially in Germany, a
period, which began with Semler, of the breaking up of
previous beliefs ; but this critical process was a sifting and
a preparation for a new creation, which emanated pre-
dominantly from Schleiermacher. This, also, could de-
velop itself only in a renewed conflict with Rationalism :
and in this conflict we at the present time are engaged."^
The multiplying of sects under Protestantism has fre-
quently formed the matter of a grave objection to it. In
the first generation of the Reformers, the hope of a res-
toration of ecclesiastical unity, by means of a general
council, was not given up. For a considerable period,
Protestants aimed to reform the national churches, with
the aim and expectation of preserving their integrity.
The design was to abolish abuses and to reconstitute the
creed, polity, and ritual, in conformity with their own
ideas. But in some countries — in France, for example
— they found themselves in a minority, and unable to ac-

1 Doqmengeschichte, i. 23, 24.

548 THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

compHsh their end. Ijiberty for them to exist, and mu-
tu;d toleration between the two great divisions of the
sundered Church, was the most that could be hoped for.
But in Pi-otestant countries, divisions arose which proved
irreconcilable. Thus in England, the difference as to
the form which the Reformation ought to take, separated
Protestants into two opposing camps. Then other parties
appeared, who were convinced of the unrighteousness or
impolicy of establishments, whatever might be the ec-
clesiastical system which it was proposed to render
national by a connection with the State. Sects have
multiplied in Protestant countries in a manner which the
early Reformers did not anticipate. On this subject of
denominational or sectarian divisions, it may be said with
truth, that disunion of this sort is better than a leaden
uniformity, the effect of blind obedience to ecclesiastical
superiors, of the stagnation of religious thought, or of coer-
cion. Disagreement in opinion is a penalty of intellect-
ual activity, to which it is well to submit where the
alternative is either of the evils just mentioned. It may
also be said with truth, that within the pale of the
Church of Rome there have been conflicts of parties and
a wrangling of disputants, which are scarcely less con-
spicuous than the like phenomena on the Protestant side.
The vehement and prolonged warfare of dogmatic schools
and of religious orders, of Scotists and Thomists, of Jan-
senists and Jesuits, of Dominicans and Molinists, make
the annals of Catholicism resound with the din of contro-
versy. That these debates, often pushed to the point of
angry contention, have been prejudicial to the interests
of Christian piety, will not be questioned. At the same
time, it must be conceded that the Protestant faith has
been weakened within Protestant lands, and in the pres-
ence of Roman Catholics, and of the heathen nations, by
the manifestations of a sectarian spirit, and by the very
existence of so many diverse, and often antagonistic, de-

THE SECTARIAN SPIRIT. 549

nominations. The first great conflict between the Luther-
ans and the ZwingUans, operated to retard the progress
of the Reformation. The impression was made, espe-
cially upon timid and cautious minds, that no certainty
with regard to religious truth could be attained, if tlie
authority of the Church of Rome were discarded. As
other divisions followed, and in some cases, on minor
questions of doctrine, which yet were made the occasion
of new ecclesiastical organizations, this argument of the
adversaries of Protestantism was urged with an increased
effect. The " variations of Protestants " were depicted
in such a way as to inspire the feeling, that to renounce
the old Church was to embark on a tempestuous sea, with
410 star to guide one's path. When we consider, from a
historic point of view, the sectarian divisions of Protes-
tantism, we fnid that they arose generally from the spirit"
of intolerance, and the spirit of faction ; two tempers of
feeling which have an identical root, since both grow out
of a disposition to push to an extreme, even to the point
of exclusion and separation, religious opinions which may
be the property of an individual or of a class, but are not
fundamental to the Christian faith. Protestants, having
rejected the external criteria of a true Church, on which
Roman Catholics insist, have sometimes hastily inferred
a moral right on the part of any number of Christians
to found new Church associations at their pleasure. This
has actually been done, with little insight into the design
of the visible Church and into its nature as a coun-
terpart of the Church invisible. Coupled with this pro-
pensity to divide and to establish new communions, there
has appeared a tendency to overlook the proper function
of the Church, and to stretch the jurisdiction of the sev-
eral bodies thus formed over the individuals who belong to
them, in matters both of opmion and practice, to an ex-
tent not warranted by the principles of Christianity.
Protestantism has sometimes given rise to an ecclesiasti

550 RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

cal tyranny as unjustifiable as that which is charged upon
Rome. In some cases, the rights of the individual count
for Httle against the claims, or even the whims of the
particular rehgious community in which he is enrolled,
and to which he pays allegiance. But within the bosom
of the Protestant bodies there are constantly at work,
with a growing efficiency, forces adverse to schism and
separation, and in favor of the restoration of a Christian
unity, which, springing out of common convictions with
regard to essential truth, and animated by the spirit of
charity, shall soften the antagonism of sects, and diminish,
if not obliterate, their points of diversity. This irenical
tendency seems prophetic of a new stage in the develop-
ment of Protestantism, when freedom and union, liberty
and order, shall be found compatible.^

1 In the first age of the Reformation, Protestants were not in a situation to
establish missions among tlie heathen. Apart from other circumstances, the
dominion of the sea was in the hands of the Catholic powers. In the seven-
teenth centur}', for a long time, Protestants were too busy in defending their
faith, in Europe, to think of enterprises abroad. But the English settlements in
New England had for a part of their design the conversion of the Indians. The
name of John Eliot has a high place in missionary biography. The Dutch,
in the seventeenth century, did much missionary work among their settlements
in the East; sometimes in a too sectarian spirit and with too great a desire to
swell the number of nominal adherents. Cromwell formed a scheme for a
society for the diffusion of Protestant Christianity over the globe. In the last
century and in the present, Protestant missions have been prosecuted by differ-
ent religious bodies with zeal and success. The Catholic counter-reformation
was attended with great exertions for the propagation of the Catholic faith
among the heathen. The Orders were especially prominent in thl. work. In
South America and Mexico, in India, China, and Japan, their efforts were un-
tiring. The record of Jesuit missions among the North American Indians pre-
sents examples of self-denying fortitude almost without a parallel. (See
Parkman's admirable work. The Jesuits in North America.) In the East,
Xavier labored with nn irresistible earnestness. His career (1542-1552) was
remarkable. Multitudes of the heathen consented to receive baptism at his
hands. Nobili in India, Ricci in China, and other missionaries followed His
example. The Con(jregatio de propaganda fide was established in 1622. But
the religious Orders fell into conflict with one another. The excessive accom-
modation of the Jesuits to heathen customs was sternly resisted by the Fran-
ciscans and Dominicans, and finally condemned at Rome. In Japan, the Jesuits
rendered themselves politically obnoxious, and were driven out. The perma-
nent results of the Roman Catholic missions since the Reformation, conside-ing

RELIGION AND CULTURE. 551

It Is a distinctive characteristic of Protestantism, that
it does not assume to be unerring in its interpretations of
divine revelation, or in its understanding of Christian
ethics. Much less does it pretend that its disciples are
impeccable in practical conduct. This capacity of intel-
lectual and moral progress leaves the Protestant free,
while adhering to the essential principles of the Reforma-
tion, to criticise the doings of those in past times who
have professed them, to modify their opinions on points
where they are seen to have been erroneous, and to ad-
vance in a hopeful spirit towards a future in which rehg-
ious truth shall be seen in a clearer light, and be more
consistently applied in the lives of men.

The true relation of Christianity to culture. Protestant-
ism, despite many inconsistencies and errors, has not failed
to discern. Christianity was the religion of humanity in
every just sense of the term. It not only abolished all
national antipathies ; broke down the wall of partition
between Jew and Gentile, which had been necessary in
the planting of true religion : it obliterated, also, the line
of separation between religion and the varied activities and
provinces of human life. Rules gave way to principles ;
the letter of commandments to the spirit of a new life.
The disciple was not to avoid the world, but only the
evil in it. Religion was not to be something apart, but
rather a leaven to permeate all things. St. Paul took up
phrases of heathen poets and Stoic philosophers, and gave
them a new setting. Christianity was to assimilate every-
thing not alien to its own essence. It came not to trample
on any genuine products of the human mind or expres-
sions of human nature, in literature, art, or social life, but

the number of their nominal converts, are not such as to inspire confidence in
the methods in which they were prosecuted. Xavier describes the course he took
— how, for example, he made Christians of ten thousand in a month. See H.
J. Coleridge, Life and Letters of St. Francis Xnvier (1872), i. 280. On the
Catholic missions, see Ranke, History of the Popes, ii. 503. Gicseler, iv. i. 3
c. iii. § 61; iv. ii. 2, c. ii.

552 RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO CIVILIZATION.

to purify them all and to reveal their connection with the
supreme end of man's being. All this is comprised in
the realization of the kingdom of God on earth. It in-
volves the perfection of human nature on all sides. Thus
Christianity came not to destroy, but to fulfill ; not
merel}^ to carry out law to its ultimate statement, but to
give full effect to every aspiration and tendency proper to
man. Its law of self-denial was not a rule of asceticism,
but of rational self-control.

The corruption of ancient society, spreading its infec-
tion within the Church, in connection with judaical ideas
of the separateness of religion and of religious persons, pro-
duced asceticism. A new wall was erected between
things sacred and secular, between priest and layman, be-
tween religion and human life. The ascetic would es-
cape from the contamination of evil by abjuring even iii-
nocent gratifications. His remedy is to stunt and dwarf
his nature. He attaches a stigma to relations and em-
ployments into which the bulk of mankind must enter.
Such was the error of the jNIiddle Ages.

Protestantism cast away this error. It was a religion
of the spirit and of liberty. Luther advised monks and
nuns to marry, to engage in useful employments, to get
from life all reasonable pleasures, and to do good in a
practical way. Religion is not to divorce itself from
science, art, industry, recreation, from anything that pro-
motes the well-being of man on earth ; but religion is to
leaven all with a higher consecration. This is the real
creed of Protestantism. It does not hold to a Hebraic
isolation of the religious element, nor to a pagan self-in-
dulgence. It steers midway between the false extremes
of license and asceticism. There are popular writers at
the present day who openly contend for the absolute con-
trol of impulse, or for a surrender to nature, such as
characterized the Greeks of old, but which brought ruin

RELIGION AND CULTURE. 553

upon Greek civilization. They feel the error of asceti-
cism so strongly as almost to loathe the Middle Ages.i
These writers strangely overlook the place of self-denial
in a world where evil has so great a sway ; and they
strangely forget that the antique culture, with all its
beautiful products, underwent a terrible shipwreck. The
problem of the reconciliation of religion and culture, and
of the harmonizing of the proper claims of this life and
of the life to come, is one for the solution of which Prot-
estantism has the key.

1 See the writings of Taine, passim.

APPEI^DIX I.

A CHUONOLOGICAL TABLE.i

1479. Union of Aragon and Castile under Ferdinand V. (the Catholic)

and Isabella. (Conquest of Granada, 1492.)

1480. Establishment of the Spanish Inquisition. •

1483. Birth of Luther, November 10. '

1484. Birth of Zwingle, January 1.

1485. Accession of Henry VII. (the House of Tudor), in England;

end of the Wars of the Roses.

1491. Birth of Ignatius Loyola.

1492. Discovery of America by Columbus.

1493. Accession of Maximilian I. as Emperor.

1494. Invasion of Italy by Charles VIH. Conquest of Naples by the

French. Beginning of the Wars of Italy.

1495. Naples reconquered by Ferdinand II. Diet of Worms: estab-

lishment of the Imperial Chamber.

1497. Birth of Melancthon, February 6. Vasco da Gama doubles

the Cape of Good Hope and sails to India.

1498. Death of Savonarola, May 23.

1500. Birth of Charles V., February 24.

1501. Louis XII. and Ferdinand V. (the Catholic), conquer and

divide the kingdom of Naples. Contest between them.

1502. The University of Wittenberg is founded.

1503. Louis XII. finally deprived of Naples. Erasmus publishes the

" Manual of a Christian Soldier." Death of Pope Alexander
VI. ; accession of Julius II.

1504. Death of Isabella of Castile. She is succeeded by her daughter

Joanna, with her husband Philip I. of Austria, Duke of Bur-
gundy.

1505. Peace between France and Spain; the kingdom of Naples is

left wholly to Spain. Luther enters a monastery at Erfurt,
August 17.

1 In pre\i.iring this Table, much aid has been derived from the Tables of
Chronology in Alberi's edition of the Jielazioni degli Ambaadatari Venett
(Appendice), 1863.

566 APPENDIX.

1506. Death of Philip I. Joanna becomes demented. Charles I. suc-
ceeds them (in his minority). Julius I. begins St. Peter's
Church. He extends the papal dominion over Perugia and
Bologna. Accession of Sigismund I. in Poland.

1608. League of Cambray against Venice, formed by Julius IT., Fer-
dinand v., Louis XII., and Maximilian I. Luther is made
a professor at Wittenberg.

1509. Accession of Henry VHI. in England. His marriage with

Catharine of Aragon, June 29. Luther is ordained a priest,
May 2. Birth of Calvin, July 10.

1510. Conquest of Goa on the coast of Malabar ; foundation of Por^

tuguese power in the East. Julius II. unites with Venice to
* drive the French out of Italy. Luther visits Rome.

1511. Ferdinand V. and Henry VHI. join the Holy League, osten-

sibly for the protection of the Church.

1512. Maximilian joins the Holy League. Maximilian of Sforza

placed on the Ducal throne of Milan, from which the French
are expi^lled. The Lateran Council (5th) opens. May 3.

1513. Death of Julius II., February 24. Accession of Leo X., March

1 1 . Death of James IV. of Scotland. Accession of James
V.

1514. Reuchlin's conflict with the Dominicans.

1515. Death of Louis XII.; accession of Francis I. He sets out to

reconquer Milan. Battle of Marignano, September 13.
Abolishment of the Pragmatic Sanction.

1516. Death of Ferdinand V., January 23. Charles of Austria be-

comes monarch of all Spain and its dependencies. Peace
concluded between France, Spain, and Austria. Death of
Ladislaus, king of Hungary and Bohemia ; succeeded by
Louis II. Zwingle a preacher in Einsiedeln. Erasmus
publishes his New Testament. " Epistolse Obscurorum Viro-
rum."

1517. Luther posts his Theses, October 31.

1518. Luther appears before Cajetan at Augsburg, October 7.

Melancthon arrives at Wittenberg, August 25. Leo X. pub-
lishes a Bull on Indulgences, November 9. Mission of Mil-
titz into Saxony, December. Zwingle becomes pastor in
Zurich.

1519. Death of Maximilian I., January 12. Charles, king of Spain,

elected Emperor, June 28. Disputation at Leipsic, July 24.
Birth of Catharine de Medici, April 13.

1520. Excommunication of Luther by Leo X., June 15. Luther

burns the bull, December 10. Insurrection of the Spanish

A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 557

Commons ; subdued the next year. Death of Sehm I., and
accession of Soliman II. as Sultan. Magellan begins the
first voyage round the world.

1521. Another bull issued against Luther, January .3. Luther

appears before the Diet of Worms, April 18. Edict of the
Diet against him. May 26. His abduction to the Wartburg,
April 28. League of Leo X. and Charles V. Milan is
wrested from the French by Charles V. Accession of Henry
VIII. to the League. Soliman II. invades Hungary and
takes Belgrade, August. Death of Leo X., December 1.
Conquest of Mexico by Cortez, completed August 13.

1522. Accession of Adrian VI., January 9. Disturbances by Carl-

stadt at AVittenberg. Luther leaves the AVartburg. Luther's
Answer to Henry VHL, July 15. Adrian's Letter to the
Diet of Nuremberg, September 24. The Hundred Griev-
ances of Germany. Capture of Rhodes by Soliman II.

1523. Gustavus Vasa is proclaimed king of Sweden, June G. Defec-

tion of the Constable Bourbon. Death of Adrian VI., Sep-
tember 24. Accession of Clement VII., November 19. Dis-
putations at Zurich, January 29, and October 26. Reforma-
tion in Livonia.

1524. Treaty of Malmoe. End of the Union of Calmar. Independence

of Sweden. Albert of Brandenburg declares for the Refor-
mation. The Landgrave of Hesse fiivors it. Catholic League
signed at Ratisbon, July 10. Peasants' War. Quarrel of
Erasmus and Ulrich von Hutten. Secret alliance of Clement

VII. and Francis I. Order of Theatins is founded.

1525. Defeat and capture of Francis I. at Pavia, February 25.

Frederic I. of Denmark grants liberty to Protestantism.
Mass abolished at Zurich, April 11. Zwingle publishes his
" Commentary on True and False Religion." Luther's mar-
riage, June 18. Death of the Elector Frederic, May 5.

1526. Treaty of Madrid, January 14. Battle of Mohacs. Death of

Louis II. Ferdinand of Austria becomes king of Bohemia
and Hungary. Civil war in Hungary. League of Cognac, be-
tween Francis I., Clement VII., and other powers, against
the Emperor, May 22. Recess of the Diet of Spires, August
27. The League of Torgau is formed.

1527. Capture and sack of Rome by the imperial troops. Henry

VIII. seeks a divorce from Catharine of Aragon. Diet of
Westeras : establishment of the Reformation in Sweden.
Visitation of the Saxon Churches.

1528. Reformation begins in Scotland. Martyrdom of Hamilton.

Reformation established in Berne.

558 APPENDIX.

1529. Second Diet of Spires. Protest of the Lutherans. Treaty of

Barcelona between the Pope and the Emperor. Peace of
Cambray. Francis I. leaves Milan to the Empire. Siege of
Vienna by Soliman II. Reformation established in Basel.
The Marburg Conference, October 1.

1530. Coronation of Charles V. by Clement VII. at Bologna, Feb-

ruary 22. Diet of Augsburg is opened, June 25. Geneva
freed from the Dukes of Savoy. Death of Cardinal Wolsey,
November 30.

1531. The Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, elected King of the

Romans, January 5. League of Smalcald, February 17.
Henry VIII. is styled by the clergy Head of the Church of
England, March 22. A Diet at Spires, September 13. War
of Cappel. Death of Zwingle, October 11. Peace between
Zurich and the five Cantons, November 16. Death of
Oecolampadius, November 23.

1532. Peace of Nuremberg. Alarm from the Turks. Death of the Elec-

tor John, August 15. He is succeeded by John Frederic.
Farel preaches in Geneva.

1533. Divorce of Henry VIII., and his marriage with Anne Boleyn.

Marriage of Henry of Orleans (afterwards Henry II.) with
Catharine de Medici, October 28.

1534. Henry VIII. is excommunicated by Clement VII., March 23.

Act of Supremacy passed, November 23. Death of Clement
Vn. ; succeeded by Paul III., October 13. Alliance of
Francis I. with the Sultan. Loyola commences the organi-
zation of the Jesuit Order at Paris. Luther's translation of
the Bible is completed.

1535. Persecution of French Protestants by Francis I. He invites

Melancthon to his court, June 28. Miinster taken from the
Anabaptists, June 24. Expedition of Charles V. to Tunis.
Francisco Sforza leaves Milan to Charles V. Consequent
war between Charles and Francis I. Establishment of Prot-
estantism in Geneva. Calvin publishes his " Institutes " at
Basel.

1536. Execution of Anne Boleyn, May 19. Marriage of Henry VIII.

with Jane Seymour, May 20. Invasion of Provence by the
Imperialists. Their retreat. Death of Erasmus, July 12.
Calvin appears in Geneva, August.

1537. Birth of Edward VI. Death of Jane Seymour, October 12.

Ecclesiastical Supremacy of Henry VIII. declared by the
Irish parliament. Christian III. establishes the Reformation
in Denmark. Paul III. appoints Commissions of Reform.
The Counter-reformation.

A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 559

1538. League against the Turks. Treaty of Ferdinand with John

Zapolya. Catholic League formed in Germany, June 10.
Calvin banished from Geneva.

1539. The Six Articles passed in England. Conferences in Germany

between Catholics and Protestants : Ilagenau ; Worms.
Reformation in the Duchy of Saxony and in Branden-
burg.

1540. Marriage (the fourth) of Henry VIII. with Anna of Cleves.

He is divorced, and marries Catharine Howard, August 8.
Execution of Cromwell, July 29. Death of John of Zapolya.
Paul III. approves of the statutes of the Jesuit Order, Sep-
tember 27.

1541. A Diet and Conference at Ratisbon : Contarini present.

Expedition of Charles V. to Algiers. Soliman reenters
Hungary. Calvin recalled to Geneva.

1542. Execution of Catharine Howard, February 13. War rekindled

between Charles V. and Francis I. Death of James V. of
Scotland. Regency of Mary of Guise. Xavier arrives at Goa
in the East Indies. Reformation in Brunswick. Flight of
Ochino from Italy.

1543. Alliance of Charles V. and Henry VIII. against Francis I.

Marriage (the sixth) of Henry VIII. with Catharine Parr,
July 12. Revival of the Inquisition in Italy.

1544. Peace of Crespy renews, for substance, the stipulations of

the Peace of Cambray. The Turks masters of a great part
of Hungary.

1545. Opening of the Council of Trent, December 13.

1546. Union of Maurice of Saxony with Charles V. The Elector of

Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse are put under the ban
of the Empire. The Smalcaldic War. Assassination of
Cardinal Beaton. Death of Luther, February 18. Refor-
mation of the Electoral Palatinate.

1547. Death of Henry VIII., January 28. He is succeeded by Edward

VI. Death of Francis I., March 3L He is succeeded by
Henry H. Battle of Miihlberg, April 24. The Pope trans-
fers the Council from Trent to Bologna, by way of opposi-
tion to the influence of the Emperor. Truce between
Ferdinand and the Turks.

1548. Diet at Augsburg. Establishment of the Interim, May 15.

The Electoral dignity is transferred to Maurice. The Leipsic
Interim. Marriage of Jeanne d'Albret with Anthony of
Bourbon, Duke of Vcndome — the parents of Henry IV.
Death of Sigismund I. of Poland. Succeeded by Sigismund

660 APPENDIX.

Augustus (Sigismund IL). Mary Queen of Scots is taken to
France, being contracted to the Dauphin. Book of Common
Prayer is introduced. Revised in 1552.

1549. Death of Paul III., February 8.

1550. Julius III. is elected Pope, February 8. Martyr, Bucer, and

other reformers from the Continent are received in England.
Hooper made Bishop of Gloucester. Vestment controversy
begins.

1551. Renewed war between France and Austria. Henry II. allies

himself with the German Protestants. Maurice of Saxony
takes up the cause of the Protestants.

1552. Henry II. occupies Metz, Toul, and Verdun. Maurice obliges

the Emperor to fly from Innsbruck, to liberate the Elector
and the Landgrave, and to conclude the peace of Passau.
The Emperor lays siege to Metz, October. Framing of the
Articles (42) of the Church of England. Execution of
Somerset.

1553. Death of Edward VI. Mary is proclaimed Queen of England,

October 4. Death of Servetus at Geneva, October 27.

1554. Wyat's Rebellion. Restoration of Papal Supremacy in Eng-

land. Marriage of Mary with Philip of Spain, July 25.
Charles V. gives up Sicily and Naples to his son Philip.

1555. Peace of Augsburg. Ecclesiastical Reservation. Persecution

of Protestants in England. Death of Ridley and Latimer,
October 15. Death of Julius III. Accession of Paul IV.,
May 23. Charles V. resigns the Netherlands to Philip,
October 25. League of Paul IV. with France, to wrest
Naples from Spain.

1556. Abdication of Charles V., January 16. He gives up the empire

to Ferdinand, August 27. He embarks for Spain, September
1 7. Renewal of war in Italy between the Pope in alliance
with France, and Spain. Death of Cranmer, March 21.
Death of Ignatius Loyola, July 31.

1557. Defcatof the French at St. Quentin, August 10. Peace between

the Duke of Alva and Paul IV.

1558. Calais is taken from the English by the Duke of Guise, Jan-

uary 8. Marriage of Mary Stuart with the Dauphin,
Francis, April 24. Defeat of the French at Gravelines,
July 13. Death of Charles V. at the monastery of Yuste,
September 21. Death of Mary of England, November 17.
Accession of Elizabeth.

1559. Peace of Cateau-Cambresis, April 3. Death of Henry H.,

July 10. He is succeeded by Francis II. Margaret of Parma

A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 661

IS made Regent of the Netherlands, with Granvelle, Bishop
of Arras, for her principal minister. Return of Philip to
Spain. Persecution of Protestants in Spain. Autos dafe.
Act of Supremacy in England. Court of High Commission ;
Act of Uniformity. Death of Paul IV., August 18 : succeeded
by Pius lY. General Synod of the Huguenots in Paris.
Contest betAveen the Regent Mary and the Lords of the
Congregation in Scotland. Return of John Knox.

1560. Conspiracy of Amboise, March. Edict of Romorantin. Coligny

presents the Huguenot petitions at Fontainebleau. States-
General convoked at Orleans. Navarre under surveillance.
Arrest and trial of Conde. Death of Francis 11., December
5. Accession of Charles IX. Catharine de Medici attains to
power. Death of Gustavus Vasa. Succeeded by Eric XIV.
Elizabeth supports the Protestants in Scotland. Treaty of
Edinburgh. Protestantism established in Scotland by act of
Parliament, August 25. Death of the Regent Mary, August
10.

1561. Return of Mary Stuart to Scotland. Her first interview with

Knox. Colloquy of Poissy, September.

1562. Edict of St. Germain. A measure of toleration is granted to the

Huguenots. Massacre of Vassy, March 1. Civil war in
France. Capture of Rouen. Death of Anthony of Navarre,
on the Catholic side, November 1 7. Battle of Dreux, De-
cember 1 9. Revision of the Articles of the Church of Eng-
land.
1663. Siege of Orleans by the Catholics. Assrissination of the Duke
of Guise, February 18. Edict of Amboise, March 19. Close
of the Council of Trent.

1564. Granvelle leaves the Netherlands. Death of Ferdinand I.

Accession of Maximilian H. Death of Calvin, May 27.

1565. Conference of Bayonne. Marriage of Mary Stuart with

Darnley, July 29. Cruel edicts of Philip JI. against the

Moors. Cruelties of the Inquisition in the Netherlands.

D'ath of Pius IV., December 9.

1566. Accession of Pius V. The Compromise of Breda. The Gueux.

Iconoclasm in the Netherlands. Death of Soliman II.
Murder of Rizzio, March 9. Birth of James VI. of Scot-
land, June 19.

