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HISTORY

OF THE

REFORMATION IN ITALY.

HISTORY

OF THE

PROGRESS AND SUPPRESSION

OF THE

REFORMATION IN ITALY

IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY :

INCLUDING A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE
REFORMATION IN THE GRISONS.

BY THOMAS M'CRIE, D. D.

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, EDINBURGH: AND

T. CADELL, STRAND, LONDON.

M.DCCC.XXVII.

miNTED BY A BALFOUR AND CO.

PREFACE.

A considerable number of years has elapsed
since I was convinced that the reformed opinions
had spread to a much greater extent in Italy than is
commonly supposed. This conviction I took an
opportunity of making public, and at the same time
expressed a wish that some individual who had
leisure would pursue the inquiry and fill up what
I considered as a blank in the History of the Re-
formation. Hearing of none who was willing to
accept the invitation, I lately resolved to arrange
the materials relating to the subject which had oc-
curred to me in the course of my reading, with the
addition of such facts as could be discovered by a
more careful search into the most probable sources
of information.

To some of the quarters from which the most
interesting information might be expected, I enter-

Vlll PREFACE.

posthumous publication, this work is of great utili-
ty, and has induced later Italian writers to bring
forward facts which they might otherwise, like
their predecessors, have passed unnoticed. Had I
seen this work earlier, it might have saved me much
trouble ; but I do not regret the circumstance of its
having come so late into my hands, as I was led, in
the absence of such a help, into researches which I
would have been tempted to decline, but which
have enabled me to supply in part its defects, and
to correct some of the mistakes into which its au-
thor had inadvertently fallen.

The Historia Reformationis Hceticarum J^ccle-
siarum, by Rosius de Porta, has furnished me with
a number of important facts respecting the Italian
refugees. To throw light on the settlements which
they formed in the Grisons I have given a sketch
of the history of the Reformation in that country,
which I trust will not be unacceptable to the reader.

It has not been in my power to procure several
Italian works, which I have reason to think would
have helped to illustrate parts of my subject. Some
of the most curious and valuable of those quoted in
the following pages I had the opportunity of examin-
ing in Holland, and particularly in the library of
the venerable Mons. Chevalier, one of the pastors
of the French church in Amsterdam, whose un-

PREFACE. ix

common politeness I have to acknowledge, in not
only allowing me the freest use of his books, but
also in transmitting to me a number of extracts
which I had not time to make during my short stay
in that city.

Amidst such a multiplicity of facts, as to many
of which I had not the advantage arising from a
comparison of different authorities, I do not flatter
myself that with all my care I have kept free from
mistakes ; and shall feel obliged to any one who shall
put it in my power to correct the errors which I may
have committed.

It was my intention, even after the work went to
the press, to include in this volume an account of
the progress and suppression of the Reformation
in Spain. This I have found impracticable, and
accordingly have reserved that part of my under-
taking for a separate publication. I regret this de-
lay the less, that it will enable me to avail myself
of an extensive collection of Spanish books which
has been lately purchased by the Faculty of Advo-
cates.

Edinburgh, toh May, 1827. '

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Page
STATE OF RELIGION IN ITALY BEFORE THE ERA OF THE RE-
FORMATION 1

CHAPTER II.

INTRODUCTION OF THE REFORMED OPINIONS INTO ITALY, AND

CAUSES OF THEIR PROGRESS 29

CHAPTER III.

PROGRESS OF THE REFORMED DOCTRINE IN THE DIFFERENT

STATES AND CITIES OF ITALY 67

CHAPTER IV.

MISCELLANEOUS FACTS RESPECTING THE STATE OF THE RE-

FORMED OPINIONS IN ITALY J39

CHAPTER V.

SUPPRESSION OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY \$Q

Xll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

Page
FOREIGN ITALIAN CHURCHES, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE

REFORMATION IN THE ORISONS SOS

APPENDIX 409

INDEX 427

HISTORY

OK THE

REFORMATION IN ITALY

CHAPTER I.

STATE OF RELIGION IN ITALY BEFORE THE ERA
OF THE REFORMATION.

It is an undoubted fact, though it may appear
improbable to those who are imperfectly acquaint-
ed with ecclesiastical history, that the supremacy
claimed by the bishops of Rome was resisted in
Italy after it had been submitted to by the most
remote churches of the West. The diocese of Italy,
of which Milan was the capital, remained long in-
dependent of Rome, and practised a different ritual,
according to what was called the Ambrosian Li-
turgy. It was not till the eleventh century that
the popes succeeded in establishing their authority
at Milan, and prevailed on the bishops of that see

2 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

to procure the archi-episcopal pall from Rome.
When this was first proposed, it excited great in-
dignation on the part of the people as well as of the
clergy, who maintained that the Ambrosian church,
according to the most ancient institutions, was free
and independent ; that the Roman pontiff had no
right to judge or dispose of any thing connected
with it ; and that they could not, without incurring
disgrace, subject to a foreign yoke that see which
had preserved its freedom during so many ages.*

As the supremacy of the bishop of Rome met
with strenuous opposition, so were there individuals
in the darkest age who resisted the progress of
those superstitions which proved the firmest sup-
port of the pontifical power. Among these was
Claud, bishop of Turin, who, in the ninth century,
distinguished himself not only by his judicious com-
mentaries on Scripture, but also by his vigorous op-
position to the worship of images and pilgrimages to
Rome ; on which account he, with his followers in
Italy, have been branded as Arians by popish his-
torians, who are ever ready, upon the slightest
pretexts, to impute odious opinions to those who
have dissented from the dominant church. f

* Petri Damiani Opusc. p. 5. The archbishop of Milan having
consulted lloboald, bishop of Alva, the latter replied, that " he would
sooner have liis nose slit" than advise him to comply with the demand
of pope Honorius — " quod prius sustineret nasum suum scindi usque
ad oculos quam daret sibi consilium ut susciperet Roma? stolam," &c
(Ughelli Italia Sacra, torn. iv. p. 189.)

t Dupin, Hist. Eccl. tome vii. p. 3. Simon, Hist. Crit. du N.
Test. chap. xxv. Weismanni Memorab. Hist. Eccles. torn. i. p. 761.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 3

Soon after the bishops of Rome had secured the
obedience of the Italian clergy, and silenced the op-
position which arose from Turin, their attention
was called to a new class of opponents. Those
Christians, known in history by the several names
of Vaudois, Waldenses, and Albigenses, who con-
demned the corruptions by which the church was
now everywhere infected, penetrated through the
Alps into Italy ; and had already, in the year 1180,
established themselves in Lombardy and Puglia,
where they received frequent visits from their bre-
thren in other countries.* At an early part of the
thirteenth century they were to be found in the ca-
pital of Christendom. In the year 1231, pope Gre-
gory IX. published a furious bull against them,
ordaining that they should be sought out and de-
livered to the secular arm to be punished, and that
such as harboured them should be declared in-
famous, along with their children to the second
generation. The senator, or chief magistrate, of
Rome set on foot an inquisition agreeably to the mu-
nicipal laws of the city, in consequence of this bull,
which was also sent by the pope to the archbishop
of Milan, with injunctions to see it executed in his
diocese and those of his suffragans, where heresy
had already made an alarming progress. That it
had also spread in Naples and Sicily appears from
a letter to the pope by the emperor Frederick II.

• Leger, Hist, des Eglises Evangeliques, part. ii. p. 202.

4 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

who condemned such as were convicted of heresy to
the fire, but allowed the bishops to show mercy
where they thought it proper, provided the tongues
of those who were pardoned were cut out, so that
they might not again blaspheme.* At Genoa, and
in some of the neighbouring cities, they had their
houses and other receptacles in which they assembled,
with their barbs or religious teachers. f Notwith-
standing the persecutions to which they were ex-
posed, the Waldenses maintained themselves in
Italy ; they kept up a regular correspondence with
their brethren in other countries ; and in the four-
teenth century they had academies in Lombardy,
which were frequented by youth, and supported by
contributions, from churches of the same faith in
Bohemia and Poland 4

In the year 1370, the Vaudois who resided in the
valleys of Pragela, finding themselves straitened in
their territories, sent some of their number into Italy
to look out for a convenient settlement. Having dis-
covered, in Calabria, a district uncultivated and thin-
ly peopled, the deputies bargained with the proprie-

• Rainakli Annal. ad ann. 1231, n. xiv. 18 — 20. Compare the first
Document in the Appendix to Allix's Remarks on the History of the
Ancient Churches of Piedmont, pp. 297, 298.

t VVreismanni Memor. Hist. torn. i. p. 1096. Mons. Court de Ge-
belin, in his Diet ion naire Etymologique, says that the Vaudois were
called Barbets, " parce que leur pasteurs s'appelloient Barbe du mot
Venetien Burba, un ancien, un chef a Barbe."

% Wolfh Memor. Lect. torn. i. 312. Beze, Hist. Eccl. des Eglises
Ref. de France, tome i. pp. 35, 36. Perrin, Hist, de Vaudois, part. i.
pp. 240—242.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. O

tors of the soil, in consequence of which a number
of their brethren emigrated thither. Within a short
time the place assumed a new appearance ; villages
rose in every direction ; the hills resounded with the
bleating of flocks; and the valleys were covered with
corn and vines. The prosperity of the new settlers
excited the envy of the neighbouring villagers, who
were irritated at the distance which they preserved,
and at their refusal to join with them in their revels
and dissipation. The priests finding that they receiv-
ed nothing from them but their tithes, which they
paid regularly according to the stipulation entered into
with the proprietors ; and perceiving that they prac-
tised none of the ceremonies visual at the interring
of their dead, that they had no images in their cha-
pels, did not go in pilgrimage to consecrated places,
and had their children educated by foreign teachers,
whom they held in great honour, began to raise the
cry of heresy against the simple and inoffensive
strangers. But the landlords, gratified to see their
grounds so highly improved, and to receive large
rents for what had formerly yielded them nothing,
interposed in behalf of their tenants : and the priests,
finding the value of their tithes yearly to increase,
resolved prudently to keep silence.* The colony re-
ceived accessions to its members, by the arrival of
their brethren who fled from the persecutions raised
against them in Piedmont and France ; it continued
to flourish when the Reformation dawned on Italy ;

* Perrin, i. 198—198.

6 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

and after subsisting for nearly two centuries, it was
basely and barbarously exterminated.*

It is a curious circumstance, that the first gleam
of light at the revival of letters shone on that re-
mote spot of Italy, where the Vaudois had found an
asylum. Petrarch first acquired the knowledge of
the Greek tongue from Barlaam, a monk of Cala-
bria ; and Boccacio was taught it by Leontius Pi-
latus, who was a hearer of Barlaam, if not also a na-
tive of the sameplace,and for whom his grateful pupil
procured an appointment among the professors of
Florence.-}- The example and the instructions of two
individuals, however eminent for genius and popu-
larity, could not impart a permanent impulse to the
minds of their countrymen, or overcome the ob-
stacles which at that time opposed the cultivation of
ancient letters. But the taste which they had been
the means of creating was revived, in the beginning
of the fifteenth century, by those learned Greeks
whom the feeble successors of Constantine sent to
the papal court, to implore succours against the over-
whelming power of the Turks, and who were induced
to teach their native language in different parts of
Italy. The fall of the eastern empire, and the tak-
ing of Constantinople in 1453, brought them in
greater numbers to that country, while it added im-

* Pcrrin, i. 190. Lcger, P. ii. chap. i. p. 7. Morland, Hist, pf the
Evang. Churches of Piedmont, p. 194.

-f- Sismondi, Histoire des Republiques Italiennes, tome vi. pp. 160
— 162, 168 — 170. Boccaccio calls Barlaam a native of Thessaly,
(Thessalonicensis) but Petrarch says he was a Calabrian, although
lie affected to be a Greek. (Hodius de Gneeis lllustribus, p. 2 — 5.)

HISTOltY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 7

mensely to the stock of manuscripts, which indi-
viduals had for some time before been in the habit
of procuring from the east.* And the art of print-
ing, which was invented about the same period, from
its novelty, and its tendency to multiply the num-
ber of copies of a book indefinitely and to afford
them at a cheap rate, gave an incalculable accelera-
tion to the human mind in its pursuit of knowledge.
Ancient literature was now cultivated with the
greatest enthusiasm ; it spread with amazing rapidity
through Italy, and surmounting the Alps, reached
within a short period the most northern extremities of
Europe. The human mind was roused from the
slumber by which it had been oppressed for ages ; its
faculties were sharpened by the study of languages ;
the stores of ancient knowledge were laid open ; the
barbarism of the schools was exploded ; and opin-

* Ginguene is of opinion, that too much influence has been ascrib-
ed to the fall of the eastern empire in producing the revival of let-
ters, and remarks that Florence would have become the new Athens,
though the ancient one, with all its islands, and the city of Constan-
tine, had not fallen under the stroke of an ignorant and barbarous
conqueror. (Histoire Litteraire d'ltalie, tome hi. p. 18.) The re-
mark of this elegant writer is not unnatural in one who, by minute
investigations, had become acquainted with all the concurring causes
of a great revolution. But he has himself owned that Boccacio's
knowledge of Greek was extremely limited, and that the study
of ancient literature languished after his death; it is undeniable
that it was afterwards revived by the arrival of natives of Greece ;
and what was the fall of Constantinople but the catastrophe of those
calamities which at first induced these learned men to visit Italy,
to which their successors now transferred their fixed residence and
the wreck of their literary treasures ?

8 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITAEY.

ions and practices which had long been held sa-
cred, and which a little before it would have been
deemed impious to suspect, were now openly called
in question, opposed, and repudiated. The rise of
the papal monarchy, and the corruption of Chris-
tianity may be traced in a great measure to the ig-
norance and barbarism which fell on Western Eu-
rope, and increased during the middle ages : the
revival of letters, by banishing the darkness, broke
the spell on which the empire of superstition rested,
and opened the eyes of mankind on the chains with
which their credulity had suffered their spiritual
rulers to load them.

A taste for letters does not, indeed, imply a
taste for religion, nor did the arrival of the former
necessarily infer the reformation of the latter. Some
of the worst of men, such as pope Alexander VI.
and his sons, encouraged literature and the arts ;
and in the panegyrics which the learned men of
that age lavished on their patronesses, we find
courtezans of Rome joined with ladies of the most il-
lustrious birth.* The minds of many of the restor-
ers of literature in the fifteenth century were com-
pletely absorbed by their favourite studies, Their
views often did not extend beyond the discovery of
an old manuscript, or printing and commenting on
a classical author. Some of them carried their
admiration of the literary monuments of pagan
Greece so far as to imbibe the religious sentiments

* Rosccv's Life of Leo X. vol. i. p. 33.5, 836. vol. ii. 220.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 9

which they inculcated ; and in the excess of their
enthusiasm they did not scruple to give a species of
adoration to the authors of such " divine works." *
Others showed by their conduct that they were as
great slaves to worldly passions as other men, and
ready to support any establishment, however cor-
rupt, which promised to gratify their avarice, their
ambition, or their love of pleasure. Lorenzo de
Medici, the munificent patron of letters, and him-
self an elegant scholar, testified the most extrava-
gant joy at his son's being elected a cardinal at seven
years of age,f and gave the destined pontiff an edu-
cation better fitted for a secular potentate than the
head of the church ; a circumstance which probably
contributed more to bring about the Reformation
than all the patronage he lavished on literature and
the arts. Bembo and Sadoleti were both apostoli-
cal secretaries, and in their official character com-
posed and subscribed the most tyrannical edicts of
the court of Rome. The former, of whom it has
been said, that he " opened a new Augustan age,
emulated Cicero and Virgil with equal success, and

* Marsil. Ficini Pref. in Plotinum ; et Epist. lib. viii. fol. 141.
Sismondi, Hist, des Rep. Ital. tome viii. p. 238-9. Roscoe's Life of
Lortnzo de Medici, vol. i. p. 162, 163, 169. Ginguene', Hist. Litt.
d'ltalie, tome iii. p. 362.

+ Roscoe's Life of Leo X. vol. i. p. 19. Another learned man did
not scruple to write, on the occasion of this advancement, in the fol-
lowing strain : " Semen autem Joannis ejusdcm, in quo benedicentur
omnes gentes, est Joannes Laurentise genitus, cui adhuc adolescen-
tulo divina providentia mirabilitcr Cardineam contulit dignitatem,
futuri pontifieis auspicium." (Ficini Epist. lib. ix. fol. 159. Venet.
1495.)

10 HISTORY OF THE REFORxMATION IN ITALY.

recalled in his writings the elegance and purity of
Petrarca and of Boccaccio," has his name affixed to
the infamous Bull, vindicating the sale of indul-
gences ; and the latter disgraced his elegant pen by
drawing and signing the decree which condemned
Luther as a heretic, ordaining that, if he conti-
nued obstinate, he should be seized and sent to
Rome, and authorizing the sentence of excommu-
nication and interdict to be pronounced against
all powers, civil or ecclesiastical, (the emperor
excepted,) secular or regular, dukes, marquises,
universities, communities, who should receive or
harbour him.* Thus did these two polite scholars
share between them the responsibility of measures
which had it for their object to crush the most
glorious attempt ever made to burst the chains of
despotism ; and in compensation for the stigma in-
flicted upon literature by the conduct of its repre-
sentatives, we must be contented with being told, that
they " first demonstrated that the purity of the
Latin idiom was not incompatible with the forms
of business, and the transactions of public affairs."
There are, I doubt not, persons who will be gra-
tified with the information which I have it in my
power to afford them, that, before the Reformation,
there were sums issued from the exchequer of the
Vatican, as salaries to learned men, whose task it
was to reform the buUarhim, by picking out all
the solecisms which had crept into it, and substitute

• Iloscoe's Leo X. vol. iii. app. no. cli. and clix.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 11

ing purer and more classical words in their room.*'
Who knows to what advantages this goodly work
of expurgation would have led ? What elegant
reading would not the papal bulls have furnished
to our modern literati, if the barbarous reformers
had not interfered, and, by their ill-timed clamour,
turned the public attention from words to things —
from blunders in grammar to perversions of law and
gospel !

But though many of the revivers of literature
intended nothing less than a reformation of religion,
they nevertheless contributed greatly to forward this
desirable object. It was impossible to check the
progress of the light which had been struck up, or
to prevent the new spirit of inquiry from taking a
direction towards religion and the church. Among
other books which had long remained unknown or
neglected, copies of the sacred writings in the ori-
ginal languages, with the works of the Christian
fathers, were now eagerly sought out, printed, and
circulated, both in the original and in translations ;
nor could persons of ordinary discernment and can-
dour peruse these without perceiving, that the
church had declined far from the Christian stand-
ard, and the model of primitive purity, in faith,
worship, and morals. This truth forced itself on
the minds even of those who were interested in the

* " Ante paucos annos, Rhomx>, ex acrario pontificis, eruditis ali-
quot salarium dari solitum est, qui, e pontificuni Uteris, solcecisrnos
tollerent." (Erasmi Roterd. Apologia, refellens suspiciones D. Jaco-
bi Latomi, p. 16. Lovanii, 1519.)

12 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

support of the existing corruptions. They felt that
they stood on unsolid ground, and trembled to think
that the secret of their power had been discovered,
and was in danger of becoming every day better
and more extensively known. This paralysed the
exertions which they made in their own defence,
and was a principal cause of that dilatory, vacillat-
ing, and contradictory procedure which characteris-
ed the policy of the court of Rome in its first at-
tempts to check the progress of the reformed opin-
ions.

The poets of the middle ages, known by the name
of Troubadours, had joined with the Vaudois in con-
demning the reigning vices of the priests ; and se-
veral of the superstitious notions and practices by
which the clergy increased their power and wealth
were assailed in those lively satires, which were
written in the ancient language of Provence, but
read by the inhabitants of Italy and Spain. It is a
curious circumstance, and may be considered as re-
flecting honour on a sect which has been so unmer-
cifully traduced by its adversaries, that the Noble
Lej/$on, and other religious poems of the Vau-
dois, which are among the earliest and rarest mo-
numents of Provencal poetry, contain few of those
satirical reflections on the clergy, which abound in
the writings of their contemporaries who remained
in the Romish church. " Indulgences, (says one of
the latter,) pardons, God and the devil, — all, the
priests make use of. To some they allot paradise
by their pardons: others they send to hell by their

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 13

excommunications. There are no crimes for which
pardon cannot be obtained from the monks : for
money they grant to renegades and usurers that
sepulture which they deny to the poor who have
nothing to pay. To live at ease, to buy good fish,
fine wheat-bread, and exquisite wines, is their great
object during the whole year. God grant me to be
a monk, if salvation is to be purchased at this price !"
" If God (says another troubadour,) save those whose
sole merit lies in loving good cheer, and paying their
court to women — if the black monks, the white
monks, the templars, the hospitallers, gain heaven,
then St. Peter and St. Andrew were great fools to
submit to such torments for the sake of a paradise
which costs others so little."*

From the earliest dawn of letters in Italy, the
corruptions of the Roman Church had been dis-
covered by persons who entertained no thought of
renouncing; her communion. Besides the severe
allusions which he has made to this subject in dif-
ferent parts of his immortal poem,f Dante wrote

* Si monge niers vol dieus que sian sal,

Per pro inanjar ni per femnas tenir,

Ni monge blanc, per boulas a mentir,

Ni per erguelh Temple ni Espital,

Ni canonge per prestar a renieu,

Bene tene per fol sanh Peir', sanh Andrieu,

Que sofriro per Dieu aital turmen,

S'aquest s'en van aissi a salvamen.
(Raymond de Castelnau : Renouard, Choix des Poesies Orig. des
Troubadours, tome iv. p. 383.)

t Paradiso, Cant. 9. 18. 29. 32. Inferno, Cant. 19. In this last pass-

14 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

a treatise in defence of the emperor against the pa-
pal claims, in which he proves that the imperial
power was undivided and independent of the Roman
see, speaks disrespectfully of the reigning pope as
a decretalist and no divine, and inveighs against
his predecessors and their defenders, as notorious
for ambition, avarice, and imprudence, and as per-
sons, who showed themselves to be children of
iniquity and the devil, while they boasted that they
were sons of the church. * Petrarch and Boccaccio
employed, each in his own style, their wit and hu-
mour in exposing the frauds, and lashing the vices
of the clergy ; not sparing the dignitaries of the
church and the sovereign pontiffs themselves.
They were followed by others of their countrymen,
both in prose and verse ; and the lampoons against
priests and friars which became common in other
countries were imitations, and in many instances
translations, of those of the Italian poets and satir-
ists. In the beginning of the fifteenth century,

age, as elsewhere, the poet asserts that Rome is meant by Babylon, in
the book of the Revelation.

Quella, che con le sette teste nacque,

Et da le diece corna hebb' argomento,

Fin che virtute al suo marito piacque.

Fatto v' havete Dio d'oro et d'argento,

Et che altr' e da voi a l'idolatre,

Se non ch'egli uno, et da voi n'orate cento?
• Wolfii Lect. Memor. torn. i. 498 — 501. ii. G83, 695. The Mo-
narchia of Dante was translated from the original Latin into Italian
by Marsilio Ficini toward the close of the fifteenth century. Though
not printed, it was put into the Index Prohibitorius of Rome for the
year 1559.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 15

Laurentius Valla, " who rescued literature from the
grave, and restored to Italy the splendour of her
ancient eloquence," * wrote against the pretended
donation of Constantine, and various papal abuses.
This learned Italian had advanced far before his
age in every species of knowledge : as a gramma-
rian, a critic, a philosopher, and a divine, he was
equally distinguished. His scholia on the New
Testament, in which he proposes numerous correc-
tions on the Vulgate, display an intimate acquaint-
ance with the Greek language; and in his dialogue
on free-will he defends with much acuteness the
doctrine on that subject, and on predestination, af-
terwards espoused by Luther and Calvin, f The
freedom of his sentiments exposed him to the re-
sentment of the patrons of ignorance ; and Valla
was condemned to the flames, a punishment from
which he was saved by the protection of Alphonsus
V. of Arragon. $

Contemporary with Valla was Poggio Bracciolini,
the author of an eloquent and pathetic description of
the martyrdom of Jerome of Prague, of which he was
an eye-witness, who employed his wit in exposing
the vices of the clergy, and the ignorance and absur-
dities of the preachers of that time, in his dialogues
on avarice, luxury, and hypocrisy. That such free-
doms should have been permitted in a pontifical

* Erasmi Epist. lib. vii. ep. 3.
f Lauientii Valise Opera, Basilese, 1540, fol.

X Cave, Hist. Liter. App. 121, 122. Wolfius, ut supra, ii. 7. Gin-
guene', Hist. Litte'r. d'ltalie, tome vii. p. 349.

16 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

secretary, must excite surprise ; and tolerant and
friendly to learned men as Nicholas V. was, it is
probable that Poggio would have suffered for his
temerity, had he not secured the protection of his
master, by writing an invective against his rival,
the anti-pope Amedaeus.* The writings of Baptista,
the modern poet of Mantua, who flourished in the
end of the fifteenth century, abound with censures
of the corrupt manners of the court of Rome, which
deserve the more credit, as they proceeded from a
friar, whose verses are at least as much distinguish-
ed for their moral purity as for their classical ele-
gance.f

It has been common to place the Florentine
monk, Jerome Savonarola, among the witnesses of
the truth before the Reformation ; and some have
called him the Luther of Italy4 Others have de-
scribed him as an ambitious fanatic and turbulent
demagogue, who, by laying claim to the gift of
prophecy and immediate intercourse with heaven,
sought to excite the people against their rulers,

* Ginguene, vol. vii. p. 308, 313, 319. Shepherd's Life of Poggio
Bracciolini, pp. 88, 428.

t .... Venalia nobis

Templa, sacerdotes, altaria, sacra, coronae,
Ignes, thura, preces ; ccelum est venale, Deusque.

Ite lares Italos, et fundamenta malorum,
Romuleas arees et pontificalia tecta,
Colluviem scelerum, &c.

(Baptista Mantuanus, lib. iii. De Calam. Temp.)
J M. Flacii Illyrici Testes Veritatis, p. 890. Henr. Hottingeri Hist.
Eccl. Sec. xv. part. iv. p. 62. Wolfii Lect. Mernor. torn. i. p. 800.
801.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 17

civil and ecclesiastical, and to gratify his own
ambition, by humbling his superiors. In this light,
his character has been drawn, not only by the in-
terested advocates of the court of Rome, but also
by the warm admirers of the house of Medici,
whose attempts to establish their dominion over
Florence he vigorously resisted.* It cannot be
denied that the mind of Savonarola was strongly
tinged with the superstition of the age in which he
lived, while the fervour of his zeal for piety and
liberty appears to have subjected him to the illu-
sions of an over-heated imagination ; but on the
other hand, the best and most enlightened men of
that time bear unequivocal testimony to his sanctity,
integrity, and patriotism, as well as to the irresisti-
ble power of his eloquence. f Besides denouncing
the tyranny of the court of Rome, and calling for

* Roscoe's Lorenzo, vol. ii. p. 269, and Leo X. vol. i. p. 278.

+ Marsilii Ficini Epistola?, lib. xii. f. 197. Joan. Fr. Pici Miran-
dulse Opera, torn. ii. p. 40. Philip tie Comines, liv. iii. chap. v.
Guicciardini, Istor. lib. iii. J. F. Picus, de Injusta Excommu-
nicatione, Pro Hier. Savonarola? Innocentia ; apud Wolfii Lect.
Memor. ii. 3S — 48. Thomas Erastus published, in 1569, " Defensio
Libelli Hieronymi Savonarola? de Astrologia Divinatrice, adversus
Christ. Stratlnnionem." In 1674, Jaques Quetif published the
letters of Savonarola, with a life of the author by Jo. Fr. Picus,
illustrated with notes of his own. John Francis Buda?us, in his
youth, published a dissertation unfavourable to the Florentine monk,
of which he afterwards, with great candour, wrote a refutation. Both
dissertations are printed in his Parerga Historico-Theologica, pp.
280 — 398. Hala? Magd. 1703. Compare Schelhorn, Ergoetzlich-
keiten aus der Kirchenhistorie und Litteratur, t. i. p. 198, &c. The
modern writer who has given the most impartial account of Savona-
rola is Sismondi. (Hist, des lle'p. Ital. tome xii. passi?n.) Specimens
of his eloquence may be seen in Tiraboschi, Storia della Letteratura
Italiana, torn. vi. pp. 1160—1162.

18 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

a reform in the manners of the clergy, he has been
represented as holding the doctrines afterwards
taught by Luther, concerning justification, the com-
munion under both kinds, indulgences, and human
traditions ;* but the passages in his writings usually
referred to, do not appear to me to support this alle-
gation. The invectives of Savonarola were quench-
ed by the flames in the year 1498 ; but this did not
prevent others of his countrymen from reiterating
those complaints against the corruption of the see
of Rome, which were the true cause of his death.

From the time of the council of Constance, a re-
formation of the church, both in its head and mem-
bers, had been loudly demanded. This demand was
repeated, at the beginning of the sixteenth century,
in the council which the pope was compelled to con-
vocate ; as appears not only from the decrees which
that assembly passed during its sitting at Pisa, but
also from the orations delivered in it, after it was
transferred to the Lateran and sat under the eye
of the supreme pontiff. Among these, the most
noted were the speeches of Egidio of Viterbo, ge-
neral of the order of Augustinians, and John Fran-
cis Pico, the learned and pious count of Mirandula,
both of whom denounced, with singular freedom and
boldness, the abuses which threatened the ruin of
the church, and the utter extinction of religion, f

" Flacius and Wolnus, ut supra.

t The speech of Egidius is published by Gerdesius, Hist. Reform,
torn. i. app. no. v. ; that of Picus, by Roscoe, in his Life of Leo X.
vol. iii. app. no. cxlvi. See also Wolfii Lect. Memor. torn. i. pp.
30—35.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 19

It would be unsuitable here to enter into a mi-
nute detail of the ecclesiastical grievances which were
the subject of such general complaint and remon-
strance. Suffice it to say, that all of them existed
in an aggravated form in Italy, if we except certain
exactions levied by the popes on other countries
from which she was exempted. The vices of the
clergy, the neglect of religious instruction, the ig-
norance of the people, the sale of ecclesiastical of-
fices, and the prostitution of sacred things to worldly
purposes, had grown to the greatest height among
the Italians. The court of Rome had become more
corrupt than any of the secular courts of Europe,
by the confession of writers who owned its authori-
ty, and of such as, from the official situations which
they held in it, were admitted into all its secrets.
The unprincipled and faithless character of its po-
licy was proverbial. It was a system of intrigue,
cabal and bribery ; and its ministers, while they
agreed together in duping the world, made no
scruple of deceiving and supplanting one another
whenever their personal interests came to be con-
cerned. The individuals who filled the papal chair
for some time before the Reformation openly in-
dulged in vices over which the increasing know-
ledge of the age should have taught them in point
of prudence to throw a veil. During the pontifi-
cate of Sixtus IV. we are presented with the horrid
spectacle of a supreme pontiff, a cardinal, an arch-
bishop, and other ecclesiastics, associating them-
selves with a band of ruffians to murder two men

20 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

who were an honour to their age and country, and
agreeing to perpetrate this crime during a season of
hospitality, within the sanctuary of a Christian
church, and at the signal of the elevation of the
host. Alexander VI. was so notorious for his profli-
gate manners and insatiable rapacity, that Sannazza-
ro has compared him to the greatest monsters of an-
tiquity— to Nero, Caligula and Heliogabalus. Julius
II. was more solicitous to signalize himself as a
soldier than a bishop, and by his ambition and tur-
bulence kept Italy in a state of continual warfare.
And Leo X., though distinguished for his elegant
accomplishments, and his patronage of literature
and the arts, disgraced the ecclesiastical seat by his
voluptuousness, and scandalized all Christendom
by the profane methods of raising money to which
he had recourse, for the purpose of gratifying his
love of pleasure and his passion for magnificent
extravagance.