1567. Alva sent to the Netherlands. The « Council of Blood." The

Regent Margaret leaves the country, December 30. Renewal
of war between Catholics and Huguenots. Murder of
Darnley, February 9. Mary marries Bothwoll, May 15
36

562 APPENDIX.

Resigns her crown to her son, with Murray as Regent, July
24.

1568. Flight of Mary into England. Conflict in the Netherlands.

Egmont and Horn are beheaded, June 5. Peace of Long-
juraeau, March 23. Edict against the HugUenots, Septem-
ber 25.

1569. Renewed insurrection of the Huguenots. Battle of Jarnac;

Death of Louis de Conde, March 13. Prince Henry of
Navarre is recognized as head of the Huguenot party.
Battle of Moncontour, October 3. Alva's scheme of taxa-
tion in the Netherlands.

1570. Excommunication of Elizabeth by Pius V., February 25.

Second phase of Puritanism : Cartwright opposes Episco-
pacy. Third Peace of St. Germain. Four towns given up to
the Huguenots, August 15. Assassination of the Regent
Murray, January 23. Synod of Sendomir in Poland ; union
of Protestants.

1571. Battle of Lepanto, October 7; defeat of the Turks.

1572. Death of Pius V. Gregory XHI. succeeds him, May 13. Exe-

cution of the Duke of Norfolk, June 2. Union of Holland,

Zealand, and Friesland, under William of Orange, May.

Death of Jeanne d'Albret, June 10. Henry of NavaiTC

marries Margaret of Valois, August 18. Massacre of St.

Bartholomew, August 24. Death of Sigismund H. of Poland ;

end of the Jagellon dynasty : the crown made elective.

Death of John Knox, November 24.
1673. " Pax Dissidentium " in Poland. Henry, Duke of Anjou, elected

king of Poland, May 9. Alva leaves the Netherlands. He is

succeeded by Requesens.
1574. Death of Charles IX., May 30. Accession of Henry IH. Louis

of Nassau is defeated and slain. Siege of Leyden.

1576. Organization of the League in France. Death of Requesens.

Pacification of Ghent, November 8. Don John of Austria
succeeds Requesens. Death of Maximilian IL Accession of
Rudolph II. Jesuit influence in the imperial court. The
Catholic reaction in Germany.

1577. Drake attacks the Spanish ships and settlements.

1578. Treaty of Elizabeth with the Netherlands, January 7. Death

of Don John of Austria. He is succeeded by Alexander of
Parma.

1579. Utrecht Union, January 23. The ten southern provinces submit

to Alexander of Parma.

1580. William of Orange is proscribed by Philip II. Rebellion in

Ireland fomented by Spain.

A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 563

1581 The United Provinces renounce the authority of Spain, July
2. The protectorate of the Low Countries is given to tho
Duke of Anjou, brotlier of Henry III.

1582. Successes of Parma in the Netherlands.

1583. The Duke of Anjou returns to France.

1584. Death of the Duke of Anjou, June 10. Henry of Navarre be-

comes the Iieir of the crown. Alliance of the League with
Spain. Treaty of Joinville, December 31. Assassination of
William of Orange, July 10.

1585. Death of Gregory XIIL, April 10. Accession of Sixtus V.,

April 24. He excommunicates Henry of Navarre, Septem-
ber 10. Surrender of Antwerp to Alexander of Parma,
August 1 7. The United Provinces place themselves under
the protection of Elizabeth. Leicester sent into the Nether-
lands. Drake attacks the Spanish settlements in the West
Indies.

1586. War of the three Henries — Henry HI., Navarre, and Guise.

League between James VI. and Elizabeth.

1587. Execution of Mary Queen of Scots, February 8. Leicester re-

turns to England. Maurice of Orange acquires the chief
direction of the contest in the Netherlands. Sigismund HI. of
Sweden is elected king of Poland.

1588. Hostile attitude of the League towards Henry III. Barricades

in Paris, ]M ay 12. Defeat of the Spani-sh Armada. Meeting
of the States-General at Blois. Assassination of the Duke
of Guise and the Cardinal his brother, by Henry HI.

1589. Death of Catharine de Medici, January 5. Henry HI. joins

Navarre. Assassination of Henry HI., August 1. Henry
IV., is resisted by the League.

1590. Victory of Henry IV. at Ivry over the Duke of Mayenne,

March 14. Death of Sixtus V. Succeeded by Urban VII.
Parma raises the siege of Paris.

1591. Bull of Gregory XIV. against Henry IV. Death of Gregory

XIV., October 15. Succeeded by Innocent IX. His death,
December 30. Henry IV. invests lloucn. Renewed inva-
sion of Hungary by the Turks.

1592. Clement YIII. becomes Pope, January 30. Parma raises the

siege of Ilouon. Death of Parma, December 2. Presbyte-
rianism is fully established in Scotland.

1593. Division of counsels in the League. Abjuration of Henry IV.,

July 25. Rout of the Turks in Hungarj'.

1594. Henry IV. is crowned at Chartres, February 27. He enters

Paris, March 22. Maurice of Orange recovers the whole
territory ol' the United Provinces.

564 APPENDIX.

1595. Henry IV. declares war against Philip IL, January 17. Clem-

ent VIII. absolves Henry IV., September 1 7.

1596. Alliance of Henry IV. with Elizabeth. The English destroy

the Spanish fleet in the harbor of Cadiz.

1598. The Edict of Nantes, April 30. The Peace of Vervins be-
tween France and Spain, May 2. Death of Philip II., Sftp-
tember 13. He is succeeded by Philip UI.

1600. Marriage of Henry IV. with Mary de Medici. Giordano
Bruno is burned at the stake, February 1 7.

1603. Death of Queen Elizabeth, March 24. Accession of James I.

1604. Hampton Court Conference, January 16. Letter of Majesty

grants protection to the Protestants of Bohemia.

1605. The Gunpowder Plot.

1607. Donauwiirth seized by the Duke of Bavaria.

1608. Protestant Union formed in Germany.

1609. Twelve years' truce established between Spain and the United

Provinces.

1610. Catholic League formed in Germany under the Duke of Bava-

ria.

1611. The English Bible published by authority. Gustavus Adol-

phus becomes king of Sweden.

1612. Matthias becomes emperor.

1617. James I. imposes Episcopacy on Scotland.

1618. Revolt of the Bohemians against Ferdinand II. in defense of

their religious liberties.

1619. Accession of Ferdinand II. as Emperor. Election of Ferdinand

v., Elector Palatine, as king of Bohemia.

1620. The Elector Palatine stripped of his dominions. Persecution

of Puritans in England. Landing of the Pilgrims at
Plymouth, December 21. Convent of Port Royal estab-
lished.

1621. Revolt of the Huguenots.

1622. Congregatio de Propaganda Fide is established : (college for

missionaries founded, 1627).

1624. Richelieu becomes the minister of Louis XIII.

1625. Accession of Charles I. War with the Huguenots begins m

France. Alliance of England, Holland, and Denmark, in
behalf of the Elector Palatine.

1626. Death of Lord Bacon. Defeat of Mansfield by Wallenstein at

Dessau.

1627. Mecklenburg is given to Wallenstein.

1628. Surrender of Rochelle. Destruction of the political power of the

Hujruenots.

A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 665

1629. Peace of Liibeck, May. Edict of Restitution, March.

1630. Wallenstein dismissed from his command. Intervention of

Gustavus Adolphus.

1631. The capture of Magdeburg by Tilly, May. Battle of Leipsic;

defeat of Tilly, August 28. Wallenstein restored to his
command, April.

1632. Battle of Lutzen : death of Gustavus Adolphus, November 16.

1633. Alliance of France with Sweden and the Protestants: treaty

of Heilbronn, April 23. Laud is made Archbishop of Can-
terbury. Galileo is forced to renounce the Copernican
theory.

1634. Defeat of the Swedes at Nordlingen, September 6.

1635. The Peace of Prague, May 30. The Edict of Restitution is

given up as to Saxony and Brandenburg.

1637. Accession of Ferdinand III. as emperor.

1638. Bernard of Weimar leads the anti-imperialist forces.

1639. Death of Bernard. Richelieu's influence predominant in the

war.

1640. The Long Parliament assembles in England. Accession of

Frederic William, the Great Elector.

1642. War of King and Parliament in England.

1643. Accession of Louis XIV. Westminster Assembly meets.

League and Covenant adopted by Parliament.

1644. Accession of Pope Innocent X.

1645. Battle of Naseby.

1648. Peace of Westphalia. Termination of the Thirty Years' War.

1649. Execution of Charles I.

1650. Death of Des Cartes.

1653. Cromwell is made Lord Protector. Condemnation of Jansenism

by Innocent X.
1658. Death of Cromwell.

1660. Restoration of Charles II.

1661. The Savoy Conference. Restoration of Episcopacy in Scot-

land. Death of Mazarin. Persecution of the Huguenots.

1662. Ejection of the Presbyterian ministers under the Act of Uni-

formity.
1668. Triple alliance against Louis XIV., to comi>el him to make

peace with Spain.
1670. Secret alliance of Charles II. and Louis XIV

1672. William IIL is elected Stadtholder.

1673. Declaration of Indulgence by James II.
1676. Accession of Innocent XI.

1678-9. Peace of Nimeiruen.

566 APPENDIX.

1682. Assembly of Uie clergy of France : four Propositions of Galli-
canism.

1685. Death of Charles 11. Accession of James 11. Revocation of

the Edict of Nantes, October 18.

1686. Revival of the Court of High Commission by James 11.
1688. William III. lands at Torbay. Flight of James 11
1691. Accession of Innocent XII.

1694. Birth of Voltaire, February 20.

1697. Peace of Ilyswick, September 20. Louis XTV. acknowledges
William HI. as King of Great Britain and Ireland.

APPENDIX II.

A LIST OF WORKS ON THE REFORMATION.^

WORKS IN GENERAL HISTORY RELATING TO THE PERIOD OF THE
REFORMATION.

Thuanus (De Thou) : Historiarum sui Temporis, libri 138 (1546-
1607). First complete ed. ; Orleans (Geneva), 1620 seq., 5 vols.,
fol. (With the appendix of Rigault, 7 vols., London, 1733, fol.)
French transl. 16 vols., 4to, London (Paris), 1734.

De Thou, son of Christophe de Thou, President of the Parliament
of Paris, was born in 1553, and died in 161 7. He held high offices
under Henry III. and Henry IV. He was a moderate Catholic,
personally conversant with the men and events of his time, and an
upright historian.

Relazioni degli Ambasciatori Veneti al Senato, raccolte, annotate, ed
edite da Eugenio Alberi. 15 vols. 8vo. Firenze, 1839-63.

W. Robertson : History of Charles V. Ed. by W. H. Prescott, with
Supplement on the Cloister Life of the Emperor. 3 vols. 8vo.
1856.

History of the European States, published by Heeren and Ukert.
64 vols. 8vo. 1829-58.

The series includes Italy, by H. Leo; Netherlands, by Van
Kampen ; Denmark, by Dahlmann (to 1523) ; Sweden, by Geijer
and Carlson (to 1 680) ; Poland, by Iloepell, etc.

Heeren : Handbuch d. Gcsch. d. europaisch. Staatensystems u. seiner
Colonien. 5th ed. Gottingen, 1830. Engl. Translation by Ban-
croft, 2 vols. 8vo. 1829 ; also, 2 vols., Oxford, 1834.

VonRaumer: Gesch. Europas seit d. Ende d. 15. Jahrh. Leipzig,
1832-50. 8 vols. 8vo.
1 This catalo{];ue comprises, of course, only a fractional part of the historical

literature pertaining to the subject. Not to speak of worlcs of a broader scope,

there are, in Germany especially, numerous local histories relating to this

period. In preparing the list above, care has been talten to set down th«

proper editions; but it is almost imposible to attain to absolute correctness in

these particulars

0G8 APPENDIX.

Hallam: Introduction to the Lit. of Europe, in the 15th, 16th, aL«J
1 7th centuries. 5th ed. 3 vols. 8vo. 1855-56.

Rankk : Fiirsten u. Volker v. Siideuropa im 16. u. 17. Jahrh. Bd. I.
Berlin, 1827. Die rom. Piipste, ihre Kirche u. ihr Staat im. 16.
u. 17. Jahrh. 3 vols. 4th ed. Berlin, 1854-57. 8vo. Translated
by Sarah Austin : History of the Popes of Rome during the 16th
and 1 7th centuries. 4th ed. 3 vols. London, 1867. 8vo. This
is one of the most correct and elegant of all English translations
from the German. The work itself is of the highest value. For
Ranke's other works on this period see under the different coun-
tries.

L. Hausser : Geschichte d. Zeitalters d. Reformation (1517-1648).
Berlin, 1868. 8vo. Valuable, especially for the political side of
the history of this period.

Duruy : Hist, des Temps Modernes. 1 vol. Paris, 1863. 12mo. One
of a series of lucid and compact text-books, for use in the schools
of France.

Bayle : Dictionnaire historique et critique (1st ed. 1697), 4 vols. Fol.
Basel and Amsterdam, 1740. Engl, ed., 10 vols., fol., 1734-41.

Bayle, the son of a Huguenot clergyman, was born in 1647, and
died in 1706. Under the influence of Jesuits, he became a Roman
Catholic, but repented of this change, and became one of the pio-
neers of philosopliical scepticism in Europe. Its great amount of
interesting historical and biographical details, though requiring to
be critically sifted, gives to his Dictionary a peculiar and permanent
value.

Universal Histories. (1) In England : by VV. C. Taylor, Modern
Hist., 1838; new ed. 1866; Ancient Hist., 1839; new ed. 1867.
By A. F. Tytler, 1801, and in numerous later editions. W. Rus-
sell and others, History of Modern Europe, 4 vols. 8vo. 1856.
(2) In Germamj: by Schlosser, 19 vols. 1844-57; by H. Leo, 6
vols., Halle, 1849 seq. ; by Becker, 20 vols., 1869; by Dittmar, 4th
ed. 1866, 6 vols.; by Weber, Leipzig, 1857 seq., 9 vols.; 10th
vol. will be on the Era of the Reformation. (3) In Italy : by
Cesare Cantu, 35 vols., 8vo, 1837 seq. French transl., 19 vols.,
8vo, 2d ed., 1854-55.

Smyth: Lectures on Modern History, Sparks' Am. ed., 2 vols., 1841.

Guizot: Lectures on the History of Civilization ; English transl. by
Henry. 8vo. New York, 1842.

Hegel, Philosophic d. Geschichte ; Werke, ix. Berlin, 1840. 8vo.

General Biographical Works. A. Chalmers : Biographical Dictionary.
32 vols. 8vo. 1812-17. Biographic Universelle, 52 vols., 8vo, et
supplement, volumes 53 ^ 85. Paris, 1811-62. Nouvelle Edition,

A LIST OF WORKS ON THE REFORMATION. 569

revue, corrigee, et augmentee, 45 vols., 1842-65. L'Art de verifier
les Dates des faits historiques, etc., depuis la naissance de Jesus
Christ (to 1770). 18 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1819. Biographie Gen-
^rale (nouvelle) depuis les temps les plus reeules, avec les ren-
seignements bibliograph., etc. 46 vols. 8vo. 1857-66.

Works in Ecclesiastical History, treating of the Refor-
mation AS a whole.

GiESELER : Lehrbuch d. Kirchengsch. Bd. iii. in 2 pts. Bonn,
1840-53. 8vo. (The 4th vol. in Prof. H. B. Smith's Engl, trans-
lation. New York, 1862).

H. B. Smith : History of the Church of Christ in Chronological
Tables. New York, 1861. Fol. This embodies a great amount of
historical information within a brief compass.

Raynaldus: Annales Ecclesiastici. (1195-1565.) Colon. 1694. 9
vols. Fol. Raynaldus is the most eminent of the continuators of
Baronius, and a representative of Roman orthodoxy.

Natalis Alexander: Historia eccl. V. et N. Test. (16 centuries).
Paris, 1699. 8 t. Fol. Ed. Mansi, Ferrara, 1758. Bassano, 1778.
Natalis is the champion of the Galilean ecclesiastical theory.

Hase : Kirchengsch. (1 vol.) Eng. transl. by Blumenthal and Wing,
New York, 1856, 8vo. Hase's work is remarkable , for its conden-
sation ; it is founded on extensive researches, and is written with
much vivacity.

Baur : Kirchengsch. Bd. iv. Die neuere Zeit. Leipz., 1863. 8vo.
Baur is one of the most perspicuous, as well as learned, of the
German Church historians.

Guericke : Kirchengsch., Bd. 3. 9th ed. Leipzig, 1867. 8vo. Guer-
icke treats of the Reformation from the point of view of the strict
Lutherans.

Hardwick : History of the Christian Church during the Reforma-
tion. 2d ed., 18G5. 8vo. Hardwick writes from the point of view
of the Anglican Church. His manual is full in its references to
authorities.

Merle d'Aubigne: Hist, de la Reformation du 16me Siecle : Trans-
lated from the French. (In numerous editions.)

Beausobre : Hist, de la Reformation. Berlin, 1 786. 4 vols. 8vo.

Mosheim : Institutiones Hist. Eccl. Helmst., 1764. 4to. (Murdock's
Translation.)

Schrockh : Kirchengeschichte seit d. Reformation 10 vols. Leipzig,
1804-1812.

Kurtz : Kirchengsch. English Translation, 2 vols. 8vo. Phila-
delphia, 1871.

570 APPENDIX.

NiEDNEU : Kirchengsch. 8vo. Berlin, 1866. One of the most learned

and valuable of all the German manuals, although clumsy in its

literary execution.
J. I. Ritter (Roman Catholic) : Kirchengsch. 6th ed. 2 vols. Svo.

Bonn, 1862. Moderate and candid in its tone.
Alzog (Roman Catholic) : Handbuch d. Kirchengsch. 8th ed. 2

vols. Mainz, 1866-68. This is written in a truly scientific spirit.
Ri£fcl (Roman Catholic) : Kirchengsch. d. neuesten Zeit von An-

fang d. 16. Jahrh. 3 vols. 8vo. Mainz, 1842-47.
H. Stebbing : History of the Reformation. 2 vols. (In Lardner'a

Cab. Cyclopajdia) 1836. Lond. 16mo.
J. TuUoch : Leaders of the Reformation : Luther, Calvin, Latimer,

Knox. 8vo. 2d ed. Edinb. 1860.
Stephen : Essays in Eccl. Biography. 4th ed. 1860. Lond. 8vo.
M. J. Spalding (Roman Catholic) : History of the Reformation. 4th

ed. Baltimore, 1866. 8vo.
The two great Theological Encyclopaedias : —
Wetzkr u. Welte, (Roman Catholic) : Kirchenlexicon oder Ency-

klop'adie d. kath. Theologie. 12 vols. Freiburg, 184 7-56.
Herzog (Protestant) : Real-Encycl. fiir protestantische Theologie

u. Kirche. 21 vols.; and Register, 1 vol. Hamburg, 1854-68.
These copious works embody the results of German Theological

study, apart from Biblical criticism, in the branches of the Church

to which they severally belong.

Polemical and Critical Writings.

(1) Roman Catholic. Maimbourg : Hist, du Lutheranisme, Paris,
1680: also. Hist, du Calvinisme, 1G82. Bossuct : Hist, des Vari-
ations des Eglises Protest., Paris, 1688, nouv. ed., (Euvres de Bos-
suet, tomes V. et vi. Paris, 1836, Svo. Varillas : Hist, des Re-
volutions arrivees en Matiere de Religion. 6 vols. Paris, 1689.
4to.

DoUinger: Die Reformation, ihre innere Entwickelung u. ihre Wir-
kungen. 3 vols. Regensburg, 1848. The work is carried no farther
than the " Unifang des lutherischen Bekenntnisses." DoUinger's
work is largely a collection of materials. It relates chiefly to the
defects of the Reformers and of their work. It may profitably
be compared with his recent Lectures on the Reunion of the
Churches (Munich, 1872). Balmes : Protestantism and Catho-
licity compared in their effects on Civilization. Transl. from the
Spanish. Svo. Baltimore, 1851. An elaborate controversial work in
reply to Guizot's Lectures on Civilization, by a Spanish Priest.
It ends with the sentence : " As soon as the Sovereign Pontiff the

A LIST OF WORKS ON TELE REFORMATION. 571

Vicar of Jesus Christ upon earth, shall pronounce sentence against
any one of my opinions, I will hasten to declare that I consider
that opinion erroneous, and cease to profess it."

Protestant. Bayle : Critique Generale de I'Histoire du Calvinisme de
Maimbourg, Amsterdam, 1684. 3d ed. Hagenbach : Vorlesungen
liber d. Kirchengsch. New ed. Leipz., 1868, seq. (Chiefly upon the
Ref. in Germany and Switzerland.) Schenkel : Das Wesen des
Protestantismus. 2d ed. Schaffhausen, 1862. 8vo. Hundeshagen :
Der Deutsche Protestantismus. Frankfort. 8vo. 3d ed. 1849.
(Relating especially to German Protestantism, but with a more
general bearing.) Roussel : Les Nations Cath. et les Nations Prot.
2 vols. Paris. 8vo. 1854. Polemical against Romanism.

Villers : Essai sur I'Esprit et I'lnfluence de la Ref. de Luther. Paris,
1804. 8vo. Engl, transl., Philadelphia, 1833.

Laurent: La Reforme (in Etudes sur I'Histoire de I'Humanite, t.
viii.). 8vo. Brux, 1861.

The German and Swiss (Zwinglian and Calvinistic) Ref-
ormation.

Contemporary Sources for both Countries. J. Sleidan (d'. 1556) :
De Statu Religionis et Reipublicas, Carolo V. Ctesare, Commenta-
rii. Folio. Amsterdam, 1555 ; best ed., Frankfort, 1785-6. 3 vols,
8vo. English translation by Bohun, London, 1689. Folio. 3 vols.
4to. French translation, with the notes of Le Courayer, 1767.

Sleidan was born at Sleida, near Cologne, in 1506. After com-
pleting his education, he lived for a number of years in France,
was in the service of Francis L, and the interpreter of his embassy
at Hagenau (1540). In 1542, he entered the service of the Smal-
caldic League, and in 1545 was commissioned by it to write a his-
tory of the Reformation. He accompanied a Protestant embassy
to England; went, in 1551, to the Council of Trent, as a commis-
sioner from Strasburg, and in 1554, in the same capacity to the
Conference of Nuremberg. He was versed in literature, law, and
political science, of a dispassionate, judicial temper, and careful in
his researches.

Later Authorities. Abr. Scultetus (Prof, at Heidelberg; d. 1624) :
Annalium Evangelii passim per Europam decimo sexto Salutis
partaj seculo renovati, Decas I. et H. (from 1516-1536). Heidel-
berg, 1618-20. Reprinted in V. d. Hardt, Hist, liter. Reformationis.

Gerdesius (Prof at Groningen, d. 1 765) : Introd. in Hist. Evangel,
sec. xvi, passim per Europam renovati. Groning. 1744-52. Tom.
iv. 4to. Also, his collection of documents : Scriuium Antiqua
rium, etc. Tom. viii. 4to. 1 748-1 7€3.

572 APPENDIX.

More recent Works. G. Waddington (Dean of Durham) : A His-
tory of the lleformation on the Continent. 3 vols. London, 1841.
Extc iding to the death of Luther. Hagenbach, Vorlesungen, etc.
(see above.)

Chauffour-Kestner : Les Reformateurs du X VI. Sifecle: Hutten; Zwin-
gli. 2 vols. 12mo. 2d ed. Paris, 1865.

History of the Germax Reformation.

Contemporary Sources. G. Spalatinus (d. 1545) : Annales Refor-
raationis (published by Cyprian. 8vo. Leipzig, 1718).

Spalatin was born in 1484, and died in 1545. He was court
preacher and private secretary to the Electors of Saxony, Frederic,
John, and John Frederic. He was present at the Diet of Augsburg
in 1518, at the election of Charles V. at Frankfort, in 1519, at his
coronation at Cologne in 1520, at the Diet of Worms in 1521, at
the Diets of Nuremberg in 1523 and 1524, in 1526 at Spires, in
1530 at Augsburg, in 1537 at the Convention at Smalcald, and at
other important assemblies. He took part in the visitation of
the Saxon Churches. He was an intimate friend and correspond-
ent of Luther, Melancthon, Bugenhagen, and the other Saxon Re-
formers.

G^ Spalatin's Historischer Nachlass u. Briefe. Bd. i. : Das Leben u.
die Zeitgeschichte Friedrichs des Weisen. 8vo. Jena, 1851.

F. Myconius (d. 1546): Hist. Reformationis (by Cyprian. 2d ed.
8vo. Leipzig, 1718).

Myconius was born in 1491 and died in 1546. He was held in
high esteem by Luther and Melancthon, and efficiently cooperated
with them in their work.

Ph. Melancthon : Hist. Vita? Mart. Lutheri. (Preface to Lutheri
0pp. Lat., Vitemberg, 1546; and in separate editions.)

J. Mathesius (d. 1564): Historic von D.Martin Luther's Anfang,
Lehren, Leben, etc. (in 27 sermons) 4to. NUrnberg, 1566.

Mathesius became a student at Wittenberg in 1528, and lived
for a time in Luther's family. He died in 1564.

J. Camerarius : De Phil. Melancthonis Ortu, totius Vitse Curriculo et
Morte, etc. 8vo. Leipzig, 1566.

Camerarius was born in 1500 and died in 1574. He was a pupil
of Luther and Melancthon, and was especially attached to the
latter.

Cochlaeus (Rom. Cath., d. 1552) : Commentaria de Actis et Scriptis
M. Lutheri, etc. (from 1517-1646). Mogunt., 1.549; Paris, 1565;
Cologne, 1568.

Cochlaeus was an active polemic. He was at the Diet of Aug*-
burg in 1530.

A LIST OF WORKS ON THE REIORMATION. 573

Surius (Rom. Cath., d. 1578) : Comment, brevis Reruin in Orbe Ges-
tarum ab anno 1500 usque 1566. Cologne, 1567.

Collections of Documents. Loscher : Vollstandigen Refbrmations-acta
u. documenta (from 1517-1519). 3 vols. 4to. Leipzig, 1720-29.

Tentzel : Hist. Bericht v. Anfang u. Fortgang d. Ref. Luth. (by Cyp-
rian. Leipzig, 1718). Kapp : Kleine Nachlese zur Ref. Gsch.
niitzlicher Urkunden. Leipzig, 1727. Strobel : Miscellaneen u.
Beitrage zur Lit. Niirnb., 17 75 seq., 1784 seq. Fdrstemann : Archiv.
fUr die Gsch. d. Ref., Halle, 1831 seq. ; neues Urkundenbucli, Ham-
bm-g, 184 2. Neudecker : Urkunden aus d. Ref.-Zeit, Cassel, 1836;
Merkwiirdige Actenstiicke aus der Zeitalt. d. Ref., Niirnb. 1838;
Neue Beitrage zur Gsch. d. Ref. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1841.

O. Sehade : Satiren u. Pasquille a. d. Ref.-Zeit. Hannov. 1856-8
(3 vols.). Joliannsen : Die Entwickl. d. prot. Geistes e. Sammlung
d. wichtigsten Dokuraente v. Worms. Edict b. z. Sp. Prot. Copen-
hagen, 1830. H. van d. Hardt : Historia Literaria Refbrmationis.
Franc, and Leipzig, 1717.

Works of the Reformers: Luther's Works: Wittenberg ed., the Ger-
man, 1539-1559, 12 vols., fol. ; the Latin, 1545-1558, 7 vols., fol. ;
Jena ed., the German, 8 vols., fol. ; the Latin, 4 vols., fol., 1555-1558
(from the autographs, except the first part of the German works) ;
Altenburg ed., the German works alone, 10 vols., 1661-1 GG4. Sup-
plement, vol. to all the earlier edd., by Zeidler, Halle, 1702.
Leipzig ed., 22 vols., fol; 1729-1740. Halle ed., by J. G. Walch
(the most complete), 24 Thle., 1740-1750. Li the last two of
these edd., Latin works only in a German transL Erlangen ed.,
by Plochmann u. Irmischer, 67 vols., 1826-1857, Die reformar
torischen Schriften Luthers in chronol. Folge, edited by K. Zim-
mermann. 4 vols. Darmstadt, 1846-50. VoUstiindige Auswahl Lu-
ther's Hauptschriften, by Otto von Gerlach, 1840-1848. 24 vols.
(Fabricius, Centifolium Luth. s. notitia literaria scriptorum de
Luthero editorum, Hamburg, 1728.) Luther's Briefe, Send-
schreiben u. Bedenken, edited by De Wette, 6 vols. 1825-56.
Luther's Brief wechsel, a supplem. vol., by Burkhardt (1866).

Melancthon's Works: Basel. 1541. 5 vols. Fol. C. Peucer's ed.,
Wittenberg, 1562, 4 vols., fol. ; Bretschneider's ed. (in the Corpus
Reformatortun), 1834-1860, 28 vols., 4to.

U^jitcrical Works. Seckendouf (d. If 92) : Commentarius Historicus
et Apologeticus de Lutheranismo, libb. iii. ed. 2. Leipzig, 1694.
Seckendorf was born in 1626, and died 1692. He was educated
at Strasburg. Under the Duke of Gotha, Duke Maurice of Zeitz,
and the Elector Frederic HI. of Brandenburg, he held responsible
offices. He was a statesman of thorough education and of exem-

574 APPENDIX.

plary integrity. His History, which was occasioned by the work
of" the Jesuit INIaimbourg, was founded on the most industrious
examination of original documents.

Salig : Vollstandige Hist. d. Augsb. Confession u. derselb. Apologie
(1517-1562). 3 Th. Halle. 1 730-1 745.

Planck : Gseh. d. Entstehung, d. Veranderungen, u. d. Bildung uns.
prot. Lelirbegriffs b. z. d. Concordienformel. 6 vols. 2 ed. Leip-
zig, 1791-1800. Woltmann : Gsch. d. Ref in Deutschland. 3 Th.
Altona, 1801-1805.

Spieker : Gsch. Dr. M. Luthers u. der durch ihn bewirkten Kirch-
enref. in Deutschl. 1 vol. (to 1521). Berlin, 1818.

Makhkinekk: Gsch. d. deutsch. Ref. 4 Th. Berlin, 1816-34 (a
second ed. of Parts 1 and 2, 1831). This is still one of the best
of the histories of the German Reformation. Ch. Villers : Essai
sur I'Esprit et ITnfluence de la Ref. de Luther. Paris, 1804 :
translated into German, 2ded., 1828, and into English, Phil., 1833.

K. A. Menzel : Neuere Gsch. d. Deutschen v. d. Ref. b. z. Bundes-
acte. Breslau, 1826-39. Translated into English, 3 vols. Svo.
London, 1849.

Kohlrausch : Geschichte Deutschlands. Engl, transl. Svo. 1848.

L. Raxke : Deutsche Gsch. im Zeitalter d. Reformation. 7 vols.,
4th ed., 1869. Translated in part, by Sarah Austin. 3 vols. 8vo.
1845-47.

K. Hagen : Deutschland's literar. u. relig. Verhaltnisse im Ref. Zeit-
alter. 3 vols. Erlangen, 1841-44. D. F. Strauss : Ulrich von Hut-
ten. 2d ed., 1871. Ward: House of Austria in the Thirty Years'
War. London, 1869. Trench: Gustavus Adolphus in Germany,
and other Lectures on the Thirty Years' War. 2d ed., 1872.
Droysen : Leben von Gustav. Adolf. 1868.

Lices of the German Reformers. Melchior Adamus : Vitae German-
orum Theologorum, etc. Heidelberg, 1620. Ulenberg (a Protes-
tant, then a Catholic, d. 1617): VitaB haeresiarcharum Lutheri,
Melancthonis, Majoris, lUyrici, Osiandri. Colon., 1589. Lives of
Luther : by Melancthon ; by Mathesius (see above) ; by Walther,
Jena, 1 704-54, 2 Th. ; by Keil, Leipzig, 1 753, 4 Th. ; by Ukert,
Gotha, 1817, 2 Th. ; by Jakel, 1840; by Jurgexs [up to 1517,]
Leipzig, 1846 seq., 3 vols.; by Gelzer, with Konig's illustrations,
Hamburg, 1847-51 (translated, London and New York, 1857); by
Stang, Stuttgart, 1835-8; by Pfitzer, Stuttgart, 1836; by Genthe,
Halle, 1841-45; by Wildenbaln, Leipzig, 1850-2, 4 Th. ; by Led*
derhose, Speir, 1836 ; by Meurer, Dresden, 3d ed., 1870 ; by Dol-
linger (from the Kirchenlexlcon), translated, London, 1851 ; by
Audin, Paris, 2 vols., translated, Phil., 1841 ; a storehouse of calum-

A LIST OF WORKS ON THE REFORMATION. 575

nies; by Michelet, translated from the French, in Bohn's Li-
brary ; Hake, Vindication of Luther against his English assail-
ants. 1854. This is a Reply to Sir Wni. Hamilton (Discussions
in Philosophy and Literature) ; also, to Hallam, to J. H. New-
man, and \V. G. Ward. The charge of "Rationalism" and other
imputations against Luther are fully considered, and various mis-
takes of Hamilton are exposed. Lives of Luther in English ;
by Riddle (London, 1837); by J. Scott (New York, 1833); by
H. Worsley, London, 185G-7; by Barnas Scars, 1850. 8vo. F.
G. Hofman, Katharina von Bora, Leipzig, 1845. 8vo.
Lives of Melancthon : by Camerarius (see above) ; Als Preceptor
Germania;, by A. IL Niemeyer, Halle, 1817; by Facius, 1832;
by Galle, Charakteristik Mclancthons, 2d ed., Halle, 1845; by
Matthes, 1841 ; Leben u. Wirken Phil. Mel., Altenb., 2d ed. 1846 ;
by Ledderhose (translated by G. F. Krotel, New York, 1854) ; by-
Cox, London, 1815, Boston, 1835. Leben u. ausgewahlte Schriften
d. Viiter u. Begriinder d. luth. Kirche, 1861 seq. : Melancthon, by
C. Schmidt ; Brenz, by J. Hartmann ; Urbanus Rhegius, by G.
Uhlhorn ; Justus Jonas, by Cruciger; P. Speratus, L. Spengler, N.
V. Amsdorf, Paul Eber, M. Chemnitz, D. Chrytseus, by Pressel.

The History of the Swiss (Zwinglian and Calvinistic)
Reformation.

Contemporarij sources. B. Weiss (d. 1531) : Kurze Beschreibung d.
Glaubensanderung im Schweizerlande (in Fiisslin's Beitrage, iv. 32).
V. Anshelm : Berner Chronik bis 1526 (Berne, 1825-33). H. Bul-
LiNGER (d. 1575) : Reformationsgeschichte (to 1532). Frauenfeld,
1838-40. BuUinger was born in 1504, succeeded Zwingle at Zurich
in 1531, and died in 1575. He was one of the most distinguished
of the Reformers of his age, and an entirely trustworthy writer. J.
Salat (Catholic), Valentin Tschudi (Catholic), Egidius Tschudi
(Catholic) : authors of works extant in manuscripts : See Gieseler,
IV. i. 1. Frommknt : Les Actes et les Gestes de la Cite de
Geneve. Geneve, 153G. 8vo. .Fromment was a Frenchman, an as-
sociate of Farel, and one of the first to preach Protestantism in
Geneva. Later in life, he was deposed from the ministry and held
the office of Notary. His Chronicle covers the period from 1532
tc 1536, and is a trustworthy narrative.

Original Documents. Works of the Reformers : see below. Miscel-
lanea Tigurina. 3 Th. Zurich, 1 722-24. J. C. FUsslin : Beitrage z.
Erliiut. d. Kirchen-Reforniationsgesch. d. Schweizerlandes. Zurich,
1741-53. Ejusd. Epistola; ab. Eccl. Helvet. Reformatoribus vel
ad eos scriptae. Tiguri, 1742. J.J. Sinder : Samndung alter u.

576 APPENDIX.

neiier Uvkundcn z. Beleuchtung d. Kirchengesch. vornehmlich des
Schwcizcrlandes. Zurich, 1767.

Works of (he Reformers. U. Zwinglii opera, first complete ed. by
ScLuler and Sclmlthess, 8 vols. Zurich, 1828-4-2. J. Calvini,
opera theologica, 12 vols., Geneva, 1556; 9 vols., Amsterdam,
1667 ; new ed. by Baum, Cunitz, and Reuss: Bruns. 18G3 sefj. (to
1871, 10 vols,). English translation of Calvin's Writings, 52 vol-
umes, Edinburgh, 1842 seq. Letters of Calvin, edited by BoN-
NKT : English translation, 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1856-57.

llislorical and Biographical Works. J. H. Hottinger (d. 1GC7) : IL'^t.
Eccl. 1655-57. J. J. Hottinger (d. 1 735) : Hist. d. Ref. in d. Eidge-
nossenschaft. 4 Th. Zurich, 1 708. Basnage : Hist, de la Religion
des Eglises Re'form : a la Haye (1690), 1721, 4to. A. RuciiAT :
Hist, de la Reformation de la Suisse. 6 vols. Geneva, 1727 seq. L.
Wirz : Neuere helvet. Kirchengeschichte. 2 vols, (to 1523) ; the
second by M. Kirchhofer, 1813, 1819. Hess: Ursprung, Gang u.
Folgen d. durch Zwingli in Zurich bewirkten Glaubensverbesserung
u. Kirchenreforni. Zurich, 1819, J, v. Mulleru. R. G. Blotzheim :
Geschichte schweizerischer Eidgenosscnschaft, continued by J. J.
Hottinger (to 1531). Zurich, 1825 and 1829. Gaberel : Hist,
de I'Eglise de Geneve, 2 vols., 1853. D'Istria : La Suisse AUe-
mande. Switzerland, the Pioneer of the Ref., 2 vols. London,
1858. Hundeshagen : Zur Charakteristik Zwinglis, etc. Studien
u. Kritiken, 1862. Mignet: Mcmoires Hist. 3d ed. Paris, 1854.
It contains an Essay on Calvinism in Geneva. Mosheim : Neue
Nachr. von Servet ; also, Ketzergsch., ii. (1748). Charpenne :
Histoire de la Reforme de Geneve, 8vo. 18G1.

Lives of Zwinyle : by Myeonius (see above) ; by J. G. Hess, Engl,
transl., by L. Aiken, 1812, and translated from the French into
the German, with an added Appendix, by L. Usteri, 1811 ; by J,
M. Schuler, 1819 ; by Roeder, 1855 ; by J. Tichler, 1827 ; by Rob-
bins, Bib. Sacra, vols. ii. and iii, ; by Curistoffkl (in the Leben
u. Ausgewahlte Schriften d. Viiter u. Begriinder d, reformirten
Kirche), 1857; by J. C Moiukofer, 2 vols., 1867. 8vo.

Life of Beza, by Schlosser, 1809; by Baum, 1843, 1852. Bertold
Haller, oder die Reformation von Bern, hy M. Kirchhofer, Zurich,
1828. Leben«geschichte von Oekolampadius, by Hess. Zurich,
1793; by Herzog, 2 vols., Basle, 1843; Das Leben Wilh. Farels, v.
M. Kirchhofer, 2 vols. Zurich, 1831. Lives of Farol, Fromment,
Viret, by Cheneviere, Geneve, 1835. Life of Farel, by Schmidt,
Sti-a.^burg, 1834. Life of Viret, by Jaquemont. Strasburg, 1836.
fn the series, entitled, Leben u. Ausgewahlte Schriften d. Viiter
u, Begriinder d. ref. Kirche : Zwingle, by Christoffel ; Oecolam-

A LIST OF WORKS ON THE REFORMATION. till

padius and Myconius, by Hagenbacli ; Calvin, by Stiihelin ; Capito
and Bucer, by Baum ; Bullinger, Haller, and Leo Judii, by Pesta-
lozzi ; Capito and Beza, by Heppe ; Peter Martyr, by Schmidt,
1859 ; Olevanius and Ursinus, by Siidhoff, 1858 ; Farel and Viret,
by C. Schmidt ; Vadian and Blaurer, by Pressel ; Knox, by
Brandes.
Lives of Calvin, by Beza, translated by Gibson, Phila., 1836 ; by
Waterman, London, 1813; by T. Smyth, Phil, 1835; by Dyer,
London, 1849, 8vo; by Audin, 5th ed., Paris, 1851 ; by Henry, 3
vols., Hamburg, 1835-1844, translated into English by Stebbing,
1844; by Stahelin, 18G3; by Bungener, 2d ed., 12mo, 1863; by
Guizot (St. Louis and Calvin) ; by Kampschulte (Roman Cath-
olic), vol. i., 1869.

The Reformation in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Fn Heeren u. Ukert's Staatengeschichte : Dbnemark, by Dahlmann
Harald Hurtleld : Diinische Chronik. Copenhagen, 1604. J. Baez :
Inventarium Eccl. Sueco-Gothor. Lincop., 1642. 4to. Celsius:
Gsch. Gustav. L, from the Swedish. Copenhagen and Leipzig, 1754.
Pontoppidan: Annales Ecclesiae Danicas. Copenhagen, 1741.
Also, Reformationshistorie d. dan. Kirche, 1 734. Miinter : Kirch-
cngsch. V. Diin. u. Norw. 1823-33. Also, Danske Reformations-
historie. Copenhagen, 1802. Schinmeier : Lebensbesohreib. d. drei
schwed. Reformatoren. Liib., 1 783. Troil : Skrifter och Handlingar
till uplisning i. Svenska Kyrko och Reformations-Historia. Upsala,
1790. Thyselius : Handlingar till Sverges Reformations och
Kyrkohistoria under Konung Gustaf L (1523-61). Stockholm,
1841-45. By the same author : Einfiihrung d. Ref. in Schwedenbis
1527 (in Zeitschr. f. hist. Theol. 1846). Romer : De Gustavo I.
rer. sacr. in Suecia instauratore. Ultraj, 1840. A. Theiner: Ver-
suche d. heilig. Stuhls in d. letzten drei Jahrh., den Norden wieder
mit d. Kirche zu vereinen. Augsburg, 1838. Miinter: Symbolse ad
illustrand. Bugenhagii in Dania Commorationcm. Havn., 1836. By
the same : De Confutations latina quae Apologise Evangelicor. in
Comitiis Havemensib. anno 1530, traditse opposita est. Havn.,
1847. L. Helvig : Danske Kirkeshistorie after Refbrmationen.
Copenhag., 1851. Dunham: Hist, of Denmark, Sweden, and Nor
way (in Lardner's Cab. Cycl., 1840). J. Finnius : Hist. Eccles.
Islandiffi, 1772-8. 4 vols. 4to. G.L.Baden: Hist, of Denmark.
5 vols. Copenhagen, 1829-32. Gei.jer : History of Sweden,
translated by Turner. 8vo. 1845. Anders Tryxell : Hist, ol
Sweden, translated and edited by Mary Howitt. London, 1844.
37

.^78 APPENDIX.

The Reformation in Bohemia and Moravia.
A. Gindely : Bolimen u. Miihren im Zeitalt. d. Reformation (2 vols.).
Prai^ue. 1837. Gsch. d. bohmischen Briidcr. Prague (2 vols.),
1857 seq. Czerwenka : Gsch. d. evangel. Kirclie in Bolimen. 2
vols. 8vo. Leipzig, 1869-70. Pescheck : Gsch. d. Gegenre-
format. in Bbhmen (2 vols.), 2d ed. Leipzig, 1850. The Refor-
mation and Anti-Reformation in Bohemia. 2 vols. London, 1845.
Ehwalt: Die alte u. neue Lelire d. bohm. Briider. Dantzig, 1756.
K. A. Midler : Fiinf BUcher vom bohmisch. Kriege. Dresden,
1840. Tomek: Geschichte Bbhmens. Palacky: Bohmens Ge-
schichte. Vols. 1-5. 1836-67. 8vo. Niemeyer : CoUectio Con-
fessionum, pp. 771-851.

The Reformation in Poland.

Regenvolscius : Syst. hist. Chron. Eccl. Slavonicarum. Ultraj,
1652. 4to. Lubienicius : Hist. Ref. Polon. Freist. 1685. Schick-
sale d. pol. Dissidentium (3 vols.). 1768 seq. 8alig : Historic d.
Augsb. Confession, ii. 515. Friese : Kirchengeschichte d. Kbnig-
reichs Polen (2 Th.). Breslau, 1786. 8vo. Krasinski : History of
the Reformation in Poland (2 vols). 8vo. London, 1840; by the
same : Sketch of the Religious History of the Slavonic Nations.
Edinburgh, 1851. Dunham: History of Poland (in Lardner's
Cab. Cycl.). 1841. N. A. de Salvandy : Hist, de Pologne avant
et sous J. Sobieski. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1855. J.Fletcher: His-
tory of Poland, London. 1831. J. Lelevel : Histoire de Pologne.
2 vols. Paris, 1844. 8vo. R. Roepell : Gsch. von Polen. Ham-
burg, 1841. Fasti Polonici, 1624 seq., Breslau, 1854.

The Reformation in Hungary and Transylvania.

Ribinus: Memorab. Aug. Conf. in Hungaria. 2 vols. Presb., 1787.
J. Burius : Hist. Dipl.de Statu Relig. evang. in Hung. 1710, Fol.
Salig : Gsch. d. Augsb. Conf., ii. 803. [P. Ember] : Hist. Eccl. Ref.
in Hung, et Transyl., ed Lampe, Traj. 1 728. 4to. Peterffy : Sacra
Concil. Eccl. Romano-Cathol. in Regno Hung, celebrata, mxvi.
usque ad. a. MDCCXXXiv. 2 vols. Fol. Vienna, 1742. Schmal :
Monumenta Evangel. Aug. Confessionis in Hungaria historica. 8vo.
Pesth. 1861. Memorab. August. Confessionis in Regno Hung,
de Ferdinando L usque ad Carolum VI. 2 vols. 1 786-9. 8vo
Kurze Gsch. d. evang. luther. Kirche in Ungarn vom Aufange d.
Ref. bis Leopold H. Gbttingen,1794. 8vo. Diewichtigsten Schick-
sale d. evang. Kirche Augsb. Bekennt. in Ungarn von J. 1522 bis
1608. Leipzig, 1828. Hist. Eccl. Evang. Aug. Confession! addic

A LIST OF WORKS ON THE REFORMATION. 579

torum in Hung., etc. Halberstadt, 1830. Mailath : Gsch d. Mag-
jaren. 5 vols. 8vo. 1820-30; 2d ed., 1852-55. L. Szalay : Hist.
Hungar. (to 1690). 5 vols. 8vo. Gsch. d. evang. Kirche in
Ungarn, mitRUcksicbt auf Siebenbiirgen, Berlin, 1854. History of
Protestantism in Hungary, with Preface by Dr. M. d'Aubigne,
London, 1854. M. Horvath : Gsch. Ungarns. 2 vols. 8vo. Pesth,
1854. J. Paget : Hungary and Transylvania. 2 vols. 8vo. Lon-
don, 1839. J. A. Fessler: Gsch. d. Ungarn. 10 vols. 8vo.
Leipzig, 1815-25. De Sary : Hist. Generale de Hongrie. 2 vols.
12mo. Paris, 1778. G. Haner: Hist. Eccless. Transylvan., 1694.
12mo. L Benko: Transylvania, P. L, Tom. ii. (Vindob. 1778.
8vo), p. 121 (lib. iv., c. 12, De Statu Ecclesiastico).

The Reformation ix Fraxce.

Documents and Contemporary Works. Beza : Hist. Eccl. des Eglises
R^f. au Royaume de France (to 1563). 3 vols. Antwerp, 1580.
8vo.

Serrarius (or De Serres) : Comment, de Statu Relig. et Respubl. in
Regno Galliae (5 parts), 1570 seq.

F. Belcarius (Beaucaire de Peguillon, Bishop of Metz) : Historia Gal-
lica (1561-6 7). Lugd., 1625. Fol. Thuanus : Hist, sui Temporis,
etc. (See above.)

Theod. Aguippa d'Aubign:^ : Histoire Universelle (1550-1601).
Maille, 1616-20. 3 vols. Fol.

He was born in 1550, and died in 1630. The son of a devoted
Huguenot, he fought in the siege of Orleans, when he was only thir-
teen years old. He was for a while an intimate associate of Henry
IV. After writing this work, he resided in Geneva. He was a
man of high-toned character, deeply imbued with the religious feel-
ings peculiar to the Huguenots.

Memoires d'Agrippa d'Aubigne. 1 vol. 12mo. Paris, 1854.

A. L. Hekmixjard : Correspondance des Reformateurs dans les
Pays de la Langue Fran9aise. Vols. 1-3. 1866-68-70.

Bulletin de la Societc pour I'Histoire du Prot. Fran^ais (since 1850
It inclndes many documents illustrative of this period.)

Du Plessis Mornay : Memoires et Correspondance. Paris, 1824-5.

Petitot : Memoires relatifs a I'Histoire de France (1st series, 1819-
26. 52 vols. 8vo. 2d series, 1820-29. 78 vols. 8vo.)

Among the works embraced in this collection are the Memoirs ot
Bouillon, vicomte de Turenne (from 1555-1584) : He was grandson
of the Const. Montmorenci ; was converted to Calvinism, and was
an adherent of Henry IV. Gamon (1560-86). Mergey (1556-89)
he was born in 1536; he was at St. Quentin (1557), at Dreux

580 APPENDIX.

(15G2), and at Moncontour ; and barely escaped the massacre of St.
Bartholomew. Philippi (1562-90). Rabutin (1551-53). Saint
Aubai. (1572 seq.). Tavannes (1560-96): he was born in 1555;
fought for the League at Ivry ; then served Henry IV. He died
in 1G33. Villeroi (1622-23). Du Bellay : L'Estoile (1589-1610).
Sully: Memoires. 6 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1827. Sully, the Prime
Minister of Henry IV., was born in 1559, and died in 1G41. La
None (1562-70): he was born in 1531; took Orleans in 1567;
fought at St. Quentin, Jarnac, and Moncontour ; served Henry IV.
with distinction. Montluc : he was born about 1502; was at the
battle of Pavia (1525) ; took Boulogne (1547); defended Sienna
(in 1554, under Henry II.); took part in the siege of Rochelle
(1572). He was noted for his vigor and cruelty. Castelnau (1559-
70) : he was born about 1520; was at the siege of Rouen and at
Dreux ; was employed by Henry II., Charles IX., and Henry III.
He was several times ambassador in England. He accompanied
Mary, Queen of Scots, to Scotland, and befriended her afterwards.
Journal de Henri IIL (1574-89).

Collection de Documents Inedits sur I'Histoire de France [published
by order of Louis Philippe]. Paris, 1835 seq.

Recueil des Lettres Missives de Henry IV. 7 vols. 4to. [In the
above collection.] Paris, 1843-58.

Buchon : Collection des Chroniques et Memoires sur I'Histoire de
France, faisant partie de la Collection du Pantheon Litteraire.
1824 seq.

MiCHAUD : Nouvelle Collection des Memoires pourservir a I'Histoire
de France depuis le XIII* siecle jusq' k la fin du XVIH*. 3
Series. 34 vols. Paris, 1836 seq.

Archives Curieuses de I'Hist. de France depuis Louis XI. jusqu' k
Louis XVIIL 27 vols. 8vo. En deux series. Paris, 1834-40.

Brantome : ffiuvres Completes. 7 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1822.

Brantome was born about 1527, and died in 1614. He was cham-
berlain of Charles IX. and Henry III. He is a gossiping chron-
icler ; but his works present a vivid portraiture of his time. Among
them are the " Vies des Hommes Illustres," " Dames Illustres Fran-
daises et Etrangcres," etc.

Historical Woi-Ls. General Histories of France, by Anquetil ; by
Sismondi ; by Michelet ; by Henri Mautin; by Crowe. 5
vols. London, 1858-68. The Student's History of France, Svo,
1862.

Ranke: Franzbsische Geschichte vornehmlich im 16. u. 17. Jahrh.
6 vols. Svo. 1868. Engl, trans. Hist, of Civil Wars and Mod
archy in France. Svo. London, 1852.

A LIST OF WORKS ON THE KEFOEMATION. 581

W. Ha AG : La France Prot. ou Vies des Prot. Fran9ais. 10 torn.
8vo. 1847-59.

G. Weber : Gcschichtl. Darstellung d. Calvinism, im Verliiiltniss z.
Staat in Genf u. Frankreich. Heidelb., 1 836, 8vo.

Von Raumer : Gsch. Europas seit dem Ende d. 15. Jabrh. (See
above.)

Capefigue : Hist, de la Reforme, de la Ligue, et du Rcgne do Henry
IV. 8 tomes. Paris, 1834-5. 8vo.