To this rapid sketch I shall add the description
of the papal court, drawn by the pen of an Italian
who lived in the age of the Reformation, in whose
writings we sometimes find the copiousness of Livy
combined with the deep-toned indignation against
tyranny which thrills our hearts in perusing the
pages of Tacitus. The reader need not be told
that the following passage was struck out by the
censors of the press before the work was allowed to
be published in Italy. " Having raised themselves
to earthly power on this basis and by these methods,
the popes gradually lost sight of the salvation of

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 21

souls and divine precepts ; and bending their
thoughts to worldly grandeur, and making use of
their spiritual authority solely as an instrument
and tool to advance their temporal, they began to
lay aside the appearance of bishops, and assumed
the state of secular princes. Their concern was no
longer to maintain sanctity of life, no longer to pro-
mote religion, no longer to show charity to man-
kind ; but to raise armies, to wage wars against
Christians, to perform the sacred mysteries with
thoughts and hands stained with blood, to ac-
cumulate treasures j and with the view of drawing
money from every quarter, new edicts were issued,
new arts invented, new stratagems laid, spiritual
censures fulminated, and all things, sacred and
profane, sold without distinction and without
shame. The immense riches amassed in this way,
and scattered among the courtiers, were followed
by pomp, luxury, licentiousness, and the vilest and
most abominable lusts. No care was taken to main-
tain the dignity of the pontificate ; no thought be-
stowed on those who should succeed to it : the
reigning pope sought only how he might raise his
sons, nephews, and other relations, not merely to
immoderate wealth, but to principalities and king-
doms ; and instead of conferring ecclesiastical dig-
nities and emoluments on the virtuous and de-
serving, he either sold them to the best bidder, or
lavished them on those who promised to be most
subservient to his ambition, avarice, and voluptu-
ousness. Though these things had eradicated from

22 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

the minds of men all that reverence which was once
felt for the popes, yet was their authority still sus-
tained to a certain degree by the imposing and po-
tent influence of the name of religion, together with
the opportunity which they had of gratifying princes
and their courtiers, by bestowing on them dignities
and other ecclesiastical favours. Presuming on the
respect which men entertained for their office ; aware
that such as took arms against them incurred general
infamy, exposed themselves to the attack of other
powers, and reaped little advantage in the issue ;
and knowing that, if victorious, they could make
their own terms, and, if vanquished, they would
escape on easy conditions, they abandoned them-
selves to their ruling passion of aggrandizing their
friends, and proved for a long time the instruments
of exciting wars, and spreading conflagrations over
the whole of Italy."*

On the other hand, the obstacles to ecclesiastical
reform, and the reception of divine truth, were nu-
merous and formidable in Italy. The Italians could
not, indeed, be said to feel at this period a super-
stitious devotion to the see of Rome. This did not
originally form a discriminating feature of their na-
tional character : it was superinduced ; and the
formation of it can be distinctly traced to causes
which produced their full effect subsequently to the
era of the Reformation. The republics of Italy in
the middle ages gave many proofs of religious in-

Guicciardini Paralipomena, ex autographo Florentine) recensita,
pp. 40—48. Arastel. 1663.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 23

dependence, and singly braved the menaces and ex-
communications of the Vatican at a time when all
Europe trembled at the sound of its thunder.
That quick-sighted and ingenious people had, at an
early period, penetrated the mystery by which the
emptiness of the papal claims was veiled, while the
opportunity which they enjoyed of narrowly in-
specting the lives of the popes, and the real motives
by which they were actuated in the most imposing
of their undertakings, had dissipated from their
minds those sentiments of veneration and awe for
the holy see which continued to be felt by such as
viewed it from a distance. The consequence of this,
under the corrupt form in which Christianity every-
where presented itself, was the production of a spirit
of indifference about religion, which, on the revival
of learning, settled into scepticism, masked by an
external respect to the established forms of the
church. And in this state did matters remain un-
til the middle of the sixteenth century, when, from
causes which will be seen, superstition and igno-
rance took the place of irreligion and infidelity, and
the popes recovered that empire over the minds and
consciences of their countrymen which they had al-
most entirely lost. If there were few heretics in
Italy, or if those who swerved from the received
faith were less eagerly inquired after and punished
there than in other countries, it was because the
people did not give themselves the trouble to think
on the subject. Generally speaking, devotion, even
according to the principles authorized by the Ro-

24 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

man church, was extinct among the Italians. They
were not attached to the church either by a lively
faith or an ardent enthusiasm, by the convictions
of the understanding or the sentiments of the heart.
The only religion of the statesmen was their secu-
lar interest ; the learned felt more respect for Aris-
totle or Plato, than for the sacred scriptures or the
writings of the Christian fathers ; and the people,
always under the influence of their senses and ima-
gination, were attracted to the services of the
church by the magnificence of its temples, and the
splendour and gaiety of its religious festivals.*

On a superficial view of the matter, we might be
apt to think that a people who felt in the manner
which has been described, might have been detached
without much difficulty from their obedience to the
church of Rome. But a little reflection will satisfy
us, that none are more impervious to conviction, or
less disposed to make sacrifices to it, than those who
have sunk into indifference under the forms of reli-
gion ; especially when we take into view the aliena-
tion of the human mind from the spiritual and
humbling discoveries of the gospel, as these were
brought forward, simply and without disguise, in
the preaching of the first reformers. Experience
too, has shown, that men whose hearts were cold
and dead to religion, have turned out as keen and
bitter persecutors as the most superstitious and
bigoted, when their peace has been threatened by

" Sismondi, Hist, des Rep. Ital. tome viii. pp. 237 — 210.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 25

the progress, or their minds galled by the presenta-
tion, of truths which they hated as well as disbe-
lieved. But this is not all. The want of religious
principle was, on the present occasion, supplied by
national vanity, and a regard to interest ; two prin-
ciples which had been at work for more than a
century before the Reformation, in strengthening
the attachment of the Italians to the Roman see.
The removal of the papal court to Avignon had
greatly diminished the wealth and importance of
the city of Rome. After the return of the popes
to their ancient seat, and the revival of the pon-
tificate from the deadly wound inflicted on it by
the schism of the anti-popes, the Romans congratu-
lated themselves on the recovery of their former
distinction. In this feeling their countrymen in
general participated ; and, the passion for political
liberty by which they had been animated having
subsided, they seemed to think that the loss of the
ancient glory which Italy once enjoyed as the mistress
of the world was compensated by the flattering
station to which she was now raised as the head of
Christendom. When the councils of Pisa, Con-
stance, and Basle, attacked the corruptions of the
Roman court, and sought to abridge its extensive
authority, the Italians were induced to come for-
ward in its defence. They felt themselves dis-
honoured as a nation by the invectives which the
reformers of that age pronounced against the
Italian vices of the pontiffs. And they saw that
the reforms which were so eagerly pressed, would

26 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

cut off or drain those pecuniary resources by which
they hoped to be enriched. The popes were careful to
foster this spirit. By a system of artful policy, the
bishops of Rome had taken care, that the power
which they had gradually acquired over all the na-
tions of the west, should not be empty or unpro-
ductive. The wealth of Europe continued to flow in
various channels to Rome, from which it was distri-
buted through Italy. Under the name of annats, the
pope received the first year's produce of all ecclesi-
astical livings after every vacancy. He drew large
sums of money for the confirmation of bishops, and
for the gift of palls. His demands on the clergy
for benevolences were frequent, besides the extraor-
dinary levy of the tenths of benefices, on pretence
of expeditions against the Turks which were sel-
dom undertaken. Add to these the sums exacted
for dispensations, absolutions, and indulgences, with
the constant and incalculable revenue arising from
law-suits, brought from every country by appeal to
Rome, carried on there at great expense, and pro-
tracted to an indefinite length of time. The pope
had also an extensive right of patronage in every
country to which his authority reached. He pre-
sented to all benefices which came under the name
of reserved, and to those vacant by translation, or
by the death of persons who died at Rome or within
forty miles of it, on their journey to or from that
city. * These, if not sold to the highest bidder,

* Robertson's Charles V. vol. ii. pp. 148 — 150, 273. Llorente,
Hist, de requisition d'Espagne, i. 239—256. Rymer's Feeders, vols. x.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 27

were generally conferred on Italians, upon whom
the pope could rely with more implicit confidence
than on foreigners, for extending his authority, or
supporting him in those contests in which his
ambition often involved him with the secular
powers. In consequence of the influence which the
court of Rome had come to exert in the political af-
fairs of Europe during the fifteenth century, almost
every sovereign strove to procure for his near rela-
tions, or at least for some of his subjects, seats in
the sacred college ; and this was usually purchased
by the gift of the richest benefices within his king-
dom, to those who, from their situation or connex-
ions, had it most in their power to serve his inter-
ests. There was not an Italian state or town which
did not, on these accounts, depend on the papal
court ; nor a prince or great family which had not
some of its relations in offices connected with it.
The greater part of the learned either held benefices,
or enjoyed pensions which they drew from them.
Italy was a land of priests. Though the states of
the church, properly so called, even after they had
been enlarged by the warlike Julius, were confined
within narrow bounds ; yet the pontiffs had taken
care to preserve their paramount power over those
districts or cities which withdrew from their go-
vernment, by transferring the power over them to
particular families, under the title of vicars of the

and xi. Appellatio Univers. Paris. ; apud Richer. Hist. Concil. Gen.
lib. iv. p. ii. cap. iv. § 15. Georgii Gravamina, pp. 363, .522. Kappe,
Nachlese Ref. Urkunden, P. ii. pp. 399, 4-35, P. iii. pp. 216—350.

28 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

church. Indeed there were few places in Italy to
which they had not at one time or another advanced
a claim founded on ancient grants or endowments ;*
and provided any prince had testified a disposition to
withdraw his allegiance from the see of Rome, it
would have been easy for the pope to revive his
ancient claim, and having launched the sentence of
excommunication, to add the forfeited possessions
to the patrimony of the church, or to bestow them
on some neighbouring rival of the rebellious
heretic, f

When these things are taken into consideration,
it will be matter of surprise, that the reformed
doctrine made so much progress in Italy as we shall
find it to have made ; and we are able to account for
the mistake into which some writers, guided by
theory rather than fact, have fallen, when they
assert that it had few or no converts in that coun-
try, t

* Franc. Guicciardini Paralipomena : Discorso levato del tutto via
dell'historia nel quarto libro, pp. 35 — 42, 44.

t So late as the year 1555, the pope, Paul IV. not only excom-
municated Marco Antonio Colonna, and deprived him of the dukedom
of Palieno, but ordered a legal process to be commenced in the aposto-
lical chamber, against Philip II. king of Naples, as a schismatic and
favourer of heresy, inferring, if proved, that he should be deprived of
the crown of the two Sicilies, as a fief of the Holy See; and sentence
would have been pronounced against him, had not the Duke of Alva
advanced with his troops from Naples to Rome. (Llorente, ii.
172—181.)

X " Peu de personnes prirent le parti de Luther en Italic Ce
peuple inge'nieux occupe' d'intrigues et de plaisirs n'eut aucun part a
ces troubles." (Voltaire, Essai sur les Mceurs, chap, cxxviii.) Vol-
taire is not the only author who has committed this error.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 29

CHAPTER II.

INTRODUCTION OF THE REFORMED OPINIONS
INTO ITALY, AND CAUSES OF THEIR PROGRESS.

A controversy, which had been carried on for
several years with great warmth in Germany, and
which was at last brought before the papal court
for decision, deserves notice here, as having contri-
buted, in no small degree, to direct the attention of
the Italians, at an early period, to the reformed
opinions. A monk of Cologne, a convert from Ju-
daism, either from hostility to learning, or with the
view of extorting money from his countrymen, ob-
tained a decree from the imperial chamber, ordain-
ing all Jewish books, with the exception of the Bi-
ble, to be committed to the flames, as filled with
blasphemies against Christ. John Reuchlin, or Cap-
nio, a learned man of Suabia, and the restorer of
Hebrew literature among Christians, exerted him-
self, both privately and from the press, to prevent
the execution of this barbarous decree. His suc-
cessful opposition exposed him to the resentment of
the monks, and sentence was pronounced against
him, first by the divines of Cologne, and afterwards

30 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

by the Sorbonne at Paris. Reuchlin appealed to
Rome, and the friends of learning determined to
make his cause a common one. Erasmus and other
distinguished individuals wrote warmly in his fa-
vour to their friends at Rome, of whom they had
some in the sacred college. The monks exerted
themselves with equal zeal to defeat a party which
they had long hated, and from whom they had much
to dread. No cause of the kind had, for a long
time, excited such general interest. On the one side
were ranked the monks, the most devoted clients of
the papal throne ; on the other, the men who had
attracted the admiration of Europe by their talents
and writings. The court of Rome was averse to
offend either side, and by means of those arts which
it knew so well how to employ in delicate cases,
protracted the affair from time to time. During
this interval, the monks and their supporters were
subjected to the lash of the most cutting satires ; *
and the ultimate sentence, enjoining silence on both
parties, was scarcely ratified, when the controversy
between Luther and the preachers of indulgences
arose, and was brought before the same tribunal
for decision. f

The noise excited by the late process had fixed
the attention of the Italians on Germany ; the facts
which it brought to light abated the contempt with

* Of these the most celebrated was the work entitled, Epistola*
Obscurorum Virorum, the joint production of several learned men.

t Maii Vita Reuchlini, passim. Schlegel, Vita Georgii Spalatini,
pp. 24, 25. Sleidani Comment, torn. i. pp. 105 — 109, edit. Am Ende.
Bulsei Hist. Univ. Paris, torn. vi. pp. 47 — 57.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 31

which they had hitherto regarded the inhabitants
of that country ; Luther had taken part with Reuch-
]in ;* and some of the keenest and most intrepid de-
fenders of the latter, such as Ulric Hutten, declared
at an early period in favour of the religious opinions
of the former.

It was not to be expected that a dispute managed
by a friar, in an obscure corner of Germany, against
the sale of indulgences, a traffic which had long
been carried on under the auspices and for the profit
of the see of Rome, would at first attract much atten-
tion in Italy. Rut the boldness of his own mind, and
the provoking impudence of his antagonists, having
led Luther to persevere in his opposition, and gra-
dually to extend his censure to other abuses, his
name and opinions soon became the topic of ge-
neral conversation without the limits of his native
country. Two years from the time of his first ap-
pearance against indulgences had not elapsed, until
his writings found their way into Italy, where they
met with a favourable reception from the learned.
It must have been highly gratifying to the Reformer
to receive the following information, in a letter ad-
dressed to him by John Froben, a celebrated printer
at Basle. " Blasius Salmonius, a bookseller of Leipsic,
presented me, at the last Frankfort fair, with several

* Luther declares himself decidedly in favour of Reuchlin, in a
letter to Spalatin, written in 1514, according to Aurifaber, (Epist.
Luth. torn. i. p. 8.) but as early as 1510, according to Walch. (Lu-
thers Saemtliche Schriften, torn. xxi. pp. 518—521.) A letter from
him to Reuchlin is to be found in Illustrium Virorum Epistola? ad
Joanncm Reuchlin : Liber Secundus, Hagenoa?, 1519; sig. C 3.

32 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

treatises composed by you, which being approved by
all learned men, I immediately put to the press, and
sent six hundred copies to France and Spain. They
are sold at Paris, and read and approved of even by
the Sorbonists, as my friends have assured me. Se-
veral learned men there have said, that they of a
long time have wished to see such freedom in those
who treat divine things. Calvus also, a bookseller of
Pavia,* a learned man, and addicted to the muses, has
carried a great part of the impression into Italy.
He promises to send epigrams written in praise of
you by all the learned in Italy ;f such favour have
you gained to yourself and the cause of Christ by
your constancy, courage and dexterity.":): A letter
has also been preserved, written about this time by
an individual in Rome, and applauding the spirit

" The person referred to in the text was Francesco Calvi, often
mentioned in the letters of Erasmus, and highly praised by Andrea
Alciati, the civilian, and other learned men. (Tiraboschi, vii. 365.)
Speaking of the difficulty of disposing of books in Italy, Caelio Cal-
cagnini says, in a letter dated from Ferrara, "17 kal. Febr. 1525 ;"
" Unus fuit Calvus, ejus Calvi frater qui rem imprcssoriam curat
Rom sp, qui non pecuniam sed libroruin permutationem obtulit." (Cal-
cagnini Opera, p. 115.)

t Schelhorn (Amcenit. Hist. Eccles. et Liter, torn. ii. p. 624) has
published a copy of verses in praise of Luther, composed at Milan in
1521, which conclude thus:

Macte igitur virtute, pater celebrande Luthere,

Communis cujus pendet ab ore salus :
Gratia cui ablatis debetur maxima monstris,
Alcidfe potuit qua? metuisse manus.
£ Miscellanea Groningana, torn. iii. pp. 61 — 63. Froben's letter
is dated " Basilese d. 14. Februar. 1519." A letter to the same purpose
by Wolfgangus Fabricius Capito, dated « 12. kal. Martii, 1519," is
inserted in Sculteti Annal. Reform, p. 44.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 33

and writings of Luther.* Burchard Schenk, a Ger-
man nobleman who had embraced a monastic life,
and resided at Venice, writes on the 19th of Sep-
tember, 1520! to Spalatinus, chaplain to the elector
of Saxony : " According to your request, I have
read the books of Martin Luther, and I can assure
you that he has been much esteemed in this place for
some time past. But, the common saying is, ' Let him
beware of the pope !' Upwards of two months ago ten
copies of his books were brought here and instantly
purchased, before I had heard of them ; but in the
beginning of this month, a mandate from the pope
and the patriarch of Venice arrived, prohibiting
them ; and a strict search being instituted among
the booksellers, one imperfect copy was found and
seized. I had endeavoured to obtain that copy, but
the bookseller durst not dispose of it."f In a letter
written during the following year, the same person
states that the senate of Venice had at last reluc-
tantly consented to the publication of the papal bull
against Luther, but had taken care that it should not
be read until the people had left the church. £ Two
circumstances of a curious kind appear from this cor-
respondence. The one is that Schenk had a commission
from the elector of Saxony to purchase relics for the
collegiate church of Wittemberg ; but soon after the
period referred to, that commission was revoked and

* Riederer, Nachrichteu fur Kirchengelehrten unci Biicherge-
schichte, torn. i. p. 179.

t Seckendorf. Hist. Lutheranismi, torn. i. p. 115.
X Ibid. p. 11G.

34 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION TN ITALY.

the relics sent back to Italy to be sold at what price
they would bring ; " for, (writes Spalatinns) here
even the common people so despise them, as to think
it sufficient, as it certainly is, if they be taught from
scripture to have faith and confidence in God, and
love to their neighbour."* The other fact is, that
the person employed by Schenk to collect relics for
the elector was Vergerio, afterwards bishop of Capo
d'Istria, and legate from the pope to the German
princes, but who subsequently renounced popery,
and became zealously instrumental in spreading the
reformed doctrine in Italy and elsewhere. The cha-
racter given of him at this early period of his life
is worthy of notice, as the popish writers, after his
defection, endeavoured in every possible way to dis-
credit his authority and tarnish his reputation.
Schenk describes him as " a most excellent young
man, who had distinguished himself among the stu-
dents of law at Padna, and was desirous of finishing
his studies at Wittemberg, under the auspices and
patronage of the elector Frederic." f

In spite of the terror of pontifical bulls, and the
activity of those who watched over their execution,
the writings of Luther and Melanchthon, Zningleand
Bncer, continued to be circulated, and read with great
avidity and delight, in all parts of Italy. Some of
them were translated into the Italian language,
and, to elude the vigilance of the inquisitors, were
published under disguised or fictitious names, by

* Schlegel, Vita Spalatini, p. 59. Scckend. torn. i. p. 223.
+ Seckend. ut supra.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 35

which means they made their way into Rome,
and even into the palace of the Vatican ; so that
bishops and cardinals sometimes unwittingly read
and praised works, which, on discovering their real
authors, they were obliged to pronounce dangerous
and heretical. The elder Scaliger relates an incident
of this kind, which happened when he was at Rome.
" Cardinal Seraphin, (says he) who was at that time
counsellor of the papal Rota, came to me one day, and
said, ' We have had a most laughable business before
us to-day. The Common Places of Philip Melanchthon
were printed at Venice with this title, par Messer
Ippofilo da Terra JVegra* These Common Places
being sent to Rome, were freely bought for the
space of a whole year, and read with great applause ;
so that the copies being exhausted, an order was
sent to Venice for a fresh supply. But in the
mean time a Franciscan friar, who possessed a
copy of the original edition, discovered the trick, and
denounced the book as a Lutheran production from
the pen of Melanchthon. It was proposed to punish
the poor printer, who probably could not read one
word of the book, but at last it was agreed to burn
the copies, and suppress the whole affair.' "j A
similar anecdote is told of Luther's preface to the

* Schwartzerd, which was his original name, signifies in German, as
Melanchthon docs in Greek, and Terra Negra in Italian, black earth.
The Italian translator of the Common Places is supposed to have
been the celebrated critic, Ludovico Castelvetro. (Fontanini, Delia
Eloquenza ltaliana, pp. 490 — 509.)

+ Scaligerana Secunda, art. Rota. See also Brucker, MisceL
Hist. &c. P. ii. pp. 323, 333.

36 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

epistle to the Romans, and his treatise on justifica-
tion, which were eagerly read for some time as the
productions of cardinal Fregoso.* The works of
Zuingle were circulated under the name of Coricius
Cogelius ;f and several editions of Martin Bucer's
commentary on the Psalms were sold in Italy and
France as the work of Aretius Felinus. In this
last instance, the stratagem was used with the con-
sent of the author. " I am employed (says Bucer,
in a letter to Zuingle) in an exposition of the
Psalms, which, at the urgent request of our brethren
in France and Lower Germany, I propose to pub-
lish under a foreign name, that the work may be
bought by their booksellers. For it is a capital
crime to import into these countries books which
bear our names. I therefore pretend that I am a
Frenchman, and, if I do not change my mind, will
send forth the book as the production of Aretius
Felinus, which, indeed, is my name and surname,
the former in Greek, and the latter in Latin."+
It is one thing to discover the errors and abuses of
the church of Rome, and it is another, and a very

* Vergerii Adnot. in Catal. Haeret. Romie, 1559.

t Gerdesii Ital. Ref. pp. 12 — 14. Zuingliusis introduced under the
name of Ahydenus Corallus in the Index of Rome for 1559.

* Le Long, edit. Masch, vol. iii. p. ii. p. 520. Colomesii Notae in
Scaliger. Secund. p. 538. Fontanini, Delia Eloquenza Ital. p. 490.
The work was printed first at Strasburg in 1529, under this title:
'• Psalmorum Libri quinque ad Ebraicam veritatem versi, et familiari
explanatione elucidati. Per Aretium Felinum Theologum." The
dedication to the Dauphin of France is dated, " Lugduni iii. Idus
Julias Anno m.d.xxix."

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 37

different thing, to have the mind opened to perceive
the spiritual glory and feel the regenerating in-
fluence of divine truth. Many who could easily
discern the former, remained complete strangers to
the latter, as preached by Luther and his associates ;
and it is not to be expected that these would make
sacrifices, and still less that they would count
all things loss, for the excellent knowledge of Christ.
Persons of this character abounded at this period in
Italy. But the following extracts show that many
of the Italians " received the love of the truth,"
and they paint in strong colours the ardent thirst
for an increase of knowledge, which the perusal of
the first writings of the reformers had excited in
their breasts. ** It is now fourteen years (writes
Egidio a Porta, an Augustinian monk on the Lake
of Como, to Zuingle) since I, under the impulse of a
certain pious feeling, but not according to knowledge,
withdrew from my parents, and assumed the black
cowl. If I did not become learned and devout, I
at least appeared to be so, and for seven years dis-
charged the office of a preacher of God's word, alas !
in deep ignorance. I savoured not the things of
Christ ; I ascribed nothing to faith, all to works.
But God would not permit his servant to perish
for ever. He brought me to the dust. I cried.
Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? At length
my heart heard the delightful voice, ' Go to Ulric
Zuingle, and he will tell thee what thou shouldst
do.' O ravishing sound ! my soul found ineffable
peace in that sound. Do not think that I mock

38 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

you ; for you, nay not you, but God by your means,
rescued me from the snare of the fowler. But why do
I say me ? For I trust you have saved others along
with me." * The meaning of Egidio is, that, having
been enlightened by the writings of the Swiss reform-
er which providence had thrown in his way, he had
imparted the knowledge of the truth to some of his
brethren of the same convent. In another letter
he adjures Zuingle to write him a letter which
might be useful for opening the eyes of others be-
longing to his religious order. " But let it be cau-
tiously written, (continues he) for they are full of
pride and self-conceit. Place some passages of
scripture before them, by which they may perceive
how much God is pleased at having his word
preached purely and without mixture, and how
highly he is offended with those who adulterate it
and bring forward their own opinions as divine."f
The same spirit breathes in a letter addressed by
Balthasar Fontana, a Carmelite monk of Locarno,
to the evangelical churches of Switzerland. " Hail,
ye faithful in Christ. Think, oh think, of Lazarus
in the gospels, and of the lowly woman of Canaan,
who was willing to be satisfied with the crumbs which
fell from the table of the Lord. As David came to
the priest in a servile dress and unarmed, so do I
fly to you for the shew-bread and the armour laid

» Epistola iEgidii a Porta, Comensis, Dec. 9, 1525; apud Hottin-
ger, Hist. Eccl. Sec. xvi. torn. ii. p. 611.
-)• Ibid. p. 16.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 39

up in the sanctuary. Parched with thirst I seek
to the fountains of living water : sitting like a blind
man by the wayside, I cry to him that gives
sight. With tears and sighs we who sit here in
darkness, humbly intreat you who are acquainted
with the titles and authors of the books of know-
lege, (for to you it is given to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of God) to send us the writings of
such elect teachers as you possess, and particularly
the works of the divine Zuinglius, the far-celebrated
Luther, the acute Melanchthon, the accurate Eco-
lampade. The prices will be paid to you through
his excellency, Werdmyller. Do your endeavour
that a city of Lombardy, enslaved by Babylon, and
a stranger to the gospel of Christ, may be set free."*
The attention which had been paid to sacred li-
terature in Italy, contributed in no small degree to
the spread of the reformed opinions. In this as
well as in every other literary pursuit, the Italians
at first took the lead, though they were afterwards
outstripped by the Germans. From the year 1477,
when the psalter appeared in Hebrew, different parts
of scripture in the original continued to issue from
the press ; and in the year 1488, a complete He-
brew bible was printed at Soncino, a city of the
Cremonese, by a family of Jews, who, under the
adopted name of Soncinati, established printing*

* " Apud Comum, 15th December, 1j26." Another letter from
the same individual, dated " Ex Locarno Kal. Mart, anno 1.531," is
published by Hottinger, Hist. torn. vi. par. ii. pp. <il8, 620, 271.
Tcmpc Helvetica, torn. iv. p. 1 11.

40 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

presses in various parts of Europe, including Con-
stantinople. This department of typography was
almost entirely engrossed by the Jews in Italy, un-
til the year 1518, when an edition of the Hebrew
scriptures, accompanied with various readings, and
Rabbinical commentaries, proceeded from the splen-
did press which Daniel Bomberg had recently
erected at Venice. *

A minute investigation of the remaining docu-
ments of those times, shows that the knowledge of
Hebrew was not quite extinct among Christians in
Italy, anterior to the revival of letters. An individual
now and then had the curiosity to acquire some in-
sight into it from a Jew, or had the courage to grapple,
m his own strength, with the difficulties of a lan-
guage whose very characters wore a formidable as-
pect; and individuals, who, like Fra Ricoldo of Flo-
rence, and Ciriaco of Ancona, travelled into Turkey,
Syria, and adjacent countries, picked up some ac-
quaintance with other languages of the east. In the
literary history of Italy, during the early part of the
fifteenth century, several persons are spoken of as
Hebrew and Arabic scholars ; the most distinguish-
ed of whom was Giannozzo Manetti, a Florentine,
who drew up a triglot psalter, containing a Latin
translation made by himself from the original. f

* De Rossi, De Heb. Typogr. Origin. Wilbelin Fried. Hctzels Ge-
schichteder Hcbraischen Spracbe und Litteratur, pp. 143 — 176. Le
Long, Bibl. Sac. edit. Masch, vol. i. par. i. Baueri Crit. Sac. pp.
230, 232.

t Tiraboscbi, Storia della Lctteratura Italiana. torn. vi. pp. 792,
679.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 41

But the study of Hebrew in Italy, properly speaking,
was coeval with the printing of the Hebrew scrip-
tures ; and it was facilitated by the severe measures
taken by Ferdinand and Isabella, at the instigation
of the inquisitors, against the Jews, which induced
many of that people to emigrate from Spain to Italy,
where, from lucrative motives, they were favourably
received, by the popes.* John Pico, count of Miran-
dula and Concordia, was one of the first students of
the oriental tongues among his countrymen. Of
the enthusiasm with which this prodigy of learning
applied himself to the study of Hebrew, Chaldaic,
and Arabic, his letters afford the most satisfactory
evidence ; f and judging from his writings, the pro-
ficiency which he made in the first of these languages
was considerable.^: The names of the persons from
whom he received lessons were Jochana and Mith-
ridates ; the last of whom refused to teach him
Chaldee, until he took a formal oath that he would
not communicate it to any person. $ This enthu-
siastic scholar was deceived by some of the Jews
who frequented his house, and had certain manu-
scripts, probably Rabbinical, palmed upon him as the

* Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, liv. vii. chap. xxix. sect. iv. — vii.
Sadoleti Epist. lib. xii. pp. 5, 6. Llorente, Hist, de l'lnquisition
d'Espagne, tome i. pp. 161 — 170.

f Opera Joannis et Jo. Francisci Pici, torn. i. pp. 3<>7-8, 382, 385,
387, 388.

.{. See his Heptaplus, dedicated to Lorenzo de Medici ; Opera,
torn. i.

§ Opera, torn. i. p. 38.5; torn. ii. p. 1371. Colomesii Italia et His-
pania Orientalis, pp. 10 — 17.

V2 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

genuine works of Zoroaster, and other eastern sages.*
The same thing happened to his contemporary and
countryman, Nanni or Annius of Viterbo, who pub-
lished a number of fabulous works as the authentic
productions of Berosus, Manetho, Fabius Pictor,
Archilochus, Cato, and Megasthenes ; at least it
seems more probable that he was the dupe of others
and of his own credulity, than that he should have
practised a fraud, which must have cost him im-
mense labour, and required a knowledge of the
learning of the east, which we can scarcely suppose
a European of that age to have possessed.! John
Francis Pico inherited his uncle's taste for He-
brew literature, and other scholars arose who cul-
tivated it, not indeed with greater zeal, but certainly
with greater success.

Germany had the honour of giving to the world
the first elementary work on Hebrew which was
written by a Christian, or in the Latin language,
in the grammar and lexicon of John Reuchlin, print-
ed at Pfortzheim, in the year 1506 ; but as early
as 1490, the Book of Roots, or lexicon of the cele-
brated Jewish grammarian, David Kimchi, was
published in the original at Venice. \ Francis Stan-
car of Mantua, who afterwards embraced the pro-
testant religion, and excited great stirs in Poland,

* Opera, torn . i. p. 367. Simon, Lcttres Choisies, tome ii. p. 1H8.

t Tiraboschi, torn. vi. par. ii. p. 17.

+ Hirts Orieiitalische uml Excgetische Bibliothek, torn. i. pp. 3.5,

1 1. G. Laur. Baueri Hcrmcneutica Sacra, p. 175.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 43

published a Hebrew grammar in 1525.* Felix of
Prato, a converted Jew, who published a Latin
translation of the Psalms in 1515, appears to have
been the first Christian in Italv who taught He-
brew, being invited to Rome for this purpose in
1518, by Leo X.f About the same time Agathias
Guidacerio, a native of Catano, also taught it at
Rome, from which he was called by Francis I. to be
professor of Hebrew in the Trilingual college at
Paris, in which Paolo Paradisi, or Canossa, his coun-
tryman, and, like him, the author of a work on He-
brew grammar, afterwards held the same situation.^:
As early as 1514, a collection of prayers was
printed in the Arabic language and character at
Fano, in the ecclesiastical states, at a press which
had been founded by the warlike pontiff Julius II. §
Previous to this, an edition of the Koran in the ori-
ginal language had been begun, and a part of it at
least printed at Venice, by Pagnino de Pagninis.||
But the principal work in this language, so far as
biblical literature is concerned, was published by
Augustine Justinian, bishop of Nebio in Corsica,

* Tiraboschi, torn. vii. p. 1087. Hetzels Geschichte der Heb.
Sprache, p. 169.

f Ibid. p. 1083. Colomesii Ital. Orient, p. 19. Le Long, edit.
Masch, vol. i. part i. p. 97. vol. ii. part ii. p. 534.