Elie Benoist : Hist, de I'fiditde Nantes. 5 vols. 4to. Delft, 1693-5.

Herrman ; Frankreicb's Religiiis- u. Biirgerkricge im 16. Jabrh.
Leipzig, 1828. 8vo.

Dk Felice : Hist. d. Protestants de France. 4tb ed. 1861. 8vo.
Engl, transl. by Lobdell, 1851. Soldan : Gscb. d. Protest, in
Frankreich. 2 vols. 1855. 8vo. Von Polenz : Gsch. d. franz.
Protestantismus. 5 vols. 1858 seq. 8vo. W. S. Browning : His-
tory of the Huguenots in the 16th Century. 3 vols. 8vo. 1829-39.
Smedley : History of the Reformed Religion in France. 3 vols.
12mo. London, 1832. (New York, 1834.) [Mks. Marsh:] His-
tory of the Huguenots. 2 vols. 1847. 8vo. Ch. Brion : Liste
chronolog. de I'Histoire Protest, en France jusqu' k la Revocat. de
rfidit de Nantes. 2 vols. 12rao. 1855. Anquez : Hist. d. Assem-
blees Polit. des Reformees de France (1573 to 1622). 8vo. Paris,
1859. Aymon : Tous les Synodes nationaux des Eglises reformes,
etc. LaHaye, 1710. 2 vols. 4to. Quick: Synodicon in Gallia
reformata, etc. 1682. 2 vols. Fol. W. Anderson: Hist, of
France during the Reigns of Francis H. and Charles IX. 2 vols.
London, 1 769. Lacretelle : Hist, de France pendant les Guerres
de Religion. 4 vols. 8vo. 1822. Morlky: Clement Marot
and other studies. 2 vols. 8vo. 1870. Due d'Aumale : Lives
of the Princes of Conde. Vols. 1, 2. 8vo. London, 1872.
H. White : Massacre of St. Bartholomew, preceded by a narrative
of the religious wars. London, 1868. Klipff'el : Le Colloque de
Poissy. 12mo. Brussels and Paris, 1867. Villemain : Vie de Chan-
cellor d' Hopital (in Etudes d'Histoire Moderne. 1 vol. 8vo.
1854.) Voltaire: Steele de Louis XIV. (Qiuvres, t. xxii.) Cape-
figue : Trois Siecles de I'Hist. de France, 1548-1848. 2 vols. 1852.
8vo. C. Schmidt : Gerard Roussel. 1845. 8vo. Puaux : Hist, de
la Reforme Franpaise. 2 tom. Paris, 1857-9. V. de Chalembcrt,
Hist, de la Ligue, Henri III. et IV. 2 vols. 1854. 8vo. Aug. Theiner :
Hist, de I'Abjuration de Henri IV. 2 vols. 1852. 8\o. C.
Schmidt: La Vie et les Travaux de Jean Sturm. 1855. 8vo. F.
W. Ebeling : Sieben Biicher d. franz. Gsch. Bd. i. 1855. Anquetil .
L'Esprit de la Ligue. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1818. Davila : Storia dell*

582 APPENDIX.

Guerre Civili di Francia. 6 vols, in 7. London, 1801. Engl, transl.,
by parneworlh. 2 vols. 4to. London, 1801. Duncan (J.) : Re-
ligious Wars in France, from the Accession of Henry IL to the
Peace of Vervins. 12mo. London, 1840. Schiller (J. C. F. von) :
Gsch. d. Unruhen in Frankreich welche d. Regierung Heinrich
IV. vorangingen. 8vo. Stuttgart, 1844. S. Scott: Life of T. A.
d'Aubigne : an Account of the Civil Wars, etc. 8vo. London
1772. Voltaire: Essai sur les Guerres Civiles de France. 8vo.
Paris, 1 785. Pardoe (J.) : The Court and Reign of Francis I. 2
vols. 12mo. Phil., 1847. Freer (M. W.) : Court and Times of
Henry lU. 3 vols. 12mo. London, 1858. Bassompierre : Mem.
de la Cour de France. 2vols.ini. 16mo. Cologne, 1666. Freer:
History of the Reign of Henry IV. 2 vols. 12mo. London, 18G0-
63. G. P. R. James : Life of Henry IV. 3 vols. 8vo. London,
1847. Maimbourg : Hist, de la Ligue. 4to. Paris, 1657. Weiss:
Hist, des Refug. Prot. de France [after the Revocation of the Edict
of Nantes]. 2 vols. Paris. 1853. Coquerel : Les figlises du
Desert chez les Prot. de France [after Louis XIV.]. 2 vols. 8vo.
1841. Muret : Hist, de Jeanne d'Albret. Paris, 1861. Sir James
Stephen : Lectures on the Hist, of France. 3d ed. 2 vols. 8vo.
1857. Laval : Hist, of the Ref. in France. 7 vols. 8vo. 1737 seq.
Laurent : Guerres de Religion. Genin : Lettres de Marguerite
d'Angouleme (1841); also, Nouvelles Lettres de la Reine de Navarre
(1842). Stahklin : Der Uebertritt Kdnig Heinrichs d. vierten.
8vo. Basel, 1862. Wraxall : Memoirs of the Kings of the Race
of Valois. 2 vols. 8vo. 1807; Hist, of France from the Accession
of Henry III. to the Death of Louis XIV. 2d ed. 1814. 6 vols.
8vo. Reuchlin: Geschichte von Port Royal. 2 Bd. 1839 seq.
SainteBc'uve: Port Royal, 5 vols. 2d ed. 8vo. 1860. Le Saint-
Bartheleuiy devant le Senat de Venise : relations des ambassadeurs
G. Michiel et S. Cavalli. Trad, et annot. par W. Martin. 18mo.
1872.

The Reformation in the Netherlands.

Gachard : Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, Prince d'Or-
ange, publiee pour la premiere fois, etc. 6 vols. 8vo. 1847-58.
Also, by the same, Correspondance de Philippe II., sur les Affaires
des Pays-Bas [from the Archives of Simancas]. 4 vols. 4to.
1848-59.

Groen van Prixstereu : Archives ou Correspondance inedite de
laMaison d'Orange-Nassau [1552-1584]. 10 vols. 8vo. 1857-61.

Le meme: 2« serie [1584-1688]. 6 vols. 8vo. 1857-61.

Gran VELi.E : Pajiiers d'fitat, d'apres les Manuscrits de la Biblioth^que
de Besan^on. 9 vols. 4to. 1841-61. In the Collection des Ducu*
ments Incdits sur I'Histoire de France. Paris, 1835 seq.

A LIST OF WORKS ON THE REFORMATION. 583

Brandt : Hist, der Reformatie in en omtrent de Nederlanden.
Amst., 1693 seq. 4 vols. 4to. Engl, transl., London, 1720. 4 vols.
Grotius : Annates et Hist, de Rebus Belgicis, 155G-1609. Gcrdesius :
Hist. Ref., etc. (See above). Ypey en Dermout: Gescliiedenissen
der Nederland. hervormde Kerk. Breda, 1819-27. 4 vols. 8vo.
Van Mcteren : Hist, der Nederlanden, 1369-1G12. Ter Har : Die
Ref. Gsch. in Schilderungen. Svo. A. Kbkler : Die niederl. ref.
Kirche. Erlangen, 1856. Svo. G. Bentivoglio : Delia Guerra di
Fiandra [1559-1607]. Milano, 1806. Engl, transl. 4to. London,
1678. Stkada : De Bello Belgico. 2 vols. Fol. 1640-47. Engl.
transl. by Stapylton : Fol. London, 1650. Schiller : Abfall der Nie-
derlande. 8vo. Stuttgart, 1844. Eng. transl., by Morison. 2 vols.
12mo. London, 1851. Van Kampen : Gescliichte der Niederlande,
2 vols. Svo. 1831-33. Motley : Rise of the Dutch Republic. 3
vols. Svo. New York, 1856. History of the United Netherlands.
4 vols. Svo. New York, 1861. Holzwarth : Der Abfall der
Niederlande, 3 vols. Svo. 1866-72. Prescott : History of Philip
H. 3 vols. Svo. 1855. Th. Juste: Hist, de la Re'vol. des Pays-
Bas. sous Phil. n. (1555-72). 2 vols. Svo. 1S55; Hist, du sou-
levement des Pays Bas contre la domination espagnole (1572-76).
2 vols. Svo. 1862-63 ; Les Pays Bas sous Charles Quint — Vie de
Marie de Ilongrie (1505-58). Svo. 1855. Basnage: Annales des
Provinces-Unis (1719). H. Leo : Zwolf Bucher der niederland.
Geschichte. 2 vols. 1832-45. Koch : Untersuchungen iiber die
Emporung u. den Abfall d. Niederlande von Spanien. 1 vol. Svo.

The Reformation in England.

Documents and Contemporary Sources. Works of the Reform-
ers, published by the Parker Society, Cambridge, 1841-54 (54
vols., with a general index), comprising the writings of Ridley,
Sandys, Pilkington, R. Hutchinson, Philpot, Grindal, T. Becon,
Fulke, Hooper, Crannier, Coverdale, Latimer, Jewel, Bradford,
Whitgift; together with the Zurich Letters (1st and 2d series).
Original Letters (2 vols.), The Correspondence of M. Parker, etc.

The State Calendars, now being published, under the direction
of the Master of the Rolls.

Rymer : Foedera, Conventiones, Literje, etc., inter Reges Anglic et
al. Reges, Pontifices, etc. 3d ed. 10 vols. Fol. 1739-45.

Rushworth: Historical Collections (1618-1648). S vols. Fol. Lon-
don, 1721.

Fox : Acts and Monuments of the Church, or Book of Martyrs, 1563.
Fol. 1684. 3 vols. Fol. 1837-41. 8 vols. Svo.

Ellis: Letters illustrative of English History. 1st series. 3 vols. Svo.
1824; 2d series. 4 vols. Svo. 1827, 3d series. 4 vols.

584 APPENDIX.

Wilkins : Concilia Magnae Brittaniae et Hiberniae (446-1717), 4 vols.
Fol. 173G-7.

E. Card well: Documentary Annals of the Church of Englard (1546-
1716). 2 vols. 8vo. Oxford, 1844. By the same: Synodalia
1547-1717 (relating to the province of Canterbury). 2 vols. 8vo.
Oxford, 1842. By the same: The Reformation of the Laws as
attempted in the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Eliza-
beth. Newed. Oxford, 1850.

Formularies of Faith put forth under the reign of Henry VHI. Ox-
ford, 1856. 8vo.

W. Maskell : Monumenta Ritualia Eccl. Anglicanae. 3 vols. 8vo.
1846-7.

Holinshed : Chronicle of Englande, Scotlande, and Ireland, 1577, 2
vols, Fol, 1807-8, 6 vols, 4to.

General Histories. By Ranke : Engl. Geschichte vornehmlich im sicb-
zenten Jahrh, 9 vols. 8vo. Leipzig, 1870. By Carte (to 1654),
1747 seq. ; by Kennet (to the death of William III.), 3 vols., fol,,
1719 ; by Macaulay (from the accession of James I,, with a hist.
Introduct. 5 vols. 8vo. 1849 seq.) Macaulay's introductory
chapter includes a brief account of the rise and character of Prot-
estantism in Great Britain. His Reviews of Ranke and of Hallam
(in his collected Essays) relate in part to the Reformation. By
Mackintosh (to the 14th year of Elizabeth's reign ; continued by
W, Wallace, and then by R, Bell); 10 vols. 12mo. 1838, By
Hume. Hume's negligence in examining and reporting author-
ities, his inaccuracy, his partiality for the Stuarts, and his frigid
tone with regard to questions of morals and religion, are now con-
ceded ; as are, also, the excellence of his style, and his sagacity as
an economist. By Lingard (Roman Catholic). Lingard is an
able and well-informed writer, but with strong Anti-Protestant prej-
udices. By Knight, 8 vols., 8vo, 1868 ; by T. Keightley, 3 vols., 8vo,
1839; by J. Miller (to 1688), 4th ed., 4to, London, 1818; by Tur-
ner (to the death of Elizabeth), 12 vols., 8vo, 1839; by Froude
(from the Fall of AVolsey to the defeat of the Spanish Armada), 12
vols., 8vo, New York, 1865 seq.; by F. L. G. Raumer: Political
History of England during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, 2
vols., 8vo, London, 1836 ; by Oldmixon : History of England during
the Reign of the Stuarts, 2 vols., fol., London, 1730; by Vaughan :
History of P]ngland under the House of Stuart (1603-1688), 2 vols.,
Svo, London, 1840 ; by the same : Memorials of the Stuart Dynasty,
2 vols., Svo, London, 1831 ; by Clarendon : Hist, of the Great Re-
bellion (1641-60), 3 vols., fol., Oxford, 1702-4. By F. S. Thomas:
Historical Notes relative to the History of England, from the acces*

A LIST OF WORKS ON THE REFORMATION. 585

sion of Henry VIII. to the death of Anne (1509-1714), designed as
a book of instant reference to dates. 3 vols. 8vo. 1 858. Camden :
Annales Rerum Anglic, et Hibernic. regnante Elizabetha (to 1589)
1615 seq. 1717. 3 vols. 8vo. Oxford. Life of Col. Hutchin-
son, by his wife (Bohn's Stand. Lib.), 1846. Pepys : Diary and
Correspondence. 4 vols. 8vo. 1854. Evelyn: Diary (from 1641-
1705-6), ed. Forster. 4 vols. 8vo. 1860. Harris: Lives of
James I., Charles I., Cromwell, Charles H. 5 vols. 8vo. 1814.
Godwin, History of the Commonwealth. 4 vols. 8vo. 1824-28.
R. Vaughan : the Protectorate of Cromwell. 2 vols. 8vo. 1839.
Buckle: Hist, of Civilization in England, new ed. 3 vols. Svo.
1867. Strickland : Lives of the Queens of England. 8 vols. Svo.
1850-54 ; new ed. 12mo, 1865. Lives of the Queens of Scotland,
8 vols. 8vo. 1850-59.

Hall AM : Const. History of England. 3 vols. Svo. 1867. This is
the most successful of Hallam's historical writings. It is thorough
and impartial in its treatment of religious parties and persons, and
specially instructive on the legal and constitutional questions in-
volved in the history of the Reformation.

Carlyle : Life and Letters of Cromwell. 2 vols. Svo. New York,
1845. This has contributed more than any other work to raise the
reputation of Cromwell in recent times, and to vindicate him against
the imputation of insincerity.

Guizot: Histoire de Charles l^^ (1625-1649), 6« edition. 2 vols.
Svo. 1856. Hist, de la R^publique d'Angleterre et de Cromwell
(1649-1658). 2 vols. Svo. 1854. Hist, du Protectorat de R.
Cromwell et du R^tablissement des Stuart (1658-60). 2 vols. Svo.
1856. Monk ; Chute de la Republique et le Retablissement de la
Monarchie en Angleterre en 1660. 6® 6d. Svo.' 1862. History
of the English Revolution of 1640 (transl. by Hazlitt, London, 1846.
1 vol. Svo. 1856; by Coutier, Oxford, 1838); History of Crom-
well, the Commonwealth, and the Restoration. 4 vols. Svo. Lon-
don, 1854-6.

Histories of the English Reformation. Burnet : The History of the
Reformation of the Church of England. London, 1679 seq. 7 vols.
1829. Svo.

Burnet is an honest writer, with extraordinary means of knowl
edge, but sometimes swayed by prejudice. " It is usual," says Ma-
caulay (Hist, of Engl., i. 163), "to censure Burnet as a singularly
inaccurate historian, but I believe the charge to be altogether unjust.
He appears to be singularly inaccurate only because his narrative
has been subjected to a scrutiny singularly severe and unfriendly."

Strype : Ecclesiastical Memorials relating chiefly to Religion and

586 APPENDIX.

the Reformation of it, and the Emergencies of the Church of Eng-
land under King Henry VIII., King Edward VI., and Queen Mary.

8 vols. London, 2d ed. 1725-37. Brief Annals of the Church
and State, under the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. London, 2d ed.
1738. Fol. The Complete Works of Strype. 27 vols 8vo. Ox-
ford, 1821-40.

Strype is the authority most frequently consulted and quoted in
works on the English Reformation. He is a veracious writer ; his
own statements are instructive and valuable, and the documents
which he publishes are still more so. Occasional inaccuracies in
copying citations, arising from a want of care, do not essentially
detract from his mei'it. On these inaccuracies, pointed out by Mait-
land, see the London Athenaeum, 1858, i. 404.
J. COLLIKR (a non-juring Bishop) : Ecclesiastical History of Great
Britain, to the Death of Charles II. 2 vols. Fol. London, 1 708-14.

9 vols. 8vo. 1846. Dodd (Roman Catholic), in his Church His-
tory of England (1500-1688). 3 vols. Fol. 1737 seq.: new ed.,
1839 seq. Dodd's work was designed as an antidote to Burnet.
H. Soames : History of the Reformation of the Church of Eng-
land. 4 vols. 8vo. 1826-27; by the same : Elizabethan Church
History, London, 1848, 8vo. By J. V. Short: Sketch of the His-
tory of Church of England to the Revolution of 1688. 2 vols.
8vo. 1832: 8th ed., 1870. By F. C. Massingberd : History of
the English Reformation, 4th ed., 186 7, 8vo. J. H. Blunt : His-
tory of the Reformation to the death of Wolsey (1514-47). 8vo.
London. 1872. I. J. Blunt : Sketch of the Reformation in England,
26th ed. 1869. J. A. Baxter : Church History of England. 2d ed.
London, 1849. 8vo. By Peter Heylin : History of the Reformation
of the Church of England. Fol. 1661 seq. Carwithen : History of
the Church of England. 2 vols. 2d ed. Oxford, 1849. 8vo. Neal :
History of the Puritans from the Reformation to the death of Queen
Elizabeth, 1 732 seq. 4vols. 8vo; Toulmin'sed., 1793 seq., 5 vols.,
8vo; Choules's Am. ed., 2 vols., 8vo, New York, 1844. J. B.
Marsden : History of Earlier and Later Puritans. 2 vols. 8vo.
London, 1852. S.Hopkins: The Puritans. 3 vols. Boston, 1859-
60. S. R. Maitland : Essays on Subjects connected with the British
Reformation. 1849. 8vo. Fuller : Church History of Britain from
the Time ofChrist to 1648. Fol. 1655. 6 vols. 8vo. London, 1845.
Lathbury : History of the Nonjurors. 8vo. 1845. T. Lathbury :
History of English Episcopacy, from the Long Parliament to the
Act of Uniformity. 8vo. London, 1836. Brennan : Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland to 1829. 2 vols. 8vo. Dublin, 1848. R.
Manx : History of the Church of Ireland from the Reformation to

A LIST OF WORKS ON THE REFORMATION. 587

the Revolution. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1841. Rees : History of
Protestant Nonconformity in Wales. 8vo. 1861. Hardwick :
History of Articles of Religion. New ed. 1859. 8vo. T. Lath-
bury : History of the Book of Common Prayer. 2d ed. 1858. W.
Keeling: Liturgise Brittanicae. 8vo. 2d ed. 1851. W. Palmer :
Origines Liturgicse. 4th ed. 2 vols. 8vo. 1845. Tulloch .
Eno-lish Puritanism and its Leaders : Cromwell, Milton, Baxter,
Bunyan. 8vo. London, 1861. Fletcher : History of the Indepen-
dents. 4 vols. 12mo. 1862. Hook : Lives of the Archbishops of
Canterbury. New series. 3 vols. (Vol. 8. Ref. period. 1869.
8vo.) Stoughton : Ecclesiastical History of England [Civil
Wars, Commonwealth, Restoration]. 4 vols. 8vo. 1867-70. Han-
bury: Ecclesiastical Memorials relative to the Independents. 3
vols. Svo. London, 1839. J. Waddington : Congregational Church
History from the Reformation to 1662. London, 1862. Hunt:
History of Religious Thought in England. 8vo. Vol. i., 1870. Vol.
ii., 1871. J. Waterworth : Historical Lectures on the Reformation
in England.
Biographies. Strype : Lives of Cranmer, Parker, Grindal, Whitgift,
Aylmer, Cheke, and Smith. W. Gilpin : Life of Cranmer. 1 784.
Svo. Lives of the Reformers. 1809. 2 vols. Svo. Todd: Life
of Cranmer, 1831. Le Bas : Life of Jewel. Svo. 1835. Life of
Laud. Svo. 1836. C. Wordsworth : Eccl. Biography, or Lives
of Eminent Men in England, from the Commencement of the Ref.
to the Revolution. 4th ed. 4 vols. Svo. 1853. B. F. Tytler,
Life of Henry VIIL 12mo. New ed. 1851. Lord Herbert:
Life and Reign of Henry Vni. Fol. 1649 seq. 1770. 4to. Fiddes :
Life of Wolsey, 4 vols. Svo. 1742.

The Reformatiok in Scotland. Contemporary Sources.

WoDROW Society's Publications. 24 vols. Svo. Comprising
Calderwood's Hist, of the Kirk of Scotland, S vols. ; Autobiogra-
phy of Robert Blair (from 1593-1636) ; Scott's Apologetical Nar-
ration (from 1560-1633); Twedie's Select Biographies, 2 vols.;
and other works.

Spottiswoode Society Publications. 16 vols. Svo. Comprising
Keith's History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland from
the Beginning of the Ref. to 1568; The Spottiswoode Miscellany
(2 vols.), etc.

John Knox : Historie of the Reformation of Religioun within the
Realme of Scotland, in V. Books ; with his life by David Bu-
cnanan. Edinb. 1584. Ed. by David Laing (with other wiifings
of Knox), 1846 seq. 4 vols. Svo.

588 APPENDIX.

Bannatyne [Secretary of Knox] : Journal of Transactions, etc. 1570-
73. Edinb. 1806.

Spottiswoode : History of the Church of Scotland. 8vo. 3 vols, (by
the Wodrow Soc).

Labanoff : Lettres, Instructions, et Memoires de Marie Stuart, etc.
7 vols. 8vo. London, 1844.

A. Teulet: Lettres de Marie Stuart, publi^es avec sommaires, etc.
8vo. 1859.

A. Teulet : Relations Politiques de la France et de I'Espagne avec
I'Ecosse en 16* Siecle. Papiers d'Etat, etc. 5 vols. Paris, 1862.

G. Buchanan : Rerum Scotic. Hist. Edinb., 1582. Fol. In English,
1690. Fol.

R. Baillie : Letters and Journals [on the periodrfrora 1637-1662], new
ed. 3 vols. 8vo. Edinb., 1841-2.

Sir James Balfour: Annales (1057-1640), and Memorials and Pas-
sages of Church and State (1641-1652). 4 vols. Edinb., 1824.

J. Lesly (Bp. of Ross) : A Defence of the Honor of Mary, Queen of
Scotland. London, 1569. 8vo. 1570. 8vo.

G. Buchanan : A Detection of the Doings of Mary, Queen of Scots,
etc. Circa 1572.

Later Works. W. Robertson : History of Scotland during the
reigns of Mary and James VI., etc. (in numerous editions). G.
Stuart : Hist, of the Establishment of the Ref of Rel. in Scotland
(1517-1561). 4to. London, 1780. Hist, of Scotland from the Es-
tabl. of the Ref. to the Death of Mary. 2 vols. 4to. London, 1782.
W. M. Hetherington : Hist, of the Church of Scotland (new ed.)
2 vols. 8vo. 1853. T. McCrie : Life of John Knox, 1812. 8vo.
Newed. 1854. 8vo. 4 vols. (Works of McCrie. 8vo. 1855.) Life
of Andrew Melville. 2 vols. 8vo. 1819. 2d ed. London. 1847. 8vo.
T. McCrie, Jr. : Sketches of Scottish Church History. 2d ed. 1843.
8vo. A. Stevenson : History of the Ch. and State of Scotland
from the Accession of Charles I. to the Restoration. 1844. 8vo.
J. Cunningham : Ch. Hist, of Scotland to the Present Time. 2 vols.
8vo. 1859. Lee : Lectures on the Hist, of the Ch. of Scotland.
2 vols. 8vo. Edinb., 1860. J. Scott : Lives of the Reformers in
Scotland. Edinb. 1810. Von Rudloff : Gsch. d. Ref. in Schottland.
2 Th. Berlin, 1 849. A. Gamberg : Die schottische nat. Kirche.
Hamb., 1827. K. H. Sack : Die evang. Kirche Schottlands. Heidelb.,
1844. G. Cook : Hist, of the Ref. in Scotland. 3 vols. Edinb., 1811.
Burton : Hist, of Scotland to 1688. 7 vols. Lond., 1867-70 ; 1689-
1748. 2 vols. 1870. P. F. Tytler : History of Scotland [1149-1603],
new ed. 10 vols. 8vo. 1866. Laing : Hist, of Scotland from the
Accession of James I. to the Reign of Queen Anne. 1819. 4 vols

A LIST OF WORKS ON THE REFORMATION. 589

8vo. Lawson : The Episcopal Church of Scotland from the Refor-
mation to the Revolution. 2 vols. 8vo. 1844. Mignet : Histoire de
Marie Stuart. 2 vols. 12mo. Paris, 1854. W. Ty tier : Inquiry, His-
torical and Critical, into the Evidence against Mary, Queen of
Scots, etc. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1790. X Hosack : Mary, Queen
of Scots and her Accusers. 2d ed. 2 vols. 8vo. 1870. Leland :
History of Ireland from the Invasion of Henry H. to 1688. 3
vols. 4to. 1773.

The Rekormation in Italy.

Gerdesius : Specimen Italiae Ref . Lugd. Bat., 1 765. 4to.

McCrie : Hist, of the Ref. in Italy. 8vo. 1827. Newed. 1855. D.
Erdmann : Die Ref. u. ihre Martyrer in Italien. Berlin, 1855.
Jules Bonnet : Vie de Olympia Morata. 4""* ed. Paris, 1865.
Muratori : Annali d'ltalia, dal Principio dell' Era volgare fino all'
anno 1750. 12 vols. 8vo. Rome, 1752-54. Guicciardini : Storia
d'ltalia. 10 vols. Pisa, 1819-20. Hubner : Life of Sixtus V.
2 vols. 8vo. 1872. Brieger : Gaspar Contarini [on the Ratisbon
Conference]. Gotha, 1870. M. Young : Life of Paleario. 2 vols.
8vo. London, 1860. Sixt: Petrus Paulus Vergerius, ptipstlicher
Nuntius, etc. 1855. J. Bonnet : Aonio Paleario, Etude sur la Re-
forme en Italic. 12mo. 1862. Roscoe : Life of Leo X. 6th ed. 2
vols. 8vo. 1846. Audin: Histoire de Leon X. 2 vols. 8vo.
Paris. 3d ed. 2 vols. 8vo. 1851.

The Reformation in Spain.

Reformistas Antiguos Espanoles. 20 vols. 8vo. London and
Madrid, 1848-63. This collection of the writings of Spanish Prot-
estants was printed at the cost of B. B. Wiffen. It may be found
in the Boston Public Lib. ; also in the Library of Harvard College.

A. F. Busching : Comm. de Vestigiis Lutheranismi in Hispania.
Gottingen, 1755. 4to. McCrie : Hist, of the Ref. in Spain. 8vo.
1829. Newed. 1855. De Castros : The Spanish Prot. and their
Suppression by Philip 11. Translated by T. Parker. London,
1851. Sanctae Inquisitionis Artes aliquot detectae : R. G. Mon-
tanoauctore. Heidelb. 1567. Mariana : Hist. General de Espaiia,
18 vols. Valencia, 1830-41. 2 vols. 8vo. Madrid, 1 854 (in the
Bibl. de Autores Espanoles, vols. 19-20) Engl, transl. 1699. R.
St. Hilaire, Histoire d'Espagne. Tom. xii. Newed. 1844 seq.
Dunham : Hist, of Spain and Portugal. New ed. 3 vols. 12mo.
1847. Prkscott : History of the Reign of Philip H. 3 vols. 8vo.
1855. TiCKNOR : Hist, of Spanish Literature. 3 vols. 8vo. 1849.
Llorente : Hist, de I'lnquisition d'Espagne. 4 vols. Paris,
1820.

590 APPENDIX.

The Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation.

I. The Council of Trent. Sources. J. le Plat (teacher of Canon
Law at Louvain) : Monumentorum ad Hist. Concil. Trid. Spec-
tantium Amplissima CoUectio. Louvain, 1781 seq. 7 (8) torn. 4to.

Acta Cone. Trid. ann. 1562-63 a Cardinale Paleotto descripta ; ed.
Mendbani, London, 1842.

Lettrcs et Memoires de Francois de Vargas, de Pierie de Malvenda,
[members of the Imperial embassy], et de quelques Eveques d'Es-
pagne, touchant le Cone, de Trente. Paris, 1654. 4to.

Mendham : Memoirs of the Council of Trent. Svo. London, 1 834.
New ed. 1844.

Planck : Anecdota ad Hist. Cone. Trid. Pertinentia. Gottingen,
1791-1818, 26 programmata.

Sickel : Zur Geschichte d. Concil von Trient ; Acten-stncke aus Oes-
teiTechischen Archiven. Vienna, 1872.

Canones et Decreta Cone. Trid., juxta Exemplar authentic. Romae
editum, ed. le Plat, Antwerp, 1779. 4to. Madrid, 1786. Fol. New
ed., enlarged from the Rom. BuUarium, by A. L. Richter, Leipzig,
1'853.

LiBRi Symbolici Eccl. Cathol., edd. Streitwolf and Klener, Got-
tingen, 1838. 2 vols. Svo.

Histories of the Council of Trent. Paolo Sarpi : Istoria del Cone.
Trident., London, 1619, fol. ; in Latin, London, 1620; Engl, trans-
lation by Brent, 1676, fol. French ed., with notes by Le Courayer,
London, 2 torn., folio, 1736.

Sforza Pallavicino : Istoria del Cone. diTrento. Roma, 1656-7,
2 t., fol. : 2d ed., 3 t., 4to, 1665 : in Latin, Giattino, Rom. and
Antvp., 1672, 3 t., 4to; new ed. revised by the author, Rome, 1666.

Biografia di Frk Paolo Sarpi di Bianchi-Giovini. Zurigo, 1836, 2 t.
E. Munch: Fr^ P. Sarpi, Carlsruhe, 1838.

Wessenberg [Roman CathoHc] : Die grossen liirchenversammlungen
der 15. u. 16. Jahrh. Constance, 1840.

Courayer : Discours Hist, sur la Reception du Concile de Trente.
Amsterdam, 1756 (appendix to Sarpi). Bungener : Hist, du Con-
cile de Trente. 2 vols. 12mo. 1853.

The Popes of this Period. Ranke : History of the Popes. 3 vols
Svo. 1867.

Lorentz : Sixtus V. u. seine Zeit. Mayence, 1852.

HiJBNER: Life of Pope Sixtus V. Engl, transl. 2 vols. Svo
1872.

Kbllner : De actis Concil. trid. Gottingen. 2 part. Svo. 1841.

A LIST OF WORKS ON THE REFORMATION. 591

U. The Order of Jesuits. Corpus Institutorum Societatis Jesu.
Antvp. 1 702, 2 vols, 4to.

Constitutiones, Decreta Congregationum, Censurae et Prcecepta, cum
Litteris Apostol. et Privilegiis. Prague. 1755. 2 vols. 4to. In-
stitutum soc. Jesu. Prague, 1757. Fol.

Lives of Ignatius Loyola, by Jesuits : Consalvi, in Acta Sanctorum,
Jul. vii. 634 seq. ; by Ribadeneira, Naples, 1572, Madrid, 1586,
and in Acta Sanct. 1. c. 655 seq.; by Maffei, Rome, 1585; by
Bartoli, Rome, 1659. Genelli : Leben d. heilig. Loyola. Inns-
bruck, 1848. I, Taylor; Loyola and Jesuitism in its Rudiments.
Svo. London, 1849,

Exercitia Spiritualia Ign. Loiolae, Antvp. 1638, Ratisbon, 1855. His-
tory of the Jesuit Order, by Hasenmuller, 1588 ; by Gretser, In-
golstadt, 1584; by R. Hospinian, Zurich, (1649) 1670. Hist. d.
Keligieux de la Compagnie de J^sus, Paris, 1740, Utrecht, 1741.
4to. 4 tom.

Harenberg : Pragm. Gsch. d. Ordens d. Jesuiten. Halle, 1 760. 2 vols.
4to. [Goudrette :] Hist. Generale de la Naissance et des Progres
dela Compagnie de Jesus ; et [C. Paige] 1' Analyse de ses Constitu-
tions et Privileges. Paris, 1760. Amst., 1761, 5 vols. Wolf : AUg.
Gsch. d Jesuiten. 4 vols. Leipzig, 1803.

Histories of the Jesuits, by Dallas, 2 vols. London, 1816 ; by Lis-
kenne, Paris, 1825; by De Sarrion, Paris, 1838; by Cri^tineau
JoLY, Paris, 1844-6, 6 tomes ; by Briihl, Wiirzburg, 1845 seq,;
by Buss, Mayence, 2 abth., 1853; by Stoger, Ratisbon, 1851 ; by
Kortum, Mannheim, 1843; by Julius, Leipzig, 1845 seq,; by
Steinmetz, London, 1848. 3 vols. Svo.

For the multitudinous works respecting the Jesuits, reference must
be had to the special bibliographies : —

Carayon : Bibl. historique de la Compagnie de Jesus, ou Catalogue
des ouvrages relatifs k I'histolre des Jesuites depuis leur origine,
etc. 4to. 1864.

Bibliotheque des £lcrivains de la Compagnie de Jesus, ou Notices
bibliographiques 1° De tous les ouvrages publics par les Membres de
la Compagnie de Jesus ; 2° Des Apologies, des Controverses relig-
ieuses, des Critiques litteraires et scientifiques suscit^es k leur sujet.
Par Augustin et Alois de Backer, Serie i.-vii, 1853-61, Of this
work, Petzholdt, (Bibliothec. bihliojraph, 1866), after referring to
the previous bibliographical labors of Ribadeneira, Alegambe, and
Southwell, says : " AUes was von Jesuiten-bibliographie bisher
erschienen ist, wird durch das B.'sche Werk durchaus iiberfllissig
gemacht."

nfTDEX.

" Acceptants," 453.

Adiaphoristic controversy, 165.

Adrian VT., Pope, on the corruption of
the church, 13; his character, 115;
reply of the Diet of Nuremberg
(1522) to his demand for action
against Luther, 115; his letter to
Zwingle, 147.

Academies, the Italian, broken up by
the Inquisition, 405.

^sop, Luther translates, 120.

Aix la Chapelle, Peace of, 455.

Albigenses, their character, 55; cru-
sades of Innocent III. against them,
56.

Alciati, 478.

Aleander, 108.

Alen^on, Duke of (husband of Mar-
garet), 246.

Alen^on, Duke of (Duke of Anjou),
his death, 278.

Alexander III., his interview with
Frederic Barbarossa, 29.

Alexander V., Pope, his pledges to the
council of Pisa, 43.

Alexander VI., Pope, his grant to
Spain, 47; his character, 45; excom-
municates Savonarola, 65.

Alexander of Hales, his doctrine of
supererogatory merits, 92.

Allen, William, 414, 505.

Alphonso, king of Portugal, 47.

Altieri, .393.

Alva, Duke of, at the conference of
Bayonne, 270; his character, 301;
his recommendations to Philip II.,
301; sent to the Netherlands, 301;
marches from Italy, 301 , establishes

38

the "Council of Blood," 302; exe-
cutes Egmont and Horn, 303; hii
scheme of taxation, 303; resigns,
304.
Amboise, conspiracy of, 260 ; avenged

by Guise, 261; edict of, 269.
Anabaptists, their tenets, 475 ; different
classes of, 476; numerous in the
Netherlands, 288 ; influence of Men-
no on them, 311.
Anderson, Lawrence, 176.
Anglo-Saxons, their conversion, 23.
Anne Boleyn, her return to England,
247 ; her marriage with Henry VIII.,
320.
Anselm, element of mysticism in, 65 ;
his doctrine of the satisfaction of
Christ, 460.
Anthony of Navarre, summoned to
Orleans, 262; made lieutenant-gen-
eral, 263.
Antitrinitarians, rise of the, 477.
Anquetil, on Catharine de Medici, 257.
Aquinas, his doctrine of indulgences,
92; of supererogatory merits, 94; on
the infallibility of the Pope, 30.
Arianism, its prevalence among the
barbarian nations, 22; supplanted by
Catholicism, 22.
Aristotle, connection of scholasticism
with, 536; his authority shaken by
the Humanists, 536; howfar attacked
b}' the reformers, 536; by Luther,
536; Melancthon's view of , 536; re-
tained his place in Catholic univsrsi-
ties, 537.
Armies, constitution of, in the 17th
century, 426.

594

INDEX.

Arminians, their doctrines, 473; their
scholarship, 475 ; their political dif-
ference with the Calvinists, 315;
their critical spirit, 545.

Arminius, his history, 473; his contro-
vers}' with Gomarus, 473; Milton's
remark on, 528.

Arnauld, 452, 531.

Arneys, Antoine, 228.

Arnold, of Brescia, his aim and fate,
386.

Arnold, T., on Church and State, 500.

Arran, Earl of, 353.

Art, how affected by Protestantism,
540 ; in the Netherlands, 541.

Articles, the ten, 323; they offend the
Catholic party, 323 ; the six, 324.

Articles, of the Church of England,
framed, 327; revision of (1563), 331.

Articles, the Lambeth, 339.

Asceticism, its origin in the church,
552; in the Middle Ages, 552; cast
away by Protestantism, 552.

Astrology, in the 15th and 16th cen-
turies, 3.

Atonement, Protestant and Catholic
view of, 460 ; the theory of Grotius,
474.

Autos dafe, in Spain, 408.

Augsburg, Diet at (1530), 118; its de-
cree, 119.

Augsburg, Confession of, 119; Apol-
ogy for the Confession, 119.

Augsburg, peace of, 168: wholesome
effect of it, 422; violations of it,
433.

Augustine, on religious persecution,
223; he is studied by Luther, 90;
how he differs from Calvin, 337.
Austria, spread of Protestantism in,
422; Jesuit influence in, 423.

Avignon, residence of the popes at, 38;
character of their court, 39.

Babylonian captivity of the Papacy, 38.

Bacon, Leonard, his Historical Dis-
courses, 441.

Bacon, Lord, his view of astrology, 3;
on the Puritan controversy, 349 ; on
episcopacy, 334; on church govern-

ment, 350 ; relation of his system to
Protestantism, 537.

Bajus, 451.

Balmes, his view of the Keformatlon, 6.

Baltimore, Lord, 508.

Barneveldt, Olden, 474.

Baronius, 25 ; his annals, 522.

Basel, council of, 43 ; it hears the Utra-
qaiste, 181; Reformation established
in, 143.

Baur, F. C, 546; on Servetus, 227.

Baxter, Richard, 437; his character,
443; ejected from his parish (1662),
442.

Bayle, on Leo. X., 46.

Bayonne, conference at, 270.

Beaton, Cardinal, 353.

Beda, the Syndic, 243.

Beghards, who they were, 57.

Beguines, who they were, 57.

Bellarmine, on the corruption of the
Church, 13; on the visible Church,
465 ; on Church and State, 504.

Bembo, Cardinal, his spirit, 73.

Berengarius, 148.

Bernard, St., mysticism of, 65.

Bernard, of Weimar, 431.

Berne, Reformation, established in, 143.

Berquin, Louis de, 248.

Berthelier, 230; put to death, 208.

Beveridge, 446.

Beza, Theodore; his character and
manners, 266; at the Colloquy of
Poissy, 266; on Calvin's death, 238;
his remark on the death of Francis
IL, 263; on the origin of the word
"Huguenot," 264.

Bible, the source of Protestantism, 10;
Luther's translation of the, 112; its
benefit to the Germans, 112; early
German translations of the, 112; pub-
lished in English by Henry VHL,
323 ; made by the Protestants the rule
of faith, 461 ; effect of it in Protestant
countries, 530; the reading of it not
encouraged in the Catholic Church,
530 ; origin of the disuse of it among
the laity, 531.
Biel, Gabriel, 467.
Blandrata, 478.

INDEX.

595

Blois, meeting of the States-General
at (1576), 278; (1588), 279.

Boccaccio, his relation to the revival of
learning, 671; his treatment of the
Church and religion, 388.

Bodin, 3.

Bohemia, how affected by the exe-
cution of Huss, 177; its conversion
to Christianity, 178; its sufferings
after the Smalcaldic war, 183 ; Prot-
estants acquire legal protection in,
184; reception of Luther's doctrine
in, 183; its revolt against Ferdinand
II., 424; gives its crown to the Elec-
tor Palatine, 424; devastated, 425.

Bologna, Protestantism in, 393.

Bolsec, imprisoned at Geneva, 214;
banished, 225.

Bonaventura, mysticism of, 65.

Boniface, the apostle of Germany, 23.

Boniface VIII., his theories and charac-
ter, 36 ; opposed by the spirit of na-
tionalism, 36 ; his conflict with Philip
the Fair, 37; his bull, chricis laicos,
37; is assaulted and dies, 38; how
viewed b\' Tosti, Wiseman, and
Schwab, 37.

Books, censorship of, in the Roman
Catholic Church, 526; in Protestant
countries, 528; by Laud, 528; by
the Puritans, 528.

Bora, Catharine von, her marriage with
Luther, 123.

Borromeo, Carlo, his character, 413.

Bossuet, 525, 539; refers the Reform-
ation to a dispute of monks, 3; on
the relation of Protestantism to
abuses in the Church, 13 ; on the cor-
ruption of the Church, 13; his opin-
ion of Calvin's intellect, 206 ; his cor-
respondence withMolanus, 484; with
Leibnitz, 484.

Bothwell, Mary's attachment to him,
372; his agency in Darnley's mur-
der, 374; his abduction of the queen,
374: his supper at Edinburgh, 374;
his divorce from his wife, 375; his
marriage with Mary, 375.

Boucher, Jean, 476.

Bourbons, their union with the Hugue-
nots, 259.

Bradford on predestination, 336.

Brantome, on Guise and Coligni, 261 ;
admires Mary Queen of Scots, 357.

Breda, declaration of Charles II., from,
441.

Brederode, 297.

Bres, Guido de, 311.

Brethren in Unity, the Bohemian, rise
of, 182; their reception of Luther's
doctrine, 183.

Bri9onnet, his reformatory tendencies,
244 ; opposes Protestantism, 245

Briel, capture of, 304.

Brucioli, 393.

Bruno, Giordano, 523.

Bryce, his work on the " Holy Roman
Empire," 25.

Budasus, 243 ; Erasmus compared with,
78.

Bucer, Martin, his irenical efforts, 151 ;
a professor at Cambridge, 326; on
ceremonies in the English Church,
344 ; his letter to the Protestants of
Bologna, 393.

Buchanan, George, 354.

Bugenhagen, shapes the church consti-
tution of Denmark, 173.

Burnet, for comprehension, 446.

Bullinger, on the execution of Servetus,
232; his intimacy with English di-
vines, 333.

Burckhardt, on the tone of the Italian
Renaissance, 390.

Burleigh, his belief in astrology, 3.

Burns, 530.

Cesarini, Cardinal Julian, 181.

Calderon, 520.

Cajetan, his interviews with Luther at
Augsburg, 96.

Calixtus, his syncretism, 481.

Calixtus II., Pope, concludes the
Worms Concordat with Henry V.,
28.

Calmar, Union of, 170.

Calvin, his birth, 192; belongs to the
second generation of Reformers,
192; his childhood, 192; his father,
193; studies at Paris, 193; studies
law at Orleans and Bourges, 193;
his proficiency, 193; his habits o(

596

INDEX.

study, 193; learns Greek, 194 ;
edits Seneca's treatise on " Clem-
ency," 194; for what reason, 194;
his conversion, 195; its date, 195;
his reverence for the Church, 195;
his reserve and shyness, 196; de-
voted to religious studies, 196;
writes an address for Nicholas Cop,
196; flies from Paris, 196; visits
B^'arn, 196; again flies from Paris,
196; his "Psychopannychia," 197;
at Strasburg, 197 ; composes the " In-
stitutes," 197; first prints them in
Latin, 198 ; his dedication to Francis
I., 197; his personal characteristics
198; how esteemed by Melancthon
199; constant in his opinions, 199
his conception of the Church, 200
his doctrine of Predestination, 200
his practical motive in it, 201
his doctrine compared with Augus-
tine's, 201; with Luther's, 202; not
an extremist with regard to rites,
203 ; his letter to Somerset, 203 ; crit-
icises the Anglican Church, 203; his
letter to Cranmer, 204; contrasted
with Luther, 204; his censorious
tone, 204; want of health, 204; his
passionate temper, 204 ; his homage
to law, 205; his zeal for the honor of
God, 205; his hymns, 206; his high
qualities, 206 ; visits the Duchess of
Ferrara, 207, 392; stops in Geneva
on his return, 207 ; moved by Farel
to remain. 211; his first work there,
212 ; refuses to administer the Sacra-
ment, 213; is banished, 213; at
Strasburg, 213; attends the Ger-
man conferences, 213 ; his opposition
to the Leipsic Interim, 214; his re-
gard for Luther, 214; his friendship
for Melancthon, 214; his relations
to the Zwinglian churches, 215 ; how
treated by Berne, 215; his marriage,
215; recalled to Geneva, 216; his
letter to Sadolet, 216; his ecclesias-
tical and civil system, 217 ; revives
the eldership, 218; influence of the
Mosaic code on his scheme of gov-
ernment, 219; opposed by the

Libertines and Patriots, 220 ; re-
joices at the Edict of St. Germain,
267 ; condemned the plot to assassi-
nate Guise, 269 ; favors the forcible
suppression of religious error, 224;
his conflicts at Geneva, 225; his
controversy with Castellio, 226 ; his
vituperative epithets, 226; his
concern in the trial and death of
Servetus, 230, 231 ; his action in this
affair, judged by Guizot, 230; his
treatment of Laelius Socinus, 232;
his triumph over the Libertines,
233; his description of his conflicts,
233; his labors and influence, 234;
his correspondence, 235 ; his influence
on the French Reformation, 235; his
last days, 235; his various employ-
ments, 235 ; his last interview with
the Senate, 235; with the Clergy,
236; his review of his career, 237;
his death, 238; his character, 238;
faults of his constitution at Geneva,
239; his letter to Margaret, Q. of
Navarre, 247; how regarded by
Huguenot martyrs, 256; inculcates
obedience to rulers, 260 ; disapproves
of the Amboise conspiracy, 261;
charged with Arianism, 212; on
Zwingle's view of the Eucharist, 215 ;
his influence in England, 337; his
difference from Augustine, 337; his
doctrine of the Lord's Supper, 148;
on the observance of Sunday, 483.

Calvinism, as a theological system,
238; how it promoted civil liberty,
239; its theory of the powers of
Church and State, 239 ; republican
character of its church constitution.
240 ; its theology equalizes men by
exalting God, 240; compared with
Romanism, in its view of Church and
State, 241; sources of opposition to
it in France, 249 ; more attractive to
France than Lutherauism, 253; in
the Church of England, 335, 337;
how it spread in the Netherlands,
288; hostility of Lutherans to, 422;
its five points, 474.

Calvinists, prevail in the Netherlanda

INDEX.

597

311; adopt the " ConfessioBeJgica,"
311; do not favor religious liberty
in the Netherlands, 312 ; finally
petition for it (1578), 314; their
political difference with the Armin-
ians, 314; provision for them in
the Treat} of Westphalia, 432; see
" Protestants," "Reformation," and
under the different countries.

Campeggio, legate of Clement VII.,
115.

Cappel, wai of, 154.

Caracci, school of, 412, 522.

Caraffa, his hostility to doctrinal in-
novations, 396 ; on the spread of Prot-
estantism in Italy, 394; organizes
the Inquisition in Italy, 403; its
cruelty, 404; his Consilium to Paul
III., 405; his prohibitorj' Index, 405.

Carlstadt, disputes with Eck at Leip-
sic, 98; his iconoclastic movement
at Wittenberg, 113.

Cambray, Peace of, 118.

Carlyle, on the nations which re-
jected the Reformation, 511.

Carnesecchi, Pietro, 393 ; put to death,
411.

Carranza, Bartolom6 de, persecution of ,
409.

Cartwright, his principles, 345.

"Casket letters," the question of their
genuineness, 376.

Cassander, 482.

Castellio, his charges against Calvin,
226; banished from Geneva, 226.

Cateau-Cambresis, Peace of, 255.

Catharine, of Aragon, her marriage with
Prince Arthur not consummated, 319.

Catharine de INIedici, her childhood, 256 ;
her relations to her husband, 256;
her dependence on Diana of Poitiers,
257; her ambition, 257; balked by
the Guises, 257 ; acquires power on
the death of Francis II., 263; at the
Conference of Bayonne, 270; aims
to balance the parties against each
other, 270; her motives in making the
treaty of St. Germain, 272 ; plans a
marriage between Q. Elizabeth and
her son, 273 ; her jealousy of Coligny,

274 ; plots his assassination, 274 ; vis-
its him after he is wounded, 275 ; her
agency in the massacre of St. Barthol-
omew, 275; her policy after it, 277.

Catharine von Bora, her marriage with
Luther, 123.

Catharists, their principles, 55.

Catholics, evangelical, persecution of
them, 409.

Catholic reaction, its vitality, how
shown, 410 ; how affected by the de-
feat of the Armada, 421 ; by the ac-
cession of Henry IV., 421; prostra-
tion of it, 456.

Catholicism, Roman, more cherished in
Southern Europe, 418.

Catholicism, Spanish, its spirit not
suited to France, 250.

Cazalla, Augustine, 408.

Cecil, minister of James I., 435.

Celibacy, its effect on the Papacy, 29.

Cervantes, 520.

Chalcedon, council of, influenced by
Leo I., 19.

Chalmers, on Church and State, 502.

Charles I., his arbitrary principles, 436;
his treatment of Papists, 436.

Charles II., his restoration, 441; his
declaration from Breda, 441; violates
his pledges, 441; his character, 442;
Anglican Reaction under, 442 ; his al-
liance with Louis XIV., 443.

Charlemagne, crowned at Rome, 23;
Emperor of the West,23 ; his relations
to the Papacy, 23 ; effect of the break-
ing up of his Empire on the Papacy,
24.

Charles IV., the Golden Bull of, 103.

Charles V., his struggle with Francis
I., 49; his extensive dominions, 105;
elected Emperor of Germany, 105;
reasons for the choice, 105; alarm oc-
casioned by it in Europe, 105; hostil-
ity of Francis I. to, and its grounds,
105 ; his character, 107 ; how he acted
in the affair of the Reformation, 107;
his ruling desire, 107; summons Lu-
ther to the Diet of Worms, 108 ; hia
regret that he did not then destroy
Luther, 111; his agreement with Leo

598

INDEX.

X., Ill ; his action with regard to the
assembly at Spires, 116; league
formed against him, 116; chooses to
maintain the old idea of the Empire,
117; makes peace with Clement VII.,
118 ; disabled from crushing Protes-
tantism forten years (from 1532), 156;
his expedition to Algiers, 158; his
superficial estimate of Protestantism,
164; establishes the Interim, 164;
opposed by Paul III., 164; leaves
Ferdinand to negotiate with the Prot-
estants, 167; abdicates, 169, 289;
baffled by the moral force of Prot-
estantism, 421 ; his persecution in the
Netherlands, 287; its effect on the
country, 288; his cloister life, 290;
his bigotry, 290; his death, 410.
Charles IX., becomes king of Sweden,

177.
Charles VIII., of France, his invasion

of Italy, 11.
Charles IX., of France, his accession,
263; his anger at the Huguenot ris-
ing, 270 ; impressed by Coligny, 274 ;
visits him after he is wounded, 275;
his death. 277.
Chatelar, 358.

Chaucer, on the mendicant friars, 35.
Chesterfield, Lord, 2.
Christian II., of Denmark, favors Prot-
estantism, 171; retreats, 171; his
cruelty in Sweden, 171 ; deposed, 171.
Christian III., of Denmark, introduces

Protestantism, 173.
Christian IV., of Denmark, his defeat,

426.
Christianity, spirituality of, 14; its re-
lation to culture, 551.
Church, affected by judaizing ideas,
14; simple organization of the apos-
tolic, 14; it is municipal, 15; its of-
ficers at the outset, 15; rise of the
Episcopate in it, 15; Irenseus and
Tertullian on the visible, 17; influ-
ence of political models on its polity,
17; primacy of the Roman See in
the, 18; effect of the fall of Roman
Empire on the, 22 ; reaction of the
spiritual element in the, 53.