X Prefat. in Lib. Michlol, per Agathiam Guidacerium. — Parisiis
in Collegio Italoruin, 1540. Conf. Colomesii Ital. Orient, pp. 60,
68—70.

§ Schnmreri Bibliotheca Arabica, pp. 231—231.

|| Ibid. pp. 402—401.

44 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

in a polyglot psalter, containing- the Hebrew, Chal-
daic, Arabic, Greek and Latin ; printed at Genoa
in the year 1516, and intended as a specimen of a
polyglot bible, which the author had been long en-
gaged in preparing for the press.* This work pro-
cured him an invitation from Francis I. to teach the
oriental tongues at Paris. f Juan Leon, a native of
Elvira in Spain, better known as an historian by the
name of Leo Africanus, and who afterwards went
to Tunis, and relapsed to Mahometanism, instruct-
ed many of the Italians in Arabic; and, amongothers,
Egidio of Viterbo, a prelate more distinguished by
his elegant taste and extensive learning, than by his
wearing the purple, and who promoted oriental
studies among his countrymen both by his example
and his patronage.^

Certain deputies sent to Rome, from the Christi-
ans of Abyssinia, during the sitting of the Lateran
council in 1512, were the means of introducing into
Europe the knowledge of the Ethiopic, or, as they
called it, Chaldean language, in which their coun-
trymen continued to perform the religious service.
In consequence of instructions received from them,

* Dedic. JuFtiniani ad Leonem X. Le Long, edit. Masch, vol. i.
par. i. p. 400.

t Tiraboschi, vii. 1067. Colomesii Ital. Orient. 31—36. Sixt. Se-
nensis Bibl. Sacr. p. 327.

X Widmanstadter's Dedication to the Emperor Ferdinand, of his
edition of the Syriac New Testament. Compare the testimonies to
Kgidio's merits collected by Colomies. (Ital. Orient, pp. 41—46.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 45

John Potken, provost of St. George's, at Cologne,
was able in 1513, to publish at Rome, the psalter
and song of Solomon in Ethiopia, with a short in-
troduction to that language.* At a subsequent pe-
riod, a learned abbot of that country, named Tesso-
Sionis Malhesini, or, as he called himself in Europe,
Peter Sionita, who resided at Rome under the pa-
tronage of cardinal Marcello Cervini, prevailed on
Pierpaolo Gualtieri, and Mariano Vittorio, after-
wards bishop of Rieti, to learn his native tongue ;
and with their assistance, and that of two of his
own countrymen, he published the New Testament
in Ethiopic at Rome, in the year 1548. Four years
after this, the first grammar of that language was
given to the public by Vittorio.f

It may appear strange, that no part of the Syriac
version of the scriptures should as yet have come
from the press. Romberg intended to print the
gospel according to Matthew, from a copy of the
four gospels in that language which was in his
possession, but delayed the work in expectation of
obtaining additional manuscripts.^ Teseo Ambro-
gio, of the noble family of the Conti d'Albonese,
a doctor of laws, and canon regular of St. John's of

* Le Long, edit. Masch, vol. i. par. ii. pp. 146-7.

f Tiraboschi, vii. 1073. Le Long, edit. Masch, vol. i. par. ii. pp.152 —
154. Colomesii Ital. Orient, pp. 107-8. art. Marianus Victorius Re-
atinus. Michaelis's Introd. by Marsh, vol. ii. part i. p. 612.

% Postel, Linguarum duodecim Alph. Introd. sig. Biiij- Parish's,
1538. Conf. Postelli Epist. prefix. Vers. N. Test. Syriaci : Vien. Austr
1555.

46 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

the Lateran, received instructions in Ethiopic, from
the Abyssinians who visited Rome in 1512, and
was initiated into the Syriac language, by one of
three individuals, Joseph Acurio, a priest, Moses, a
deacon, and Elias a sub-deacon, whom Peter, patri-
arch of the Maronites, had sent as a deputation to
Rome, soon after the advancement of Leo X. to the
pontificate. From that time, Ambrogio became
passionately fond of these languages, and being ap-
pointed to teach them at Bologna, gave a specimen
of his qualifications for that task in his Introduction
to the Chaldaic, Syriac, Armenian, and ten other
languages, with the characters of about forty differ-
ent alphabets.* Various untoward events prevent-
ed him from executing his favourite design of pub-
lishing the gospels in Syriac, which, at an acci-
dental interview, he devolved on Albert Widman-
stadter, the learned chancellor of Easter Austria,
who afterwards accomplished the work. In the
year 1552, Ignatius, patriarch of Antioch, sent
Moses Mardineus, as his orator to the Roman
pontiff, to obtain, among other things, the printing
of an edition of the Syriac New Testament, for the
use of the churches under his inspection. The ora-
tor exerted his eloquence in vain at Rome, Venice?
and other places of Italy ; and, after wasting nearly
three years, was about to return home in despair,

* Introductio in Chaldaicam linguam, Syriacam, cJvc. Papist, 1539.
Tiraboschi, vii. 1068 — 1072. Hcnr. a Porta, (Prof. Lingnarum Ori-
ental, apud Acad. Ticin.) De Ling. Orient. Prsestantia, p. 189.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 4?

when he was advised to apply to Widmanstadter
by whose zealous exertions the work was published
in 1555, at Vienna.* Thus was Italy deprived of
the honour of giving to the world the New Tes-
tament in the best and most venerable of all the
ancient versions.

The first edition of the Septuagint came from the
Aldine press in 1518, under the direction of Andrew
of Asolo. In 1516, Erasmus published at Basil
his edition of the Greek text of the New Testament,
accompanied with a Latin translation formed by him -
self; to which his fame gave an extensive currency
in Italy. And in 1527, Sante Pagnini of Lucca
published his Latin translation of the whole Bible,
which had excited great expectations, from the re-
putation which the author enjoyed as a Hebrew
scholar, and its being known that he had spent up-
wards of twenty-five years on the work.

The publication of the scriptures in the original
languages, and in various versions, was followed by
illustrations of them which were neither without
merit nor utility. The work of Pietro Colonna,
commonly called, from his native place, Galatino,
from which later writers on the Jewish controversy
have drawn so much of their materials, was not
the less useful, that it was afterwards found to be
chiefly a compilation from the work of another au-

* Dedic. et Pracfat. in N. Test. Syriac. Vien. Austr. 1555. Assemani
Bibl. Orient, torn. i. p. 535. Le Long, edit. Masch, vol. i. par. ii. pp.
71 — 79. Michaelis's Introd. by Marsh, vol. ii. p. ii. 8,535 — 540

48 HTSTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

thor.* Besides his own paraphrases, Erasmus
published the notes of Laurentius Valla on the
New Testament, which came recommended to the
Italians as the work of one of their countrymen
who had distinguished himself as a reviver of let-
ters, but whom Bellarmine afterwards called, not
without reason, the precursor of the Lutherans, f
The scriptural simplicity which characterises the
commentaries of cardinal Cajetan, and a few others,
form a striking contrast to the writings of the
scholastic divines who preceded them. Cardinal
Sadolet's commentary on the epistle to the Ro-
mans was the work of an orator, who wished to
correct the barbarisms of the vulgate, and combat
the tenets of St. Augustine. | The works of Au-
gustine Steuchi, or Steuco, of Gubbio, discover an
extensive acquaintance with the three learned lan-
guages, mixed with cabbalistical and Platonic ideas.
I shall afterwards have occasion to speak of the
commentaries of Folengo. Isidoro Clario, a Bene-
dictine abbot of Monte Cassino, who was ad-
vanced to the bishopric of Foligno, published the
vulgate, corrected from the original Hebrew, and

* De Arcanis Catholicae Veritatis, Ortona?, 1518. See the account
of the Ptigio Fidci of Raymond Martini, afterwards given in the
history of the Reformation in Spain.

t Simon, Hist. Crit. des Oommentateurs du N. Test. pp. 484 —
4-87.

+ Ibid. pp. .550 — 556. Sadolet was thrown into great distress, in
consequence of the Master of the sacred palace refusing to approve of
bis commentary. (Tiraboschi, Storia, torn. vii. pp. 313 — 315.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 4-9

Greek, and accompanied with preliminary disserta-
tions and explanatory notes ; but the work did not
appear until 1542, when the progress of heresy
had alarmed his brethren, the consequence of which
was, that the work underwent the process of ex-
purgation, and the prolegomena were suppressed. *
He gave great offence by saying in his preface, that
he had diligently corrected the version of the Old
Testament by the Hebrew, and of the New by the
Greek verity, f The author had also availed him-
self of the notes of the protestants, but tacitly; " for
in the time in which he wrote, to cite a protestant
author was an unpardonable crime," as Tiraboschi
has candidly owned. " Heresy (says another modern
writer) was a pest, the very touch of which creat-
ed horror ; the cordon of separation or precaution
was drawn all around ; Clario did not dread the
contagion for himself, but he dreaded to appear to
have braved it, and his prudence excuses his pla-
giarism." I

By means of these studies the minds of the learned
in Italy were turned to the scriptures, and prepared
for taking part in the religious controversy which
arose. Individuals in the conclave, such as Egidio,
Freo-oso and Aleander, were skilled in the sacred
tongues, which were now studied in the palaces of
bishops and in the cells of monks. All were not
concerned to become acquainted with the treasures

* Riveti Opera, torn. ii. p. 916. t Tiraboschi, torn, vii. p. 348.

X Ginguene, tome vii. p. 36.

50 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN FTALY.

hid in those books which they turned over by night
and by day, and still less were they led by them
to renounce a system to which, among other secular
advantages, they owed their literary leisure ; but
neither, on the other hand, were men disposed at
that period, as they were at a subsequent one,
to employ sacred criticism as an art to invent argu-
ments for supporting existing abuses, and there
were always individuals, from time to time, whose
minds welcomed the truth or were accessible to con-
viction. Accordingly, we shall find among the con-
verts to the reformed doctrine, men eminent for
their literary attainments, the rank which they held
in the church, and the character which they had
obtained for piety in those orders to which
the epithet religious had long been appropriat-
ed. The reformers appealed from the fallible
and conflicting opinions of the doctors of the
church to the infallible dictates of revelation, and
from the vulgate version of the scriptures to
the Hebrew and Greek originals ; and in these
appeals they were often supported by the transla-
tions recently made by persons of acknowledged
orthodoxy, and published with the permission
and warm recommendations of the head of the
church. In surveying this portion of history, it is
impossible not to admire the arrangements of pro-
vidence, when we perceive monks, and bishops,
and cardinals, and popes, active in forging and
polishing those weapons which were soon to lie

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 51

turned against themselves, and which they after-
wards would fain have blunted, and laboured to
decry as unlawful and empoisoned.

The works which have been described were con-
fined to the learned ; and however useful they were,
it is not probable that any impression would have
been made on the public mind in Italy, unless the
means of religious knowledge had been laid open to
the people at large. As the church of Rome has
strictly confined the religious service to an unknown
tongue, we need not be astonished at the jealousy
with which she has always viewed translations of the
scriptures into vulgar languages. There would be
still less reason for astonishment at this, if we might
believe the statement of a learned Italian, that, down
to the sixteenth century, all the sermons preached
in churches were in Latin, and that those in Italian
were delivered without the consecrated walls, in
the piazzas or some contiguous spot. * This state-
ment, however, has been controverted. The truth
appears to be, that, in the thirteenth century,
the sermons were preached in Latin, and after-
wards explained in Italian to the common peo-
ple ; and that instances of this practice occur

• Fontanini, Delia Eloquenza Italiana, lib. iii. cap- ii. pp. 250 —
254. It is certain, that, as late as the middle of the ] 6th century,
Isidoro Clario, bishop of Foligno, preached in Latin to a crowded
assembly of men and women — " Frequens iste, quem cerno, virorum,
mulierumque, conventus," says the preacher. (Orationes Extraord.
Venet. 1567, torn. i. orat. xvi.)

52 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

in the history of the fifteenth century. * It was
pleaded, that the dignity of the pulpit, and the sacred -
ness of the word of God, suffered by using a differ-
ent method ; and with equal force might it be urged,
that " the sacred scriptures were vilified by being
translated into the vulgar tongue. "t But in spite
of this prejudice, translations of the Bible into Itali-
an were attempted, as soon as the language had
been purified and moulded by Dante, Petrarch, and
others ; and they came from the press within a few
years after the invention of the art of printing.

Jacopo da Voragine, bishop of Genoa, and author
of the Golden Legend, is said to have translated
the scriptures into the language of Italy as early as
the middle of the thirteenth century4 It is cer-
tain, that this task was undertaken by more than
one individual in the subsequent age, but executed,
as may be supposed, in a rude and barbarous manner. §
An Italian version of the scriptures by Nicolo
Malermi, or Malerbi, a Camaldolese monk, was

* Apostolo Zeno, Note alia Bibliotecadcl Fontanini, torn. ii. p. 421.
Sig. Domenico Maria Manni, Prefaz. alle Prediche di Fra Giordano ;
apud Tiraboschi, tomo iv. pp. 496 — 198.

t " Avvilire la sacra Scrittura il tradurla in lingua volgare," says
Passavanti, in his Specchio di vera Penitenza, quoted by Fontanini, p.

674.

% Le Long doubts if there ever was such a version. (Bibl. Sac.

torn. i. p. 352. edit. 3.) Fontanini denies its existence. (Delia Eloq.
Ital. p. 673.)

§ Fragments of such translations were to be found in libraries during
the fifteenth century. Malermi expressly mentions one of them, which
contained, he says, " cose enormi, que non lice ser dicte, ne da esser
leggiute." (1). Abbate Giov. Andres, Dell' Origine d'ogni Letteratura,
tomo xix. p. 200.) Girolamo Squarzafico, a learned man, who wrote a
preface to the edition of the Bible in 1177, says: " Vcnerubilis Dominus

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY'. 53

printed at Venice so early as the year 1471,* and
is said to have gone through no fewer than nine
editions in the fifteenth and twelve editions in the
sixteenth century ;f a proof that the Italians were
at least addicted to reading in their native tongue, if
there did not exist among them at that time a
general desire for the word of God. We find an
additional proof of this in the Italian versions of
parts of scripture, which appeared about the same
period.^ Malermi's translation, like those on which
it was founded, was made from the vulgate, and writ-
ten in a stvle unsuited to the sixteenth century. A

Nicolaus de Malerrai (autde MalerbiJ sacra Biblia ex Latino Italice
reddidit, eos imitatus, qui vulgares antea versiones, si sunt hoc nomine,
et non potius confusiones nuncupantur, confecerunt." (Lettera Critica
dal Signor Abbate N. N. all' Erud. Padre Giov. degli Agostini, p. 8.
Roveredo, 1739.)

* Fontanini, p. 673. De Bure (Partie de la Theologie) p. 89. It
was printed " Kal. Aug. 14.71," by " Vind. de Spira," and contains a
prefatory epistle by Nicolo di Malherbi. Another version of the
Bible was printed in the month of October of the same year, without
notice of the translator, printer, or place of printing. (Oibdin's
iEdes Althorp. vol. ii. p. 44. Bibl. Spencer, vol. i. p. 63.)

t Foscarini, Delia Letteratura Veneziana, vol. i. p. 339. Dr. Geddes
says it went through thirteen editions in the space of less than half a
century. (Prospectus of a New Translation, p. 103.) Andrew Ri-
vet possessed a copy of the edition printed in 1477. (Opera, torn, ii,
p. 920.) Pere Simon, who is not always so accurate as a severe critic
on the works of others should be, speaks of Malermi's version as pub-
lished for the first time in loll. (Hist. Crit. de V. Test. pp. 371,
598. edit. 1G80.)

X The two following are mentioned by Maffei : " Li quattro volumi
de gli Evangeli volgarizzati da frate Guido, con le loro esposizioni
fatte per Frate Simone da Cascia, Yen. 1486." " L'Apocalisse
con le chiose de Nicolo da Lira ; traslazione di Maestro Federico da
Venezia, lavorata nel 1391, e stampata Ven. 1.519." (Esame del Sig.
Marchese Scipionc Maffei, p. 19. Roveredo, 1739.)

54 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

version less barbarous in its diction, and more faithful
to the original, had long been desired by the learned.
This was at last undertaken by Antonio Brucioli, a
native of Florence, who added a knowledge of He-
brew to those classical attainments for which the in-
habitants of his native city had long been celebrated.*
After distinguishing himself among the academicians
of his native city, he was driven into exile in conse-
quence of an unsuccessful resistance to the usurpa-
tions of the Medici, in which he had taken part,
and travelled in France and Germany, from which
he returned with his mind improved, and an ardent
desire to enlighten his native country. But in the
year 1529, he was forced a second time from Flo-
rence, and narrowly escaped with his life, having
incurred the suspicion of heresy. At Venice, where
he found an asylum, and where two persons of the
same name, his brothers or kinsmen, established a
printing office, he published his translation of the
scriptures, and commentaries on them. He was the
author of several other works, philosophical and re-
ligious,among which was a collection of hymns. f His
version of the New Testament made its appearance
in the year 1530r and was followed at intervals, dur-

* Aretino, in a letter to him, Nov. 7, 1537, says : " Voi sete huomo
henza pare ne l'intelligentia de la lingua Hebraica, Grseca, Latina, e
Chaldea."

t An interesting account of Brucioli's life and writings is given
by Schelhorn, an author to whom the history of the Reformation is
greatly indebted, in his work, Ergotzlichkeiten aus der Kirchen-
historie unci Litteratur. There is also a good article on him in Maz-
zuchelli Scrittori Ital. tomo ii. parte iv.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 55

ing two years, by translations of the rest of the sacred
books.* It is not evident, that Brucioli ever for-
mally left the communion of the church of Rome,
but his prefaces to the different parts of his version,
in which he extols the utility of such works, and
vindicates the common right of Christians to read
the word of God in their own language, are written
in the style and spirit of a protestant. His Bible
was ranked among prohibited books of the first class
in the index of the council of Trent, and all his
works, " published or to be published," were for-
mally interdicted.f But before this prohibitory
sentence was issued or could be carried into exe-
cution, his translation was eagerly read, and contri-
buted greatly to increase religious knowledge in
Italy. " Although Italy be the fort and power of

* Le Long, Bibl. Sac. par. ii. p. 125-6. edit. Boerneri. Wolfii Notas
ad Colom. Ital. Orient, p. 59. Gerdes. Ital. Ref. p. 190. Miscell. Gron-
ingana, torn. ii. p. 658. Simon, Hist. Crit. de V. Test. 1. ii. chap. 22.
and Disquis Crit. p. 193. There is confusion among some of these
authorities, in enumerating the dates of printing, which I do not stop
to examine.

•f Fontanini, in his work, Delia Eloqucnza Italiana, (p. 305.) says
that Brucioli translated and commented on the Bible " alia Luterana."
Scipio Maffei says, " l'Autore — nelle prej'azione parla da Protestanti."
Brucioli, in the dedication of his translation and exposition of Job, (a.
1534.) calls Margaret, queen of Navarre, the great patroness of the
reformed, " the refuge of oppressed Christians." Charles du Moulin
Bays, he was condemned as " one that spoke neither well nor ill of
God" — " doctus et pius I talus, Antonius Brucioli, confhiatus Vene-
tiis, et damnatus nee bene nee male de Deo loqui." (Molimei Collat.
Evang. p. 142.) Tiraboschi accounts for the opposition made to his
version, " per le molte eresie, di cui egli imbratto la stessa versioue, e
piu ancora il difFuso comento in sette tomi in foglio, che poi diede in
luce.'' (Storia, tomo vii. p. 404.)

56 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

the pope's doctrine and empire, since his authority
is there most strongly confirmed in the minds of the
people, (say the divines of Geneva, in an answer to
the cardinal bishop of Lucca,) yet the light could
not be prevented from penetrating it in different
quarters, and making the scales to fall from the eyes
of many blind and chained captives, by means of
an Italian translation of the scriptures by Brucioli,
which appeared at that time, and which they did
not then judge it advisable to suppress, as they have
since attempted to do."* Such was the avidity of the
public for the scriptures at this period, and the dis-
position of the learned to gratify it, that other Italian
versions were called for and produced in the course
of a few years after the appearance of Brucioli's.
The Bible published by Sante Marmocchini, was
rather a revisal of Brucioli's than a new version.t
Fra Zaccario followed Marmocchini in his trans-
lation of the New Testament. + Massimo Teofilo,
in his version of the New Testament,^ professes it
as his object to preserve the purity of the Italian
language, which had been neglected by other trans-
lators ; but both he, and Filippo Rustici, who
published a version of the Bible, [J defend, in their
prefatory and subjoined discourses, the translation
of the scriptures into vulgar languages, and write
in every respect like protestants. ^[

* Gerdcsii Ital. Ref. p. 15. f Printed at Venice in 1538.

X Printed in 15+2. § Printed at Lyons in 1551.

|| Printed in 1562.

IT Gerdcs. Ital. Ref. pp. 329, 340. Abbate D. Giovanni Andres,
ut supra, pp. 212-3. Henr. a Porta, De Ling. Orient, p. 71.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 57

The protestant opinions were also propagated in
Italy by the intercourse carried on by letters and
travelling between it and the countries which had
embraced the Reformation. It had long been the cus-
tom for the German youth to finish their education,
especially in law and medicine, at Padua, Bologna,
and other Italian universities. The Italians in their
turn now began to visit the schools of Switzerland
and Germany, whose literary reputation was daily
advancing ; and many of them were attracted to
Wittemberg by the fame of Melanchthon, who was
known to most of the learned in Italy, and with
whom Bembo and Sadoleti did not scruple to main-
tain a friendly correspondence by letters.* The
effects of this intercourse were so visible that it was
repeatedly complained of by the more zealous de-
fenders of the old religion ; and a writer of that time
gives it as his advice, " that a stop should be put to
all commerce and intercourse, epistolary or other-
wise, between the Germans and Italians, as the best
means of preventing heresy from pervading all
Italy."f

War, which brings so many evils in its train, and
proved such a scourge to Italy during the first half
of the sixteenth century, was overruled by provi-
dence for spreading the gospel in that country. The

* Melanchthon, Epist. coll. 368, 373, 712, 728, 733, 758, edit.
Loud.

t Busdragi Epistola de Italia a Lutheranismo preservanda ; in
Serin. Antiq. torn. i. p. 324. It has been supposed, that Vergerio con-
cealed himself under the feigned name of Gerardus Busdragus, and
that the whole letter is a piece of irony.

58 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

troops which Charles V. brought from Germany to
assist him in his Italian expeditions, and the Swiss
auxiliaries who followed the standard of his rival
Francis I., contained many protestants.* With
the freedom of men who have swords in their hands,
these foreigners conversed on the religious controver-
sy with the inhabitants on whom they were quarter-
ed. They extolled the religious liberty which they
enjoyed at home, derided the frightful idea of the re-
formers which the monks had impressed in the minds
of the people, talked in the warmest strains of Lu-
ther and his associates as the restorers of Christia-
nity, contrasted the purity of their lives, and the
slender income with which they were contented, with
the wealth and luxury of their opponents, and ex-
pressed their astonishment that a people of such spirit
as the Italians should continue to yield a base and im-
plicit subjection to an indolent and corrupt priesthood,
which sought to keep them in ignorance, that it might
feed on the spoils of their credulity. The impression
which these representations were calculated to make
on the minds of the people, was strengthened by the
angry manifestoes which the pope and emperor pub-
lished against each other. Clement charged the
emperor with indifference to religion, and complain-
ed that he had enacted laws in various parts of his
dominions, which were highly injurious to the in-
terests of the church, as well as derogatory to the
honour of the Holy See. Charles recriminated, by

* Robertson's Charles V. vol. ii. p. 356. Gerties. Ital. Kef. p 17.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 59

accusing the pope of kindling afresh the flames of
war in Europe, that he might evade, what was uni-
versally and loudly called for, the reformation of the
church in its head and members ; he wrote to the
cardinals to summon a general council for this pur-
pose ; and threatened that, if this were not done, he
would abolish the jurisdiction of the pope through-
out Spain, and convince other nations, by his exam-
ple, that ecclesiastical abuses might be corrected,
and the ancient discipline of the church restored,
without the intervention of papal authority.*

Nor did the emperor rest in threatenings. His
general, the duke of Bourbon, having entered the
papal territories, Rome was taken and sacked, and
the pontiff, after enduring a siege in the castle of
St. Angelo, was obliged to surrender to the impe-
rial troops, by which he was kept for a consider-
able time as a captive. According to the accounts
given by Roman Catholic historians, the Germans
in the emperor's army behaved with great modera-
tion towards the inhabitants of Rome after the first
day's pillage, and contented themselves with testify-
ing their detestation for idolatry ; the Spaniards
never relented in their rapacity and cruelty, tortur-
ing the prisoners to make them discover their trea-
sures ; while the Italians imitated the Spaniards in
their cruelty, and the Germans in their impiety.f

* Pro divo Carolo ejus nominis quint®, Apologetici libri duo ;
Mogunt. 1527. Sleidan, Comment, torn. i. pp. 332 — 336, edit. Am
Ende. De Thou, Hist. lib. i. sect. 11.

t Guicciardini, II Sacco di Roma; and the authorities quoted by
Sismondi, Hist, des Rep. Ital. tome xv. pp. 274-6.

GO HISTOltY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

A scene which was exhibited during the siege of the
castle, will convey an idea of the indignity shown to
all which had been held sacred in the Roman see.
A party of German soldiers, mounted on horses and
mules, assembled one day on the streets of Rome.
One of them, named Grunwald, distinguished by
his majestic countenance and stature, being attired
like the pope, and wearing a triple crown, was plac-
ed on a horse richly caparisoned. Others were ar-
rayed like cardinals, some wearing mitres, and others
clothed in scarlet or white, according to the rank of
those whom they personated. In this form they
marched, amidst the sounding of drums and fifes,
and accompanied with a vast concourse of people,
with all the pomp and ceremony usually observed
in a pontifical procession. When they passed a house
in which any of the cardinals was confined, Grun-
wald blessed the people by stretching out his fingers
in the manner practised by the pope on such occa-
sions. After some time he was taken from his horse,
and borne on the shoulders of one of his companions
on a pad or seat prepared for the purpose. Having
reached the castle of St. Angelo, a large cup was put
into his hands, from which he drank to the health
and safe custody of Clement, in which he was pledg-
ed by his attendants. He then administered to his
cardinals an oath, in which he joined ; engaging,
that they would yield obedience and faithful allegi-
ance to the emperor, as their lawful and only prince,
that they would not disturb the peace of the em-
pire by intrigues, but, as became them, and accord-

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IX ITALY. 61

ing to the precepts of scripture and the example of
Christ and his apostles, would be subject to the
civil powers. After a speech in which he rehearsed
the civil, parricidal, and sacrilegious wars excited
by the popes, and acknowledged that providence had
raised up the emperor Charles to revenge these
crimes, and bridle the rage of wicked priests, the
pretended pontiff solemnly promised to transfer by
testament all his authority and power to Martin Lu-
ther, that he might remove all the corruptions which
had infected the apostolical see, and completely refit
the ship of St. Peter, that it might no longer be the
sport of the winds and waves, through the unskil-
fulness and negligence of its governors, who, intrust-
ed with the helm, had spent their days and nights
in drinking and debauchery. Then raising his voice,
he said, " All who agree to these things, and are
willing to see them carried into execution, let them
signify this by lifting up their hands ;" upon which
the whole band of soldiers, raising their hands, ex-
claimed, " Long live Pope Luther ! Long live Pope
Luther !" All this was performed under the eye of
Clement VII.*

In other circumstances, such proceedings would
have been regarded in no other light than as the un-
bridled excesses of a licentious soldiery, and might
have excited compassion for the captive pontiff.

* Narratio Direptionis Expugnata? Urbis, ex Italico translata a
Casparo Barthio, apud Fabricii Centifol. Lutheran, tom. i. pp. 96 — 98.
The principal facts in this narrative arc confirmed by the popish
writers, Cochlseus, Spondanus, &c.

62 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

But at this time all were convinced, that the wars
which had so long desolated Italy were chiefly to be
ascribed to the ambition and resentment of the
popes ; and the conduct of Clement in provoking a
powerful enemy, whom he was incapable of resist-
ing, appeared to be the effect of a judicial infatua-
tion. The disasters which befel the papal see
and the city of Rome were interpreted as marks of
divine displeasure, and those who insulted over them
were regarded as heralds employed to denounce the
judgments of heaven against an incorrigible court,
and a city desecrated and defiled by all manner of
wickedness. These were not merely the sentiments of
the vulgar, or of such as had already imbibed the re-
formed opinions. They were entertained by digni-
taries of the Roman church, and uttered within the
walls of the Vatican. We have a proof of this in
a speech delivered by Staphylo, bishop of Sibari, at
the first meeting of the apostolical Rota held after
Rome was delivered from a foreign army. Having
described the devastations committed on the city,
the bishop proceeds in the following manner : " But
whence, I pray, have these things proceeded? and why
have such calamities befallen us ? Because all flesh
have corrupted their ways : because we are citizens,
not of the holy city Rome, but of Babylon the wick-
ed city. The word of the Lord spoken by Isaiah is
accomplished in our times, ' How is the faithful
city become an harlot ! It was full of judgment
and holiness, righteousness formerly dwelt in it ;
now sacrilegious persons and murderers. Formerly

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 0*J

it was inhabited by a holy nation, a peculiar people ;
but now by the people of Gomorrah, a depraved
seed, wicked children, unfaithful priests, the com-
panions of thieves.' Lest any should suppose that
this prophetic oracle was fulfilled long ago in the over-
throw of the Babylonish Jerusalem by the Roman
emperors, Vespasian and Titus, seeing the words
appear to refer to the time in which the prophet
lived, I think it proper to observe, agreeably to ec-
clesiastical verity, that future things were set be-
fore the eyes of the prophet's mind as present.
This is evident from the sacred writings through-
out : * The daughter of Zion shall be forsaken and
made desolate by the violence of the enemy.' This
daughter of Zion, the apostle John, in the book of
Revelation, explains as meaning not Jerusalem but
the city Rome, as appears from looking into his
description. For John, or rather the angel, explain-
ing to John the vision concerning the judgment of
the whore, represents this city as meant by Baby-
lon. ' The woman (says he) whom thou sawest is
that great city which reigns (he refers to a spiritual
reign) over the kings of the earth.' He says : —
' She sits on seven hills;' which applies properly to
Rome, called, from ancient times, the seven-hilled
city. She is also said to ' sit on many waters,'
which signify people, nations, and various languages,
of which, as we see, this city is composed more
than any other city in the Christian world. He says
also, ' She is full of names of blasphemy, the mo-
ther of uncleanness, fornications and abominations

(j-i HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

of the earth.' This supersedes the necessity of any
more specific proof, that Rome is the city referred
to ; seeing these vices, though they prevail every-
where, have fixed their seat and empire with us."*
If such were the impressions made on the mind of
a bishop by this event, and if such was the language
held within the hearing of the sovereign pontiff,
what must have been the feelings and the language of
those who were less interested in the support of the
ecclesiastical monarchy, and who were still greater
sufferers from the ambition and tyranny of those who
administered its affairs? The mysterious veil of sanc-
tity, by which the minds of the vulgar had been long
overawed, was now torn off; and when revealed, the
claims of the priesthood appeared to be as arrogant
and unfounded as their conduct was inconsistent with
the character which they had assumed, and with the
precepts of that religion of which they professed to
be the teachers and guardians. The horror hither-
to felt at the name of heretic or Lutheran in Italy
began to abate, and the minds of the people were
prepared to listen to the teachers of the reformed
doctrine, who in their turn were emboldened to
preach and make proselytes in a more open manner
than they had yet ventured to do. " In Italy also,
(says the historian of the council of Trent, speaking
of this period,) as there had neither been pope nor
papal court at Rome for nearly two years, and as

* Oratio habita ad Auditores Rota?, de causis Excidii Urbis Roma;,
anno 1527; inter Rerum German. Scriptores, a Schardio, torn. ii. p.
613, &c. Wolfii Lcct. Memor. torn. ii. p. 300.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 6.5

most looked on the calamities which had fallen on both
as the execution of a divine judgment, on account of the
corruptions of its government, many listened with avi-
dity to the Reformation ; in several cities, and particu-
larly at Faenza, which was situated within the terri-
tories of the pope, sermons were delivered in private
houses against the church of Rome; and the number of
those named Lutherans, or as they called themselves
Evangelicals, increased every day."* That these
sermons were not entirely confined to private houses,
and that the reformed doctrine was publicly preach-
ed in Italy before the year 1530, we learn from the
highest authority. " From the report made to us,
(says pope Clement VII.) we have learned with
great grief of heart, that in different parts of Italy,
the pestiferous heresy of Luther prevails to a high
degree, not only among secular persons, but also
among ecclesiastics and the regular clergy, both
mendicant and non-mendicant ; so that some by
their discourses and conversation, and what is worse,
by their public preaching, infect numbers with this
disease, and greatly scandalize faithful Christians,
living under the obedience of the Roman church,
and observing its laws, to the increase of heresies,
the stumbling of the weak, and the no small injury
of the catholic faith. "f These appearances, while
they gave alarm to the friends of the papacy, excit-

* Fra Paolo, Hist, du Concile de Trente, p. 87, edit. Courayer.
With this the statement of Giannone exactly agrees. (Hist. Civ. de
Naples, torn. iv. p. 110.)