Church, the polity of, the principles of
the Lutheran Reformers, 488; not
realized by them, 489 ; Zwingle's view
of, 495; Calvin's view of, 496.

Church of England, under James I.,
433 ; its new theory of Episcopacy,
433; becomes Arminian, 434; zeal
for it after the restoration, 442;
theories of its relation to the State,
499; the Erastian doctrine, 500;
Hooker's view, 500; Arnold's view,
500; Warburton's view, 501; Cole-
ridge's view, 501; Gladstone's view,
502; Chalmers's view, 502; Mac-
aulay's view, 503.

Church, Roman Catholic, in the Uni-
ted States, 509 ; how far responsible
for persecution, 518 ; on the reading
of the Bible in the vernacular, 530.

Church, Scottish Protestant, its wor-
ship and constitution, 379 ; becomes
fully Presbyterian, 380.

Church and State, view of the Reform-
ers on their connection, 488; view
of Luther and Melancthon, 488; of
Zwingle, 495; of Calvin, 496; their
connection in England, 499 ; Roman
Catholic theories, 504; Bellannine's
view, 504; doctrine of the Jesuits,
505; American theory of their rela-
tion, 508.

Civil authority, inquiries into the na-
ture of, 40.

Clarendon, Constitutions of, 39.

Clement VII., his treatment of Henry
VIII. 's petition for a divorce, 319;
cannot induce the Diet of Nurem-
berg (1524) to suppress Lutheran-
ism, 115; a prisoner of Charles V.,
117.

Clementine Homilies, on Peter as
Bishop of Rome, 18.

Clement XI , against the Jansenists,
453.

Cloisters, confiscation of their property
in England, 321.

Coleridge, on the Papacy, 50; on
Church and State, 501;

Colet, 317 ; his character and semces^
76.

INDEX.

599

Coligni, refuses to join in the Am-
boise conspiracy, 261 ; presents the
Huguenot petition, 262; takes no
part in the assassination of Guise,
269; disapproves of the Edict of
Amboise, 270 ; finds safety in Ro-
chelle, 271; resumes hostilities, 271;
at Jarnac and Moncontour, 271 ; his
character, 259; comes to the court,
273; his lofty qualities, 273; his in-
fluence over Charles IX., 274; pro-
poses war with Spain, 274; plot to
assassinate him, 274; he is wounded,
275; visited by Charles IX. and
Catharine de Medici, 275.

Cologne, Elector of, his conversion to
Protestantism, 424.

Colonna, Sciarra, he assaults Boniface
VIII., 38.

Colonna, Vittoria, 394.

Company, the Venerable, at Geneva,
219.

Compactata, granted to the Utraquists,
182.

Comprehension, opportunities for, lost
by the Church of England, 442,
445.

Compromise, formed by the nobles in
the Netherlands, 297; their design,
297.

Concord, Form of, 481.

Conde, Louis, Prince de, his character,
259 ; privy to the Amboise conspiracy,
261; under arrest at Orleans, 262;
tried for treason, 263 ; his lack of wis-
dom, 270; finds safety in Rochelle,
271; falls at Jarnac, 271.

Cond^, Henry, Prince de, sallies forth
with Coligni from Rochelle, 271;
excommunicated by Sixtus V., 279.

Conference at Ratisbon, 157.

" Congregatio de propaganda fide,"
550.

Congregationalism, in the French
Church, 499 ; in New England, 507.

Conrad of Waldhausen, 61.

Consi.story, its functions, in Geneva,
218.

Consistories in the Lutheran churches,
491.

Constance, Council of, 43 ; failure of it,
43.

Constantine, relation of Church and
State under, and under his succes-
sors, 21; his alleged donation ex-
posed by Valla, 389.

Constitution of Germany, 103; alter-
ations of it, under Maximilian, 104.

Contarini, at Ratisbon, 158.

Convocation, in the English Church,
503.

Cop, Nicholas, 196.

Corderius, he teaches Calvin, 193.

Council, of Pisa, 43; of Constance,
43 ; of Basel, 43.

Councils, the Reforming, 42.

Council of Trent, condemns Protes-
tant doctrine, 401; Paul HI., trans-
fers it to Bologna, 401 ; its benefit to
the Catholic cause, 402.

Covenanters of Scotland, 447.

Cox, Bishop of Ely, in the vestment
controversj', 343; Elizabeth's treat-
ment of, 346.

Cranmer, his advice to Henry VIII.,
on the divorce, 319; decrees the
divorce, 320; protected by Henry
VIII., 324; calls theologians from
the continent, 326; his character,
322; his view of the tenure of
church offtcers, 332 ; proposes a Prot-
estant council, 332; Calvin's letter
to, 204; his opinion on the Eucha-
rist, 340; his recantation, 328; his
faults, 328; his death, 328; effect of
it, 329.

Creeds, Erasmus's opinion of, 80.

Crell, 479.

Cromwell, Oliver, England under, 441 ;
his "Triers," 439.

Cromwell, Thomas, 322 ; execution of,
324.

Cup, withdrawal of it from the laity,
178; doctrine of Aquinas, 178.

Cyprian, on the primacy of the Roman
See, 18; against persecution, 222.

Cyril, missionary in Bohemia, 178.

D'Ailly, his theory of the Episcopata
42.

600

INDEX.

D'Albret, Jeanne, Q. of Navarre, her
court at Rochelle, 271.

Damascus, John of, 147.

Dandelot, 259.

Dante, heralds a new era of culture,
67; chastises the Papacy, 34, 35; on
the design of the Roman Empire, 20 ;
his treatise on monarchy, 40 ; on the
neglect of the classic authors, 67;
his theology, 388; on the temporal
ambition of the Popes, 387.

Damlej', his marriage with Marj', 369 ;
his character, 370 ; disgusts his wife,
370; takes part in the murder of
Rizzio, 371; ill, and visited by Mary,
373; taken to Kirk-of-field, 374;
murdered, 374.

D'Aumale, Due, on the military tal-
ents of Henry IV., 280.

D'Aubign^, Theodore Agrippa, on the
origin of the civil wars in France,
268.

Davila, exaggerates the influence of
political motives on the Huguenot
nobles, 259.

Decretals, Pseudo-Isidorian, 24.

Deism, its rise and spread, 543.

Denmark, reformation in, 171; inter-
vention of, in Germany, 425.

De Tocqueville on the French Revolu-
tion, 1 ; on the influence of religion
on libertj' in America, 516; on the
intellectual effects of scepticism, 541.

Devay, Matthew, the Hungarian refor-
mer, 190.

Des Cartes, relation of his system to
Protestantism, 537 ; his personal his-
tory, 538 ; his system favored by the
Jansenists, 539 ; it is opposed by the
Sorbonne and the Jesuits, 539 ; his
books placed on the Index, 539.

Diana of Poitiers, mistress of Henry
II., 257.

Diaz, Juan, 407.

Dietrich, Veit, on Luther's prayers, 121-

Dilettanteism, its prevalence in Italy, i n
the 17th century, 522.

Discipline, "First Book" of, 357;
" Second Book " of, 378.

Discoveries and inventions, age of, 10.

DoUinger, on the influence of Luther,

163.
Dominicans, rise of the order of the,

31 ; their strife with the Jesuits, 420.
Donatists, laws against the, 222.
Donauworth, seized by Bavaria, 423.
Dorner, his remark on Luther, 163.
Dort, Synod of, English delegates in

the, 434 ; its creed, 474.
Douay, Jesuit establishment in, 414.
Drake, Sir Francis, 382.
Dreux, battle of, 269.
Du Perron, 281.
Duprat, Chancellor, 245.
Du Tillet, 211.
Dyer, on Servetus, 229.

Eck, at the Leipsic disputation, 98;
writes against Luther, 96.

Eckart, Master, his Pantheistic ten-
dency, 66.

Edinburgh, treaty of, 356.

Edward III., of England, 40; protects
WicklifEe, 61.

Edward VI., his precocity, 325.

Egmont, his character, 291; his mis-
sion to Spain, 297; his cruelty to the
iconoclasts, 300; his execution, 303.

Eldership, revived by Calvin, 278.

Elizabeth, Queen, welcomed to the
throne, 330; how treated by Paul
IV., 330 ; her conservatism in religion,
331; her treatment of Roman Cath-
olics, 331; persecution under, 312;
her imperious treatment of her bish-
ops, 346; sends aid to the Scottish
insurgents, 356; her matrimonial
plans for Mary, Queen of Scots,
369 ; refuses to guarantee the succes-
sion, 369 ; her professed indignation
at the treatment of Marj', 380 ; dis-
posed to restore her to her throne,
380; compelled to support Murray
and the lords, 381 ; Catholic combi-
nation against her, 382.

Emperors, Roman, favor the See of
Rome, 2l.

Empire, German, conflict of the Papacy
with the, 26 ; disadvantages of, in
this conflict, 26.

INDEX.

601

Empire, Roman, supposed to be re-
stored by Charlemagne, 23.

England disposed in the 14th century
to check Papal aggressions, 39; mon-
archy, in the 15th century, in, 44;
revival of learning in, 76; jealousy
of the hierarchy in, 319 ; two parties
under Henry VIII., in, 321; rebel-
lion in (1536), 323 ; its desultory con-
flict with Spain, 382; defeats the
Armada, 382 ; its position under the
Stuarts, 433; subservience to Spain
under James I. , 435 ; its influence
under Cromwell, 441; origin of De-
ism in, 543.

England, the Church of, framing of its
articles and prayer-book, 326; are
its articles Calvinistic, 335 ; its opin-
ion on the Eucharist, 340 ; its doctrine
of predestination, 335; makes the
Bible the rule of faith, 462; Calvin's
remarks on, 203 ; its general charac-
ter, 332; its relation to the Protestant
churches abroad, 332; its friendship
for the Swiss churches, 333.

England, the Reformation in, how in-
troduced, 317; the peculiarity of,
317 ; less prominence of its leaders,
318 ; reaction against it at the acces-
sion of Mary, 327.

Enzinas, Jayme, 407.

Episcopacy, little controversy about it
among the first Protestants, 332;
Melancthon's view of, 332; Cranmer's
opinion, 333; Lord Bacon on, 334.

"Episcopal system," in Germany, 494.

Episcopius, 473.

Episcopate, rise of the, 15.

Erasmus, at Oxford, 76 ; the principal
representative of Humanism, 77;
his popularity and fame, 77; com-
pared with Voltaire, 77 ; his attain-
ments, 78 ; compared with Budajus,
78; his patrons and his love of in-
dependence, 78; the foe of supersti-
tion, 79; his experience of monasti-
cism, 79 ; his warfare with monks, 79 ;
his "Praise of Folly," and "Collo-
quies," 79; ofEends the Franciscans,
80; his hatred of Pharisaism, 80;

his opinion of creeds, 80; favors
religious liberty, 81; charged with
heres}', 81; his " Colloquies " con-
demned b}' the University of Paris,
81; his editions of the Fathers, 81;
his edition of the New Testament
and commentaries, 81; his merits
estimated by Strauss, 82; inference
from the reception of his writings,
82 ; on Luther's writings in England,
317; applauds the first movement of
Luther, 127 ; his caution, 127 ; his
remark to the Elector Frederic, 128 ;
a typical latitudinarian, 128; pre-
fers Jerome to Augustine, 128; his
love of peace, 128 ; irritated by the
tone of Luther, 129 ; his quarrel with
Ulrich von Hutten, 129; writes on
free-will against Luther, 129; prog-
ress of his alienation from Luther
and the Reformation, 130; his
description of Farel, 210; on the
influence of Protestantism on litera-
ture, 519.

Erastianism, 500.

Erastians, in the Westminster Assem-
bly, 438 .

Eric XIV., King of Sweden, 177.

Eucharist, controversy on, between
Lutherans and Swiss, 147; history
of the doctrine, 147; Luther's doc-
trine, 148; Zwiugle's doctrine, 148;
efforts to heal the difference, 151;
conference at Marburg, 152 ; mutual
misunderstanding of the parties, 153 ;
Melancthon abandons the Lutheran
doctrine of the, 161; great contro-
verted topic among the reformers,
339; the different views of, 340;
opinion of the Church of England
on, 340; Cranmer's view of, 340;
Jewel's view of, 341.

Europe, its condition after the reform-
ing councils, 44.

Evelyn, on the court of Charles II., 443.

Faber, 398.

Fagius, a professor at Cambridge, 326.

Farel, his character, 209; preaches

Protestantism in Geneva, 2<D9; hoiv

X

602

INDEX.

described by Erasmus, 210. gees to
Bri^onnet, 243.

Ferdinand I., becomes King of Hun-
gary, 189; faithful to the Peace of
Augsburg, 422.

Ferdinand II., Emperor, his fanaticism,
424.

Ferrara, Protestantism in, 392.

Feudal system, occasions the conflict cf
the Papacy and the Empire, 26.

Ficinus, Marsilius, 542.

Flaminio, 392 ; his philosophj', 72.

Florence, Protestantism in, 393.

Fontainebleau, assembly of notables at,
262.

Fontenay, battle of, 85.

France, the Reformation in, emanated
from Humanism, 242; two parties in
the court, 245; its disciples protect-
ed by Margaret, Queen of Navarre,
246 ; doubtful character of its pros-
pects, 248 ; how regarded by Henry
II., 254; its progress in his reign,
254 ; monarchy in the 15th century
in, 44; Rome, Renaissance and the
Reformation offered to its choice,
249; it supports Philip the Fair
against Boniface VIII., 38; what it
acquired by the Peace of Westphalia,
433 ; its literature in the age of Louis
XIV., 525; polity of the Huguenot
churches in, 498; effect of the perse-
cution of the Huguenots on, 454;
effect of religious persecution on,
544.

Francis I., he abandons the Pragmatic
Sanction, 49; his struggle with
Charles V., 49 ; not chosen emperor,
and why, 106 ; grounds of his disa-
greement with Charles V., 106 ; his
strength compared with that of
Charles, 106; captured at Pavia,
116 ; labors to prevent the union of
Protestants and Catholics in Ger-
many, 158; his vacillation with re-
erard to reform, 251 ; its consequences,
251 ; boasts of the religious unity of
France, 252 ; enraged by the placards,
252; invites Melancthon to Paris,
252; the patron of letters, 243; es-

tablishes the College of the Three
languages, 247 ; opposes the Sorbonne
and Parliament, 247; seeks to con-
ciliate the clergy, 248; imprisons
Beda, 248 ; approaches nearer to the
Protestants, 249 ; sanctions the creed
of the Sorbonne, 253; opposes the
union of Catholics and Protestants,
396.

Francis II., his accession, 256; subject
to the Guises, 257 ; death of, 263.

Franciscans, rise of the order of the,
31 ; offended by Erasmus, 80.

Francis of Sickingeu, his defeat and
death, 133.

Franks, alliance of the Papacy with,
22 ; their protection to Boniface, 23.

Frederic Barbarossa, his submission to
Pope Alexander III., 29.

Frederic II., the Emperor, 387; his re-
lation to Innocent III., 30.

Frederic I., of Denmark, his policy
respecting Protestantism, 173.

Frederic V., Elector Palatine, made
King of Bohemia, 424; robbed of
the electorate, 425.

Frederic, Elector of Saxony, founds
the University of Wittenberg, 75;
the imperial office offered to, 105;
why declined by, 105; regent in
North Germany, 106; disposed to
protect Luther, 106: warns Luther
not to leave the Wartburg, 113.

Friends of God, 66.

Frobenius, 82.

Froude, his estimate of Henry VIII.,
324: on the effect of the Reforma-
tion in Scotland, 535.

Galileo, the persecution of, 523.

Gallicanism, its theory of the Papacy,
42; where it places infallibility, 43;
its type of reform, 58 ; four proposi-
tions of, 450.

Gardiner, renounces the doctrine of the
king's supremacy, 328.

Geneva, how governed in the Middle
Ages, 207 ; recognized as a city )f
the empire, 208 ; under the Dukes of
Savoy, 208 ; freed from Savoy, 208

INDEX.

QOi

divided into two parties, 208 ; drives
out the bishop and becomes Protes-
tant, 209; its discontent with the
Protestant regime, 210 ; low state of
morals in, 210 ; banishes Calvin and
the other preachers, 213 ; recalls Cal-
vin, 216 ; system established by Cal-
vin in, 217; its severity, 222; a
religious centre under Calvin, 234;
academy of, 234 ; delivered from fac-
tion, 235 ; an asylum for persecuted
Frenchmen, 253; sends books and
colporteurs into France, 253; how
regarded by Huguenot martyrs, 256.

Genin, on Margaret of Navarre, 246.

Gentili, 478.

George, Duke of Saxony, 99.

German nations, their ready reception
of Christianity, 8; the Christianity
which they received, 8.

Germany, Papal agressions upon, in
the 14th centuiy, 39; influence of
Mystics in, in the 14th century, 67 ;
character of the revival of learning
in, 74; character of its people, 85;
their reception of the Gospel, 85 ; its
early resistance of the clergy, 85;
its religion described by Tacitus, 85 ;
Mysticism in, 86 ; why it gave birth
to the Reformation, 86 ; its political
condition at the beginning of the
Reformation, 103 ; the electoral sys-
tem in, 103; power of the Diet,
103 ; private wars, 103 ; efforts under
Maximilian to improve the constitu-
tion, 104; their result, 104; ferment
and discord in, 104; Charles V.,
elected emperor of, 105; how re-
garded by Charles V., 107; its com-
plaints against Pope Julius II., 45.

Germany, the Keformation in, Diet of
Spires (1520) refuses to stifle it, 116;
alliance of Catholic princes and bish-
ops at Katisbon to check it, 115:
sprang from the people, 422.

"German theology," Luther's estimate
of it, 66.

Gterson, 505 ; his theory of the Episco-
pate, 42.

Ghent, pacification of, 306.

Gibbon, on the influence of Erasmuf
128.

Granvelle, Bishop of Arras, his charac
ter, 291.

Gladstone, on Church and State, 502.

Gomarus, his theology, 473.

Greek Church, more and more distinct
from the Latin, 22.

Gregorovius, on the spirit of national-
ism, 31.

Gregory I., he sends missionaries to
the Anglo-Saxons, 23 ; on the read-
ing of the Bible by the laity, 531.

Gregory VII., supported by divisions in
Germany, 28.

Gregory IX., Pope, his vindictiveness
towards Frederic II., 27.

Gregory X., Pope, his direction to the
German Electors, 29.

Gregory XVI., Pope, 519.

Grimm, on the religion of the Germans,
85.

Grindal, his opinion on the use of vest-
ments by the clergy, 344.

Grotius, on the Atonement, 474; his
efforts for the reunion of Protestants
and Catholics, 482; on the Deca-
logue, 483 ; died a Protestant, 484.

Gualter, his friendship with English
divines, 333.

Guicciardini, on Leo X., 46.

Guise, Claude of, 257.

Guise, the familj- of, their history, 257 ;
their control over Francis II., 258 ;
their connection with Diana of Poit-
iers, 258 ; dissatisfaction of the Bour-
bons and Chatillons with, 258.

Guise, Charles, Cardinal of, 257.

Guise, Duke Francis of, 257; avenges
the Amboise conspiracy, 261; one of
Triumvirate, 264; perpetrates the
massacre of Vassy, 267 ; received in
Paris with acclaim, 267 ; assassinated,
269 ; his assassination condemned by
Calvin, 269.

Guise, Henry of, plots the assassination
of Coligny, 274 ; organizes the Cath-
olic League, 278.

604

INDEX.

Guizot, his view of the Reformation,
4; his judgment respecting Calvin
and Servetus, 231.

Gustavus Adolphus, his intervention
in Germanj', 428 ; how regarded by
Brandenburg and Saxony, 429 ; his
aims, 429 ; his death at Lutzen, 429 ;
his relations to Richelieu, 430.

Hadrian IV., his bull with regard to Ire-
land, 383.

Hallam, on the anti-hierarchical litera-
ture, 3? ; on Luther's bad Latin, 125 ;
on Crtnmer, 322; on the Hampton
Court Conference, 435.

Hamilton, Patrick, 353.

Hamilton, Sir William, 133.

Hampton Court Conference, 434.

Hare, on the character and position of
Luther, 87.

Hazlitt, on the Elizabethan authors,
533.

Heeren, 515.

Hefele, on the massacre of the Albi-
genses, 56 ; his criticism of Llorente,
403.

Hegel, on Luther's Bible, 112; on the
German Reformation, 86.

Heilbronn, Treaty of, 430.

Henry, the Deacon, 54.

Henry XL, of France, his attitude to-
wards Protestantism, 254; engages
in persecution, 255; his death, 255.

Henry IH., of France, his account of
the massacre of St. Bartholomew,
275, 276 ; his character, 278 ; makes
peace with the Huguenots and Poli-
tiques, 278 ; assassinates the Guises,
279; his assassination, 280.

Henry IIL, of Germany, he intervenes
in the affairs of the Papacy, 251.

Henry IV. of France sallies forth
(Prince of Navarre) with Coligny
from Rochelle, 271 ; excommunicated
by Sixtus V., 279 ; his war with the
League, 280 ; wins the battle of Ivry,
280; his contest with Alexander of
Parma, 280; his abjuration, 281;
effects of it, 282; his administration,
283 ; his foreign policy, 283 ; grants

the Edict of Nantes, 283 ; his acces-
sion a blow to the Catholic reaction,
421; his plans at the time of his
death, 447.

Henry IV., of Germany, weakened by
divisions in Germany, 28; at Ca-
nossa, 28.

Henry VII., of England, 44.

Henry VIII., his controversy with Lu-
ther, 124; tone of his book, 126
Luther's letter of apology to, 126
his application for a divorce, 319
made head of the Church of England,
321 ; his divorce and marriage with
Anne Boleyn, 320; his divorce de-
creed by Cranmer, 320; publishes
the Bible in English, 323; proclaims
the ten articles, 323 ; his persecution
of Protestants, 324; executes Anne
Boleyn, 324 ; his marriage with Anna
of Cleve, 324; his character, 325;
effect of his death on religious par-
ties, 325.

Herbert, Lord, 543.

Herzog, on the Waldenses, 57.

Hesse, plan for the Church constitu-
tion of, 492.

Hierarchj', attacked in the 14th century,
41 ; its government discarded by the
Reformers, 488.

High commission, court of, 331.

Hildebrand, his reforming plan, 26.

Hincmar, of Rheims, humbled by Nich-
olas I., 25.

History, modern, most prominent events
of, i.

Holland, benefit of the Reformation to,
535.

Homberg, synod of, 492.

Hoogstraten, his persecution of Reuch-
lin, 74.

Hooper, had resided at Zurich, 342; is
imprisoned, 343; his martyrdom, 328.

Hooker, on the validity of Presbyte-
rian ordination, 334: contrasted with
Whitgift, 339; his treatise, 347; on
Church and State, 348, 500.

Horn, his execution, 303.

Hosack, on Mary, Queen of Scots, 377

Humanism, in Italy, its lack of heroism,

INDEX.

605

389; its polemical ferocity, 390; how
fostered in France, 243.

Humanists, they rally to defend Reuch-
lin, 75 ; their relation to the Univer-
sities, 75.

Huguenots, persecution of, under Henry
II., 254; their number in 1558, 254;
effect of persecution on, 255 ; become
a political party, 256 ; a measure of
toleration granted them (1562), 266;
their union with the great nobles, 259 ;
their long patience, 260 ; plot for their
destruction at Orleans, 263 ; origin of
the name, 264; belonged to what
classes, 264; iconoclasm by the, 268;
acted in self-defense in the civil wars,
268 ; provoked to resistance b}' illegal
violence, 268; anticipate an attack
by taking up arms, 270 ; their forti-
tude after Jarnac and Moncontour,
272 ; how affected by the slaughter
of St. Bartholomew, 272; after the
abjuration of Henry IV., 283; pro-
tected by the Edict of Nantes, 283;
become a defensive party, 284; insur-
rection of (1621), 448; persecution
of, by Louis XIV., 453.

Hume, on the cause of the Reformation,
4.

Hundeshagen, on Luther as a professor,
89.

Hungary, spread of Protestantism in,
189; civil war in, 189; Eucharistic
strife in, 190.

Hunt, on the Calvinism of the English
Reformers, 336.

Huntley, Earl of, 358.

Huss, bj' whom influenced, 61 ; works
on, 61; his spirit and opinions, 62;
Luther's declaration respecting, 99;
safe-conduct of, 62; his execution,
303 ; effect of it in Bohemia, 177.

Hussites, crusades against the, 63.

Hutchinson, Mrs., on the doctrine of
Predestination, 434.

Hutten, he aids Reuchlin, 75; one of
the authors of the Epist. Obsc. Viro-
rum, 75.

Hymns, Luther's, 121, 206 ; Calvin's,
206.

Iceland, Reformation in, 176.

Iconoclasm in Scotland, 355; by the
Huguenots, 268 ; in the Netherlands,
299 ; England spared from, 350.

" Imitation of Christ," character of it,
67.

Indulgence, declaration of, 444

Indulgences, history of, 92; doctrine
of Aquinas respecting, 92 ; connected
with the treasury of supererogatory
merits, by Aquinas and Alexander
of Hales, 92; doctrine of Pope Six-
tus IV., 93; how sold by Tetzel, 93;
Luther's protest against the trade in,
93 ; his doctrine of, 93 ; bull of Leo
X. respecting, 97; Zwingle preaches
against the sale of, 139.

Independents, their rise and tenets,
347 ; in the Westminster Assembly,
437 ; attain to power, 439 ; their pol-
ity in New England, 507.

Index Prohibitorius, 405, 526; au-
thors in the, 527.

Innocent HI., carries the Papal power
to its height, 29 ; his idea of a Papal
theocracy, 29 ; on the relation of the
Church to the State, 29; raises up,
and excommunicates Otho IV., 30;
elevates Frederic II., 30; reduces
John of England to submission, 30;
his claims, 30; his legates, 31; sup-
ported by the mendicant orders, 31 ;
his crusade against the Albigenses,
56 ; for the enforcement of uniform-
ity, 223.

Innocent Vni., Pope, his character, 45.

Innocent X., his controversy'' with Louis
XIV., 450.

Inquisition used against the Albigenses,
56 ; its form in the Netherlands, 297 ;
its effect, 297; reorganized in Italy,
403 ; its vigilance in Spain, 409.

Inquisitors, origin of the term, 223.

Interim, Leipsic, 165; opposed by Cal-
vin, 214.

Intolerance, history of, 222; in the
Roman Empire, 223; in the Middle
Ages, 223; influence of the Mosaic
legislatron on, 223; not favored by
Zwing.e, 224; expressions of Luthei

606

INDEX.

against, 224; advocated by Calvin,
224; in England under Elizabeth,
312; opposed by William of Orange,
313; exeri;ised in Protestant coun-
tries, 516; incongruous with the ge-
nius of Protestantism, 517; how far
Catholics are responsible for, 518.

Ireland, Protestantism in, 383; Protes-
tant hierarchy established in, 383;
efiEect of the Catholic reaction on,
384 ; Lord Bacon's advice respecting,
384.

Irenaeus, on the visible church, 17.

Italy, revival of learning in, 67 ; char-
acter of the revival of learning in,
72; religion in, in the 15th century,
73; tone of ethical feeling in, in the
15th century, 73; influence of its
culture in France, 243; its condition
in the 15th century, 386 ; effect of
classical studies in, 389; character
of Humanists in, 389 ; how changed
intellectually after the Reformation,
412; interest in natural science
springs up in, 412; effect of the
Catholic reaction on, 412; Antitrini-
tarians in, 477.

Jacob, on the origin of the Episcopate,
15.

Jageilon, house of, 189.

James V., of Scotland, Protestant mar-
tyrs in his reign, 353.

James I., of England, his birth, 372;
crowned at Stirling, 378; his reign,
433; his treatment of the Puritans,
434; at the Hampton Court Con-
ference, 434; sends delegates to the
Synod of Dort, 434; his attempt to
impose Episcopacy on the Scottish
("hurch, 435; his opinion of Laud,
436.

James II., his arbitrary principles,
444; his court of high commission,
444 ; his declaration for liberty of con-
science, 444; loses his crown, 445.

Jansenism, origin of, 451.

Jacsenists, persecution of them, 453;
on the reading of the Bible by the
laity, 531.

Jansenius, 451.

Jeffries, Judge, 529.

Jerome, of Prague, his execution, 62.

Jesuits, order of, its origin, 398; its
organization, 400; its mfluence, 400;
its doctrine of regicide, 505; its
educational influence, 413; result of
its efforts against Protestantism,
414; its influence in France, 414;
at Douaj', 414; in Sweden, 414; in
Austria, 423; effect of its training
on the intellect, 529; decay of its
zeal, 452; its lax ethical maxims,
452; its strife with the Dominicans,
420; its suppression, 517.

Jesuitism, of Loyola, not that of the
"Provincial Letters," 400.

Jewel, his opinion on the Eucharist,
341.

John, Don, of Austria, his government
in the Netherlands, 306 ; his death,
306.

John of Damascus, teaches transub-
stantiation, 147.

John, King of England, humbled by
Innocent III., 30.

John of Paris, maintains the rights of
the civil authority, 40.

John XXII., his treatment of the Em-
peror Louis of Bavaria, 39 ; charged
with heresy by the Minorites, 41.

John XXin., attempts to control the
Council of Pisa, 43.

John of Savoy, bishop of Geneva, 208.

John, Elector of Saxony, his noble con-
duct at Augsburg (1530), 120.

John III., king of Sweden, 177.

John Frederic, Elector, captured at
Miihlberg, 164; released, 168.

John of Zapolya, 189.

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, on convocation
in the English Church, 504.

Jonas, Justus, 341.

Jortin, his Life of Erasmus, 77.

Julius II., Pope, his character, 45;
complaints of Germany against, 45;
covert reference to, in the "Collo-
quies" of Erasmus, 80.

Julius III., Pope, favorable to Charles
v., 166.

INDEX.

60^

Jus Eeformandi, granted in the Peace
of Augsburg-, 168; how modified in
the treaty of Westphalia, 432.

Justification, departure from the Pau-
line doctrine of, 16; spread in Italy
of the Protestant doctrine of, 392;
Protestant doctrine of, in Spain, 408 ;
first point of controvers}' between
Catholics and Protestants, 459 ; Prot-
estant doctrine of, 461 ; Komau Cath-
olic doctrine of, 463.

Kampschulte, his Life of Calvin, 192.

Keble, John, his edition of Hooker, 334,

Kempis, Thomas a, his '' Imitation of
Christ," 67.

Kepler, his view of Astrology, 3.

Knox, John, returns to Scotland
(1559), 353; his early life, 354; in
the castle of St. Andrews, 354; called
to preach, 354; a captive in France,
354; preaches in North England,
354 ; declines a bishopric in England,
354; at Frankfort, 354; at Geneva,
355; his book on the "Regimen of
Women," 355; returns to Scotland
(1555), 355; preaches against idola-
try, 355; detested by Elizabeth,
356 ; his disagreement with the lords,
357; his opposition to the Queen's
mass, 359; his interview with her,
360; his debate with her on the limits
of civil obedience, 361; preaches
against dancing at Holyrood, 363;
another interview with Mary, 363 ;
further discussion with her, 364;
preaches against her projected mar-
riage, 365 ; she summons him to her
presence, 366 ; cited before the privy
council, 366; his description of the
scene, 366; temporary breach with
Mun-ay, 367; his public prayer for
the Queen, 367; no advocate of tol-
eration, 368; his form of worship,
379 ; his last days, 380.

LiA Chaise, 454.

-laical spirit, how manifested before

the Reformation, 83.
Lainez, advocates popular sovereignty,

505.

Lambert, his Church constitution for
Hesse, 492; Luther's judgment of
it, 493.

Languages, rise of the national, 33.

Langland, William, his poem, 34.

La Renaudie, 260.

Lasco, John a, his career, and work in
Poland, 187.

Lateran, 5th Council of the, 72.

Latimer, his martyrdom, 328.

Laud, maintains a jure divino Episco-
pacy, 335; his policy, 436; James I.'s
opinion of, 436 ; his censorship of tho
press, 528.

Laurent, his view of the Reformation,
6 ; on the state of religion in the 16th
century, 8.

Law, International, progress of the
science of, 540.

Lawrence, Archbishop, on the Angli-
can articles, 335.

League, Catholic, in France, organized,
278; it commences war, 278; refuses
to acknowledge Henrj' IV., 279; war
with Henrj' IV., 280; its relations to
Spain, 280 ; Catholic, in Germany,
(1538), 157; Catholic, in Germany,
(1009), 424.

League of Smalcald, formed, 156.
weakened by discord, 158.

Learning, the revi\'al of, begins in
Italy, 67; influence of Dante, Pe-
trarch, and Boccaccio on, 67.

Lecky, on religious persecution, 225.

Lef evre, his writings, 243 ; his doctrines,
244; flies to Strasburg, 245; on geo-
graphical discoveries and reform, 88-

Legates, sent out by Innocent III., 31.

Legists, their anti-hierarchical spirit,
36; the allies of monarchy, 36.

Leibnitz, his efforts for the reunion of
churches, 484; his correspondence
with Landgrave Ernest, and with
Bossuet, 484; his remedy for divis-
ions, 485; his ecclesiastical position,
486.

Leipsic, Disputation at, 98; its effect
on Luther, 99.

Leo I., his influence on the council of
Chalcedon, 19; founds the Roman

608

INDEX.

primacy on succession from Peter,
20; liis character, 21.

Leo X., calls the Reformation a quarrel
of monks, 3; Luther's letter to him,
100; excommunicates Luther, 101;
nis bull on the subject of indulgences,
97; his opposition to the election of
Charles V., Ill ; his agreement with
him, 111; insists on the burning of
heretics, 223 ; his character, 46 ; Sarpi
on, 46 ; Pallavicini on, 47 ; Muratori
on, 47; Guicciardini on, 47; Roscoe
on, 47.

Leo, H., his view of the Reformation, 4.

Le Tellier, father, 453, 455.

Leyden, siege of, 305; the Pilgrim
church of, 439.

L'Hospital, favors toleration, 264.

Liberty, religious, favored by Erasmus,
II. "Sue Intolerance."

Libertines, the party of, at Geneva,
220; their strength when Servetus
was tried, 230; finally crushed by
Calvin, 233.

Lightfoot, J., 438.

Lightfoot, J. B., on the origin of the
Episcopate, 15.

Lingard, on Cranmer, 329.

Literature, character of the vernacular,
in the Middle Ages, 33 ; its decline in
Spain, 520; in Italy, 521; English,
in the Elizabethan age, 533.

Littr^, on the word "Huguenot," 264.

Livonia, Protestantism in, 185.

Llorente, his history of the Inquisition,
403; Hefele's criticism of, 403.

Lollards, in England before the Refor-
mation, 316; listen to John Knox,
315.

Lombards, they threaten Rome, 23.

Longjumeau, peace of, 270.

Lope de Vega, 520.

Lords of the congregation, determine
to stop persecution, 355; refuse to
devote church property to schools,
etc., 357.

Lorenzo II., of Florence, 256.

Lorraine, Cardinal Charles of, his rea-
sons for desiring a colloquy at Poissy.
265.

Lothair II., disciplined by Nicholas I ,
25.

Louis of Bavaria, how treated by John
XXII., 39.

Louis de Berquin, his death, 248.

Louis, Count of Nassau, 297 ; defeated
and slain, 305.

Louis II., King of Hungary, his death,
189.

Louis IX., intercedes for Frederic II., 27.

Louis XIV., his alliance with Charles
II., 443; his aims, 450; his contro-
versy with Innocent X., 450; sup-
ported by the French clergy (1682),
450 ; agreement with Innocent XII.,
451 ; his persecution of the Hugue-
nots, 453 ; under the influence of La
Chaise, 454; revokes the edict of
Nantes, 454; success and ultimate
failure of his foreign policy, 455.

Louisa, of Savoy, 245.

Loyola, Ignatius, his history, 398; his
"Spiritual Exercises," 399.

Liibeck, the Reformation in, 174.

Lutzen, battle of, 429.

Luther, message of Maximilian I. re-
specting, 49; on the opinions of
Wessel, 63; a student of Occam, 71;
his doctrine of the Lord's Supper
suggested by D'Ailly, 71; the hero
of the Reformation, 87; his birth
and parentage, 87; studies at Mag-
deburg, Eisenach, Erfurt, 88 ; enters
the convent at Erfurt, 88 ; his motive,
88; made professor at Wittenberg,
89 ; his studies and growing reputa-
tion, 89; his religious experience,
89; aided by Staupitz, 90; studies
Augustine and Tauler, 90 ; sees that
justification is by faith, 90; visits
Rome, 90; his delight in the Bible,
91 ; gradual progress of his mind, 91 ;
preaches against Tetzel,92; posts his
ninety-five Theses, 92 ; their contents,
93; conscientious in his movement,
94; had no thought of renouncing the
Pope or the Church, 94; commotion
caused by his Theses, 95; replies to
the attacks of Prierias, Tetzel, and
Eck, 96; is summoned to Rome, 96;

INDEX.

609

interviews with Cajetan at Augsburg,
96; declines to retract his declara-
tions, 96 ; appeals to the Pope, better
informed, 96 ; his doctrine denied in
a bull of Leo X., 97 ; appeals from the
Pope to a general council, 97 ; con-
cludes a truce with Miltitz, 97 ; takes
part in the Leipsic Disputation, 97;
accompanied by Melancthon, 97; his
geniality and humor, 98 ; his declara-
tions at Leipsic , 99 ; how influenced by
the disputation, 99 ; he appeals to the
laity ; his address to the nobles, 100 ;
strikes at the distinction between lay-
man and priest, 100 ; his treatise on the
Babylonian captivity of the Church,
100; attacks transubstantiation, 100;
his letter to Leo X., 100; his sermon
on the freedom of a Christian man,
101; his mind in a state of transition
in respect to Papal and Church
authority, 101; excommunicated,
101; bums the Bull, 101; political
sympathy with, 102; literary support
of, 102; seconded by Ulrich Von
Hutten, 103; protected by Frederic
the Wise, 106 ; summoned to the Diet
of Worms, 108; his journey, 108;
appears before the Diet, 109 ; why he
asked for delay, 110; refuses tore-
cant, 110; decree against him, 111;
motives of it. 111; under the ban of
the Church and the empire, 112; in
the Wartburg, 112; translates the
New Testament, 112; character of
his translation of the Bible, 112;
returns to Wittenberg, 112; quells
the disorders there, 114; his conser-
vatism with regard to rites, 113 ; his
reply to the warning of the elector,
113; his herculean labors, 114; his
rapid composition, 114 ; his do-
mestic character, 124 ; his opposition
to armed resistance, 118; at Co-
burg, 119; his letters from there,
120; encourages Melancthon, 121;
his prayers, 121; on ceremonies, 122;
his marriage, 123 ; commotion caused
by it, 123 ; his controversy with Henry
VIII., 124; his vehemence, 124; his

39

letter of apology to Henry VIII.,
126; his relations to Erasmus, 127;
his opinion of Jerome and Augus-
tine, 128; irritates Erasmus, 129;
controversy with him on the will, 129 ;
his relations with him aftersvards,
130; how far right in his judgments
of Erasmus, 131; easily misrepre-
sented, and why, 132; on the peas-
ants' war, 134 ; contrasted with Zwin-
gle, 144; a man of the people, 145;
but stands aloof from politics, 145,
preceded Zwingle in breaking with
the Papacy, 146 ; his doctrine of the
Lord's Supper, 148; his hostility to
the Zwinglian doctrine, 149 ; grounds
of it, 149; derives arguments from
Occam, 151; at the conference at
Marburg, 152; softened feeling to-
wards the Zwinglians, 153 ; renews his
attack upon them, 153 ; waives his op-
position to armed resistance, 156; his
death, 159; his last days, 159; his
conflict with the jurists, 160; his re-
lations to Melancthon, 160 ; his power
and influence, 163 ; remarks of Dor-
ner and DolUnger on, 163 ; his letter
to Polish Lutherans, 186; Calvin
compared with, 204; Calvin's re-
marks on, 214; his opinion of Cal-
vin's letter to Sadolet, 216; on the
sermons of Huss, 62; his hymn on
the martyrs of Brussels, 287; recep-
tion of his writings in England, 317;
his writings circulated in Italy, 390;
in Spain, 407; his commentary on
the Galatians, 461; his catechisms,
491; on the Synod of Homburg,
493; on the nature of laws, 494; on
the observance of Sunda}', 483; on
Aristotle, 536; his criticism of the
canon, 545.

Lutheranism, not suited to France, 253.

Lutherans, effect of their hostility to
Calvinism on the, 422.

Macaulaj', on Cranmer, 321 ; on Church
and State, 503; his comparison of
Catholic and Protestant nations, 510

Macchiavelli, his "Prince," 73.

610

INDEX.

Mackintosh, on Henr3' VIII., 324.

Madrid, Peace of (1526), 116.

Magdebu''g, resists the Interim and
the Emperor, 165.

Mair, .John, 354.

Manicheans, 55; laws against, 223.

Marburg, conference at, 152.

Margaret, Queen of Navarre, her court
visited by Calvin, 196 ; her mystical
and reformatory tendencies, 245; her
writings, 246 ; protects the Protes-
tants, 246 ; Calvin's letter to, 247.

Margaret, of Parma, made Regent in
the Netherlands, 291; her dislike of
Alva, 301.

Margaret, of Savoy, Regent in the
Netherlands, not disposed to persecu-
tion, 288.

Maria Queen of Hungary, Regent in
the Netherlands, 288.

Mark, William de la, heads the " sea-
beggars," 304.

Marot, Clement, in Ferrara, 392; his
version of the Psalms, 254 ; they are
sung by martyrs, 256.

Marsilius of Padua, his "Defensor
Pacis," 41.

Martel, Charles, defeats the Moham-
medans, 22.

Martin V., his conduct after he was
chosen Pope, 43.

Martin, Henri, on Zwingle, 143; on the
slaughter of St. Bartholomew, 276.

Martyr, Peter, called to England, 326 ;
on predestination, 336; becomes a
Protestant, 394 ; flies from Italy, 404.

Mary, Queen of England, restores Ca-
tholicism, 327; her marriage with
Philip II., 327; becomes unpopular,
329.

Mary, Regent of Scotland, her course
towards the Protestants, 353; her
death, 356.

Mary de Medici, seeks an alliance with
Spain, 447.

Mary, Queen of Scots, peril to Eng-
land from her pretensions, 352 ; re-
turns to Scotland, 357; her qual-
ities, 357; her policy respecting
religion, 358 ; celebrates mass in her

chapel, 358; her relations to Murray,
358; crushes the Earl of Huntley, 358;
debates with Knox on the obligations
of a subject, 361 ; holds another inter-
view with Knox, 363; sends for him
again, 364; her projected niamage
with a Catholic Prince, 365 ; it is pub-
licly opposed by Knox, 365; she calls
him to account, 366 ; cites Knox be-
fore the privy council, 366; her mar-
riage with Darnley, 369 ; Elizabeth's
displeasure with it, 369; alarm of the
Protestants, 369 ; they take up arms,
369; she is disgusted with her hus-
band, 370, 372; escapes from Holy-
rood to Dunbar, 371; her attachment
to Bothwell, 372; she visits Darnley,
373; takes him to Kirk-of -field, 374;
her abduction by Bothwell, 374 ; she
marries him, 375; captured at Car-
berry-Hill, 375; insulted by the peo-
ple, 375; a prisoner in Lochleven,
375 ; Melville on her attachment to
Bothwell, 376; did she write the
"casket letters?" 376; abdicates
and appoints Murray regent, 378;
escapes from Lochleven, 380; de-
feated at Langside, 381 ; escapes to
England, 381 ; the hope of the ene-
mies of Elizabeth, 381; her execu-
tion, 381.

Maryland, religious liberty in, 508.

Massacre of St. Bartholomew, how
planned, 275 ; number killed in Paris
and elsewhere, 277 ; joy in Rome and
Madrid, 277 ; its effect on the Hu-
guenots, 280.

Massachusetts, alleged intolerance in,
440.

Mathesius, on the religious instruction
given to youth before the Reforma-
tion, 88.

Maurice, Pr.nce of Orange, 310; his
quarrel with the Elector John Fred-
eric, 159 ; his character, 159 ; his
defection, 159 ; turns against Charles
v., and why, 166; chases him out
of Innspruck, 167.

Maurus, Rabanus, denied transubstan
tiation, 148.

INDEX.

611

Maximilian I., his message about Lu-
ther, 49.

Maximilian II., inclined to Protestant-
ism, 422.

Maximilian, of Bavaria, leader of the
CJatholic League, 424.

Mayenne, Duke of, 280.

Mazarin, his policy, 450.

Meaux, spirit of reform in, 245.

Medici, Julian and Lorenzo de, plot
for their assassination, 45.

Melancthon, his character, 97 ; Reuch-
lin's prophecy respecting, 97; his be-
lief m astrology, 3 ; on the year of Lu-
ther's birth, 87 ; his doings at the Diet
of Augsburg (15-30), 119 ; cheered by
Luther, 121 ; at the conference at
Marburg, 152; changes his opinion
on the Euchai'ist and Predestina-
tion, 160; his changed relations to
Luther, 160; his funeral address on
Luther, 162 ; his connection with the
Leipsic Interim, 165 ; his concessions,
165 ; offended by a letter of Calvin,
204; Calvin's affection for, 214; op-
poses Calvin's doctrine of Predesti-
nation, 214; on the execution of Ser-
vetus, 232 ; invited to Paris by Francis
I., 252; his commentary on the Ro-
mans, 461: on the spread of Protes-
tantism in Italy, 394 ; on the observ-
ance of Sunday, 483.

Melville, Andrew, 380.

Melville, James, his description of
Knox, 380.

Melville, Sir James, on the policy pre-
scribed to Mary of Scotland, 359 ;
on the abduction of Mary, 375 ; on
her love to Bothwell, 375.

Mendicant orders, how treated by Chau-
cer, 35.

Menno, his influence on the Anabap-
tists, 311.

Mennouites, their character, 311.

Mersenne, 544.

Methodius, a missionary in Bohemia,
178.

Michelet, on Catharine de Medici, 275;
on Richelieu, 450.

Middle Ages, Christianity of the, 8;

characterized, 83 ; character of religion
in the, 52.

Mignet, on the vacillation of Francis
I., 251.

Millenary petition, 434.

Milman, on the anti-hierarchical spirit
of the early vernacular literature, 34.

Militz, 61.

Miltitz, his negotiation with Luther, 97.

Milton, on the slavery of the press in
Italy, 527; his visit to Galileo, 527;
on the liberty of the press, 528; on
forbidding the mass, 528; on Armin-
ius, 528.

Minorites, principles of the, 41.

Missions, Protestant and Catholic, 550.

Mohammedanism, its progress in Eu-
rope, 22 ; checked by Charles Martel,
22.

Mohler, on Protestantism and Rational-
ism, 6.

Molanus, his correspondence with Bos-
suet, 484.

Monarchy, its victory over feudalism,
11 ; the watchword of the opponents
of the Papacy in the 14th century,
40; consolidation of, in Europe in
the 15th century, 44; Dante's treat-
ise on, 40.

Molina, his system, 451.

Monasticism, opposition of Erasmus to,
79 ; origin of, 79.

Montaigne, his father on the tendency
of the Reformation, 6 ; his scepticism,
251.

Montmorenci, outstripped by the
Guises, 258; one of the Triumvirate,
264.

Morata, Professor at Ferrara, 393.

More, Sir Thomas, at Oxford, 76 ; his
"Utopia," 76; the execution of, 325.

Mornay, Du Plessis, his disputation
with Du Perron, 283.

Morone, on the spread of Protestantism
in Itah^, 393 ; persecution of, 406.

Morton, Earl of, 373.

Miihlberg, battle of, 164.

Murray, conducts the government of
Scotland under Mary, 359 ; incurs
the displeasure of Knox, 367 ; takes

612

INDEX.

up anns on the Queen's marriage,
369; took no part in the murder of
Darnlej', 373 ; Spottiswoode's opinion
of, 377; his perspicacity and firm-
ness, 380; brings fo ward the "cas-
ket letters," 381.

Mj'sticisin, the nature of, 65 ; in An-
selm, 65; of Brifonnet and his
friends, 243.

Mystics, in the Middle Ages, 65 ; works
on the, 65 ; the pioneers of the Ref-
ormation, 67.

Names, how rendered into Greek and
Latin, 97.

Nantes, Edict of, established, 283; its
revocation, 454.

Naples, Protestantism in, 394, 395.

Nationalism, rise and characteristics of ,
31; exhibited by the Legists, 36;
opposed to Boniface VIIL, 36.

Navarre, Henry d'Albret, king of, 246.

Navarre, Anthony of, his opposition to
the Guises, 258; his character and
aims, 258 ; won over to the Catholics,
267; his death, 269.

Neander, on the Middle Ages, 9 ; on the
origin of the Episcopate, 15; on the
religious feeling of the German race,
86; on Zwingle, 143; on the origin
and nature of Rationalism, 546.

Nemours, Duchess of, 274.

Nepotism of the Popes, 45.

Netherlands, sects in, before the Refor-
mation, 57; thrift and intelligence
of the, 285; relation to the German
Empire (1518), 286; how Protestant-
ism was introduced into the, 280;
persecution under Charles V., 287;
number of martyrs under Charles V.
in the, 289; first complaints against
Philip IL, 292; the inquisition in
the, 294; hatred of the Spaniards
in the, 297 ; icononoclasm in the, 299 ;
"Council of Blood," in the, 302;
submission of the Catholic provinces
to Philip, 309; preponderance of the
Calvinists in the, 311.

New England, cause of its settlement,
439.

Nicholas L, Pope, his power, 25.

Nicholas V., Pope, his grant to Al-
phonso. King of Portugal, 47.

Nicole, 452.

Nimeguen, Treaty of, 455.

Nominalism, its effect on scholasticism,
70.

Nordlingen, battle of, 431.

Norfolk, his rebellion, 381.

Norway, the Reformation in, 175.

Nostradamus, the astrologer, 3.

Nuremberg,Diet of (1522), preseLtsone
hundred complaints against the See
of Rome, 115 ; Diet of (1524 ), remands
the subject of the Worms decree to
the several princes, 115; Peace of,
(1532), 57.

Occam, William of, maintains the
cause of the civil authority, 40; his
nominalism and sceptical philosophy,
70; his relation to Luther's doctrine
of the Eucharist, 151.

Ochino, becomes a Protestant, 394 ; flies
from Italy, 404 ; a professor at Ox-
ford, 326 ; a Unitarian, 478.

Qilcolampadius, his character, 143; on
the doctrine of Servetus, 227.

Oldenburg, Count of, 175.

Old Testament, character of the re-
ligion of the, 14.

Olivetan, Peter, 194.

"Opposants," 453.

Oratory of Divine Love, its members
and spirit, 392.

Orders, rise of the mendicant, 31 ; in-
dicate a revival of religious zeal, 397.

Osiander, 322.

Otho I., the Holy Roman Empire be-
gins with him, 25.

Otho III., intervenes in the affairs of
the Papacy, 25.

Otho IV., excommunicated by Inno-
cent III., 30.

Oxenstiern, 430.

Palestrina, 412.

Palfrey, his history of New Eig'dka^

441.
Pallavicini, on Leo X., 46.

INDEX.

613

Pantheism, its relation to Deism, 544.

Papacy, its relation to the sacerdotal
order, 14; its growth favored by
political circumstances, 21; its alli-
ance with the Franks, 22; its relation
to Charlemagne, 23; how affected by
the divisions of his empire, 24; ex-
alted by the Pseudo-Isidorian Decre-
tals, 24; period of Pornocracy in
the, 25 ; intervention of Otho I., Otho
III., and Henry III., iu the affairs
of tha, 25 ; Hildebrand's idea of the,
26 ; '.s conflict with the Empire, 26 ;
its advantages in this conflict, 27;
aided in the conflict by divisions in
Germany, 27 ; victory of the, 28 ; cul-
mination of its power, 29 ; how affected
by the rule of celibacy, 29 ; theory of
the, advanced by Innocent III., 29;
nature of its struggle with the Em-
pire, 32 ; benefits of the, in the Middle
Ages, 32; how treated by Dante, Pe-
trarch, and Boccaccio, 34; reaction
against the, 36 ; decline of its prestige,
38 ; in the period of Babylonian cap-
tivitj', 38 ; its aggressions upon Ger-
many, England, and other countries,
38; the Great Schism, 42; Galilean
theory of the, 42; spirit of the, in the
15th century, 44; secularizing of the,
50; character of the in the Middle
Ages, 50; its weakness under and
after Louis XIV., 457.