-f- Raynaldi Annates, ad ann. 1530.

66 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

ed hopes in the breasts of those who had espoused
the cause of the Reformation. Both calculated on
the national character of the Italians ; and it was
a common remark, that as the plague, on account
of the intenser heat of an Italian sky, was more
violent in that country than in Germany, so Luther-
anism, if it seized on the minds of the Italians,
which were more ardent and vivacious than those
of the Germans, would rage with greater impetuosi-
ty and violence.*

* Campegii Cardinalis Oratio ad ordines Imperii Norimberg. ; apud
Seckendorf, lib. i. p. 289. Busdragi Epistola • in Scrinio AntiquariOj
torn, i- par. ii. p. 325.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. f>7

CHAP. III.

PROGRESS OF THE REFORMED DOCTRINE IN THE
DIFFERENT STATES AND CITIES OF ITALY.

Having given a general account of the intro-
duction of the reformed opinions into Italy, and the
causes which led to this, I now proceed to trace the
progress which they made through the different
states and cities of that country.

Ferrara is entitled to the first notice, on account
of the protection which it afforded at an early period
to the friends of the Reformation, who fled from vari-
ous parts of Italy, and from foreign countries. Un-
der the government of its dukes of the illustrious
house of Este, Ferrara had for some time vied with
Florence in the encouragement of learning and the
fine arts. Ariosto lived at the court of Alfonso I.,
as did Bernardo Tasso, and at a subsequent period,
his more illustrious son, the author of Jerusalem
Delivered, at the court of Ercole II. ; and in con-
sequence of this, the genealogy and achievements of
the dukes of Ferrara have been transmitted to pos-
terity by the first poets of that age. Hercules had re-
ceived a good education, and was induced by personal
judgment and feeling to yield that patronage to learn-
ed men which contemporary princes paid as a tribute

68 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

to fashion, and out of regard to their own fame *
The house of Este had in several late instances been
ill repaid for the devotion which they had shown to
the interests of the see of Rome ; but the reason al-
ready mentioned, as attaching the Italian princes to
the pope, overcame the sense of the injury. Ippolito,
a younger son of Duke Alfonso, and afterwards
his nephew, Ludovico, were cardinals ; and from
time immemorial a branch of the family had occu-
pied a place in the sacred college.f Accordingly,
Alfonso had proved a faithful ally to Clement
during the humiliating disasters to which he was
exposed ; and his successor Hercules, though more
enlightened in religious matters than his father,
avoided any thing which might give offence to the
supreme pontiff.

In the year 1527, Hercules II. married Renee,
daughter of Louis XII. of France ; and the coun-
tenance which the reformed opinions obtained at
the court of Ferrara, is chiefly to be ascribed to
the influence of that amiable and accomplished
princess. Distinguished for her virtue and ge-
nerosity, of the most elegant and engaging man-
ners, speaking the French and Italian langua-

* Ctelii Calcagnini Opera, pp. 77, 11G, 144, 175. The eulogium
which Calcagnini has pronounced on him, is justified by the account
of a conversation between them respecting the choice of a tutor to the
duke's son. (lb. p. 168. Conf. pp. 160-162.)

f Puffendorf, Introd. Hist. Europ. p. 606. Black's Life of Tasso,
i. 348. To this Ariosto alludes :

'Twere long to tell the names of all thy race,
That in the conclave shall obtain a place,
To tell each enterprise their arms shall gain,
What comjuests for the Roman church obtain.

(Orlando Furioso, book iii.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 69

ges with equal purity, and deeply versed in the
Greek and Roman classics, she attracted the love
and admiration of all who knew her.* Before
leaving her native country she had become acquaint-
ed with the reformed doctrine, by means of some of
those learned persons who frequented the court of
the celebrated Margaret, queen of Navarre; and she
was anxious to facilitate its introduction into the
country to which her residence was now transferred,
For some time she could only do this under the co-
vert of entertaining its friends as men of letters,
which the duke, her husband, was ready to encour-
age, or at least to wink at. The first persons to whom
she extended her protection and hospitality on this
principle, were her own countrymen, whom the
violence of persecution had driven out of France.
Madame de Soubise, the governess of the duchess,
had introduced several men of letters into the court
of France, during the late reign. f She now resided
at the court of Ferrara, along with her son, Jean
de Parthenai, sieur de Soubise, afterwards a princi-
pal leader of the protestant party in France ; her
daughter, Anne de Parthenai, distinguished for her
elegant taste ; and the future husband of this young
lady, Antoine de Pons, count de Marennes, who
adhered to the reformed cause until the death of his
wife4 In the year 1534, the celebrated French

* Muratori, Antichita Estensi, torn. ii. p. 368. Tiraboschi, Storia,
torn. vii. par. i. p. 37. Calcagnini Opera, pp. 149, 150.
+ Oeuvres de Clement Marot, torn. ii. pp. 182—181. A la Haye,

1731.
X Ibid. pp. 178—181. Bayle, Diet. art. Soubise, J. de Parthenai.

70 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

poet, Clement Marot, fled from liis native country,
in consequence of the persecution excited by the
placards, and after residing for a short time at the
court of the queen of Navarre in Beam, came to
Ferrara.* He was introduced by Madame de Sou-
bise to the duchess, who made him her secretary ;f
and his friend, Lyon Jamet, finding it necessary
soon after to join him, met with a reception equally
gracious 4 About the same time, the celebrated re-
former, John Calvin, visited Ferrara, where he spent
some months under the assumed name of Charles
Heppeville. He received the most distinguished at-
tention from the duchess, who was confirmed in the
protestant faith by his instructions, and ever after
retained the highest respect for his character and
talents. § In the year 1536, the duke of Ferrara
entered into a league with the pope and emperor, by
one of the secret articles of which he was bound to
remove all the French from his court ; and in conse-
quence of this, the duchess was obliged reluctantly

* In the biographical and critical preface to the Hague edition of
Marot's works, by Le Chevalier Gordon de Tercel (under which name,
Nicole Lenglet du Fresnoy is supposed to have concealed himself,) it
is stated, that the famous Diana of Poitiers, afterwards mistress of
Henry II. instigated the persecution against Marot, in revenge for
some satirical verses, which he had written on her for deserting him.
(Tom. i. pp. 25, 76.)

t Oeuvres de Marot, torn. i. pp. 75-79. Beze, Hist. Eccl. torn. i. p.
22. Le Laboureur, Addit. aux Mem. de Castelnau, p. 71G. Noltenii
Vita Olympic Moratae, pp. 60-62. edit. Hesse.

% Nolten, ut supra, pp. 65-67.

§ Beza, Vita Calvini. Muratori, Antichita Estensi, torn. ii. p. 389.
Ruchat, Hist, de la Reform, de la Suisse, tome v. p. 620. The mis-
statements of Varillas and Moreri respecting Calvin's visit to Italy
are corrected by Bayle, Diet, ut supra.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 71

to part with Madame de Soubise and her family.*
Marot retired to Venice, from which he soon after
obtained permission to return in safety to his native
country. f It is not improbable, that he was induc-
ed at first to take part with the reformers from re-
sentment at the opposition which the clergy made
to every species of literature ; but his attachment
to the protestant doctrine was greatly increased
during his residence at Ferrara, if we may judge
from the strain of the letters and other pieces which
proceeded from his pen at this time, and which
breathe the spirit of martyrdom. Probably he would
have shrunk from the fiery trial, if he had been ex-
posed to it; but it does not follow from this, either
that the sentiments referred to are not noble, or that
the poet was not in earnest when he uttered them. ^

* Epitres de Rabelais, p. 1 8. Marot has described with much ten-
derness, the distress which the duchess felt on this occasion, in an
epistle to the queen of Navarre :

Ha, Marguerite ! escoute la souffrance
Du noble cueur de Renee de France ;
Puis comme soeur plus fort que d'esperance

Console — la.
Tu scais comment hors son pays alia,
Et que parens et amis laissa la ;
Mais tu ne scais quel traitement elle a

En terre estrange.
Elle ne voit ceux a qui se veult plaindre,
Son ceil rayant si loing ne peult attaindre,
Et puis les monts pour se bien lui estaindre
Sont entre deux.

(Oeuvres, tome ii. 317-8.)
t In the title to his 21st Cantique, he is said to be "banni de
France, depuis chasse de Ferrara, et de la retire' a Venise 1536." (Oeuv-
res, tome ii. p. 316. comp. tome i. pp. 82-3. Bayle, art. Marot, Cle-
ment.)

% The account which he gave of his faith in his poetical epistlr

72 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

Lyon Jamet was allowed to remain with the duchess*
probably as a person less known than Marot, and
discharged the duty of secretary to Renee after the
departure of his friend.*

Several individuals who were decidedly favour-
able to the Reformation obtained a place in the uni-
versity of Ferrara, which was now fast recovering
its former lustre, after having suffered severe-
ly from the civil wars, in which the family of Este
had for many years been involved. f But the re-
formed doctrine was propagated chiefly by means
of those learned men whom the duchess retained
in her family for the education of her children.
This was conducted on an extensive scale, suited
to the liberality of her own views and the munifi-
cence of her husband. Teachers in all branches of
polite letters and arts were provided. In the gal-
axy of learned men which adorned the court of

addressed to his prosecutor, Mons. Bouchar, in 1325, differs widely
from that which is contained in his epistle addressed to Francis I. in
1536. (Oeuvres, tome ii. p. 39. comp. p. 167.) His willingness to suf-
fer martyrdom, which his biographer, after Bayle, has sneered at, is
expressed in the following lines :

Que pleust a 1' Eternel,

Pour le grand bien du peuple desole,

Que leur desir de mon sang fust saoule,

Et tant d'abus, dont ils se sont munis,

Fussent a cler descouverts et punis,

O quatre fois et cinq fois bien heureuse

La mort, tant soit cruelle et rigoureuse !

Qui feroit seule un million de vies

Sous tels abus n'estre plus asservies ?
* Oeuvres de Marot, tome ii. p. 159. Bayle, art. Marot, Clement,
t In the beginning of the sixteenth century, there were so many
English students at the university of Ferrara, as to form a distinct
nation in that learned corporation. (Bersetti Hist. Gymn. Ferrar.
apud Tiraboscbi, tomo vii. p. 119.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 73

Ferrara, were Celio Calcagnini, Lilio Giraldi, Bar-
tolomeo Riccio, Marzello Palingenio, and Marco
Antonio Flaminio, men whose minds were elevated
above the superstitions of the age, if they were not
disciples to the protestant faith. * During a vi-
sit which the pontiff, Paul III., paid to Ferrara,
in the year 1543, the Adelphi of Terence was acted
by the youth of the family, and the three daughters
of the duke, the eldest of whom was only twelve
and the youngest five years of age, performed their
parts with great applause, f His Holiness was not
then aware of the religious sentiments of the mas-
ters by whom the juvenile princesses had been qualifi-
ed for affording him this classical amusement. Chi-
lian and John Sinapi, two brothers from Germany,
instructed them in Greek, and being protestants,
imbued their minds with sound views of religion. |.
Fulvio Peregrino Morata, a native of Mantua, and
a successful teacher of youth in various parts of
Italy, had been tutor to the two younger brothers
of duke Hercules, and having returned finally to
Ferrara in 1539, was re-admitted to his professor-
ship in the university. § Like most of his learned

* Noltenii Vita Olympiae Morata, pp. 67 — 87, ed. Hesse.

■f Muratori, ui svpra, ii. 368.

% Opera Olympic Moratse, pp. 76, 97, 203, 205.

§ Nolten, ut supra, pp. 11 — 17. His works in Italian and in
Latin are mentioned by Tiraboschi, (Storia, tomo vii.pp. 1197 — 1200)
and by Scbelborn. (Amoen. Eccl. et Lit. torn. ii. p. 617.) A warm
eulogium is passed on liim by Calcagnini, (Opera, p. 156.) and by
Bembo. (Epist. Famil. apud Schclhorn.) Bembo, in a letter " a M.
Bernardo Tasso, Secretario della Signora Duchessa di Ferrara," May
27, 1529, speaks of " Maestro Pellcgrino Moretto," as having said
some injurious things of his prose works. (Lettere, tomo iii. p.
226. Milano, 1810.)

74 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

countrymen, Morata's mind had been engrossed with
secular studies during the first part of his life, but
having met withCelio Secundo Curio, a refugee from
Piedmont, he imbibed from him the knowledge of
evangelical truth and a deep sense of religion.* Es-
teemed as he was for his learning and integrity, he
became still more celebrated as the father of Olym-
pia Morata, one of the most learned females of the
age, whom he educated with a zeal prompted by
parental fondness and professional enthusiasm. In
consequence of her early proficiency in letters,
Olympia was chosen by the duchess to be the com-
panion of her eldest daughter, Anne, with whom
she improved in every elegant and useful accom-
plishment ; and although she afterwards acknow-
ledged that her personal piety suffered from the
bustle and blandishments of a court, yet it was dur-
ing her residence in the ducal palace that she ac-
quired that knowledge of the gospel which support-
ed her mind under the privations and hardships
which she afterwards had to endure, f

We have no means of ascertaining the number
of protestants at Ferrara, which probably varied at
different times, in consequence of the fluctuating
politics of the duke, and the measures of religious
constraint or toleration which were alternatelv

* Fulvio calls Curio his " divine teacher, — one sent of God to in-
struct him, as Ananias was sent to Paul." (Nolten, Vita Olympise
Moratse, p. 17, 18, ed. Hesse. Opuscula Olympice Moratse, pp. 94,
96, edit. Basil. 1580.)

t Ccelii Secundi Curionis Araneus, pp. 153, 154. Basil. 1541.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IX ITALY. 7 '5

adopted by the other states of Italy. One account
mentions, that they had several preachers as early
as the year 1528 ; * but whether they were per-
mitted to teach publicly or not, we are not inform-
ed. That their labours were successful, is evident
from the number of distinguished persons who either
imbibed the protestant doctrine, or were confirmed
in their attachment to it, at Ferrara. To the in-
stance of this among the natives of France already
mentioned, may be added Hubert Languet, an ac-
complished scholar, and one of the first, or at least
soundest, politicians of his age.f The most emi-
nent of the Italians who embraced the reformed faith,
or who exposed themselves to the suspicions of the
clergy by the liberality of their opinions, resided for
some time at the court of Ferrara, or were indebted
in one way or other to the patronage of Renee.

Modena was also under the government of the
house of Este, and most probably owed its first ac-
quaintance with the reformed opinions to the same
cause which introduced them into Ferrara. Some
of the Modenese were among the early correspond-
ents of Luthei'4 Few cities of Italy in that age
could boast of having given birth to a greater num-
ber of persons eminent for talents and learning than
Modena. It reckoned among its citizens four of
the most accomplished members of the sacred col-
lege, (including Sadoleti,) Sigonio, the celebrated

* Tempe Helvetica, torn. iv. p. 138.

t Langueti Epistola?, lib. i. part. ii. pp. Ill, 264. Halfe, 1699.

X Gerdesii Italia Reformata, p. 61.

76 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

antiquary, Castelvetro, a critic of great acuteness,
and many others, whose names occur frequently in the
history of Italian literature. Modena possessed one
of those academies which sprung up in such great
numbers in Italy during the sixteenth century, and
threw into shade the old and endowed seminaries of
science. This owed its origin to an opulent physician
of the name of Grillenzone, who lived with his five
brothers and their families in one house, which was
open at all times to learned men. Religious topics
were not excluded from the discussions of the Acca-
demia del Grillenzone, and some of its most distin-
guished members inclined to the opinions of the re-
formers. Muratori, in his Life of Castelvetro, repre-
sents the ecclesiastical proceedings instituted against
this learned body as originating solely in one of
those feuds in which the literati of that age were
not unfrequently involved with the priests and
friars ; but more accurate investigation has shown
that they had a deeper foundation. The academy
had incurred strong suspicions of being tainted
with heresy as early as 1537, on account of a
book circulated in the city, which had been con-
demned as heretical, but which the academicians
defended as sound and worthy of approbation.*
Two years after this, the inquisitor of heretical
pravity was directed by a papal rescript to make
diligent inquiry after the adherents to the new opi-
nions among the different religious orders establish-

* For a fuller account of the dispute occasioned by this hook, Ti-
rahoschi (torn. vii. p. 168.) refers to Biblioteca deg-Ii Scriitori Mo-
denesi ; a work which I have not been able to see.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 77

ed in this city.* In 1540, Paolo Ricci, or Lisia

Fileno, as he was also called, a native of Sicily,
who had imbibed the reformed doctrine, came to
Modena, where his reputation for learning secured
him a cordial reception. He made it his business
to find out the friends of the new opinions who
were scattered in the city ; and having prevailed on
them to meet privately in a particular house, acted
as their teacher. His instructions soon made ad-
ditional converts ; and gathering courage with their
numbers, the new preachers mounted the pulpit,
and drew crowds to their sermons. This produced
a great sensation in the city ; the scriptures were
eagerly consulted, and the subjects in dispute be-
tween the church of Rome and her opponents were
freely and generally canvassed. " Persons of all
classes," (says a contemporary popish writer,) " not
only the learned, but also the illiterate and women,
whenever they met in the streets, in shops, or in
churches, disputed about faith and the law of Christ,
and all promiscuously tortured the sacred scriptures,
quoting Paul, Matthew, John, the Apocalypse, and
all the doctors, though they never saw their writ-
ings."! The news °f the success of the gospel at
Modena reached Germany, and drew a letter of
congratulation and advice from Bucer. t The

* Spondani Annal. acl an. 1539.

t Cronaca MS. di Alessandro Tassoni, apud Tiraboschi, toni. vit.
p. 168. Ginguene translates the passage into good French, and gives
it as his own description of the fact, without appearing to be aware
that this was the common language of Roman Catholic writers of that
age, when they spake of the people reading the scriptures or con wis .
ing on religious subjects. (Hist. Litt. d'ltalie, p. 365.)

X Buceri Script. Anglic, p. <i87.

78 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

clergy made loud complaints ; and Ricci, being
apprehended in the neighbouring village of Staggia
by the orders of duke Hercules, was conducted as
a prisoner to Ferrara, and forced to make a public
recantation of his opinions. But the seed sown by
him and others had already taken deep root in the
minds of the Modenese, who testified their indig-
nation at the treatment of their favourite preacher,
by publicly deriding the priests, and on some oc-
casions obliging them to come down from the
pulpit.* In these practices the populace were not
a little encouraged by the known sentiments of
the academicians, who did not conceal their con-
tempt of the ignorance and profligacy of the clergy.
Cardinal Morone, then bishop of Modena, complains
of this in a letter addressed to cardinal Contarene
in 1542, and adds, that it was the common report,
that " the whole city Avas turned Lutheran."!

Florence had lately seen two of her citizens
advanced to the papal throne ; an intimate connex-
ion subsisted between her and Rome ; and she had
yielded up her liberties to Cosmo de Medici, who
exercised the supreme authority, under the title
of Grand Duke of Tuscany. On these accounts, the
reformed doctrine was never permitted to make great
progress in Florence. But so early as 1525, the
disputes concerning religion were agitated there,
and many of the Florentines had embraced the new
opinions.]: Brucioli and Teofilo, already mentioned

* Tiraboscbi, vii. 169.

•|- Quirini Diatrib. ad vol. iii. Epist. Card. Poli, p. cclxxxvi. Sa-
loleti Epist. Famil. vol. iii. p. 317.
X Sanctes Pagnini, Prsefat. in Bibl. Lat. auno 1528.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 79

as translators of the scriptures, and Carneseca and
Martyr, of whom we shall afterwards have occasion
to speak particularly, were natives of Florence ; nor
were there wanting several of their fellow-citizens
who sighed for religious reform and liberty, but
who, despairing to find it at home, chose a voluntary
banishment, and an uncertain and uncomfortable
abode in foreign countries.*

Bologna, in the sixteenth century, formed part
of the territories of the church, and from it the su-
preme pontiffs issued some of the severest of their
edicts against heresy. But this did not prevent the
light which was shining around, from penetrating in-
to that city. The university of Bologna was one of
the earliest, if not the very first, of the great schools
of Europe, and the extensive privileges enjoyed by
its members were favourable to liberal sentiments,
and the propagation of the new opinions in religion.
The essential principles of liberty, equally obnoxious
to political and ecclesiastical despots, were boldly
avowed in public disputations before the students,
at a time when they had fallen into disrepute in
those states of Italy which still retained a shadow
of their former freedom, f John Mollio, a native
of Montalcino in the territory of Sienna, was a
principal instrument of promoting the gospel at Bo-
logna. He had entered in his youth into the order
of Minorites, but instead of wasting his time, like
the most of his brethren, in idleness or superstition,

* Gerdesii Syllabus Ital. Reform, passim.
f Life of John Knox, vol, ii. p. 123.

80 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

had devoted himself to the study of polite letters
and theology. By the careful perusal of the scrip-
tures and certain books of the reformers, he attain-
ed to clear views of evangelical truth, which his ta-
lents, and his reputation for learning and piety,
enabled him to recommend, both as a preacher and
an academical professor. * After acquiring great
celebrity as a teacher in the universities of Bres-
cia, Milan, and Pavia, he came, about the year
1533, to Bologna. Certain propositions which he
advanced in his lectures, relating to justification
by faith and other points then agitated, were oppos-
ed by Cornelio, a professor of metaphysics, who,
being foiled in a public dispute which ensued be-
tween them, lodged a charge of heresy against his
opponent, and procured his citation to Rome. Mol-
lio defended himself with such ability and address,
that the judges appointed by Paul III. to try the
cause were forced to acquit him, in the way of de-
claring that the sentiments which he had maintained
were true, although they were such as could not be
publicly taught at that time without prejudice to the
apostolical see. He was therefore sent back to Bo-
loana, with an admonition to abstain for the future
from explaining the epistles of St. Paul. But, con-
tinuing to teach the same doctrine as formerly, and
with still greater applause from his hearers, cardi-
nal Campeggio procured an order from the pope to
remove him from the university, f

The state of religious feeling at Bologna is de-

* Histoirc des Martyrs, f. 264, edit. 1597, folio. Zanchii Epist.
lib. ii. col. 278.
t Pantaleon, Reruro in Eccl. Gest. lib. ix. f. 263.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 81

picted in a letter as singular in its style as in its
matter, which some inhabitants of that city address-
ed to John Planitz, who had come to Italy as am-
bassador from the elector of Saxony to Charles V.
Having mentioned the report that he was sent to
intreat the emperor to use his influence with the
pope to call a council for the reformation of the
church, an object which had been long and earnest-
ly expected by all good men, they proceed in the
following manner : — " If this be true, as we trust
it is, then we offer our thanks to you all, — to you
for visiting this Babylonian land, — to Germany for
demanding a council, — and especially to your evan-
gelical prince, who has undertaken the defence of
the gospel, and of all the faithful, with such ardour,
that, not content with restoring the grace and liberty
of Christ to his native Saxony and to Germany, he
seeks to extend the same blessings toEngland,France,
Spain, Italy, and the churches in every other coun-
try. We are quite aware, that it is a matter of
small consequence to you whether a council is as-
sembled or not, seeing you have already, as becomes
strenuous and faithful Christians, thrown off the ty-
rannical yoke of antichrist, and asserted your right
to the sacred privileges of the free kingdom of Jesus
Christ, so that you everywhere read, write, and pub-
licly preach at your pleasure ; the spirits of the pro-
phets jointly hearing and judging, according to the
apostolical rule. We are aware also, that it gives you
no uneasiness to know, that you are loaded in foreign
countries with the heavy charge of heresy, but that on

82 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

the contrary, you esteem it matter of joy and eternal
gloriation to be the first to suffer reproaches, impris-
onment, and fire and sword, for the name of Jesus.
It is therefore plain to us, that, in urging the convoca-
tion of such a synod, you do not look to the advan-
tage of the Germans, but that, obeying the apostolical
injunction, yoii seek the advantage and salvation of
other people. On this account all Christians pro-
fess themselves under the deepest obligations to
you, and especially we of Italy, who, in propor-
tion to our proximity to the tyrannical court, (alas !
we cherish the tyrant in our bosom,) are bound to
acknowledge the divine blessing of your liberation.

" We beseech and obtest you by the faith of Christ
(though you are sufficiently disposed to this already,
and need not our admonitions) to employ every
means in your power with the religious emperor,
and to leave no stone unturned, to obtain this most
desirable and necessary assembly, in which you
can scarcely fail to succeed, as his gentle and gra-
cious majesty knows that this is desired, demand-
ed, expected, and loudly called for by the most pious,
learned, and honourable men, in the most illustrious
cities of Italy, and even in Rome itself ; many of
whom, we have no doubt, will flock to you, as soon
as they shall learn that this is the object of your
embassy.

" In fine, we hope that this will be willingly
granted, as most reasonable and consonant to the
constitutions of the apostles and holy fathers, that
Christians shall have liberty to examine one an-

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 8.3

other's confessions, since the just live not by the
acts of others, but by their own faith, otherwise
faith is not faith; nor can that persuasion which is
not produced in a divine manner upon the heart
be properly called persuasion, but rather a violent
and forced impulse, which the simplest and most
ignorant must perceive to be utterly unavailing to
salvation. But, if the malice of Satan still rages to
such a degree that this boon cannot be immediate-
ly obtained, liberty will surely be granted in the
mean time both to clergy and laity to purchase
Bibles without incurring the charge of heresy, and
to quote the sayings of Christ or Paul without be-
ing branded as Lutherans. For, alas ! instances
of this abominable practice occur ; and if this is not
a mark of the reign of antichrist, what is it, when
the law, and grace, and doctrine, and peace, and li-
berty of Christ are so openly opposed, trampled up-
on and rejected ?"*

The number of persons addicted to protestantism
in Bologna continued to be great many years after
this period. Bucer congratulates them on their in-
creasing knowledge and numbers, in a letter written
in the year 1541 ; f and in 1545 Baldassare Altieri
writes to an acquaintance in Germany, that a noble-
man in that city was ready to raise six thousand
soldiers in favour of the evangelical party, if it was
found necessary to make war against the pope. ^

That the desire for ecclesiastical reform was as

* Seckendorf, lib. iii. pp. 68, 69. t Buceri Scripta Anglic, p. 687.
+ Seckend. lib. iii. p. 579.

84 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

strongly and generally felt through Italy as is re-
presented in the letter of the Bolognese, appears
from a measure adopted by the court of Rome at
this time. Averse to the holding of a general
council, and yet unable to evade the importunities
of those who demanded it, pope Paul III. in 1537,
assembled four cardinals and five prelates * at
Rome, and charged them, after due deliberation, to
lay before him their advice as to the best method
of reforming the abuses of the church. The mem-
bers of this commission, including some of the most
respectable dignitaries of the church, met according-
ly, and presented their joint advice to his holiness.
Though they touched the sores of the ecclesiastic body
with a gentle hand, they acknowledged that both head
and members " laboured under a pestiferous ma-
lady, which, if not cured, would prove fatal."
Among the evils which called for a speedy remedy,
they pointed out the admission of improper persons
to the priesthood, the sale of benefices, the disposi-
tion of them by testaments, the granting of dispen-
sations and exemptions, and the union of bishoprics,
and of " the incompatible offices of cardinal and bi-
shop." Addressing the supreme pontiff, they say,
" Some of your predecessors in the pontifical chair,
having itching ears, have heaped to themselves

* These were cardinals Contarene, Caraffa, Sadolet, and Pole;
Fregoso, archbishop of Salerno, Aleander of Brindisi, and Gibert of
Verona, Cortese, abbot of St. George of Venice, and Badia, master of
the Sacred Palace.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 85

teachers according to their own lusts, not men who
would instruct them what they ought to do, but
such as were expert in finding out reasons to justi-
fy what they wished to do, and who, by adulation,
persuaded the pope that he was the proprietor of all
benefices, and might sell them without being guilty
of simony." * No one acquainted with the politics
of the court of Rome, will suppose that it was se-
rious in the proposal to reform even these abuses.
The Advice was approved of and printed by the or-
der of Paul III. ; but, instead of seeing it carried
into execution, he glaringly transgressed its provi-
sions in various instances, f Nor did the advisers
themselves testify any forwardness to exemplify their
own rules. Such of them as were both cardinals
and bishops retained their double office ; cardinal
Pole did not think it necessary to lay aside the pur-

* Wolfii Lect. Memorab. torn. ii. pp. 398—419; where the Consi-
lium is inserted at length, with a preface by Vergerio. It was re-
printed, along with the letter to cardinal Quirini mentioned in the
subsequent note, by Schelhorn, who added to it Sturmius's epistle,
and the correspondence to which this gave rise between that learned
man and Sadolet.

f During the last century, cardinal Quirini took occasion, from
this private council, to extol the exertions of the pope to reform ec-
clesiastical abuses, in his prefaces to his edition of cardinal Pole's Let-
ters, and also in his Diatriba de Gestis Pauli III. Farnesii, publish-
ed at Brescia in 1745. To this two able replies were made : one by
Joan. Rudolphus Kiesling, entitled, Epistola de Gestis Pauli Tertiiad
emendationem Eccksice spectantibus, Lipsiae, 1747 ; and the other by
Jo. Georg. Schelhorn, entitled, De Consilio de emendanda Ecclesia,
jussu Pauli Tertii, sed ah eodem neglecto. Tiguri, 1 748.

86 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

pie when he became primate of all England ; and
cardinal Caraffa, when he afterwards ascended the
papal throne, under the title of Paul IV., put the
advice which he had given to his predecessor into
the list of prohibited books. * The protestants, how-
ever, did not overlook this document. A copy of the
Advice being sent to Germany, t it was published in
Latin, with a prefatory epistle, by Sturmius, rector of
the academy of Strasburg; and in German by Luther,
accompanied with animadversions, in which, among
other satirical remarks, he says, that the cardinals
contented themselves with removing the small twigs,
while they allowed the trunk of corruption to remain
unmolested, and, like the Pharisess of old, strained at
flies and swallowed camels. To set this before the
eyes of his readers, he prefixed to his book a print, in
which the pope was represented as seated on a high
throne, surrounded by the cardinals, who held in their
hands long poles with foxes' tales fixed to them like
brooms, with which they swept up and down the
room. Pallavicini is displeased with this measure
of the pope, who, " by ordering a reformation of

* In opposition to a statement by Schelhorn, cardinal Quirini
maintained that Paul IV. did not condemn the Consilium, but only
the commentaries which Sturmius and others wrote on it. Schelhorn
has refuted the arguments of the cardinal, and confirmed his own state-
ment, in a tract, entitled, De Cunsilio de Emendanda Ecclesia, auspi-
ciis Paufi III. conscripio ; ac a Paulo IV. damnato. Tig. 1748.

t Cardinal Quirini at first asserted that it was originally printed
by the protestants, but he afterwards found two copies of it printed at
Rome in 1538, by the authority of the pope. (Ut supra, p. 9.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 87

manners, acknowledged that deformity existed, and
added force to the detracting speeches which here-
tics circulated among the vulgar."* Whether the
following article of the proposed reform was car-
ried into effect or not, I cannot say : " Since boys
are now accustomed to read at schools the collo-
quies of Erasmus, in which are many things calcu-
lated to betray uninformed minds into impiety, the
reading of that book, or any other of the same kind,
shall be prohibited in seminaries of learning."! To
this was affixed the name of Sadolet ! Well might
Melanchthon express a surprise, not unmingled
with scorn, at this proposal, and at the whole of the
ridiculous affair. " I have not yet answered Sado-
let/' says he, in a letter to a friend. " I would
certainly have written him, if I had had leisure for
it ; but I am of opinion that the delay will not be
without its utility in reference to what he is doing.
Our friends write me from Italy, that he is offend-
ed at my silence, and that some persons have incens-
ed him against me ; but he perhaps thought, that
by one letter sent into Germany, he would, as with
the music of Orpheus, charm not only me, who, I
confess, am weak, but all my countrymen, to aban-

* Storia Concil. Trent, lib. iii. sect. 57, § 3.

t On the margin of that part of the Advice which relates to Eras-
mus, Luther wrote, Wolte Gott er solte leben ! O that he had been
alive ! an exclamation expressive, in my opinion, of regret at the re-
cent death of an illustrious antagonist, blended with delight at the
thought of the merited castigation which Erasmus, if he had survived,
would have bestowed on the mitred censors of his favourite work.
(Seckend. lib. iii. p. 164 J

88 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

don the cause. The only friend of peace at Rome
was Schonberg, cardinal of Capua, who thought
that some concessions ought to be made. I looked
upon him as a person of great moderation, and am
confirmed in this opinion by the letters which I have
received from my friends since his death, which has
produced a great change of counsels. There has
just been published a ridiculous consultation of the
cardinals about the correction of abuses, in which
the colloquies of Erasmus are forbidden to be used in
schools, and to this consultation were called these
heroes, Aleander and SadoZet."* What pigmies do
men of mere letters appear in the eyes of a man, not
of stern virtue, but of sterling principle !

Faenza and Imola were both situated in that
part of Italy which was called the patrimony of St.
Peter, and acknowledged the popes as their tempo-
ral sovereigns. It has been already mentioned that
the reformed doctrine was introduced into the for-
mer city:f that it gained admission into the latter
appears from an anecdote related in a letter of
Thomas Lieber, (better known, in the controversy
respecting ecclesiastical discipline, by his Greek
name of Erastus) who was then prosecuting his
medical studies at the neighbouring university of

* Melancth. Epist. coll. 752-3. Sleidan's account of the sentiments
and conduct of the cardinal of Capua is very different from that of
Melanchthon. (Comment, torn. ii. p. 117.)

t See above, p. 65.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 89

Bologna. An Observantine monk, preaching one
day at Imola, told the people, that it behoved them
to purchase heaven by the merit of their good works.
A boy, who was present, exclaimed, " That's blas-
phemy ! for the Bible tells us that Christ purchased
heaven by his sufferings and death, and bestows it
on us freely by his mercy." A dispute of consider-
able length ensued between the youth and the
preacher. Provoked at the pertinent replies of his
juvenile opponent, and at the favourable reception
which the audience gave them, " Get you gone, you
young rascal ! (exclaimed the monk) you are but
just come from the cradle, and will you take it up-
on you to judge of sacred things, which the most
learned cannot explain ?" — " Did you never read
these words, ' Out of the mouths of babes and suck-
lings God perfects praise?'" rejoined the youth;
upon which the preacher quitted the pulpit in wrath-
ful confusion, breathing out threatenings against
the poor boy, who was instantly thrown into pri-
son, " where he still lies," says the writer of the
letter, which was dated on the 31st of December,
1544.*

Venice, of all the states of Italy, afforded the
greatest facilities for the propagation of the new
opinions, and the safest asylum to those who suffer-
ed for their adherence to them. Jealous of its au-
thority, and well apprized of the ambition and en-

• Schelhorni Amcenit. Hist. Eccles. torn. ii. p. 54.

90 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

croaching spirit of the Roman court, the senate had
uniformly resisted the attempts made to establish
the inquisition, and was cautious in allowing the
edicts of the Vatican to be promulgated or carried
into effect within the Venetian territories. Politi-
cal sagacity counteracted the narrow views of a
proud and jealous aristocracy, and taught them to
relax the severity of their internal police. Venice
had risen to power and opulence by commerce ; and
the concession of a more than ordinary freedom of
thinking and speaking was necessary to encourage
strangers to visit her ports and markets. This re-
public was then among popish, what Holland be-
came among protestant states. She had been, and
continued long to be, distinguished for the number
of her printing presses ; * and while letters were
cultivated elsewhere for themselves, or to gratify
the vanity of their patrons, they were encouraged
here, from the additional consideration of their
forming an important, and not unproductive, branch
of manufacture and merchandise. The books of the
German and Swiss protestants were consigned to
merchants at Venice, from which they were circulated
to the different parts of Italy ;| and it was in this city

* See, besides the common typographic authorities, Le Brett, Dis-
sertatio de Ecclesia Graeca hodierna in Dalmatia, &c. pp. 22, 93.

t " Bene vale ; et si quando deest scribendi argumentum, vel de
communibus studiis, vel si quid librorum Germani mancipes nuper
Venetias invexerint, perscribe." (Csel. Caleagninus Peregrino Morato;
Epist. lib. xi. p. 158.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 91

that versions of the Bible and other religious books
in the vulgar tongue, were chiefly printed.

We have already had occasion to notice that the
first writings of Luther were read in Venice soon
after they were published. In a letter written in
the year 1528, the reformer says to a friend, " You
give me joy by what you write of the Venetians re-
ceiving the word of God. Thanks and glory to
God."* In the course of the following year, he was
in correspondence with James Ziegler, a learned
man, who possessed great authority at Venice, and
was favourable to the grand attempt to reform re-
ligion, though he never joined its standard. f Zieg-
ler had sent from Venice to Wittenberg, his adopt-
ed brother, Theodore Veit,^; who acted for some
time as secretary or amanuensis to Luther, and af-
terwards became minister of Nurenberg. This is
the person so often mentioned under the name of
Theodorus Vitus in the letters of Melanchthon, and

* Luthers Samtliche Schriften, torn. xxi. p. 1092. edit. J. G.
Walch.

t Ibid. p. 1163. Ziegler was the intimate friend of Celio Calcag-
nini, who has celebrated his talents and virtues in the warmest man-
ner. (Calcagnini Opera, pp. 61 — 57, 67, 86.) He was distinguished for
his skill in Mathematics, Geography, and Natural History, and pub-
lished the principal works of the ancients on these subjects, with an-
notations. Schelhorn published his Historia Clementis VII. and pre-
fixed to it, a treatise Be Vita et Scriptis Jacohi Ziegleri, which con-
tains curious particulars concerning the learning and literati of that
time. (Amcenit. Hist. Eccles. et Liter, torn. ii. p. 210, &c.)

| Buddeus, in his Supplement to Luther's letters, (p. 74.,) reads,
* misit ad me virum, (instead of Vitum,) fratrem sibi adoptatum ;" a
mistake which has been corrected by Walch.

92 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

through whom that reformer chiefly received his in-
telligence respecting the protectants in Italy.*

An occurrence which took place in 1530, shows that
there were then numbers in Venice who felt a deep
interest in the cause of the Reformation. While car-
dinal Campeggio attended the imperial diet at Augs-
burg, as papal legate, a report was widely spread that
he had wrought so far on the yielding temper of Me-
lanchthon, as to persuade him to submit to the judg-
ment of the supreme pontiff. This excited great unea-
siness in the breasts of the Venetians who favoured the
gospel, one of whom, Lucio Paolo Rosselli, addressed
a letter to that reformer, conceived in a noble spirit.
After expressing the high esteem which he felt for
the person of Melanchthon, and the delight which he
had received from his writings, he exhorts him, in re-
spectful language, but with an honest freedom, to
show himself a firm and intrepid defender of that
faith to which he had been the honoured instrument
of winning so many. " In this cause, (continues he,)
you ought to regard neither emperor, nor pope, nor
any other mortal, but the immortal God only. If
there be any truth in what the papists circulate
about you, the worst consequences must accrue
to the gospel, and to those who have been led to
embrace it through you and Luther. Be assured
that all Italy waits with anxiety for the result of
your assembly at Augsburg. Whatever is deter-

* Melancth. Epist. col. 598, 835, &c. Conf. Seckend. Index I. art.

Theodoricus.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 93

mined by it, will be embraced by Christians in other
countries through the authority of the emperor.
It behoves you and others, who are there for the pur-
pose of defending the gospel, to be firm, and not to
suffer yourselves to be either frightened from the
standard of Christ by threatening, or drawn from it
by intreaties and promises. I implore and obtest you,
as the head and leader of the whole evangelical ar-
my, to regard the salvation of every individual.
Though you should be called to suffer death for the
glory of Christ, fear not, I beseech you ; for it is
better to die with honour than to live in disgrace.
You shall secure a glorious triumph from Jesus
Christ, if you defend his righteous cause ; and in
doing this, you may depend on the aid of the prayers
and supplications of many, who day and night in-
treat Almighty God to prosper the cause of the
gospel, and to preserve you and other champions
of it, through the blood of his Son. Farewell, and
desert not the cause of Christ."* In the course of
the same month, this zealous person wrote a second
time to Melanchthon, inclosing a copy of the letter
which it was said the reformer had addressed to
the legate. If unhappily he had been induced to
write in a strain so unworthy of his character, he
exhorts him to evince the more courage and con-
stancy for the future ; but if it was a fabrication,
as many of his friends asserted, then he should lose

• " Venetiis 8. 3 Kal. Augusti, anno 1530." Ctelestini Act. Comit.
Aug. tom. ii. f. 274.

94 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

no time in exposing such a malicious calumny, and
maintain henceforth a declared and open warfare
with men who sought to accomplish their ends by
stratagem and falsehood.*

Among those who contributed most to propagate
the reformed opinions at Venice, were Pietro Carne-
secchi, BaldoLupetino, and BaldassareAltieri. With
the first, we shall afterwards have occasion to meet
among the martyrs of Italy. The second, who al-
so obtained the crown of martyrdom, was a native
of Albona, of noble extraction, and held in high
esteem for his learning and integrity. He was
provincial of the Franciscans within the Venetian
territories, and in that character had the best oppor-
tunities of communicating religious instruction, and
of protecting those who had received it.f It was by
his advice that Matteo Flacio, a kinsman of his,
altered his resolution of assuming the monastic
garb, and retired into Germany, where he became
distinguished for his learned writings, and the active
and rather intemperate part which he took in the in-
ternal disputes which agitated the Lutheran church.^

" Cadestin. torn. iii. f. 18. Wolfii Lect. Memorab. t0m.ii. p. 344-5 ;
where Melanchthon's letter to Campeggio is also inserted. If really
written by him, it was humble enough.

f Ritteri Vita Flacii Illyrici, p. 8. apud Gerdes. Ital. Ref. pp. 58,
172—174.

J He is usually called Matthaeus Flacius IUyricus. He was the
principal compiler of the Ecclesiastical History known by the title of
Centuries Magdeburgenses, and of the Catalogus Tcstium Veritatis.
An early, and still valuable work on biblical interpretation, entitled
Clavis Sacras Scripturce, is the production of his pen. His account
of his own life, under the title of Historia Actionum ct Certaminum,
which abounds in anecdotes of his time, is exceedingly rare.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 95

Altieri, though a native of Aquila, a city of Naples,
had fixed his residence in Venice, where he acted
for some time as the secretary of the English am-
bassador to the Venetian republic, and afterwards as
agent for the protestant princes of Germany. He
was distinguished for his ardent devotion to the re-
formed religion, which his official situations enabled
him to advance in various ways — by the epistolary
correspondence which he carried on with foreign
courts, by the books which he brought into Italy,
and by the advice and active support which he was
always ready to afford to his countrymen who had
embraced or were inquiring after the truth.*

The evangelical doctrine had made such progress
in the city of Venice between the years 1530 and
1542, that its friends, who had hitherto met in pri-
vate for mutual instruction and religious exercises,
held deliberations on the propriety of organizing
themselves into regular congregations, and assem-
bling in public.f Several members of the senate
were favourable to it, and hopes were entertained
at one time that the authority of that body would
be interposed in its behalf. This produced a letter
from Melanchthon to the senate in the year 1538, in
which he expresses his high satisfaction at having re-
ceived information from Braccieti, a Venetian who
had come to study at Wittenberg, that man honour-
able persons among them entertained a favourable

* Laderchii Annal. Eccl. torn. xxii. f. 325. Seckendorf, lib. ill. pp.
404., 578, 614.
t Gerdes. Ital. Ref. p. 57.

98 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

opinion of the reform of ecclesiastical abuses which
had been made in Germany. After a short statement
of the cautious manner in which the reformers had
proceeded, and their care to repress popular tumults,
and avoid dangerous innovations, and after suggest-
ing some considerations to show that various cor-
ruptions had been introduced into the church, the re-
former adds : " Such slavery surely ought not to be
established, as that we should be obliged, for peace's
sake, to approve of all the errors of those who go-
vern the church ; and learned men especially ought
to be protected in the liberty of expressing their
opinions and of teaching. As your city is the
only one in the world which enjoys a genuine aris-
tocracy, preserved during many ages, and always
hostile to tyranny, it becomes it to protect good
men in liberty of thinking, and to discourage that
unjust cruelty which is exercised in other places.
Wherefore, I cannot refrain from exhorting you to
employ your care and authority for advancing the
divine glory, a service which is most acceptable to
God." * Had Venice been treated by the court of

* Melanchthonis Epistolae, coll. 150 — 154, edit. Londini. Schelhorn
(Amcen. Liter, torn. i. p. 422.) suspects that Melanchthon was not
on terms of such intimacy with the senators of Venice, as to address
a letter to them, and is of opinion, that it was addressed Ad Venetorum
quosdam Evangelii siudiosos, under which title it appears in the Selectee
Declamat tones of the author, published in 1541, p. 804. But the let-
ter contains internal evidence of its having been intended for the
magistrates of that republic ; and Bock states, that he had seen, in
the Royal Library of Konigsberg, a copy of the original edition,
printed at Nurenberg, and bearing this title, EpistoJa Philippi

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 97

Rome at this period in the same manner in which
it was treated by it at the commencement of the
seventeenth century, it is highly probable that the
republic would have declared in favour of the Re-
formation ; and in that case it might at this day
have possessed its political independance, though it
should not have regained its ancient glory.

The gospel was also introduced into the differ-
ent territories belonging to the republic of Venice.
At Padua it was embraced by many of the students,
and some of the professors in the university, which
was celebrated at that period as a school of medi-
cine.* At Verona, at Bergamo, and at Brescia, there
were converts to the reformed faith.f But the great-
est number of these was to be found in the Ficentino
and Trevisano, situated in the neighbourhood of
Venice. In the year 1535, the doge delivered up,
to the vicar-general of the bishop of Vicenza, a
German, named Sigismund, to be punished for dis-
seminating the Lutheran heresy in that diocese, for
which act of filial obedience his excellency was for-
mally thanked by Paul III. in a pontifical brief. %
This example of severity had not, however, the ef-

Melanchthonis ad Senatum Venetum. It was a presentation copy to
Prince Albert the elder, who had written on the title-page, " accepi
d. 17. Julii, a. 1538, per Eliam Plesse, Wratislauiensem ;" which
proves that the letter was written earlier than has been supposed.
(Hist. Antitrin. torn. ii. p. 398.)

* Melanch. Epi?t. coll. 373, 443, 758. Preface by Ca?lio Secundo
Curio, to the Life of Francis Spira, by Matthew Gribaldi, first printed
anno 1550.

tGerdes. Ital. Ref. pp. 274, 280, 338, 351.

J Raynaldi Annal. ad an. 1535.

98 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

feet of arresting the progress of the reformed doc-
trine, which was patronised, or at least connived at
and tolerated, by the local magistrates. For in a
papal rescript addressed to the doge and senate ten
years after, his holiness represents, that he had re-
peatedly notified to them by letters and nuncios that
heresy had sprung up and been embraced by not a
few in their city of Vicenza, and that the governor
and magistrates of that place, though instructed by
them to co-operate with their bishop in extirpating
it, had hitherto refused to grant that assistance
which was absolutely necessary to accomplish this
pious purpose ; so that the heretics had been em-
boldened, and there was reason to fear that these
pestilent tenets would take root and spread to ad-
joining cities, unless prompt measures were taken
to apprehend and punish the guilty. *

A letter addressed to Luther in the year 1542
by Altieri, tl in the name of the brethren of the
church of Venice, Vicenza, and Treviso," is valuable,
as evincing the excellent spirit of the writer, and
throwing light on the state of the protestant inte-
rest in that quarter, and in Italy in general. They
felt ashamed, (he said) and were unable to account
for the fact, that they had so long failed to acknow-
ledge the deep obligations which they lay under to
him as the individual by whom they had been
brought to the knowledge of the way of salvation ;
whether it was that the suddenness of their eman-

* Raynaldi Annal. ad an. 15t5.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 99

cipation had astounded their minds, or whether a
certain rustic bashfulness and servile dread had de-
terred them from addressing so grave and holy a
personage. But now necessity and the urgency of
their circumstances had driven them to that course
which ingratitude and culpable negligence had hi-
therto prevented them from taking. Antichrist
had begun to rage against them. Some of their
number had been obliged to leave the country, others
were thrown into prison, and the rest were in a
state of trepidation. As members of the same body,
they looked for the sympathy and assistance of their
brethren in Germany, at whose call they had come
forth, and espoused that cause for the sake of which
they were now exposed to such dangers. What
they begged of him was, to use his influence with
the evangelical princes of Germany to write to the
senate of Venice in their behalf, and to request it
to abstain from that violence which the ministers
of the pope urged it to employ against the poor
flock of Christ, and to permit them to enjoy their
own manner of worship, at least until the meet-
ing of a general council, in the way of adopting
measures to prevent all sedition and disturbance of
the public peace. " If God grant, (continue they,)
that we obtain a truce of this kind, what accessions
will be made to the kingdom of Christ in point of
faith and charity ! How many preachers will ap-
pear to announce Christ faithfully to the people !
How many prophets, who now lurk in corners ex-
animated with undue fears, will come forth to ex-

100 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

pound the scriptures ! The harvest is truly great,
but there are no labourers. You know what a great
increase your churches had, and what a wide door
was opened for the gospel, by the truce which, as we
understand, you have enjoyed for three years. Ex-
ert yourselves to procure the same favour for us ;
cherish the common cause ; do your endeavour, that
by this means the consolation which is by Christ
may be imparted to us, who daily suffer for Christ ;
for it is our fervent desire that the word of God
may be spread abroad, but we have none to feed
us, unless our want be supplied out of your abun-
dance." *

The Milanese, as early as the year 1524, con-
tained adherents to the reformed doctrine.f Two
causes contributed to their spread in this country.
The first was its vicinity to Piedmont and Savoy,
where the remains of the persecuted Vaudois had
long found a refuge. The second was the unsettled
state of the duchy, in consequence of the protracted
contest for its sovereignty between Francis I. and
Charles V., and its alternate occupation by the ar-
mies of the two monarchs; on account of which
the efforts of the reformers were overlooked. Pope
Paul III. in a brief addressed to the bishop of Mode -
na, in the year 1536, states that he was informed that
there had been lately discovered, in the religious and
illustrious state of Milan, some conventicles, consist-

* Seckendorf, lib. iii. p. 401.

f Erasmi Epistolse, apud Gerdes. Hist. Ref. torn. iv. p. 30.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 101

ing of noble persons of both sexes, belonging to a sect
holding and observing the tenets of one friar Batista
de Crema,by which many heresies, condemned by the
ancient church, were fostered. His holiness therefore
commands the bishop, who was then at Milan, to make
inquisition after these conventicles and heretics, and
to see that condign punishment was inflicted on the
guilty, so that the pravity sown by the devil might
be extirpated before it had time to shoot up and
strengthen.* Though the "impure tenets of ancient
heretics" are imputed to those " innovators," accord-
ing to the usual language of the papal court, there
can be little doubt that they held the common
opinions of Luther and Zuingle.

This part of our history is intimately connected
with some interesting facts in the eventful and
chequered life of an individual, who had great influ-
ence in promoting the Reformation in Italy. Celio
Secundo Curione, or Curio, was born at Turin in
1503, and was the youngest of twenty-three children.
When only nine years of age he was left an orphan,
but being allied to several noble families of Pied-
mont, received a liberal education at the universi-
ty of his native city. In his youth, he was induced
to read the Bible with more than ordinary attention,
in consequence of his father having bequeathed
him a copy of that book beautifully written; and
when he reached his twentieth year, he had the
writings of the reformers put into his hands, by

* Raynaldi Annales, ad an. 1536.

102 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

means of Jerom Niger Fossianeus, and other indi-
viduals in the Angustinian monastery of Turin. This
inflamed him with a desire of visiting Germany, to
which he set out, accompanied by James Cornello
and Francis Guarino, who afterwards became dis-
tinguished ministers of the reformed church. Hav-
ing on their journey incautiously entered into dis-
pute on the controverted heads of religion, they were
informed against and seized by the spies of the car-
dinal-bishop of Ivree, and thrown into separate
prisons. Curio was released through the interces-
sion of his relations, and the cardinal, pleased with
his talents, endeavoured to attach him to himself by
offers of money to assist him in his studies, and by
placing him in the neighbouring priory of St. Be-
nigno, the administration of which had been con-
ferred on him by Leo X. In this situation, Curio
exerted himself in enlightening the monks, and
freeing their minds from the influence of supersti-
tion. Having one day opened a box, placed on the
altar of the chapel, he abstracted the relics from it,
and substituted a copy of the Bible, with the follow-
ing inscription, " This is the ark of the covenant,
which contains the genuine oracles of God, and the
true relics of the saints." This was discovered when
the box was opened on a solemn festival, and the sus-
picion having fallen on Curio, he fled and made
his escape to Milan. This happened about the year
1530. After visiting Rome and several cities in Italy,
he returned to the Milanese, where, having mar-
ried a lady belonging to the illustrious family of the

HISTORY OF THE REFOR MATION IN ITALY. 103

Isacii, he devoted himself to the teaching of polite
letters, by which he gained great reputation in the
city and vicinity of Milan. The ravages commit-
ted by the Spanish troops obliging him to quit the
Milanese, he embraced an invitation from the count
of Montferrat, under whose protection he resided for
some years in great tranquillity at Casale.*

Being persuaded to visit his native country, with the
view of recovering his patrimony, he found it seized
by one of his sisters and her husband, who unnatur-
ally preferred a charge of heresy against him. Up-
on this he retired to a village in the territories of
the duke of Savoy, where he was employed in teach-
ing the children of the neighbouring gentlemen.
Having gone one day in company with some of his
patrons to hear a Dominican monk from Turin,
the preacher, in the course of his sermon, drew a
frightful picture of the German reformers, and, in
proof of its justness, gave false quotations from a
work published by Luther. Curio went up to the
friar after sermon, and producing the book, which
he had along with him, read the passages re-
ferred to, in the presence of the most respec-
table part of the audience, who, indignant at the
impudent misrepresentations which had been palm-
ed on them, drove their ghostly instructor with dis-
grace from the town. Information was immediate-
ly given to the inquisitor, and Curio was appre-

* Stupani Oratio de Caelii Secundi Curionis Vita atque Obitu ; in
Schelhorni Amcen. Liter, torn. xiv. pp. 328—336.

104 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

hended and carried a prisoner to his native city,
when his meditated journey to Germany, and his
abstracting of the relics at St. Benigno, were pro-
duced as aggravations of his crime, and strong pre-
sumptions of his heretical pravity. As his friends
were known to possess great influence, the admini-
strator of the bishopric of Turin went to Rome to
secure his condemnation, leaving him under the
charge of a brother of cardinal Cibo, who, to pre-
vent any attempt at rescue, removed him to an in-
ner room of the prison, and ordered his feet to be
made fast in the stocks. In this situation, a per-
son of less fortitude and ingenuity would have given
himself up for lost ; but Curio, having in his youth
lived in the neighbourhood of the jail, devised a me-
thod of escape, which, through the favour of pro-
vidence, succeeded. His feet being swoln by con-
finement, he prevailed on his keeper to allow him
to have his right foot loosed for a day or two. By
means of his shoe, together with a reed and a quan-
tity of rags which lay within his reach, he formed
an artificial leg, which he fastened to his right knee,
in such a manner as that he could move it with ease.
He then requested permission to have his other
foot relieved, upon which the artificial foot was in-
troduced by him into the stocks, and his left foot
was set free. Being thus at liberty, he, during the
night, opened the door of his apartment, felt his
way through the passages in the dark, dropt from
a window, and having scaled the walls of his
prison with some difficulty, made his escape into

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 105

Italy. As he extracted the fictitious limb from
the stocks, and took it to pieces, before leaving
the prison, his persecutors could not account for his
escape, and circulated the report that he had effect-
ed it by magic; upon which he published an account
of the whole affair in a dialogue, interspersed with
humorous and satirical strictures upon some of the
popish errors.* After remaining some months with
his family at Sale, a remote village in the territory
of Milan, he was drawn from his retirement by his
former friends, and placed in the university of Pa-
via. As soon as this was known, orders were sent
from Rome to apprehend him, but so great was the
favour in which he was held by the principal inha-
bitants of the place, and by the students, many of
whom came from other seminaries to attend his
lectures, that he was protected for three years from
the attempts of the inquisitors ; a guard, composed
of his scholars, accompanying him to and from
his house every day, during a great part of that
time. At last, the pope threatening the senate of
the town with excommunication, he was forced to
retire to Venice, from which he removed to Fer-
rara. The labours of Curio were blessed for open-
ing the eyes of many to the corruptions and errors
of the Roman church, during his journeys through

* It is entitled, " Ca?lii Secundi Curionis Pasquillus Ecstaticus, una
cum aliis etiam aliquot Sanctis pariter et lepidis Dialogis;" without
date or place of printing. The book was reprinted at Geneva, in 1667;
which is the edition I have used. The Dialogue relating to his escape
from Turin, is inserted by Schelhom in the second volume of his
Amoenitates Hist. Eccles. et Hist. pp. 759—776.

106 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

Italy, and the temporary residence which he made
in several parts of it, especially in the Milanese.*

Naples and Sicily had for some time belong-
ed to the crown of Spain, and were now govern-
ed by separate viceroys under the emperor Charles
V. In Calabria, which formed one of the depart-
ments of the kingdom of Naples, the Vaudois
still existed ; and the doctrine of Luther and the
other reformers spread extensively in the Neapoli-
tan territory, and especially in its capital. It is
supposed to have been first introduced there by
the German soldiers, who, after the sack of Rome,
obliged Lautrec, the French general, to raise
the siege of Naples, and continued to garrison that
city for some time.f A rigorous edict, published by
Charles V. in the year 1536, by which he charged
Don Pedro de Toledo, his viceroy over Naples, with
the punishment of all who were infected with he-
resy, or who inclined to it, was intended to extir-
pate the seeds sown by these foreigners. £

The Germans were succeeded by an individual,
who, according to the account of a contemporary po-
pish historian, " caused a far greater slaughter of
souls than all the thousands of heretical soldiery."^
This was Juan Valdez, or, as he is sometimes called,
Valdesso, a Spanish gentleman, who went to Ger-
many along with Charles V.,by whom he was knight-
ed and sent to Naples, where he acted as secre-

* Stupani Oratio, ut supra, p. 342.
t Anton. Caraccioli, Collect, de Vita Pauli IV. p. 239.
X Giannone, Hist. Civ. dc Naples, liv. xxxii. chap. 5.
§ Caraccioli, Collect, ut supra.

HISTORY OV THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 107

taiy to Don Pedro de Toledo. In tracing the pro-
gress which the Reformation made in Spain, we shall
have an opportunity of showing how the religious
opinions of Valdez were formed. His character was
admirably adapted to produce an impression favour-
able to the new opinions. Possessed of consider-
able learning and superior address, fervent in
piety, gentle in disposition, polite in manners,
and eloquent in conversation, he soon became a
favourite with the principal nobility, and with
all the enlightened men, who, at certain seasons,
resorted in great numbers to the Neapolitan me-
tropolis. Valdez did not take on him the office
of a preacher, and he is an example of the extensive
good which may be done by one who keeps himself
strictly within the sphere of a private station. By
his private instructions, he not only imbued the
minds of many distinguished laymen with the
knowledge of evangelical truth, but contributed ma-
terially to advance the illumination and to stimulate
the zeal of others, whose station gave them an op-
portunity of preaching the gospel to the people, or
of instilling its docrines into the minds of the in-
genuous youth whose studies they superintended.*
Among these were Ochino and Martyr, two indi-
viduals of whom it is proper to give an account, as
they produced a strong sensation in their native
country, and distinguished themselves afterwards
in the reformed churches on this side the Alps.

* Caraccioli, ut supra. Giannone, ut supra. Schclhorni Amcen.
Hist. Eccl. torn. ii. p. 49. Simleri Oratio de Vita Marty ris, sig. b iij.

108 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

Bernardino Ochino, or, as he is sometimes called,
Ocello, was born in the year 1487, at Sienna, a city
of Tuscany, of obscure parents. Feeling from his
earliest years a deep sense of religion, he devoted
himself, according to the notions of that age, to a
monastic life, and joined the Franciscan Observants,
as the strictest of all the orders of the regular cler-
gy. For the same reason he left them, and in 1534
became a member of the Capuchin brotherhood,
which had been recently established according to
the most rigid rules of holy living, or rather volun-
tary humility and mortification.* During his mo-
nastic retirement, he acknowledges that he escaped
those vices with which his life might have been
tainted if he had mixed with the world ; and from
the studies of the cloister, barren and unprofitable
as they were, he reaped a portion of knowledge
which was afterwards of some use to him ;f but he
failed completely in gaining, what was the great
thing which induced him to choose that unnatural
and irksome mode of life — peace of mind and assur-
ance of salvation. But let us hear his own account
of his feelings, and of the manner in which a change
was first wrought on his sentiments concerning
religion. " When I was a young man, I was un-
der the dominion of the common error by which

* De Vita, Religione et Fatis Bernardini Ochini Senensis ; in Ob-
serv. Select. Liter. Halenses, torn. iv. pp. 409-414. The author of this
Life of Ochino was Burch. Gottlieb Struvius. Some popish writers had
incautiously stated that Ochino was the founder of the Capuchins, a
heretical blot which their successors were eager to remove.