Parkman, his work on the Jesuits in
America, 550.

Parliament, the French, supports or-
thodoxy, 242, 244; the Scottish,
contirms the establishment of Prot-
estantism, 378.

Parma, Alexander of, in command in
the Netherlands, 306; the Catholic
provinces submit to him, 310 ; Philip's
design to dismiss him, 310; his con-
tef<t with Henry IV. in France, 280.

Paris, a seat of Catholic fanaticism,
269,

Paris, University of, condemns the
" Colloquies " of Erasmus, 81.

Pascal, his "Provincial letters," 452,
525.

Passau, Treaty of, 167.

Patrick, Bishop, 446.

Paul, the Apostle, his Catholic inter-
pretation of Christianity, 14.

Paul III., Pope, his belief in astrology,
3; encourages Francis I. to aid the
Protestants, 49 ; allied with Francis
I. against Charles V., 165; friendly
to the Catholic reforming party, 395 ;
his Commissions of Reform, 395;
transfers the Council of Trent to
Bologna, 401.

Paul IV., his administration, 411, his
treatment of Elizabeth, 411 ; his re-
lations to Queen Mary of England,
330.

Paulicians, 55.

Pavia, battle of, 116.

Pepin, his usurpation, 23; delivers the
Papacy, 23.

Pepys, his diary, 443.

Perrin, Amy, 212; leads an insurrec-
tion, 233.

Peter, first mention of him as Bishop of
Rome, 18.

Peter of Bruys, 54.

Petersen, Olaf, and Lawrence, preach
the Reformation in Sweden, 176.

Petit, J., 505.

Petrarch, on the Papacy, 34; his re-
lation to the revival of Learning, 67 ;
on the corruption of the Papacy,
388.

Pfefferkorn, 75.

Philip, the Fair, his contest with Boni-
face VIII., 37; on the usurpations of
the clergy, 37; supported by his
realm, 38.

Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, tries to
unite the Lutherans and the Swiss,
152 ; restores the Duke of Wiirtem-
burg, 157 ; his double marriage, 157,
492 ; surrenders himself to Charles
v., 164; released, 168.

Philip II., of Spain, his schemes cause
alarm in France (1570), 272; his
relations to the League in France,
280; his character, 289; an implaca-
ble enemy of religious dissent, 289;
^■s unpopularity in the Netherlands,

614

INDEX.

290; appoints Margaret of Parma
Regent, 201 ; leaves regiments in the
Netherlanils, 292; increases tlie num-
ber of bislioprics there, 292; revives
the persecuting edicts of Charles V.,
294; effe(t of his persecution in the
Netherlands, 297 ; professes to miti-
gate the persecution, 298; his perfidy,
299; sends Alva to the Netherlands
301 ; condemns all the people of the
Netherlands as heretics, 302; will
not grant toleration, 305; reply of
William of Orange to his charges,
307 ; his design to dismiss Parma,
310; discomfiture of, 311; carries
England into war with France, 330 ;
his death, 330.

"Pierce the Ploughman's Crede," 34.

Piers' Ploughman, the vision of, 34.

Pisa, the Council of, 43.

Piotrkow, Diet of, 186.

Pius IV., his character, 411.

Pius v., his character andpolicj', 411;
requests Alva to destroy Geneva,
302.

Pius IX., his Encyclical Letter, 518.

Plymouth, settlement at, 439; settled
by Separatists, 440 ; their agreement
with the Massachusetts settlers, 440.

Poggio, 222 ; his character, 390.

Poissy, Colloquy of, 265; Beza's ap-
pearance at, 265 ; result of the, 265.

Poland, its condition before the Ref-
Drmation, 184; how Protestantism
was introduced into, 184; its pro-
gress in, 185 ; dissension of Protes-
tants in, 187.

Pole, Cardinal, how treated by the
Catholic Reaction, 406 ; deprived of
his legatine office, 330.

Politiques, rise of the Party of, 277.

Political Economy, rise of the science
of, 540.

Polity, the Lutheran, its main features,
491 ; the reformed, 495.

Pomponatius, 542.

Popes, origin of their temporal king-
dom, 24 ; their infallibility asserted,
30; their character in the fifteenth
century, 45; their relation to the
temporal power, 504.

Priemunire, statute of, passed, 40; t>*'
vived by Henry VIII., 320.

Pragmatic Sanction, history of the, 48:
repeal of the, 49.

Prague, University of, declares for the
Utraquists, 179.

Prayer-Book of the Church of Eng-
land, framed, 326.

Predestination, Calvm's doctrine of,
200; Zwingle's view of, 200; Calvin's
view compared with Augustine's,
201; with Luther's, 202; in the Lu-
theran theolog}% 202 ; views of Angli-
can reformers on, 335 ; they are not
rigid in the assertion of, 338; discus-
sion of, among the Protestants, 472.

Presbyterianism, how far legalized in
England, 438; established in Scot-
land, 446 ; its form in Geneva, 497 ;
in France, 498: in Scotland, 498.

Presbj-terians, how treated by Charles
II., 442; their jealousy of State
control, 499.

Prescott, on William of Orange, 309.

Prierias, Sylvester, writes against
Luther, 96.

Priesthood, idea of, connected with the
ministry, 16.

Professio Filei (Tridentiiie), 402.

Protest at the Diet of Spires (1529), 117.

Protestantism, its positive element, 9;
its objective side, 9 ; its source in the
Scriptures, 10 : a practical assertion
of private judgment, 10; rejects
Papal and priestly authority, 13;
characterized, 54; spread of (from
1532), 157 ; from the Peace of Augs-
burg (1555), 169; wh}' its progress
was checked, 415 ; less acceptable in
Southern Europe, 419 ; variations of
its polity, 487; its spirit in the seven-
teenth century, 543 ; its struggle in
the seventeenth century, 421 ; it-s in-
fluence on liberty, 513 ; its political
effect on Germany, 514; in England,
514; in America, 515; effect of the
suppression of it on literature in
Spain, 520; in Italy, 522; its relation
to the fine arts, 540 ; spirit of prog-
ress in, 551; multiplying of sects
under, 548; in Italy: circumstances

INDEX.

615

favorable and unfavorable to, 385 ;
forced to conceal itself, 391 ; a thing
of degrees, 391; its spread, 392; see
"Reformation," under the separate
reformers, and under the different
countries.

Protestants, origin of the name, 117 ; do
not submit to the action of the Diet
of Spires (1529), 118; their number
in Spain, 408 ; their divisions aid the
Catholic Reaction, 415; their doc-
trine of the Church, 464.

Protestant nations compared with Cath-
olic, 510.

Provence, the bards of, 33.

"Provincial Letters," 452.

Provisors, statute of, 40.

Prussia, its rise, 456.

Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, character
and effect of the, 24.

Puritans, their origin and tenets, 342;
their objections to the vestments,
342; their doctrines as expounded
by Cartwright, 345; under James I.,
433, 434; ejection of their ministers
(1662), 442.

Puritan controversy, the merits of it,
348; Lord Bacon's judgment, 349.

Rabelais, the spirit of.his writings, 250.

Radbert, 147.

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 435, 533.

Ramus, Peter, 499.

Rationalism, German, its two types,
545 ; in the Deistic form, 546 ; Pan-
theistic, 546.

Ratisbon, Catholic alliance formed at,
115 ; conference at, 157.

Ratramnus, denied transubstantiation,
148.

Ranke, on Tycho Brahe and astrol-
ogy, 3; on Leo X., 47; his criticism
of Davila, 260; on the conspiracy
of Amboise, 261; on the Orleans
plot, 263; on the slaughter of St.
Bartholomew, 276; on Henry IV.
and the Huguenots, 283; on the
"Casket Letters" and the murder
of Darnley, 377; on Sarpi and Pal-
laviciui, 400 ; on the absence of the

spirit of propagandism among Prot-
estants, 416.

Reformation, long in preparation, 2;
agency of individuals in the, 2; its
origin and nature a subject of contro-
versy, 2 ; astrological tlieory of the, 2 ;
called by Leo X. a quarrel of monks,
3; not merely a continuance of the
strife of popes and emperors, 4 ;
not merely a political event, 4 ;
Guizot's view of, 4; an improvement
of religion, 5; regarded by some as
a step towards Rationalism, 6; a
religious event, 8; its fundamental
character, 8; a reaction of Christian-
ity as Gospel against Christianity as
law, 9; tends to intellectual liberty,
10; not an isolated phenomenon,
10; age of the, characterized, 10; two-
fold aspect of the, 11 ; chronological
limits of the, 12; Bellarmine, Adrian
VI., and Erasmus, on the need of,
13 ; how it spread from Germany,
170; allies itself with democracy in
the towns of the Hansa, 174; fore-
runners of the, how classified, 53;
causes and omens of the, 54seq. ; vari-
ous influences in the preparation of it,
84 ; could not come from Humanism,
132; its spread in Germany (1524),
115; its influence on science and
literature, 519 ; complaints of Eras-
mus, 519 ; its effect on literature in
England, 532; in Germany, 534;
its effect on schools in England,
534; in Germany, 534; its benefit
to Holland, 535; to Scotland, 535;
political consequences of the, 513; its
effect on religion, 541 ; its effect on
philosophj', 536.

Reformers, Galilean, held to priestly
authority, 59.

Reformers, radical, 59.

Reforms, efforts to effect, in the fif-
teenth century, 42.

Regency, German Council of, refuses
to crush Lutheranism, 114.

Religion, its character in the Middle
Ages, 52; how affected by the
revival of learning, 68.

616

INDEX.

Renaissance, the tone of it in France,

250; scepticism of the Italian, 542.

See " licvival of Learning."

Republic, the Dutch, rise of, 305; grows
strong under Maurice, 310. See
"Netlierlaiids," "William of Or-
ange," " Philip II."

Requ jsens, his policA', 305; success-
fu/ in the South, 305; his death,
305; revolt of his soldiers, 305.

Reservation, the Ecclesiastical, 168; its
effect, 169, 416; complaints of its
violation, 423.

Restitution, Edict of, 427.

Restoration, of Charles II., how
effected, 441.

Reuchlin, his religious character, 74 ;
his contest with the monks, 74; con-
demned by the Sorbonne, 244.

Revival of Learning, spreads over
Europe, 68; its consequences to re-
ligion, 68; produces the downfall of
Scholasticism, 69 ; its effect on the
study of the Scriptures, 71; its
sceptical character in Italy, 72; its
character in Germany, 74; in Eng-
land, 76.

Revolution, French, gradually pre-
pared, 1; predicted, 2.

Reynard the Fox, and the brute epic, 33.

Reynolds, Dr., at the Hampton Court
Conference, 435.

Ricci, 550.

Richter, on the origin of the Episco-
pate, 15.

Richelieu, motive of his intervention in
Germany, 429; gets the control of
the war, 431; his internal policy,
448; his foreign policj', 450; his
political testament, 449.

Ridley, on Predestination, 336; his
martyrdom, 328.

Ritter J. I., on the decline of the
Papacy, 51; on Leo X., 47.

Hizzio, murder of, 370.

Robertson, J. B.,6.

Robinson, John, his principles, 347, 439.

Rochelle, its usefulness to the Hugue-
nots, 271.

Rokycjana, 181.

Rome, city of, its priieminence, 18:
sacked by the imperial troops, 117.

Rome, Empire of, effect of its fall on
the Church, 22.

Rome, See of, grounds of its distinc-
tion, 19; foundation of its primacy,
in the East, 20; political ground of
the primacy of, 18; growth of its
power, 20; favored by Roman empe-
rors, 21; servile relations of, to
Justinian, 21; the bishop of, his
primacy, 18; how built up, 18;
view of Cyprian, 18. See " Pa--
pacy," and under the separate popes.

Romorantin, Edict of, 261.

Roscoe, on the character of Leo X., 47.

Rothe, on the organization of the prim-
itive Church, 15.

Rouen, captured and sacked by the
Catholics, 269.

Roussel, G., takes refuge with Bri-
(jonnet, 245.

Rudolph II., his fanaticism, 423.

Rudolph of Hapsburg, his submission
to the Papacy, 29.

Ryswick, Peace of, 456.

Sacraments, Luther's discussion of the,

100.
Sadolet, Calvin's letter to, 216.
Saint Andr^, one of the Triumvirate,

265.
Sainte Beuve, on infidelity in France

under Louis XIV., 544.
Sarpi, Father Paul, on Leo X., 46.
Savoy, Dukes of, Vidames of Geneva,

208.
Savoy Conference, 442.
Scandinavian kingdoms, their union,

170; power of the prelates in, 170.
Scepticism, of the Renaissance in Italy,

542; origin of modern, 542; in

France, 544; in the reign of Louis

XIV., 458.
Schism, the Great Papal, 42.
Scholasticism, its uses, 69 ; causes of

its downfall, 69, 70.
Savonarola, his career, 64 ; works on, 64.
Schleiermacher, character of his influ-
ence, 546, 547.

INDEX.

617

Schmidt, on the Catharists, 55.

Schwab, on Boniface VIII., 37.

Schurff, Jerome, 110.

Scotland, its condition at the Reforma-
tion, 352; roughness of the nobles,
351; wealth and profligaej' of its
clergy, 352 ; covetousness of the
nobles, 352; need of Reformation
in, 352; attempts at reform in, 353;
martyrs in, 353; Reformation legal-
ized in, 356; delivered from danger
from the Guises, 357; League and
Covenant formed in (1638), 437;
under Charles II., and James II.,
446; benefit of the Reformation to,
536; RefoiTTiation in, connected with
that of England, 351; Reformation
in, not preceded' by the revival of
letters, 352, marked by hatred of
the Papacy, 353, established by law,
356. See " Kno.x," " Mary, Queen
of Scots," "Protestantism."

Scroggs, Judge, 529.

Sects, rise of anti-sacerdotal, 54; works
on them, 55; anti-sacerdotal, what
they indicate, 58; multiplication of,
548; analogous divisions in the Cath-
olic church, 548; bad effect of, 549.

Selden, 438.

Semler, relation of Rationalism to,
.545, 547.

Sendomir, S\'nod of, 187.

Servetus, influence of his death favora-
ble to toleration, 225; his early his-
tory and studies, 226; publishes his
book on the Trinity, 227; as a nat-
uralist and physician, 227; at
Vienne, 227; publishes his "Res-
toration of Christianity," 228; his
doctrine, 228; arraigned for heresy
before a Roman Catholic tribunal,
228; evidence against him from
Ganeva, 228; escapes and comes to
Geneva, 229; is tried, convicted, and
burned at the stake, 230; Guizot's
judgment of, 232; the execution of,
generally approved, 232. See " Cal-
vin."

Seville, Protestantism in, 408.

Sigismund I., King of Poland, 185.

Sigismund II., King of Poland,
friendlj" to Protestantism, 186.

Silvester, Pope, 35.

Sismondi, on Italy in the 15th century,
386.

Si.vtus IV., Pope, his character and
aims, 45; his doctrine respecting the
deliverance of souls fron purgatory,
93.

Si.xtus v., his Index expurgatorius,
406.

Socinianism, its principles, 479.

Socinus, Faustus, his history, 479; his
influence in Poland, 188.

Socinus, Laelius, 479; why treated
with forbearance b}' Calvin, 232.

Somerset, 325; his invasion of Scot-
land, 326; suppresses a Catholic
rebellion, 326; brought to the scaf-
fold, 327.

Sorbonne, hostile to innovations in
doctrine, 242, 244; hostile to Reuch-
lin, 244; it puts forth a creed, 253.

Smalcald, League of, formed, 156,
admission of the four cities to, 156.

Smalcaldic War, 104.

Smith, Mrs. H. B., 206.

Spain, monarchy, in the 15th century,
in, 44; fanatical spirit of the mon-
archy in, 289; the Inquisition in,
233; attacked on the seas by the
Dutch, 310; its desultory conflict
with England, 382; literary spirit
in, 406; Protestant influences upon,
407 ; character of Protestantism in,
407; Protestantism eradicated in,
409. See " Literature."

Spinola, his efforts for the reunion of
churches, 484.

Spires, Diet at ("1526;, 116; in 1529,
117.

Spirituals, or Fratricelli, their char-
acter, 57.

Spottiswoode, on the abduction of
Mary, 375.

St. Aldegonde, 297; discusses tolera-
tion with William of Orange, 313.

State, its power in relation to the
Church, statement of the Augsburg
confession, 490; of Luther, 490;

618

INDEX.

of Melancthon, 490; in Germany,
494; Zwinjifle's view, 494. See
"Cljui'ih and Slate."

States General of France, tlieir meet-
ing at Orleans, 202.

Staupitz, his counsels to Luther, 90.

St. Bartliolumew, massacre of, was it
premeditated, 276.

St. Cyran, 452.

St. Germain, edict of (15G2), 2G6;
Treaty of (1570), 272.

Stillingfleet, 446.

Strauss, U. F., 546.

Stunica, his charges of heresy agamst
Erasmus, 81.

St. Victor, School of, 65.

Supremacy, act of, under Henry
VIII., 321.

Supremac}', the King's, meaning at-
tached to it at tirst, 332; indirectly
assailed by the Puritans, 346.

Sunday, theory of the Reformers on
its observance, 483.

Sutri, Synod of, 25.

Sweden, first preaching of Protestant-
ism in, 176; adopts the Reformation,
176; conduct of its soldiers in Ger-
many, 427; efforts of Jesuits in,
414 ; how affected by the treaty of
Westphalia, 432; decline of its
power, 450.

Switzerland, its condition in the 15th
century, 136; how demoralized,
130; influence of literary culture in,
137; the Reformation in, both politi-
cal and religious, 143; catastrophe
of the Reformation in, 154.

Taborite.s, their tenets, 179.

Tacitus, on the religion of the Ger-
mans, 85.

Taine, on the character of the Ger-
mans, 85; on tiie religious feeling of
Elizabethan writers, 533.

Tasso, 412, 522.

Tauler, John, his character, 66; is
studied by Luther, 90.

"Territorial system," 494.

Tertuilian, against persecution, 222.

Tetzei, his sale of indulgences, 92;
his counter-theses, 90.

Theatins, their origin, 397.

Theology, Lutheran, peculiarities of,
481.

Theology, the Protestant, its essential
principles, 459; its denial of human
merit, 401; makes the Bible the rule
of faith, 461; its doctrine of the
Church, 464; its doctrine of a uni-
versal priesthood, 468; its opposition
to the Mass, penances, etc., 469; to
invocation of i\Iary and the Saints,
the worship of images and relics,
pilgrimages, etc., 470; its qualita-
tive conception of character, 471.

Theology, Roman Catholic, its doc-
trine of justification, 403; its doc-
trine of the Church, 465; its doc-
trine of the Sacraments, 400; its
modification after the Reformation,
467; its doctrine of the priesthood,
468.

Theses, Luther posts his, 92; commo-
tion excited by them, 95; give joy
to Reuchlin, 96 ; opposed by Prierias,
Tetzel, and Eck, 90.

Thirty Year's War, main cause of its
miseries, 426: how ended, 431; its
effect on Germany, 432.

Ticknor, on the decline of Spanish lit-
erature, 521.

Tillotson, 446.

Tilly, his victories, 427.

Toleration, Act of, 445.

Torgau, League of, 116.

Torquemada, 403.

Tosti, his life of Boniface VIIL, 37.

Toulouse, Albigenses in, 55.

Tournon, Cardinal de, 252.

Traheron, Bartholomew, on Calvinism
in England, 337 ; on the Eucharistic
question in England, 340.

Transubstantiation, the doctrine o^
when adopted in the Church, 147
made an article of faith, 148; denied
by Luther, 100; denied by all the
Reformers, 148.

Triumvirate, its formation in France,
264.

Trent, Council of, begins with con-
demning the Protestant doctrine, 164

Trie, Guillaume, 228.

INDEX.

619

Trinity, aj^eement of Catholics and
Protestants on the doctrine of the,
460.

Tulloch, on the Anglican Calvinists,
339.

Tunstal, Bishop of Durham, 323.

Turks, the, dangerous to Europe, 108 ;
they hinder Charles V. from attack-
ing the Protestants, 157.

Tycho Brahe, his faith in astrology, 3.

Tyndale, his martyrdom, 317; Frith,
his martyrdom, 317

UUmann, on the nature of the Kefor-
mation, 9.

Uniformity, Act of, 331.

Unigenitus, the Bull, 453; its effect
on the French clergy, 457.

Union of Catholics and Protestants,
efforts to procure it, 481 ; efforts of
Grotius, 482.

Union, of Calvinists and Lutherans,
efforts to procure it, 481.

Union, Evangelical, in Germany, 424.

Union, the Utrecht, 307.

Unitarians, in Poland, 180 ; in Trans-
sylvania, 190. See "Socinus, Faus-
tus."

Universities, strongholds of Scholasti-
cism, 75; Humanists admitted to
some of them, 75 ; influence of the
Jesuits in, 414.

Urban VI., Pope, 42.

Urban VIII., 524.

Usher, Archbishop, 437; a Calvinist,
339.

Utraquists, origin of the, 178; they
go bej-ond Huss, 179; not subdued
by crusades, 181; are heard at the
Council of Basel, 181; concessions
to them, 181; division of the, 179;
wnr between the two parties of,
182; refuse to join Ferdinand I. in
the Smalcaldic War, 183.

Utrecht, Peace of, 456.

Uytenbogaert, 473.

Valdez, Juan, 394.

Valentiuian III., gives supremacy in
the Church to Leo I., 21.

Valla, Laurentins, exposes the fiction
of Constantine's donation, 389.

Van Male, 290.

Vasa, Gustavus, establishes Protes-
tantism in Sweden, 176.

Vassy, massacre of, 267 ; rouses the in;
dignation of the Huguenots, 268.

Vergerio, flies from Ital}', 404.

Venice, Protestantism in, 393, 395.

Vervins, Treaty of, 283.

Vestments, controversy on, 342 ; opin-
ion of Jewel and other bishops on
the use of them, 343; opinion of
Burleigh and other statesmen, 343;
advice of the Swiss Reformers, 343;
statements of Macaulay, 344.

Villabra, 410.

Vilmar, on the reception of Christi-
anity by the Germans, 85.

Vinet, on Calvin, 238.

Villari, on Savonarola, 64.

Visitation, the Saxon, 491.

Vultaire, 457; refers the Reformation
to a dispute of monks, 3 ; Erasmus
compared with, 77; on Pascal's
"Provincial Letters," 525.

Waddington, on Luther and the Peas-
ants' War, 134.

Waldenses, their origin and tenets,
56 ; works on the, 56 ; massacre of,
in Calabria, 405.

Waldo, Peter, 56.

Wallenstein, his faith in astrology, 3;
his character, 426 ; victories of, 427 ..
removed from command, 427 ; recall-
ed, 429 ; put to death, and why, 430.

War of Cappel, effect of it, 207.

War, the Peasants', 133; connection
of Lutheranism with, 133 ; the Ref-
ormation not responsible for, 135.

Wars, civil in France, the beginning
of, 268.

Warburton, on Church and State, 501.

Walter, on the origin of the Episco-
pate, 15.

Wartburg, Luther's residence at the,
112.

Wesley, John, his theology, 475.

Westeras, Diet of, 176.

620

INDEX.

Westphalia, Peace of, 432.

Westminster Assembly, how com-
posed, 437; its work, 438.

Wessel, John, his opinions, 63; Luther
on, 63.

Whitijift, on Episcopacy, 334; a stren-
uous Calvinist, 339 ; contrasted with
Hooiver, 339.

Wickliffe, his tenets, 59; works on,
59; how protected, 60; a realist, 70.

WicklifKtes, when first persecuted, 61.

William of Nogaret, he assaults Boni-
face VIII., 38.

William of Orange, his early historj',
290; his motives, 293; quells dis-
turbances in Antwerp, 300; leaves
the country, 300; his efforts to deliver
his country, 303, 304; insists on toler-
ation, 313 ; his help asked by Flanders
and Brabant, 306; rejects the offers
of Don John, 306 ; reward offered for
his life, 307; his "Apology," 307;
his sincerity, 303; his prudence, 309 ;
his assassination, 309; his code of
ecclesiastical laws, 314; demands
religious liberty', 313.

William III., his defense of Holland,
456 ; acknowledged as King of Eng-
land, by Louis XIV., 456.

Williams, Roger, 440; his principles,
508.

Wiseman, on Boniface VIII., 37.

Wittenberg, University of, founded,
75; fosters Humanism, 76; Luther
a Professor at, 89.

Wolmar, Melchior, teaches Calvin
Greek, 194.

Wolsey, Cardinal, favors learning,
316; his fall, 320.

Worcester House Declaration of
Charles II., 441.

Worms Concordat, 28.

Worms, Diet of, 108; its decree
against Luther, 111.

Worship, order of, in the Protestant
churches, 499.

Wiirtemburg, Duke of, reestablished

in his possessions, 157.
Wullenweber, 174; his death, 175.
Wyat, his insurrection, 327.
Wyttenbach, Thomas, his reformatory

tendencies, 137.
Xavier, St. Francis, 290, 550.
Ximenes, Cardinal, his "Polyglot,"

406.

Yuste, Charles V., at the convent of,
290.

Zacharias, Pope, sanctions the usur-
pation of Pepin, 23.

Zapolya, John of, 189.

Ziska, leader of the Taborites, 180.

Zurich, public disputation at (1523),
140; adopts the Keformation, 141;
spread of the Reformation from,
143. See"Zwingl3."

Zwingle, his birth and parentage, 137;
studies at Basel, Berne, and Vienna,
137; pastor at Glarus, 138: opposes
the pension-system, 138; at the bat-
tle of INIarignano, 138; pastor at
Einsiedeln, 139; preaches against
the sale of indulgences, 139; re-
moves to Zurich, 139; his power as
a preacher, 140; his personal char-
acteristics, 140; holds a public dis-
putation (1523 >, 140; another dis-
putation, 141; his "Commentary"
etc., 142; his theological tenets,
142; political element in his Refor-
mation, 143; contrasted with Lu-
ther, 144; his patriotism, 145; broke
with the Papacy after Luther, 146;
letter to him from Adrian VI., 147;
his pleasantry, 140; his doctrine of
the Lord's Supper, 148; on the doc-
trine of Servetus, 227; on Church
and State, 494; at the Conference at
Marburg, 152; recommends to the
Protestant cantons bold measures,
154; his death, 155.

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