+ Ochini Dialogi, torn. ii. p. 374. Basil. 1563.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 109

the minds of all who live under the yoke of the
wicked Antichrist are enthralled ; so that I believed
that we were to be saved by our own works, fast*
ings, prayers, abstinence, watchings, and other
things of the same kind, by which we were to make
satisfaction for our sins, and purchase heaven*
through the concurring grace of God. Wherefore,
being anxious to be saved, I deliberated with my-
self what manner of life I should follow, and be-
lieving that those modes of religion were holy which
were approved by the Roman church, which I re-
garded as infallible, and judging that the life of the
friars of St. Francis, called cle observantia, was above
all others severe, austere and rigid, and, on that ac-
count, more perfect, and conformable to the life of
Christ, I entered their society. Although I did not
find what I had expected, yet no better way pre-
senting itself to my blinded judgment, I continued
among them, until the Capuchin friars made theirap-
pearance, when, being struck with the still greater
austerity of their mode of living, Iassumed their habit,
in spite of the resistance made by my sensuality and
carnal prudence. Being now persuaded that I had
found what I was seeking, I said to Christ, * Lord,
if I am not saved now, I know nothing more that
I can do.' In the course of my meditations, I
was often perplexed, and felt at a loss to recon-
cile the views on which I acted with what the
scriptures said about salvation being the gift of God
through the redemption wrought by Christ ; but
the authority of the church silenced these scruples,
and in proportion as concern for my soul became

110 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

more intense, I applied myself with greater diligence
and ardour to those bodily exercises and mortifica-
tions which were prescribed by the doctrine of the
church, and by the rules of the order into which I had
entered. Still, however, I remained a stranger to
true peace of mind, which at last I found, by search-
ing the scriptures, and such helps for understand-
ing them as I had access to. I now came to be
satisfied of the three following truths : first, that
Christ, by his obedience and death, has made a ple-
nary satisfaction, and merited heaven, for the elect,
which is the only righteousness and ground of sal-
vation ; secondly, that religious vows of human in-
vention are not only useless, but hurtful and wick-
ed ; and, thirdly, that the Roman church, though
calculated to fascinate the senses by its external
pomp and splendour, is unscriptural and abomina-
ble in the sight of God."*

In Italy it was not the custom, as in Germany,
for the regular clergy to preach : this task was per-
formed exclusively by the monks and friars. The
chapters of the different orders chose such of their
number as possessed the best pulpit talents, and
sent them to preach in the principal cities during
the time of Lent, which was almost the only sea-

* Bernardini Ochini Responsioj qua rationera reddit discessus ex
Italia. Venet. 1542. Ep. Dedic. ; apud Observat. Select. Halenses,
torn. iv. pp. 412 — 414. Epistre aux Magnifiques Seigneurs de Siene,
— par Bernardin Ochin. Avec un autre Epistre a Mutio Justinopoli-
tain, 1541-. This second epistle is a translation of the work first men-
tioned. See M. Aug. Beyeri Memor. Libr. Rariorum, pp. 259 2G1.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. Ill

son of the year in which the people enjoyed re-
ligious instruction. Ochino attained to the highest
distinction in this employment, to which he was
chosen by his brethren at an early period. His ori-
ginal talents compensated for his want of erudition.
He was a natural orator ; and the fervour of his
piety and the sanctity of his life gave an unction
and an odour to his discourses which ravished the
hearts of his hearers. " In such reputation was he
held, (says the annalist of the Capuchins, after O-
chino had brought on them the stigma of heresy)
that he was esteemed incomparably the best preach-
er of Italy ; his powers of elocution, accompanied
with the most admirable action, giving him the com-
plete command of his audience, and the more so
that his life corresponded to his doctrine."* His
external appearance, after he had passed middle age,
contributed to heighten this effect. His snow-white
head and beard flowing down to his middle, with a
pale countenance, which led the spectators to sup-
pose that he was in bad health, rendered him at
once venerable and deeply interesting.! He never
rode on horseback or in a carriage, but performed all
his journeys on foot ; a practice which he continued
after he was advanced in years. When he paid a visit
to the palaces of princes or bishops, he was always
met and received with the honours due to one of
superior rank ; and he was accompanied, on his

* Bzovius, aputl Bock, Hist. Antitrin. torn. ii. p. 185.
+ Graziani, Vita Card. Commendoni, lib. ii. cap. 9.
4

112 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY*

departure, with the same marks of distinction ; yet,
wherever he lodged, he retained all the simplicity
and austerity of the religious order to which he
belonged.* As a preacher, he was admired and
followed equally by the learned and illiterate, by
the great and the vulgar. Charles V., who used to
attend his sermons when in Italy, pronounced this
high encomium on him : " That man would make
the stones weep !"f Sadolet and Bembo, who were
still better judges than his imperial majesty, assign-
ed to Ochino the palm of popular eloquence.:}: At
Perugia, he prevailed on the inhabitants by his dis-
courses to bury all their animosities, and bring their
litigations to an amicable settlement. And in Na-
pies, he preached to so numerous an assembly, and
with such persuasive eloquence, as to collect at one
time for a charitable purpose the almost incredible
sum of five thousand crowns. $

The fame of the pious and eloquent Capuchin
was so great, that the most respectable inhabitants
of Venice, in the year 1538, employed cardinal Bem-
bo to procure him to preach to them during the en-
suing Lent. The cardinal wrote to Vittoria Colon-
na, marchioness of Pescaro, begging her to inter-

" Graziani, tit supra.

t Schrockh, Christliche Kirchengeschichte seit der Reformation,
torn. ii. p. 780.

J Sadoleti Epist. in Oper. Aonii Palearii, p. 558. edit. Halbaueri.
Card. Quirini Diatriba, praeftx. Epp. Reg. Poli, torn. iii. p. lxxxvi.

§ Annali de' Fratri Minori Capuccini composti dal P. Zaccaria Bo-
verio da Saluzzo, e tradotti en volgare dal P. F. Benedetto Sanbene-
detti da Milano, torn. i. p, 411. Venet. 1643.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 113

cede with Ochino, over whom she had great influ-
ence, to visit Venice, all the inhabitants of which
place were inflamed with the most passionate desire
to hear him.* He went accordingly, and the recep-
tion he met with is described by the elegant pen of
Bembo. In a letter to the marchioness, dated from
Venice the 23d day of February 1539, he says :
" I send your highness the extracts of our very
reverend Frate Bernardino, to whom I have listen-
ed, during the small part of this Lent which is over,
with a pleasure which I cannot sufficiently express.
Assuredly I never have heard a preacher more
useful or holier than he. I do not wonder that
your highness esteems him so much as you do.
He discourses very differently from, and in a more
Christian manner than, any other that has mounted
the pulpit in my day ; and with more lively charity
and love, brings forth truths of superior excellence
and usefulness. He pleases every body above mea-
sure, and will carry the hearts of all with him when
he leaves this place. From the whole city I send your
highness immortal thanks for the favour you have
done us ; and I especially will ever feel obliged to
you." f In another letter to the same lady, dated
the 15th of March, he says : " I talk with your
highness as I talked this morning with the rever-
end father, Frate Bernardino, to whom I have laid
open my whole heart and soul, as I would have
done to Jesus Christ, to whom I am persuaded he

* Lettere di Pietro Bembo, vol. iv. p. 108 : Opere, vol. viii. Mila-
no, 1810.

t Ibid. p. 109.

114 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

is acceptable and dear. Never have I had the plea-
sure to speak to a holier man than he. I should
have been now at Padna, both on account of a
business which has engaged me for a whole year,
and also to shun the applications with which I am
incessantly assailed in consequence of this blessed
cardinalate ;* but I was unwilling to deprive myself
of the opportunity of hearing his most excellent, holy,
and edifying sermons."! And, on the 14th of April,
he writes : " Our Frate Bernardino, whom I desire
henceforth to call mine as well as yours, is at present
adored in this city. There is not a man or woman
who does not extol him to the skies. O what plea-
sure ! O what delight ! O what joy has he given !
But I reserve his praises until I meet your high-
ness, and, in the mean time, supplicate our Lord to
order his life so as that it may endure longer to the
honour of God and the profit of man, than it can en-
dure according to the treatment which he now gives
it." t The following letter addressed by the car-
dinal to the parson of the church of the Apostles,
is still more descriptive of the deep interest which
was felt for Ochino at Venice. " I pray you to
entreat and oblige the reverend father, Frate Ber-
nardino, to eat flesh, not for the gratification and
benefit of his body, about which he is indifferent,
but for the comfort of our souls — that he may be
able to preach the gospel to the praise of our bless-
ed Saviour. For he will not be able to continue
this exercise, nor to bear up under it, during the

* Bern bo had lately received a cardinal's hat from Rome,
t Letters ut supra, p. 111. % Ibid. p. 112

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 115

present Lent, unless he leave off the diet of the
season, which, as experience proves, always brings
on him a catarrh." *

These extracts will be considered as sufficient to
establish the character of Ochino for piety and elo-
quence ; but there is another reflection which they
can scarcely fail to suggest. How deceitful are the
wannest feelings excited by hearing the gospel ! and
how do they vary with the external circumstances in
which the truth is presented to the mind ! Bembo
was delighted with the sentiments which he heard,
as well as the eloquence with which the preacher
adorned them ; and yet the future conduct of the
cardinal leaves us at no loss in determining, that he
would have felt and spoken very differently, had he
been told that the doctrine, to which he listened with
such devout ravishment, was essentially protestant.
Names exert great influence over mankind ; but let
not those who can laugh at this weakness flatter
themselves, that they have risen above all the pre-
judices by which the truth is excluded or expelled.
The love of the world outweighs both names and
things. Provided men could enjoy the gospel with-
in the pale of their own church, within the circle of
that society in which they have been accustomed to
move and shine, and without being required to fore-
go the profits, honours, or pleasures of life, " all the
world" might be seen wondering after Christ — as it
once " wondered after the beast."

* " Alii 12. tli Marzo, 1539." This letter was published, from
the archives of the Marquis Ugolino Barisone, by Chevalier Jacopo
Morelli, in his edition of Bembo's works. (Tomo ix. p. 497.)

116 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

In a general chapter of his order, held at Flo-
rence in the year 1538, Ochino was chosen chief
director or general of the Capuchins. And three
years after, in another chapter, held at Whitsuntide,
1541, in the city of Naples, he was, as an unexam-
pled mark of respect, and in opposition to his own
earnest request, unanimously re-elected to the same
honourable office.* Before Ochino was advanced to
these honours, or had acquired such extensive po-
pularity as a preacher, the change in his religious
sentiments, already described, had taken place.f It
produced a corresponding change on his strain of
preaching, which for some time was felt rather than
understood by his hearers. He appealed directly to
the scriptures in support of the doctrines which he
delivered, and exhorted the people to rest their
faith on the infallible authority of God in his word,
and to build their hopes of salvation on the obedience
and death of Christ alone. But a prudential regard
to his own safety, and to the edification of his hear-
ers, whose minds were not prepared for the disco-
very, prevented him for some time from expos-
ing the errors and superstition by which Christi-

* Boverio, Annali Capuccini ad ann. 1539, 1541. His official
designation is expressed in the title of one of his first publications —
" Dialogi Sacri del Rev. Padre Frate B. Ochino, da Siena, Generale
dei Frati Capuzzini. Venetio, 1542." (De Bure, Partie Theologique,
p. 432.)

t Observ. Sel. Hal. torn. iv. p. 416. Caraccioli, Collect, p. 239.
Giannone, liv. xxxvii. chap. v. Bock, Hist. Antitr. torn. ii. pp. 489 —
491- Caraccioli says, that Ochino' s adoption of the protestant te-
nets was discovered as early as the year 1536. This error has been
corrected by Bock, who has himself fallen into a mistake in stating
that Ochino was drawn over to the evangelical party by Valdez in
the year 1511 ; whereas the latter died in 1540.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 117

unity had been corrupted. When he came to preach
at Naples, the sagacious eye of Juan Valdez quick-
ly detected the protestant under the patched rocket,
and sharp-horned cowl of the capuchin ; and hav-
ing gained his friendship, he introduced him to the
private meetings held by the converts to evangeli-
cal doctrine in that city.

Pietro Martire Vermigli* was born, in the year
1500, of an honourable family in Florence, and re-
ceived that learned education which had been de-
nied to Ochino. In his youth he was taught La-
tin by his mother ; and having, when he ar-
rived at the age of sixteen, entered, in opposition to
the will of his parents, among the canons regular of
St. Augustine, he passed his noviciate in their con-
vent at Fiezoli, which the liberality of the Medici
had furnished with an excellent library. From
this he was sent to the university of Padua, where
he made great proficiency in philosophy and the
Greek language. He afterwards visited the most
celebrated academies of his native country. At
Vercelli, by the persuasion of his intimate friend
Cusano, he interpreted Homer ; and at Bologna he
acquired the knowledge of Hebrew from a Jewish
physician, named Isaac. Being selected by the Au-

* His father's name was Stefano Vcrmigli, from whom he is ordi-
narily designed Petrus Martyr Vermilius, to distinguish him from
Petrus Martyr Rfei/iolaneji.sis, a martyr after whom he was named,
in consequence of a vow of his parents ; and also, to distinguish him
from a learned countryman and contemporary of his own, Petrus
Martyr Anglerius, (of Anghiera) whose epistles are known to the
learned, as throwing great light on the history of the early part of the
sixteenth century.

118 HISTORY OF THE 11 EFOHMATION IN ITALY.

gustinians as one of their public preachers, he dis-
tinguished himself by the solidity and eloquence
of his discourses at Rome, Bologna, Fermo, Pisa,
Venice, Mantua, Bergamo, and Montferrat. Hav-
ing recommended himself to those of his order by
his talents and labours, he was unanimously elected
abbot of Spoleto, and soon after provost of the col-
lege of St. Pietro ad aram, in the city of Naples,
a situation of dignity and emolument. This was
about the year 1530, and in the thirtieth year of
his age. It was at this time, and when he had the
prospect of certain and rapid advancement in the
Romish church, that a change took place on his re-
ligious sentiments, which gave a complete turn to
his future life. From his youth, as he himself has
told us, he had a decided preference for sacred stu-
dies, and having access to the scriptures in the
convent to which he belonged, applied himself to
read them with great care, and not altogether with-
out profit to himself and others.* At a subsequent
period he fell in with the treatises of Zuingle on true
and false religion, and on providence, and with some
of Bucer's commentaries on scripture, which left
impressions in his mind. These were now con-
firmed and deepened by the conversation of Valdez,
Flaminio, and others, with whom he became ac-
quainted at Naples, f

* Oratio quam Tiguvi primum habuit : Martyris Loc. Commun.
p. 7 44.

t Simleri Oratio tie Vita et Obitu Petri Martyris Verrailii, prjefix.
ad Loc. Commun. Martyris, sig. b ij, b iij. Gcnev. 1C24. This fu-
neral oration was republished by Gerdcs, in his Scrinium Antiquarium,
torn. iii. par. ii.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 1 1{)

Martyr excelled as much in judgment and learn-
ing' as Ochino did in popular eloquence. To their
exertions in diffusing evangelical truth were added
those of John Mollio, formerly mentioned, who now
filled the station of lector and preacher to the mo-
nastery of St. Lorenzo at Naples. Ochino employed
his persuasive eloquence in the pulpit, while Mar-
tyr and Mollio read lectures, chiefly on Paul's epis-
tles, which were attended by the monks of differ-
ent convents, by many of the nobility, and by indi-
viduals of the episcopal order. They did not fail
to meet with opposition from the strenuous adhe-
rents of the established religion, who were support-
ed by the authority of the viceroy. But such was
the prudence with which they conducted themselves,
and the countenance which they received from per-
sons of the first consideration in the city, that they
were able to maintain their ground, and for a time
to triumph over their adversaries. The favourite
doctrine of Ochino was justification by faith in
Christ, which, as appears from his printed sermons,
he perfectly understood, and explained with much
scriptural simplicity. Purgatory, penances, and
papal pardons, fell before the preaching of this doc-
trine, as Dagon once did before the ark of Jehovah.
An Augustinian monk of Trevigio, probably as
much with the view of recommending himself to
his superiors as from any hopes of success, chal-
lenged Ochino and his colleagues to a dispute on
these points ; but he Mas worsted and put to silence
by their superior talents and acquaintance with
scripture. The church of Koine had long relied

120 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

on the third chapter of the first epistle to the Co-
rinthians as one of the main pillars of purgatory ;
and from this passage the monks were accustomed
to draw their most popular arguments in favour of
that lucrative doctrine. Martyr did not directly
attack this doctrine ; but when he came to that pas-
sage,* in the course of his lectures on the epistle, he
gave it a quite different interpretation, which he
confirmed by arguments drawn from the text and
context, and by appeals to the writings of the most
learned and judicious among the fathers. This
view of the passage occasioned great speculation ;
and the monks, provoked by the favourable recep-
tion which it met with, and dreading that the most
fertile source of their gain would be dried up, mov-
ed heaven and earth against the daring innovator.
By the influence of the viceroy, and their own re-
presentations, they obtained an order interdicting
him from preaching and lecturing. Martyr enjoy-
ed the favour of Gonzago, cardinal of Mantua, and
protector of his order, and he was well known to
the cardinals Contarini, Pole, Bembo, and Fregoso,
all men of learning, and some of them favourable
to ecclesiastical reform. Relying on their patron-
age, he carried his cause by appeal to Rome, and
succeeded in obtaining the removal of the inter-
dict^

By the blessing of God on the labours of these
individuals, a reformed church was established in
Naples, which included persons of the first rank

• 1 Corinth, chap. iii. ver. 13 — Ij.
t Simler, Vita Martyris, sig. b iij.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 121

in the kingdom, both male and female. Among
these were Galeazzo Caraccioli, son and heir of the
riiurquis of Vico, and his noble relation, Giovanni
Francesco Caserta, by whom he was first led to at-
tend the discourses of Martyr.*

While the church at Naples was yet enjoying
peace, and daily increasing in numbers, it was de-
prived of Valdez, to whom it chiefly owed its plan-
tation. He died in the year 1540, deeply lamented
by many distinguished persons, who owned him as
their spiritual father. " I wish we were again at
Naples," says Bonfadio, in a letter to Carnesecchi.
" But when I consider the matter in another point
of view, to what purpose should we go there, now
when Valdez is dead ? His death truly is a great
loss to us and to the world ; for Valdez was one of
the rarest men in Europe, as the writings left by
him on the epistles of St. Paul and the psalms of
David abundantly demonstrate.-]- He was beyond
all doubt a most accomplished man in all his words,
actions, and counsels. Life scarcely supported his
infirm and spare body ; but his nobler part and pure
intellect, as if it had been placed without the body,
was wholly occupied with the contemplation of
truth and divine things. I condole with Marco
Antonio (Flaminio), for above all others he greatly

* Ibid. Life of Gal. Caraccioli, pp. 3—5.

t These works must have been then in manuscript. His commen-
tary on the Romans was published in Spanish, at Venice in 1556 ;
and his commentary on the Psalms at the same place in the following
year. His countryman and friend Juan Perez, the translator of the
New Testament into Spanish, prefixed an epistle dedicatory to each.
(Baumgarten, apud Gerdes. Ital. lief. p. 3U.)

ll2c2 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

loved and admired him."* The fervent piety of
Valdez, and the unspotted purity of his life are
universally acknowledged. The charge of hetero-
doxy of sentiment, brought against him after his
death, rests chiefly on the very questionable ground
that some of those who were intimate with him
ultimately inclined to the sect denominated Soci-
nian ; for it cannot be pleaded that their tenets are to
be found in his writings, which, we must allow,
contain some other opinions which are untenable
or unguardedly expressed.!

The doctrines of the gospel were most eagerly re-
ceived in the capital, but they spread also through the
kingdom of Naples, and even reached the island of
Sicily. Benedetti, surnamed Locarno from the place
of his birth, a minister of great sanctity, having

* Lettere volgari di diversi nobilissimi huomini, p. 33. Aid. 1 543.

-f- Sandius (Bibl. Antrinit. p. 2.) claims him as an Anti-trinitarian ;
but that writer puts in the same claim to Wolfgang Fabricius Ca-
pito, and others, who are known to have entertained very opposite
sentiments. (Schelhorni Ameenit. Liter, torn. xiv. p. 386. Amce-
nit. Eccles. torn. ii. pp. 51 — 53.) If Ochino ever embraced that
creed, (which some have denied) it was unquestionably long af-
ter he left Italy. (Observ. Sel. Hal. torn. iv. obs. 20. torn. v. obs.
1. 2.) Beza, while he expresses his dissatisfaction with some things
in the Divine Considerations of Valdez, declares that he meant no-
thing disrespectful to his person, and does not insinuate in the slightest
degree that he erred as to the doctrine of the Trinity. (Epistohc,
pp. 43, 276.) Some remarks on the peculiar opinions of Valdez
will be made when we come to speak of his agency in enlightening
his native country. The following is the title of the Considerations
in the Italian, which appears to have been the original edition : —
" Le Cento e Uieci Consideration! de Signore Valdesso, nelle quale
si ragiona cose phi utile, piu necessarie, et piu perfette della Chris-
tiana Religione. In Basilea, 1550." 8vo. In the French translation
of the Considerationi the author is called Jan de Val d'Esso.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 123

gained the favour of the viceroy, preached the truth,
under his patronage, to crowded audiences in Pa-
lermo, and other parts of that island.* The seeds
of his doctrine afterwards sprung up, and gave am-
ple employment to the inquisitors. For many
years, persons charged with the Lutheran heresy
were produced in the public and private autos dafe
celebrated in Sicily.f

Lucca, the capital of a small but flourishing re-
public, situated on the lake of Genoa, had the honour
to reckon among its inhabitants a greater number
of converts to the reformed faith than perhaps any
other city in Italy. This was chiefly owing to the
labours of Martyr. Finding, after a trial of several
years, that the climate of Naples was injurious to
his health, he left it with the consent of his supe-
riors, and was chosen visitor-general of the Augus-
tinians in Italy. The rigid inspection which he
exerted over them, and the reform which, with the
concurrence of cardinal Gonzago, he sought to in-
troduce into the monasteries, created alarm among
the monks, who contrived to rid themselves of their
troublesome visitor, by getting him appointed prior
of St. Fridiano at Lucca, an honourable situation,
which invested him with episcopal powers. His ad-
versaries hoped that he would be unacceptable in his

* Jo. de Mural to, Oratio de Persecutione Locarnensi, sec. iii. et ap-
pend, no. ii. iii. : in Tempe Helvetica, torn. iv. pp. 142, 181, 186. Two
viceroys of Naples, Don Pedro Cordova, and the Marquis de Terra-
nova, one of the grandees of Spain, were forced to do penance for in-
terfering with the inquisition. (Llorente, ii. 82 — 88.)

f Llorente, ii. 123, 129.

124 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

new situation as a Florentine, on account of an ancient
grudge between the Lucchese and the inhabitants of
Florence; but with such prudence did he conduct him-
self, that he was as much esteemed as if he had been
a native of Lucca. One object which engaged the par-
ticular attention of Martyr was the education of the
noviciates in the priory, whose minds he was anxi-
ous to imbue with the love of sacred literature.
For this purpose he established a private college or
seminary, to which he drew such teachers as he knew
to be both learned men and lovers of divine truth.*
Paulo Lacisio, a native of Verona, taught the Latin
language; Celso Martinengho, of the noble family of
the counts of that name, taught Greek ; and Ema-
nuel Tremellio, who afterwards distinguished him-
self as an oriental scholar, gave instructions in He-
brew. Martyr himself applied the literary know-
ledge which the young men imbibed from these
sources to the elucidation of the scriptures, by read-
ing lectures to them on the New Testament and the
Psalter ; which were attended by all the learned
men and many of the patricians of Lucca. He also
preached publicly to the people ; confining himself
to the gospels during Advent and Lent, according
to the usual custom of the monks, but taking his
subjects from Paul's epistles during the rest of the
year. By means of these labours a separate church
was formed in that city, of which Martyr became
pastor ; and many, including individuals of the first

* Celio Secundo Curio resided for some time at Lucca, where he
taught in the university, having been recommended to the senators by
the duchess ofFerrara. (Stupani Oratio, ut supra, pp. 3L3, 314.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 125

respectability in the place, gave the most decided
proofs of genuine piety and ardent attachment to
the reformed faith.*

While these things were going on, pope Paul III.
paid a visit to Lucca, accompanied by the emperor,
who was at that time in Italy. It was feared that the
enemies of Martyr would embrace that opportunity
to inform against him, and that his life would be
brought into danger ; but he was not molested, pro-
bably because it was deemed impolitic and prema-
ture to attack an individual whose reputation and
authority were at that time so high among the inha-
bitants. About the same time, Martyr received a
visit from cardinal Contarini, as he passed through
Lucca, on his return from Germany, where he had
been in the character of papal legate. They had a
confidential conversation on the state of the church,
and on the sentiments of the German reformers.!

The Siennese contained many converts to the
reformed doctrine. Ochino, in the course of his
preaching tours, frequently visited Sienna, which
was his native place. But the person to whom the
inhabitants of this city were most indebted for their
illumination was Aonio Paleario, a native of Veroli
in Campagna di Roma, who was on a footing of in-
timacy with the most learned men in Italy. About
the year 1534 he was nominated public teacher of
Greek and Latin by the senate of Sienna, where he

* Siraler, ut supra, sig. b iij.
+ Ibid. sig. b iiij.

126 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

afterwards read lectures on philosophy and Belles
Lettres. Having studied the scriptures, and read the
writings of the German reformers, his lectures on
moral philosophy were distinguished from those of
his colleagues by a liberal tone of thinking. This
was not more gratifying to the students than it was
offensive to those who adhered obstinately to the
old ideas.* Cardinal Sadoleti, in the name of his
friends, set before him the danger of his giving way
to innovations, and advised him, in consideration
of the times, to confine himself to the safer task of
clothing the peripatetic ideas in elegant language.f
This prudential advice was not altogether conge-
nial to the open mind of Paleario, and the devotion
which he felt for truth. The freedom with which
he censured false pretenders to learning and reli-
gion irritated a class of men who scruple at no
means to oppress and ruin an adversary, and who
eagerly seized the opportunity to fasten on him the
charge of heresy 4 His private conduct was watch-
ed, and expressions which had dropped from him in
the unsuspecting confidence of private conversation
were circulated to his prejudice. He had laughed
at a rich priest who was seen every morning kneel-
ing at the shrine of a saint, but refused to pay his
debts. J " Cotta asserts, (says he, in one of his let-
ters) that, if I am allowed to live, there will not be

* Palearii Opera, p. 527. edit. Halbaueri, Jena>, 1728.

t Ibid. pp. 536, 559.

% Ibid. pp. 88, 99, 523—531, 538—543.

§ Ibid. p. 545.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 127

a vestige of religion left in the city. Why ? Be-
cause being asked one day what was the first ground
on which men should rest their salvation, I replied,
Christ ; being asked what was the second, I replied,
Christ ; and being asked what was the third, I re-
plied, Christ."* But Paleario gave the greatest of-
fence by a book which he wrote on the Benefit of
the death of Christ, f of which he gives the follow-
ing account in his defence of himself pronounced
before the senate of Sienna. " There are some per-
sons so sour, so morose, so censorious, as to be dis-
pleased when we give the highest praise to the author
and God of our salvation, Christ, the king of all na-
tions and people. When I wrote this very year in the
Tuscan language, to show what great benefits accrue
to mankind from his death, it was made the ground
of a criminal accusation against me ! Is it possible to
utter or conceive any thing more shameful ? I had

* Palearii Opera, p. 519.

t This book was printed in 1543 in Italian, under the title II Be-
neficio di Christo, and was afterwards translated into Spanish and
French. (Schelh. Amcen. Eccl. torn. i. pp. 155 — 159. Ergoetz-
lichkeiten, vol. v. p. 27.) An Account of its contents is given in Rie-
derer Nachrichten zur kirchen-gelehrten, torn. iv. pp. 121, 235—
241. Vergerio says of it : " Many are of opinion that there is scarce-
ly any book of this age, or at least in the Italian language, so sweet,
so pious, so simple, so well fitted to instruct the ignorant and weak,
especially in the doctrine of justification. I will say more, Reginald
Pole, the British cardinal, the intimate friend of Morone, was es-
teemed the author of that book, or a part of it, at least it is known
that he, with Flaminio, Priuli, and his other friends, defended and
circulated it." (Amcen. Eccl. ut supra, p. 158.) Laderchio asserts
that Flaminio wrote an apology for the Beneficio. (Annal. xxii. f.
326.)

128 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY,

said, that since he in whom the divinity resided,
has poured out his life's blood so lovingly for our
salvation, we ought not to doubt of the good will of
heaven, but may promise ourselves the greatest tran-
quillity and peace. I had affirmed, agreeably to the
most unquestionable monuments of antiquity, that
those who turn with their souls to Christ crucified,
commit themselves to him by faith, acquiesce in the
promises, and cleave with assured confidence to
him who cannot deceive, are delivered from all evil,
and enjoy a plenary pardon of their sins. These
things appeared so grievous, so detestable, so exe-
crable to the twelve — I cannot call them men, but —
inhuman beasts, that they judged that the author
should be committed to the flames. If I must un-
dergo this punishment for the foresaid testimony ;
(for I deem it a testimony rather than a libel ;)
then, senators, nothing more happy can befal me.
In such a time as this I do not think a Christ-
ian ought to die in his bed. To be accused, to be
dragged to prison, to be scourged, to be hung up by
the neck, to be sewed up in a sack, to be ex-
posed to wild beasts, is little : let me be roasted
before a fire, provided only the truth be brought
to light by such a death."* Addressing his ac-
cuser, he says : " You accuse me of being of the
same sentiments with the Germans. Good God, what
a vulgar charge ! Do you mean to bind up all the Ger-
mans in one bundle ? Are they all bad ? — Though
you should restrict your charge to their divines, still

* Palearii Opera, pp. 101, 102.
2

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 129

it would be absurd. Are there not many excellent
divines in Germany ? — But your accusation, though
full of trifling, has nevertheless a sting, which, as pro-
ceeding from you, is charged with poison. By Ger-
mans, you meanEcolampade, Erasmus, Melanchthon,
Luther, Pomeran, Bucer, and others who have in-
curred suspicion. But surely there is not a divine
among us so stupid as not to perceive and confess,
that the writings of these men contain many things
worthy of the highest praise, many things gravely,
accurately, and faithfully stated, repeated from the
early fathers, who have left us the institutes of sal-
vation, and also from the commentaries of the
Greeks and Latins, who, though not to be com-
pared with those pillars, are still of use for interpre-
tation. * But do you approve all that the Germans
have done ?' This, Otho, is like the rest of your ques-
tions ; yet I will return an answer to it. I approve
of some things : of others I disapprove. To pass by
many things, I praise the Germans, and consider
them as entitled to public thanks, for their exer-
tions in restoring the purity of the Latin tongue,
which till of late was oppressed by barbarism and
poverty of speech. Formerly sacred studies lay ne-
glected in the cells of idlers, who retired from the
world to enjoy their repose : (and yet, amidst their
snoring, they contrived to hear what was said by us
in cities and villages :) now these studies are in a
great measure revived in Germany. Chaldaic, Greek,
and Latin libraries are erected ; books are beautiful-
ly printed ; and honourable stipends are assigned to

130 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

divines. What can be more illustrious ? what more
glorious ? what more deserving of perpetual praise ?
Afterwards arose civil discords, intestine wars, com-
motions, seditions, and other evils, which, for the
sake of charity and brotherly love among Christians,
I deplore. Who does not praise the former ? who
is not displeased with the latter ?"*

The eloquent defence of Paleario, of which one is
at a loss whether to admire most the boldness and
candour, or the prudence and address, triumphed over
the violence and intrigues of his adversaries. He
was, however, obliged soon after to quit Sienna ; but
though he changed the place of his residence, he
did not escape from the odium which he had incur-
red, and we shall afterwards find him enduring that
martyrdom which he early anticipated, and for which
it appears to have been his object all along to pre-
pare his thoughts. We may form some idea of the
extent to which the reformed opinions had spread
in Sienna, from the number of individuals belonging
to it, who, at a subsequent period, submitted to a vo-
luntary exile on their account, among whom were
Lactantio Ragnoni, Mino Celso,f and the Soccini,
who became celebrated by giving their name to a
new sect.

ThePlSANOand the Duchy of Mantua were both
imbued in no small degree with evangelical doctrine.
Its converts were so numerous in the city of Pisa,

* Palcarii Opera, pp. 92 — 95.

t Giannone, Hist, de Naples, torn. iv. p. 149. Schelhorn, Diss,
de Mino Celso, pp. 18, 61.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 131

that in the year 1543 they formed themselves into
a church, and had the sacrament of the Lord's sup-
per celebrated among them. * In a brief addressed
to the cardinal of Mantua in the year 1545, his ho-
liness, Paul III. signifies, that he had received infor-
mation, that certain ecclesiastics, as well as illite-
rate persons and mechanics, in the city of Mantua,
had presumptuously dared to dispute and doubt of
matters pertaining to the catholic faith and the sa-
cred institutions of the church of Rome, to the de-
struction of their souls and the great scandal of
others. f

Locarno is a city of Italy, and the capital of a pro-
vince or bailiwick of that name, situate on the lake
Maggiore, in the southern confines of the Alps. It
was one of four provinces which Maximilian Sforza,
duke of Milan, in the year 1513, gave to the Swiss
cantons as a remuneration for the military aids
which they had furnished him ; and was governed
by a prefect, whom the cantons sent by turns every
two vears. Though the territory was small, its inha-
bitants were possessed of considerable wealth, deriv-
ed from the riches of the country in their neighbour-
hood, and from their being the carriers in the trade
which was prosecuted between Italy and Switzerland.
So early as the year 1526, the reformed opinions were
introduced into it by Baldassare Fontana, whom we
have already had occasion to mention.} The number

* Simleri Oratio, ut supra, sig. biiij.
+ Raynaldi Armales, ad an. 1545.
X See before, p. 38.

132 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

of converts was for some time very small. " There
are but three of us here (says that zealous and de-
voted servant of Christ, in a letter to Zuingle)
who have enlisted and confederated in the cause of
propagating the truth. But Midian was not van-
quished by the multitudes of brave men who
flocked to the standard of Gideon, but by a few se-
lected for that purpose by God. Who knows but he
may kindle a great fire out of this inconsiderable
smoke ? It is our duty to sow and plant : the Lord
must give the increase."* The seed often re-
mains long hid in the ground. Twenty years elaps-
ed before the fruit of the prayers and labours of
these good men made its appearance ; and it is not
improbable that, before this happened, they had all
gone to receive their reward in a better world. In
the year 1546, Benedetto Locarno returned to his
native place, after he had been long employed in
preaching the gospel in various parts of Italy, and
in the island of Sicily. His exertions to enlighten
the minds of his townsmen were zealously second-
ed by John Beccaria, commonly called the apostle of
Locarno, a man of good talents and excellent cha-
racter, who by reading the scriptures, without the
aid of a teacher or any human writings, had discover-
ed the principal errors and corruptions of the church
of Rome. To these were soon added four indivi-
duals of great respectability, and animated by the
true spirit of confessors — Varnerio Castiglione, who

* Jo. de Muralto, Oratio de Persecutione Locarnensiura : in Terape
Helvetica, torn. iv. p. 141.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 133

spared neither time nor labour in promoting- the
truth, Ludovico Runcho, a citizen, Taddeo a Dunis,
a physician, who, as well as Runcho, was a young
man of genius and undaunted resolution, and Mar-
tino a Muralto, a doctor of laws, and a person of noble
birth who had great influence in the bailiwick. In the
course of four years, the protestants of Locarno had
increased to a numerous church, which was regu-
larly organized, and had the sacraments administer-
ed in it by a pastor whom they called from the church
of Chiavenna.* The daily accessions which it re-
ceived to its numbers excited the envy and chagrin
of the clergy, who were warmly supported by the
prefect appointed, in the year 1549, by the popish
canton of Underwald. A priest belonging to the
neighbouring bailiwick of Lugano, who was employed
to declaim from the pulpit against the Locarnian
protestants, loaded them with calumnies of all kinds,
and challenged their preacher to a public dispute on
the articles controverted between the two churches.
He was completely silenced on the day of trial ; and,
to revenge his defeat, the prefect ordered Beccaria
into prison. This step excited such indignation in
the city, that the prisoner was immediately enlarg-
ed, and the enemies of the protestants were obliged
to wait a more favourable opportunity to attack
them.f

Istria, a peninsular district on the gulf of Ve-
nice, belonged to the Venetian republic. It is men-

" Muralto, Oratio, ut supra, pp. 142 — 144; conf. p. 150.
t Ibid. pp. 144—148.

134 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

tioned separately, ami in this place, because it was
the last spot which the light of the Reformation vi-
sited in its progress through Italy, and because it
gave birth to two distinguished protestants, both of
whom were bishops of the Roman Catholic church,
and one of them a papal legate. Pierpaolo Verge-
rio was a native of Capo d' Istria, and sprung from
a family which had shared in the literary reputation
of the fifteenth century. We have already had oc-
casion to notice him as a young man of promising
talents and excellent character, who felt a desire to
visit Wittenberg for the purpose of finishing his
studies.* Having devoted himself to the study of
law, he obtained the degree of doctor from the uni-
versity of Padua, where he acted for some time as
a professor, and as vicar to the Podesta, and after-
wards distinguished himself as an orator at Venice.f
Such was his fame for learning and address, that pope
Clement VII. sent him into Germany as his legate
to Ferdinand, king of the Romans, at whose court
he remained for some years, advancing the interests
of the court of Rome, and opposing the progress of
Lutheranism.t On the death of Clement, his suc-
cessor Paul III. recalled Vergerio, and after receiv-
ing an account of his embassy, sent him back to
Germany, where he had interviews with the Ger-
man princes and with Luther, respecting the pro-
posed general council. On his return to Italy in

* See before, p. 31. t Tiraboschi, vii. 37.5-6.

+ Sleidan (lib. vii. torn. i. p. 395) represents Vergerio as sent to
Ferdinand in LC30; Tiraboschi says it was in 1532. (Tomo vii. p. 377.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 135

1536, he was advanced to the episcopal dignity,
being made first bishop of Modrusium in Croatia,
a see in the patronage of Ferdinand, and afterwards
of Capo d'Istria, his native place. Having gone
into France, he appeared, in 1541, at the confe-
rence of Worms, in the name of his Christian Ma-
jesty, but, as was believed, with secret instructions
from the pope.* It is certain, that he drew up at
this time an oration on the unity of the church, in
opposition to the idea of a national council, which
was desired by the protestants.

His mind appears to have received an impression
in favour of the Reformation during his residence in
Germany. Protestant writers assert, that the pope
intended to confer a cardinal's hat on him at his
return, but was diverted from this by the suspi-
cions raised against his soundness in the faith. This
is denied by Pailavicini and Tiraboschi ; but they
allow that the pope had received information against
him, as having cultivated undue familiarity with the
German heretics, and spoken favourably of them ;
and that, on this account, means were used to oblige
him to return to Italy, and to convince him that he
had incurred the displeasure of his superiors. This
is confirmed by the letters of cardinal Bembo. In
a letter to his nephew, who appears to have held a
high official situation in the Istrian government, the

* This is asserted by Father Paul, (lib. i.) and Sleidan, (lib. xiii.
torn. ii. 204) but contradicted by Pailavicini, (lib. iv. cap. 12) and
Tiraboschi. (Ut sup. p. 380.) Courayer supports the former, in his
notes on Father Paul's History.

136 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

cardinal signifies that he was " in a manner con-
strained by the bishop of Capo d'Istria to recom-
mend some of his relations, who, though inno-
cent, as he alleged, had been thrown into prison."
This was on the 24th of September, 1541 ; but on
the 1st of February following, he expresses his sa-
tisfaction that his request had not been granted ;
and adds, " I hear some things of that bishop, which,
if true, are very bad — that he not only has portraits
of Lutherans in his house, but also in the causes of
certain citizens, has eagerly sought to favour in
every way the one party, whether right or wrong,
and to bear down the other.'*

It was no easy matter for a person in Vergerio's
circumstances to relinquish the honourable situa-
tion which he held, and to sacrifice the flattering
prospects of advancement which he had long che-
rished. Besides, his convictions of the truth were
still imperfect. When he first retired from the
bustle of public life to his diocese, he set about fi-
nishing a work which he had begun, " Against the
apostates of Germany," the publication of which
might dissipate the suspicions which he had in-
curred ; but, in the course of writing, and of ex-
amining the books of the reformers, his mind was
so struck with the force of the objections which it
behoved him to answer, that he threw away the pen,
and abandoned the work in despair. He now sought
relief by unbosoming himself to his brother, Gio-

* Bembo, Opere, tomo ix. pp. 288, 294.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. If37

vanni Batista Vergerio, bishop of Pola, in the same
district. The latter was thrown into great distress
by the communication ; but, upon conference with
his brother, and hearing the reasons of his change
of views, especially on the head of justification, he
became himself a convert to the protestant doctrine.
The two brothers now concerted a plan for enlight-
ening their dioceses, by conveying instruction to the
people on the leading articles of the gospel, and
withdrawing their minds from those ceremonial
services and bodily exercises, in which they were
disposed to place the whole of religion. This they
were able to effect in a good degree by means of
their own personal labours, and the assistance of
some individuals who had previously received the
knowledge of the truth ; so that before the year
1546, a great part of the inhabitants of that dis-
trict had embraced the reformed faith, and made
considerable advances in the knowledge of Chris-
tian doctrine.*

Beside the places which have been specified, ad-
herents to the reformed opinions were to be found
at this time in Genoa, in Verona, in Cittadella, in-
Cremona, in Brescia, in Civita di Friuli, in An-
cona, in various parts of the Roman territories, and
in Rome itself.f

* Sleidan, lib. xxi. torn. iii. pp. 150 — 152. Ughelli Italia Sacra,
torn. v. pp. 341, 391.

+ Gerdesii Specimen Italia? Reformats. Martyris Epistola?. Zan-
chii Epistolte. Melanchthonis Epistolse.

138 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

CHAPTER IV.

MISCELLANEOUS FACTS RESPECTING THE STATE OF
THE REFORMED OPINIONS IN ITALY.

Having given a general view of the introduction
of the reformed doctrine into Italy, and traced its
progress through the principal states and cities of
that country, I shall collect in this chapter some
facts of an interesting kind, which could not be
fitly interwoven with the preceding narrative. The
first class of these relates to the disputes unhappily
introduced among the Italian protestants, by which
they were divided among themselves, and thus be*
came an easier prey to their common enemy.

It is well known, that a controversy arose at an
early period between the two principal reformers
respecting the presence of Christ in the sacrament
of the supper ; Luther insisting that the words
of institution ought to be understood in a literal
sense, while Zuingle interpreted them figuratively.
At a conference held at Marburg in the year
1529, and procured chiefly by the influence of
Philip, landgrave of Hesse, the two parties, after

HISTORY OF TTIE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 139

ascertaining that their sentiments harmonized on
all other points, agreed to bear with each other, and
to cultivate mutual peace and good will, notwith-
standing their different views of this single article.
But the controversy broke out afresh, chiefly through
the ill offices of some forward and injudicious friends
of Luther, and being inflamed by publications on
both sides, laid the foundation of a lasting division
between the churches of Switzerland and Upper Ger-
many. After the death of Zuingle, his opinions
were vigorously defended by Ecolampade, Bullinger,
and Calvin.

The protestants of Italy had been equally indebt-
ed to the two reformers for the knowledge which
they had obtained of the truth. If the circum-
stance of the works of Zuingle having been chiefly
composed in Latin gave an advantage to his opin-
ions, by contributing to their more extensive cir-
culation, this was counterbalanced by the celebri-
ty of Luther's name, and the numbers of his coun-
trymen who frequented Italy, and carried his opin-
ions along with them. It would appear, however,
that the Italian protestants were generally favour-
able to the opinion of the Swiss reformer. This
may be concluded both from their writings, and
from the fact, that by far the greater number of
those who were obliged to leave their native coun-
try sought an asylum in the protestant cantons of
Switzerland.*

* Vergerio had more connexion with the Germans than most of
his countrymen ; and yet we find Paulus Eberus, a professor of Wit-

140 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY,

That this dispute was warmly agitated among
the protestants of Modena, Bologna, and other parts
of Italy in 1541, we learn from three letters ad-
dressed to them in the course of that year by Bucer.
This reformer had all along been a strenuous friend
to peace and concord between the contending par-
ties. It seems to have been his sincere belief that
there was no real difference of sentiment between
them ; and although he evidently inclined to the
explications given by the Swiss divines, yet in his
efforts for pacification, he alternately employed the
phrases of both sides, a method which threw an ob-
scurity over his writings, and is not the best calcu-
lated for promoting conciliation between men of
enlightened understanding. However, the advice
which he imparted on the present occasion was in
the main sound, and does great honour to his heart.
In a letter " to certain friends of the truth in Italy,"*
he says : " I hear, my good brethren, that Satan,
who has afflicted us long, and with great defection
in religion, has begun to disturb you also ; for it is
said, that a dispute has arisen among you respect-
ing the eucharist. This grieves me exceedingly.
For, what else can you expect from this controversy
than what we have experienced to the great damage
of our churches ? Dear brethren, let us rather seek

tenberg, writing of him as follows, in a letter dated June 21, 1556 ;
" Jam ccenabimus cum Petro Paulo Vergerio, qui fuit Justinopoli-
tanus episcopus, et nunc vocatus a duce Alberto proficiscetur in Bo-
russiam. Eum audio non dissimulanter probare sententiam Calvini."
(Scrinium Antiquarium, torn. iv. p. 713.)
* " Augusti 17, 1541."

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 141

to embrace Christ in the eucharist, that so we may-
live in him and he in ns. The bread and the wine
are symbols, not thing's of such great mystery. This
all confess ; but God forbid that, on the other hand,
any should imagine that empty symbols are ex-
hibited in the supper of the Lord ; for the bread
which we break is the participation of the Lord's
body, and not bread only. — Avoid strifes of words :
support the weak. While our confidence is placed
in Christ, all is well : all cannot at once see the same
things. Studiously cultivate concord. The God upon
whom we call is not the God of division. Thus live,
and advance, and overcome every evil."* In another
letter to the same persons,f after giving his views of
the subject, this amiable man adds : " This is my
opinion on the whole matter in dispute. If I have
not explained myself with perspicuity, the reason is,
that from constitution, and owing to the defects of
my education, I am apt to be obscure and perplex-
ed, and also that I write in haste, and without the
helps necessary for discussing such a subject ; which
indeed appears too clearly in all my writings. I
desire to avoid giving offence, whenever it is law-
ful ; yet, were I able, I would wish to explain as
clearly as possible those things which it concerns
the church to know. I exhort you, beloved bre-
thren, to avoid in these questions, with all possible
care, a spirit of curiosity and contention. Let those
who are strong in knowledge bear with the weak :

" Buceri Scripta Anglicana, p. 686.
t " Anno 1541. 23. Decemb."

142 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY,

let the weak pay due deference to the strong. We
ought to know nothing but Christ and him crucifi-
ed. All our exertions ought to be directed to this,
that he may be formed more fully in us, and por-
trayed in a more lively manner in the whole of our
conduct. You ascribe too much to me. I know my
own weakness. Express your love by praying to
God for me, rather than by praising me."* In a
letter to the protestants at Bologna and Modena,
he says : " The too sharp contention which has
taken place among us in Germany respecting this
sacrament was a work of the flesh. We thought, that
Luther fixed Christ glorified to earthly signs by his
too strong language ; he and his friends, on the con-
trary, thought that we acknowledged and gave no-
thing in the supper but bread and wine. At length,
however, the Lord has brought us to a happy
agreement, both in words and as to the matter ; so
that both parties should speak honourably of these
myteries, and that the one should not appear to
ascribe to Christ what is unworthy of him, nor
the other to celebrate the Lord's supper without the
Lord. — I beseech you, keep this agreement along
with us ; and if in any instance it has been injured,
restore it, imitating our conduct in what is of Christ,
and not in what is of the flesh : this should be the
only dispute and contest among saints."f

But the controversy was carried on with the
greatest heat within the Venetian territories, where
the protestants had all along kept up a close corres-

* Buceri Script. Angl. p. G90. f Ibid. p. 689.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION* IN ITALY. 143

pondence with the divines of Wittenberg, and where
also there were individuals not disposed to yield im-
plicit submission to the authority of any name, how-
ever high and venerated. We learn this from the
letter which the excellent Baldassare Altieri address-
ed, in the name of his brethren, to Luther, and from
which I have already quoted.* The following ex-
tract contains also some additional particulars as to
the state of the reformed cause in that quarter of
Italy at the period when it was written.f " There
is another affair which daily threatens our churches
with impending ruin. That question concerning
the Lord's supper, which arose first in Germany,
and afterwards was brought to us, alas ! what dis-
turbances has it excited ! what dissensions has it
produced ! what offences to the weak, what losses
to the church of God, has it caused ! what impedi-
ments has it thrown in the way of the propagation
of the glory of Christ ! For if in Germany, where
there are so many churches rightly constituted, and
so many holy men, fervent in spirit and eminent
for every kind of learning, its poison has prevailed so
far as to form two parties through mutual alterca-
tion, (for although it behoved such things necessarily
to happen, yet are they to be guarded against as
dire, dreadful, and abominable before God) how
much more is the prevalence and daily increase of
this plague to be dreaded with us ? With us, where
there are no public assemblies, but where every one

* See before, p. 98. t " Kal. Dec. C, 1542."

144 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

is a church to himself, acting according to his own
will and pleasure; the weak exalting themselves above
the strong beyond the measure of their faith, and
the strong not receiving the weak, and bearing with
them in the spirit of meekness and gentleness, mind-
ful that they are themselves encompassed with the
same infirmity and sin, instead of which they proud-
ly neglect and despise them : all would be teachers
instead of disciples, although they know nothing,
and are not led by the Spirit of God. There are
many teachers who do not understand what they
say or whereof they affirm ; many evangelists who
would do better to learn than to teach others ; many
apostles who are not truly sent. All things here
are conducted in a disorderly and indecorous man-
ner." Altieri goes on to state, that Bucer had writ-
ten them that concord was established between
the two parties in Germany, and had exhorted
the friends of truth in Italy to lay aside their con-
tentions, and with one mouth to glorify him who
is the God of peace and not of confusion, add-
ing, that Melanchthon was about to publish a de-
fence of the agreement. This intelligence, he says,
had filled them with joy, and on a sudden all
was harmony and peace among them. But of late
again, at the instigation of the great adversary of
the truth, certain foolish and unreasonable men had
embroiled matters, and raised new disputes and
contentions. He therefore begs Luther to write to
them ; for though they were not ignorant of his

opinion on the disputed question, (to which they

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 145

meant to adhere as most consonant to the words
of Christ and Paul) and although they relied on
and rejoiced at the information of Bucer, yet they
were anxious to be certified of the mode of concilia-
tion from himself, to whose opinion they paid a
higher deference than to that of any other indivi-
dual, and to receive from him the above-mentioned
defence, or any other books lately published relating
to that subject or to the general cause. The letter
contains the warmest professions of regard for the
reformer, and of solicitude for the success of the re-
formation in Germany ; " for," says the writer,
" whatever befalls you, whether prosperous or ad-
verse, we consider as befalling ourselves, both be-
cause we have the same spirit of faith, and al-
so because on the issue of your affairs depends
our establishment or overthrow. Be mindful
of us, most indulgent Luther, not only before
God in your ardent prayers, that we may be fill-
ed with the knowledge of him through the Spirit
of Christ, but also by the frequency of your
learned, pleasant, and fruitful writings and let-
ters ; that so those whom you have begotten by
the word of truth may the sooner grow up to
the stature of a perfect man in Christ. We labour
here under a great and painful scarcity of the word
of God, not so much owing to the cruelty and seve-
rity of the adherents of antichrist, as to the almost
incredible wickedness and avarice of the booksellers
who bring your writings here, and conceal them
with the view of raising the price to an exorbitant

146 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

rate, to the great loss of the whole church. The
brethren, who are numerous here, salute you with
the kiss of peace." *

Luther had it in his power to do much at this
time for the advancement of the evangelical cause
in Italy. The flames of persecution were just
ready to burst upon its friends, while they were
unhappily become a prey to intestine dissensions.
It appears that the greater part of the protes-
tants in the Venetian states were favourable to
the opinion of the German reformer ; but it is al-
so evident, that they, or at least the leading men
among them, were disposed to moderation, to live
in harmony with their brethren who thought in a
different manner on the controverted article, and to
wait till God, who had in a wonderful manner
brought them to the knowledge of many great
truths of which they had been profoundly ignorant,
should " reveal this also to them." They felt the
highest veneration for the character of Luther,
were disposed to pay a deference almost implicit to
his advice, and a single word from him would either
allay or inflame the dissension which had arisen.
Unhappily he adopted that method which natively
produced the last of these effects. In his answer to
the letter from the Venetian protestants, he not only
dissipated the pleasing delusion which they were
under as to a reconciliation having been effected,
but inveighed in the most bitter terms against
the sacramentarians and fanatics, as he abusive-
ly denominated the Swiss divines ; and asserted

* Seckcndorf, lib. iii. p. 402.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 147

that " the popish tenet of transubstantiation was
more tolerable than that of Zuingle."* Nor was he
a whit more moderate in another letter written by
him in the following year, in which he stimulated
the Italians to write against the opinions of Zuingle
and Ecolampade ; whom he did not scruple to stig-
matize as " poisonous teachers" and " false pro-
phets," who " did not dispute under the influence
of error, but opposed the truth knowingly, at the
instigation of Satan. "f In addition to this, he caused
some of his controversial writings against the Zuin-
glians to be translated and sent into Italy.

Alas ! what is man ? What are great men, who
would be thought, or are represented by their fond ad-
mirers, to be gods? A lie — lighter than vanity. Will-
ingly would I have passed over this portion of his-
tory, and spared the memory of a man who has de-
served so much of the world, and whose character,
notwithstanding all the infirmities and faults which
attach to it, will never cease to be contemplated with
admiration and gratitude. But the truth must be
told. The violence with which Luther acted in the
dispute that arose between him and his brethren re-
specting the sacrament is too well known ; but never
did the character of the reformer sink so much into
that of the petty leader of a party, as it did on the
present occasion. Some excuse may be found for

* Hospiniani Hist. Sacrament. Part. ii. p. 18i. The letter is publish-
ed in Hummelii Neue Bibliotheck von seltenen Biichern, torn. i.
pp. 239—246. Nurnb. 1775.

t Luthers Siimtliche Schriften, torn. xvii. p. 2632. edit. Walch.

148 HISTORY Ol' THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

the manner in which he conducted himself towards
those who opposed his favourite dogma in Germany,
or even in Switzerland ; but one is utterly at a loss
to conceive the shadow of an apology for his having
acted as he did in reference to the Italians. Sure-
ly he ought to have considered that the whole cause
of evangelical religion was at stake among them,
that they were few in number and rude in know-
ledge, that there were many things which they were
not yet able to bear, that they were as sheep in the
midst of wolves, and that the only tendency of his
advice was to set them by the ears, to divide and
scatter, and drive them into the mouths of the wild
beasts which stood ready to devour them. This was
foreseen by the amiable and pacific Melanchthon, who
had always written in a very different strain to his
correspondents in Italy ; and who deplored this rash
step of his colleague, although the mildness and ti-
midity of his disposition prevented him on this, as
on other occasions, from adopting those decisive
measures which might have counteracted in some
degree its baneful effects.*

But another controversy had arisen among the
Italian protestants, bearing on points of vital im-
portance to Christianity, and calculated, provided
it had become general, to inflict a deeper injury on
the interests of religion than the dispute to which I
have just adverted. This related primarily to the

* In a letter to Vitus Theodoras, written in 1543, Melancththon
complains, " quod horridius scripserit Lutherus ad Italos." (Flos-
pin, ut supra.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 149

doctrine of the trinity, and by consequence to the
person and atonement of Christ; and it extended to
most of the articles which are peculiar and distin-
guishing in the Christian faith.

It has been supposed by some writers, that per-
sons attached to the opinions of Arius had remain-
ed concealed in Italy down to the sixteenth cen-
tury ; and that the fame of the reformation begun
in Germany drew them from their lurking-places.*
Some have even asserted that the mind of the well-
known Michael Servetus was first tainted by inter-
course with Italian heretics.-}- But there is no good
evidence for either of these opinions. It is much more
probable that the Spaniard acquired his peculiar
views, so far as they were not the offspring of his own
invention, in Germany, subsequently to the visit
which he paid to Italy at a very early period of hislife.
Before his name had been heard of, and within a
few years after the commencement of the Reforma-
tion, certain confused notions, sometimes approach-
ing to the ancient tenets of Arius and Pelagius,
and at other times assuming a form which bore a
nearer resemblance to those afterwards called soci-
nian, were afloat in Germany, and vented by some
of those who went by the common name of ana-
baptists. Among these were Hetzer and Denck,
who published translations of parts of scripture be-
fore Luther.! In the conference held at Marburg,

* Bock, Hist. Antitrinit. torn. ii. p. 414.

t L'Abbe d'Artigny, Nouvcaux Mcmoires, torn. ii. pp. 58, 59.

J Zuinglii et fficolampadii Epistola?, ff. 82, 197. Bock, Hist. An-
titrin. torn. ii. pp. 131 — 136. Ruchat, Histoirc cle la Reform, clc la
Suisse, torn. ii. p. 509. Hetzer and Denck retracted their sentiments.

150 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

in 1529, between the Saxon and Swiss reformers,
it was stated by Melanchthon, as matter of com-
plaint, or at least of suspicion, that the latter had
among them persons who entertained erroneous
opinions concerning the trinity. Zuingle cleared
himself and his brethren from this imputation, with-
out denying, however, that there might be indivi-
duals lurking among them who cherished such te-
nets.* It is not improbable, that, on his return,
means were taken to discover these concealed here-
tics, and that being expelled from Switzerland, some
of them travelled into Italy. We know that the
reformed church at Naples was in its infancy dis-
turbed by Arians and Anabaptists ;f but this ap-
pears to have happened at a later period, and the per-
sons referred to might be discij>les of Servetus. He
began to publish against the trinity in the year 1531,
and there is ground to believe that his books were
soon after conveyed to Italy.t Though he had not
formed his peculiar opinions when he was in that
country, yet he contracted, during the visit which he
paid to it, an intimate acquaintance with some indivi-
duals, with whom he maintained an epistolary cor-
respondence to a late period of his life ; and it is
known that he was as zealous in propagating his
notions by private letters as by the press.$ Upon

* Zuinglii et OZcol. Epist. f. 24. Ruchat, ut supra, pp. 461, 483.
f Life of Galeacius Caracciolus, Marqucsse of Vico, p. 13. Lond.
1635.

X Sandii Nucleus Hist. Ecel. append, p. 90. Boxhornii Hist. Univ.
p. 70.

§ Calvini Opera, torn. viii. p. 517.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 151

the whole, I am inclined to think that the antitri-
nitarian opinions were introduced into Italy by
means of the writings of Servetus.

The genius of the Italians led them to indulge in
subtle and curious speculations, and this disposition
was fostered by the study of the eclectic and scepti-
cal philosophy to which many of them had of late
years been addicted.* Crude and indigested as
the new theories respecting the trinity and colla-
teral topics were, they fell in with this predisposi-
tion ; and some of the protestants found themselves
entangled, before they were aware, in the mazes of
an intricate and deceitful theology, into which they
had entered for the sake of intellectual exercise and
amusement. This happened chiefly within the ter-
ritories of Venice, where the friends of the Refor-
mation were numerous, and yet not organized into
congregations, nor placed under the superintendence
of regular teachers, f

The letter addressed by Melanchthon to the se-

* Illgen, Vita Ln?lii Socini, p. 7. Lips. 1814. Melanchthon speaks
repeatedly of the platonic and sceptical theories with which he found
the minds of his Italian correspondents and acquaintance enamoured.
(Epist. coll. 852, 941.) And Calvin, speaking of that vain curiosity
and insatiable desire of novelty, which leads many into pernicious er-
rors, says: " In I talis, propter rarum acumen, magis eminet." (Opera,
torn. viii. p. .510.)

f Altieri's letter, as quoted above, pp. 143, 144; Bock (Hist. Antitr.
ii. 405) refers to the academy at Venice, and its form and constitution,
which allowed great liberty in starting doubts, and examining opi-
nions, as confirming the accounts of the rise of Socinianism in that
state. But the learned writer does not appear to have been aware,
that academies of this description, and founded on the same princi-
ples, were in that age common throughout Italy.

152 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

liate of Venice in the year 1538, and from which a
quotation has already been made, shows that the
antitrinitarian tenets had then gained admission in-
to that state.* " I know, (says he) that very differ-
ent judgments have always prevailed in the world
respecting religion, and that the devil has been in-
tent from the beginning on sowing impious doc-
trines, and inciting men of curious and depraved
minds to corrupt and overthrow the truth. Aware
of the dangers arising from this to the church, we
have been careful to keep within due bounds ; and
while we have rejected certain errors more recently
introduced, have not departed from the apostolical
writings, from the Nicene and Athanasian creeds,
nor even from the ancient consent of the catholic
church. — I understand there has lately been intro-
duced among you a book of Servetus, who has re-
vived the error of Samosatenus, condemned by the
primitive church, and seeks to overthrow the doc-
trine of the two natures in Christ by denying that
the Word is to be understood of a person, when
John says, • In the beginning was the word.' Al-
though my opinion on that controversy is already
in print, and I have condemned the sentiment of
Servetus by name in my Common Places, yet I

* Bock, in giving an account of this letter, has expressed himself
in such a way as may lead his reader to think that Melanchthon had
signified his having heard that above forty persons in the city and
territories of Venice, distinguished by their rank and talents, had
embraced Servctianism. (Hist. Antitr. ii. 4-07.) Nothing of that
kind appears in the copy of that letter which is now before me.

HISTOltY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 153

have thought it proper at present to admonish and
obtest you to use your utmost exertions to persuade
persons to avoid, reject, and execrate that impious
tenet." Having advanced some considerations in sup-
port of the orthodox doctrine on that head, he adds,
" I have written these things more largely than
the bounds of a letter admit, but too briefly, consi-
dering the importance of the subject. My object
was to let you know my opinion, not to enter at
length into the controversy ; but if any one desires
this, I shall be ready to discuss the question more
copiously."* The representations of Melanchthon
failed in checking the progress of these opinions.
In a letter to Camerarius, written in 1544, he says :
" I send you a letter of Vitus, and another written
from Venice, which contains disgraceful narratives ;
but we are admonished, by these distressing exam-
ples, to preserve discipline and good order with the
greater care and unanimity."t And in another let-
ter to the same correspondent, dated on the 31st
of May 1545, he writes : " I yesterday returned
an answer to the theological question of the Italians,
transmitted by Vitus last winter. Italian theology
abounds with platonic theories ; and it will be no
easy matter to bring them back, from that vain-
glorious science of which they are so fond, to truth
and simplicity of explication.^

Sociuian writers have fixed the origin of their
sect at this period. According to their account,

* Melanch. Epist. coll. 150— lot. t Ibid. col. 835.

t Ibid. col. 852.

154? HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

upwards of forty individuals of great talents and
learning were in the habit of meeting in private
conferences or colleges within the territories of
Venice, and chiefly at Vicenza, to deliberate on the
plan of forming a purer faith, by discarding a num-
ber of opinions held by protestants as well as pa-
pists ; but these meetings, being discovered by the
treachery of an individual, were dispersed in the
year 1546; some of the members having been thrown
into prison, and others forced to flee into foreign
countries. Among the latter were Laelius Socinus,
Camillus Siculus, Franciscus Niger, Ochino, Alci-
ati, Gentilis, and Blandrata. These writers have
gone so far as to present us with a creed or system
of doctrine agreed upon by the collegiates of Vi-
cenza, as the result of their joint inquiries and dis-
cussion. *

Historians distinguished for their research and
discrimination have rejected this narrative, which,
it must be confessed, rests on very doubtful autho-
rity, t It was first published a century after the

* Lubieniecii Hist. Reform. Polonica1, pp. 38, 39. Sandii Bibl.
Antitrin. p. 18; et Wissowatii Narratio aclnex. pp. 209, 210.

•f Mosheim, (Eccles. Hist. cent. xvi. sect. iii. part ii. chap. iv. § 3,)
and Fueslin, (Beytrage zur Erlauterung der Kirchen-refor. Geschich-
ten des Schweizerlandes, torn. iii. p. 327,) do not consider the narra-
tive as entitled to credit. Bock, (Hist. Antitrin. torn. ii. pp. 404 — 416,)
andlllgen (Vita Ladii Socini, pp. 8 — 14,) admit its general truth, while
they acknowledge its incorrectness as to particular facts. A modern
writer has pronounced Mosheim's reasons " extremely weak," and "ex-
tremely frivolous;" and maintains the opposite opinion on the grounds
which Bock has laid down in his history of the Antitrinitarians.
(Rces's Historical Introduction to the Racovian Catechism, pp. xx —

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 155

time to which it refers, and by foreigners and per-
sons far removed from the sources of information.
No trace of the Vicentine colleges, as they have
been called, has been found, after the. most accurate
research, in the contemporary history of Italy, or
in the letters and other writings of learned men,
popish, protestant, or socinian, which have since
been brought to light. No allusion is made to the
subject by Faustus Socinus in any part of his works,
or by the Polish knight, who wrote his life. * The
ambitious designation of " colleges," applied to the
alleged meetings, is suspicious ; while the mistakes
respecting the individuals who are said to have com-
posed them, give to the whole narrative the air of at
best a story made up of indistinct and ill-understood

xxiv.) Bock was an industrious and trust- worthy collector, but very
inferior in critical acumen to Mosheim, and he has brought forward
no fact in support of his opinion which was not known to his prede-
cessor.

* Lubieniecius professes to have taken the account " ex Lalii So-
cini vita? Curriculo, et Budzinii comment. MSS." But he does not
quote the words of these documents, which were never given to the
world. Mr. Rees says, " Andrew Wissowatius may himself be re-
garded in the light of an original authority." (Ut Supra, p. xxii.)
But how a writer, who was born in 1608, could be an original autho-
rity for what happened in 1546, it is difficult to comprehend; nor does
Wissowatz pretend to have taken this fact from any original documents
of his grandfather, Faustus Socinus, which, if they had existed, would
undoubtedly have been communicated to Samuel Pryzcovius, when
he undertook to write the life of the founder of the sect. The work
of Pryzcovius was translated into English, and published under the
following title : — " The Life of that incomparable man, Faustus So-
cinus Sc?icnsis, described by a Polonian Knight. London, printed
for Richard Moone, at the Seven Stars, 1653." The epistle to the
reader is subscribed " J. B." ; i. c John Biddle.

156 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

traditionary reports. Ochino, Caraillo, and Niger,
had left Italy before these assemblies are represented
as having existed, and the writings which the first
of these continued for many years after that pe-
riod to publish, coincided exactly with the sentiments
of the Swiss reformers. Lselius Socinus belonged to
Sienna ; there is no evidence of his having resided
at Venice ; and, although we should suppose that
he visited that place occasionally, it is not probable
that a young man of twenty-one could possess that
authority in these assemblies which is ascribed to
him by the narrative we are examining. Besides,
the part assigned to him is at variance with the
whole of his conduct after he left his native coun-
try. Though it is evident that his mind was tinc-
tured with the tenets afterwards called socinian, yet
so far was he from courting the honours and dan-
gers of a heresiarch, that he uniformly propounded
his opinions in the shape of doubts or difficulties
which he was anxious to have removed ; and he
continued till his death, notwithstanding the suspi-
cions of heterodoxy which he had incurred, to keep
up a friendly intercourse, not only with his coun-
trymen, Martyr and Zanchi, but with Melanchthon,
Bullinger, and even Calvin. The assemblies sup-
pressed within the Venetian territories in the
year 1546, were those of the protestants in ge-
neral ; and it was as belonging to these, and
not as forming a distinct sect, that the friends
of Servetus were at that time exposed to suf-

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 157

fering. Such are the reasons which incline me
to reject the narrative of the socinian historians.

But while there is no good ground for thinking that
the favourers of the anti-trinitarian tenets in Italy
had formed themselves into societies, or digested a
regular system of belief, it is undeniable that a
number of the Italian protestants were, at the time
referred to, infected with these errors ; and it is high-
ly probable that they were accustomed to confirm
one another in the belief of them when they occa-
sionally met, and perhaps to introduce them as topics
of discussion into the common meetings of the pro-
testants, and by starting objections, to shake the
convictions of such as adhered to the commonly re-
ceived doctrines. This was exactly the line of con-
duct pursued by them after they left their native
country, especially in the Grisons, where the expa-
triated Italians first took refuge. Soon after their
arrival, disputes arose in the Grison churches re-
specting the trinity, the merit of Christ's death,
the perfection of the saints in this life, the necessity
and use of the sacraments, infant baptism, the re-
surrection of the body, and similar articles, in which
the chief opponents of the common doctrine, both
privily and openly, were natives of Italy, several of
whom afterwards propagated their peculiar opinions
in Transylvania and Poland.* Subsequently to
the year 1546, adherents to anti-trinitarianism were

• De Porta, Hist. Ref. Eccles. Rhrcticarum ; apvulBock, Hist. An-
titrin. torn. ii. pp. 410, 411. Schelhornii Dissert.de Mino Cclso Se-
nensi, pp. 31 — 36, 44 — 1-7.

158 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

still to be found in Italy. Such of them as had fled
maintained a correspondence with their friends at
home, and made converts to their opinions by means
of their letters. * About the year 1553, the learn-
ed visionary, William Postel, published at Venice
an apology for Servetus, in which he mentions, that
this heresiarch had many favourers among the Ita-
lians, j- And in the year 1555, pope Paul IV. issued
a bull against those who denied the doctrine of the
trinity, the proper divinity of Christ, and redemption
by his blood, f I close this part of the subject with
the words of a learned and judicious Italian, who
left his native country for the gospel, and laboured
with great zeal, and not without success, in oppos-
ing the spread of this heresy. " It is not difficult
to divine," says he, " whence this evil sprung, and
by whom it has been fostered. Spain produced the
hen ; Italy hatched the eggs ; and we in the Gri-
sons now hear the chicks pip." §

Another class of facts which I have thought de-
serving of a place in this chapter, relates to illus-
trious females who favoured the new opinions, al-
though their names are not associated with any
public transaction in the progress of the Reforma-
tion through Italy. The literary historians of Italy

" Ulgen, Vita Ladii Socini, p. 58.
t Bock, ut supra, pp. 539 — 542.

t Bullarium Romanum ab Angel. Mar. Cherubino, torn. i. p. 590.
§ Zancbius, apud Bock, ut supra, p- 415. I have not observed
these words in the writings of Zanchi.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 159

have dwelt with enthusiasm and pride on such of
their countrywomen as distinguished themselves by
patronising or cultivating literature and the fine
arts. Their proficiency in sacred letters and in the
practice of piety, is certainly not less to their hon-
our. It has been mentioned by a modern historian,
that any piety which existed in Italy at the close
of the fifteenth century, was to be found among the
female part of the population. * A writer who
flourished in the middle of the following century,
and whose religion was of a more enlightened kind
than that which usually prevails in the cloister,
gives the following account of what he had observ-
ed. " In our age we behold the admirable specta-
cle of women (whose sex is more addicted to vanity
than learning) having their minds deeply imbued
with the knowledge of heavenly doctrine. In Cam-
pania, where I now write, the most learned preacher
may become more learned and holy by a single con-
versation with some women. In my native coun-
try of Mantua, too, I found the same thing, and
were it not that it would lead me into a digression,
I could dilate with pleasure on the many proofs
which I received, to my no small edification, of an
unction of spirit and fervour of devotion in the sis-
terhood, such as I have rarely met with in the most
learned men of my profession." f The female
friends of the truth in Italv, whose names have

* Sismondi, Hist, ties Rep. d'ltalie, torn. vii. p. 238.

t Folengius in Psalmos ; apud Gerdesii Ital. Ref. p. 2G1.

160 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

come down to us, were chiefly of the higher ranks,
and had not taken the veil.

The first place is due here to Isabella Manricha of
Bresegna, who embraced the reformed doctrine at
Naples under Valdez, and exerted herself zealously
in promoting it. Having given proofs of invinci-
ble fortitude by resisting the solicitations and threats
of her friends, this lady, finding that it behoved her
either to sacrifice her religion or her native country,
retired into Germany, from which she repaired to
Zurich, and finally settled at Chiavenna in the Gri-
sons, where she led a life of poverty and retirement
with as much cheerfulness as if she had never known
what it was to enjoy affluence and honours. *

One of the greatest female ornaments of the re-
formed church in Italy was Lavinia della Rovere,
daughter-in-law to the celebrated Camillo Ursino,
" than whom I know not a more learned, or, what
is still higher praise, a more pious woman in Italy,"
says Olympia Morata. The epistolary corres-
pondence carried on between these two female
friends is highly honourable to both. We learn
from it the interesting fact, that Lavinia, while
she resided at the court of Rome, not only kept her
conscience unspotted, but employed the influence of

" Simleri Oratio, ut supra, sig. b iij. Bock, ii. 524. 'To this lady
Celio Secundo Curio dedicated the first edition of the works of Olym-
pia Fulvia Morata. (Noltenius, Vita Olympiae, pp. 8, 119. edit.
Hesse.) Ochino's work De Corporis Christi Prwsentia in Ccencc Sa-
cramento, is also dedicated " Illustri et pise foeminae Isabella? Man-
richa- Bresegna?."

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 161

her father-in-law, which was great, with the pope
and catholic princes, in behalf of the protestants
who fell into the hands of the inquisition. From
various hints dropped in the course of the corres-
pondence, it is evident that she felt her situation ex-
tremely delicate and painful, most probably from
the importunities of her husband, and the ruder at-
tempts of her other relations, to induce her to conform
to the established religion ; but these served only
to call forth her patience and magnanimity. * It
requires both reflection and sensibility to form a
proper estimate of the trials which a distinguished
female must endure when placed in the circumstances
of Lavinia della Rovere. A cup of cold water, or
even a kind message, sent to a prisoner in the cells
of the inquisition, a word spoken in behalf of the
truth, or a modest refusal to be present at a su-
perstitious festival, afford, in such cases, a stronger
and more unequivocal proof of a devoted soul, than
the most flaming professions, or a fortune expended
for religious purposes, by one who lives in a free
country, and is surrounded by persons who are
friendly to the gospel.

By the same letters we are authorized to record
among the friends of the reformed doctrine two fe-
males of the Ursini family, Madonna Maddelena,
and Madonna Cherebina ; f as also Madonna He-
lena Rangone of Bentivoglio, % who appears to have

* Opera Olympian F. Moratse, pp. 89—92, 105, 107, 121, 123.
f Ibid. pp. 92, 212—222.
% Ibid. p. 102.

162 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

belonged to the noble family of that name in Mo-
dena, which had long been distinguished, both on
the male and female side, for the cultivation and
patronage of learning. *

Julia Gonzago, duchess of Trajetto, and coun-
tess of Fondi, in the kingdom of Naples, is ranked
among " illustrious women, suspected of heretical
pravity."f She was the sister of Luigi II. conte di
Sabioneta, a nobleman celebrated for his knowledge
of letters, as well as for his valour, and who was
surnained Rodomonte, from his having killed a Moor-
ish champion in battle. Julia Gonzago is comme-
morated, by Ortensio Landi, among the learned la-
dies of Italy, and her name often occurs in writings
of that age4 After the death of her husband, Ves-
pasiano Colonna, she remained a widow, and exhi-
bited a pattern of the correctest virtue and piety.
She was esteemed one of the most beautiful women
in Italy ; and Brantome relates, that Solyman, the
Turkish emperor, having given orders to Hariadan

* The letters of Girolamo Muzio, the great opponent of heresy in
his time, throw light on what is mentioned in the text. In a letter
to Lucrezia, the wife of Count Claudio Rangone, he expresses his
apprehensions lest that lady should buffer herself to be ensnared by
the new heresy, and points to an enemy whcm she had in her house.
In another letter he expresses the joy which he felt at hearing that
his fears were unnecessary. Both letters were written in 1547.
(Muzio, Lettere ; apud Tiraboschi, torn. vii. p. 100.) The families
of Rangone and Bentivoglio were allied by frequent intermarriages.
(Ibid. pp. 90, 93, 96.)

+ Thuani Hist. lib. xxxix. cap. 2.

% Tiraboschi, torn. vii. p. 1195. Ab. Bettinelli, Delle Lettere ed
Arte Montovane, p. 89.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 163

Barbarossa, the commander of his fleet, to seize her,
a party of Turks landed during- the night, and
took possession of the town of Fondi ; but the
duchess, though at the risk of her life, eluded their
search, and made her escape.* She was a disciple
of Valdez,f and continued, after his death, to enter-
tain and protect the preachers of the new doctrine ;
on which account she incurred the displeasure of the
pope to such a degree, that the fact of having cor-
responded with her by letters, was made a ground
of criminal charge against individuals, on trials for

heresy 4

I place Vittoria Colonna last, because the claims
of the protestants to the honour of her name have
been strongly contested. She was the daughter of
Fabrizio Colonna, grand constable of Naples, and
of Anne de Montefeltro, daughter of Federigo, duke
of Urbino ; and having been deprived of her hus-
band, Fernando Davalos, marquis of Pescara, in the
flower of youth, she dedicated her life to sacred
studies, and retirement from the gay world, with-
out, however, entangling herself with the vow. The
warmest tribute of praise was paid to the talents
and virtues of this lady, by the first writers cf her
age.§ " In Tuscan song, (says one of them,) she
was inferior only to Petrarch ; and in her elegiac

* Vies des D;imes Illustres, p. 282.

t Valdez dedicated to her his Commentaries on the Psalms, and on
the Epistle to the Romans.

X Laderchii Annales, torn. xxii. p. 325. Thuanus, ut supra.

§ Schelhorn has collected a number of these in his Amcenit. Hist.
Eccles. torn. ii. pp. 132—134. See also Tiraboschi, torn. vii. pp.
1179—1181.

164 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

poems on the death of her husband, she has beauti-
fully expressed her contempt of the world, and the
ardent breathings of her soul after the blessedness
of heaven."* The marchioness associated with the
reformers at Naples, and was regarded as one of
their most distinguished disciples.t When Ochino,
for whom she felt the deepest veneration,^; deserted
the church of Rome, great apprehensions were en-
tertained that she would follow his example ; and
cardinal Pole, who watched over her faith with the
utmost jealousy, exacted from her a promise that
she would not read any letters which might be ad-
dressed to her by the fascinating ex-capuchin, or at
least would not answer them without consulting him
or cardinal Cervini. This appears from a letter to
Cervini, afterwards pope Marcellus II , in which she
says, that, from her knowledge of "Monsegnor d'lng-
helterra," she was convinced she could not err in
following his advice, and had therefore obeyed his
directions, by transmitting a packet sent her from
Bologna by " Fra Belardin." Her highness adds,
in a postscript, (which may be considered as a proof
that her new advisers had succeeded in alienating:

* Toscanus, in Peplo I talis.

t Giannone, 1. xxxii. c. 5. Thuani Hist, ad an. 1566. The testi-
mony of these writers is confirmed by a letter concerning her, written
in 1538, by Casper Cruciger, to Theodorus Vitus, and published in
Hummelii Neue Bibliotheck von seltenen Biichern, Band ii. p. 126.
To an Italian version of Beza's Confession of faith, printed (probably
at Geneva) in 1560, the translator, Francesco Cattani, prefixed " Son-
etto della Illustriss. Marchesana di Pescaro xxxiiii. nel suo libro
stampato, col quale sfida i Papisti al combattere, mostranda la lor ma-
la causa."

X See before, p. 112, &c.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 165

her mind from Ochino, and confirming her attach-
ment to the church of Home :) " f am grieved to
see, that the more he thinks to excuse himself, he
condemns himself the more, and the more he be-
lieves he will save others from shipwreck, the
more he exposes himself to the deluge, being out of
the ark, which saves and gives security."*

The last class of miscellaneous facts, which I
have to state as throwing light on the progress
of the Reformation in Italy, relates to those
learned men who never left the communion of
the church of Rome, but were favourable, in
a greater or less degree, to the views and senti-
ments of the reformers. These may be subdi-
vided into three classes. The first consisted of per-
sons who were convinced of the great corruptions
which reigned not only in the court of Rome, but ge-
nerally among all orders in the catholic church ; and
who, though they did not agree with the reformers in
their doctrinal articles, yet cherished the hope that
their opposition, and the schism which it threatened,
would force the clergy to correct abuses which
could no longer be either concealed or defended.
The second class comprehended those who were
of the same sentiments with the reformers as
to the leading doctrines of the gospel which had

* This letter was first published by Tiraboschi, (Storia, torn. vii. p.
118,) from the archives of the noble family of Cervini at Sienna, as a
confirmation of the statement of cardinal Quirini, in his Diatribe ad
vol iii. Epist. Card. Poli, p. 58, &C.

166 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

been brought into dispute, but who wished to
maintain the principal forms of the established
worship, purified from the grosser superstitions,
and to maintain the hierarchy, and even the pa-
pacy, after its tyranny had been checked, as a ne-
cessary or at least useful means of preserving the
unity of the catholic church. The third class con-
sisted of those who were entirely of the senti-
ments of the reformers, but were restrained from
declaring themselves, and taking that side which
their consciences approved, by lukewarmness, dread
of persecution, or despair of success, in a country
where the motives and the means to support the es-
tablished religion were so many and so powerful.
It is not meant that the persons included under
these classes were formed into parties ; but by keep-
ing this distinction in our eye, we shall be the better
able to form a correct judgment of the views and
conduct of certain individuals, who have been claim-
ed as friends both by papists and protestants.

The instances which I shall produce, belong
chiefly to the second cf these classes. That there
were many persons in Italy, eminent for their talents
and station, whose creed differed widely from that
which received the sanction of the council of Trent,
is established on the best evidence, though it has been
denied by the later historians and apologists of the
church of Rome. It is proved by the fact, that their
names and writings were suppressed and stigmatized
as heretical or as suspected, by the authorized censors
of the press. And it was acknowledged by writers
who had the best opportunities of information, and

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 167

were under no temptation to misrepresent the fact.
" Those who at that time were disposed to exert
themselves seriously for the reformation of the
church," says the enlightened and impartial De
Thou, " had frequent conferences about faith,
works, grace, free-will, election, and glorification ;
and many of them, entertaining- opinions on these
subjects different from what were publicly taught,
availed themselves of the authority of St, Augustine
to support their sentiments." *

Pier Angelo Manzolli was principal physician to
Hercules II. duke of Ferrara. Under the anagram-
matical name of Marcellus Palingenius, he published
an elegant Latin poem, in which he described hu-
man life in allusion to the twelve signs of the zo-
diac. f This poem abounds with complaints of the
corrupt manners of the clergy ; nor are there wanting
in it passages which prove the alienation of the au-
thor's mind from the church of Rome, and his satisfac-
tion at the growing success of the new opinions.:]: It

* Thuani Historia ad ann. 1551.

t It is generally allowed, that the author of the Zodiacus Vitce con-
cealed himself under a fictitious name. Flaminio, Fulvio Peregrino
Morata, and several other learned men, have been supposed to be the
real author; but the most probable opinion is that which is stated in the
text, and which was first suggested by Facciolati. (Heumanni Pcecile,
torn. i. pp. 259— 266; ii. p. 175.) Whether Facciolati replied to the
queries which Heumann proposed to him, with the view of obtaining
fuller information respecting his countryman, I do not know. (Conf.
Noltenii Vita Olympia? Morata?, p. 82, edit. Hesse.)

% The following passage may serve as a specimen : —
Atque rogant quidnam Romana ageretur in urbe.
Cuncti luxurite, atque gula>, furtisque dolisque,

168 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

was put into the index of prohibited books, and the
bones of the author, after his death, were taken out
of their grave, and burnt to ashes as those of an
impious heretic. *

The claims of the protestants to rank Marco An-
tonio Flaminio among their converts, have been
keenly contested. It is undeniable, that, at one pe-
riod of his life at least, he cultivated the friendship
of the leading persons in his native country who
were favourable to the new opinions, was an admi-
rer of Valdez, encouraged Martyr and Ochino, and
induced several individuals of rank to attend their
sermons and embrace their doctrine, f Nor is this
all. His writings prove, beyond all reasonable
doubt, that he entertained sentiments, on the princi-
pal points of controversy, coinciding with the pro-
testant creed, and at variance with the decisions of
the council of Trent. It would be easy to establish

Certatim incumbunt, nosterque est sexus uterque,
Respondit : sed nunc suramus parat arma sacerdos,
Clemens, Martinum cupiens abolere Lutherum,
Atque ideo Hispanas retinet nutritque cohortes.
Non disceptando, aut subtilibus argumentis
Vincere, sed ferro mavult sua jura tueri.
Pontirlces nunc bella juvant, sunt caetera nuga?.
Nee prsecepta patrum, nee Christi dogmata curant :
Jactant se dominos rerum, et sibi cuncta licere.

Zodiacus Vitae — Capricornus.
* Lil. Greg. Gyraldus, de Poetis sui aevi, dial. ii. Opera, p. 569.
t Moncurtius, in Vita Flaminii, pra?fix. ejus Carmin. p. xxviii.

Diss, de Religione M. Flaminii : in Schelhornii Amcen. Eccles. torn.

ii. pp. 3—179. Epistola? Flaminii, edit, a Joach. Camerario; apud

Scbelhornii Amcenit. Liter, torn. x. p. 1161.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. lG9

this by a multiplicity of extracts ; but the following
may suffice. " Human nature" (says he) " was so
depraved by the fall of Adam, that its corruption
is propagated to all his posterity, in consequence of
which we contract in our very conception a stain
and an incredible proneness to sin, which urges
us to all kinds of wickedness and vice, unless our
minds are purified and invigorated by the grace of
the Holy Spirit. Without this renovation, we will
always remain impure and defiled, although to men,
who cannot look into the inward dispositions of
others, we may appear to be pure and upright." *

" In these words, (Ps. xxxii. 1.) the Psalmist

pronounces blessed, not those who are perfect and
free from the spot of sin, (for no man is so in this
life) but those whose sins God has pardoned in his
mercy ; and he pardons those who confess their
sins, and sincerely believe that the blood of our
Lord Jesus Christ is an expiation for all transgres-
sions and faults."f " God, for the sake of Christ

his Son, adopted them as his sons from all eternity ;
those whom he adopted before they were born he
calls to godliness ; and having called them, he con-
fers on them first righteousness and then everlast-
ing life." | " The creature, considered in itself,

and in the corruption of its nature, is an impure
mass ; and whatever is worthy of praise in it is the
work of the Spirit of Christ, who purifies and re-

* Flaminii in Librum Psalmorum brevis Explanatio, ff. 198, 199..
Parisiis, 1551.

t Ibid. f. 143, b. J Ibid. f. 288, a.

170 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

generates his elect by a living faith, and makes
them creatures by so much the nobler and more
perfect that they are disposed to count themselves
as nothing, and as having nothing in themselves,

but all in Christ." * " Christian faith consists

in our believing the whole word of God, and parti-
cularly the gospel. The gospel is nothing else than
the message of good news announced to the whole
world by the apostles, telling us, that the only be-
gotten Son of God, having become incarnate, hath
satisfied the justice of his Father for all our sins.
Whosoever gives credit to these good tidings of good,
he believes the gospel, and having faith in the gos-
pel, which is the gift of God, he walks out of the
kingdom of this world into that of God, by enjoy-
ing the fruit of a general pardon ; from a carnal he
becomes a spiritual creature, from a child of wrath
a child of grace, from a son of Adam a son of God ;
he is governed by the Holy Spirit ; he feels a sweet
peace of conscience ; he studies to mortify the affec-
tions and lusts of the flesh, acknowledging that he
is dead with his head Jesus Christ ; and he studies to
vivify the spirit, and lead a heavenly life, acknow-
ledging that he is risen with the same Jesus Christ.
A lively faith in the soul of a Christian man pro-
duces all these and other admirable effects." f Such

* Flaminii Epist. ad quandam principem foeminam ; apud Schel-

hornii Amoen. Eccles. torn. ii. p. 103.

t Ibid. p. 115. This last extract is taken from a letter to Theo-
dora, or Theodorina Sauli, a lady belonging to a noble family in
Genoa, whose name Gerdes has added to his list of female protestants,
merely upon the authority of this letter. (Ital. Reform, p. 158.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. IJ1

were the sentiments of one who lived in the heart
of Italy during the heat of the controversy between
the papists and protestants — the sentiments of a
poet, whose writings discover " the simplicity and
tenderness of Catullus without his licentiousness,"
and " melt the heart of the reader with sweetness."
If there be any truth in the maxim laid down by a
most catholic historian of the council of Trent,* —
" that the doctrine of justification is a test by which
catholics may be distinguished from heretics, and
the root from which all other doctrines, true or false,
germinate," — then Flaminio was unquestionably a
protestant.

On the other hand, there is a letter of Flaminio,
in which he strenuously defends, in opposition to
his friend Carnesecchi, the doctrine of the real pre-
sence and commemorative oblation of Christ in the
eucharist, and expresses himself with considerable
acrimony in speaking of the reformers. f To re-
concile these apparently contradictory statements,
we must attend to the different periods in the life
of Flaminio. During the flower of his age he was

* Pallavicini.

t This letter, dated from Trent, January 1, 1543, and Carnesecchi's
reply to it, were inserted in a collection of Italian letters, published
by Ludovico Dolci in 1555, and republished in Latin by Schelhorn,
in his Amcenitates Ecclesiastics, torn. ii. pp. 146 — 179. Some writ-
ers have denied the genuineness of the letter of Flaminio, while others
suppose that Carnesecchi's reply induced him to retract his opinion.
(Hesse, Not. ad Nolten. Vit. Olympian Moratae, p. 73.) A desire to
add a celebrated name to the protestant roll has led to the adoption
of these hypotheses.

172 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

entirely engrossed with secular literature, as his
juvenile poems evince. In middle life he applied
his mind to sacred letters, made the scriptures his
chief study, and derived his highest pleasure from
meditating on divine things. It was at this time
that he composed his paraphrases on the Psalms in
prose and verse, and lived in the society of Valdez,
Martyr, the duchess of Ferrara, and other persons
addicted to the reformed opinions. The third pe-
riod of his life extends from the time that the court
of Rome adopted decisive measures for suppressing
the reformed opinions in Italy, to the year 1550, in
which he died. His letter on the eucharist was
written immediately after some of his most in-
timate acquaintance had been forced to fly from
their native country to avoid imprisonment or a
fiery death. The mild and yielding disposition
of Flaminio was more fitted for contemplation
and retirement than for controversy and suffer-
ing. Like many others, he might not have made
up his mind to separate formally from the church
of Rome, and the fate of those who had ventured
on that step would not help forward his resolu-
tion. His friends in the sacred college were anxious
to retain him ; and the article of the real presence,
from which many protestants could not extricate
themselves, was perhaps the means best fitted for
entangling the devout mind of Flaminio, and recon-
ciling him to remain in the communion of a church,
whose public creed was at variance with some of
the sentiments which were dearest to his heart.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 173

Two years after the time referred to, he refused
the honourable employment of secretary to the
council of Trent ; " because," says Pallavicini, " he
favoured the new opinions, and would not employ
his pen for an assembly by which he knew these
opinions would be condemned."* The cardinal in-
deed adds, that he had the happiness to be brought
subsequently to acknowledge his errors through his
acquaintance with Pole, and died a good catholic.
But there is no evidence that he ever retracted his
former sentiments ; and in none of his writings,
earlier or later, do we read any thing of purgatory,
prayers for the dead or to saints, pilgrimages, pe-
nances, or any of those voluntary services which
were so much insisted on by all the devoted adhe-
rents to Rome ; but everywhere we find the warm-
est piety and purest morality, founded on scriptural
principles and enforced by the most evangelical mo-
tives. We know, that the court of Rome, after
it was awakened to its danger, was eager to en-
gage the pens of the learned, in its defence against
the reformers.! If the advisers to whom Flaminio

" Istor. Cone. Trent, ad an. 1545.

t It is well known what solicitations were used with Erasmus
before he drew his pen against Luther. — Christopher Longolius, in
a letter to Stefano and Flaminio Sauli, mentions with an air of no
small vanity, that he had been solicited from Germany to write in de-
fence of Luther, and from Italy to write against him ; that both par-
ties had furnished him with memorials ; that he thought himself qua-
lified for either task; and that he had already, by way of essay, (like a
wise and prudent procurator,) drawn up a pleading for and against
the accused heretic. (Longolii Epist. lib. ii. p. 139.) The cautious

174 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

committed himself during the last years of his life,
could have prevailed on him to write any thing of
this kind, it would have been triumphantly pro-
claimed ; but it was a sufficient victory for them to
be able to retain such a man in their chains, and to
publish the solitary letter on the eucharist, which
was written seven years before his death, as if it
had been his dying testimony, and as a proof that he
was not alienated from the catholic faith. Even
this was the opinion only of a few of his private
friends ; for the verdict of the Vatican was very dif-
ferent. The report that it was intended to disinter
his body, after his death, might be groundless ;* but
it is certain that his writings were inserted in the
prohibitory index, though care was taken afterwards
to wipe off this disgrace, by expunging from that
record the name of a man, who had lived on terms
of intimacy with the chief dignitaries of the church,
and whose genius and piety must always reflect cre-
dit on the society with which he was connected.f

The preceding account of the sentiments of Fla-
minio materially agrees with that of a contempor-
ary author who appears to have possessed good
means of information. The following quotation is
long, but it deserves a place here, as serving to throw

orator chose the safe side, and sent forth a Ciceronian Philippic against
Luther.

•Manlii Collect, p. 116. Georg. Fabricii Poem. Sacr. P. i. p. 2G4.

+ The article in the Index of Rome for 1559, runs thus : "Marci
Antonii Flaminii Paraphrases et Comment, in Psal. Item literse et
carmina omnia." Sig. D 8.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 175

light on the state of religious opinion in Italy, and
on the character of an Englishman, who makes but
too conspicuous a figure in the history of his native
country. Referring to the letter to Carnesecchi, of
which he had stated the substance, that writer goes
on to say : " This at least we gain from the let-
ter of Flaminio, that, while he professes to differ
from us on those heads which I have pointed out,
he makes no such professions as to trans ubstantia-
tion, and the oblation for the living and dead, which
we reject ; he agrees with us in giving the cup to
the laity ; and I am persuaded that, had he lived
longer, he would have made further progress, and
come over to us completely. But cardinal Pole
kept him under restraint, and prevented him from
freely avowing his sentiments, as he did many
others. It is dreadful to think what injury Satan
did to the resuscitated gospel, by the instrumentali-
ty of this crafty Englishman, who acknowledged, or
at least professed to acknowledge, that we are
justified by faith in Christ alone, and laboured,
along with those who resided in his house, among
whom was Flaminio, to instil this doctrine into the
minds of many. Not to name others, it is well
known that John Morell, late minister of the foreign
church in Francfort on the Maine, a man of great
piety and learning, imbibed this doctrine in that
school, and was drawn by Pole into the society
of those who had a relish for the gospel, and
were said to agree with us. How much did
he labour by all the influence of his character and

176 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

reputation to persuade others to rest satisfied with
a secret belief of the truth, and not make themselves
answerable for the errors and abuses of the church ;*
alleging that we should tolerate, and even give our
consent to these, in the expectation that God, at the
fit time, would afford a favourable opportunity for
having them removed. It is unnecessary to say,
that this is a doctrine very agreeable to those who
would have Christ without the cross. If Luther
and other faithful servants of God, by whose means
the truth has been clearly brought to light in our
days, had chosen in this manner to conceal and wink
at errors and abuses, how could they have been ex-
tirpated ? How could the pure voice of the gospel
ever have been heard in that case, when we see with
what difficulty it has prevailed to a very limited ex-
tent, through great contention and profusion of blood,
in opposition to the predominating power and cruel-
ty of Antichrist ? Pole however did not hesitate
to assert, that he could advance the pure doctrine
by concealment, dissimulation, and evasion. And
not only so, but when some individuals, more ardent
than the rest, threatened to break through these
restraints, his agents were always ready to urge the
propriety of waiting the fit season, and discover-
ing their sentiments gradually ; in consequence of
which some persons were so credulous as to be-
lieve that at a future period the cardinal and
his confidential friends would openly profess

* " L'huomo si havesse a contentare di quella secreta cognitione,
senza tener poi conto se la chiesa havea degli abusi et degli errori."

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION" IN ITALY. 177

the truth before the pope, and the whole city of
Rome, and by the general attention which this
must excite, would singularly advance the glory of
God. After waiting for this until they were wea-
ried out, how did the matter issue ? I cannot re-
late it without tears. O wretched cardinal ! O mi-
serable dupes of his promises ! The purity of reli-
gion had been restored in England : the doctrines
of justification by faith, the assurance of salvation,
true repentance, scriptural absolution, the due
use of the sacraments, and the sole headship of
Christ over the church, were taught in that king-
dom. Pole went there ; and what was the conse-
quence ? He absolved the whole kingdom, includ-
ing the nobles, the king and queen, on their knees,
from the crimes which they had committed against
the church of Rome. And what were these ? The
teaching of those very doctrines which he himself
had favoured, and the triumph of which he had pro-
mised to secure by means of the arts of modera-
tion and prudent delay. Nor did he rest, until, in
his desire to gratify the pope and cardinals, he had
restored all the abuses, superstitions, and abomina-
tions which had been removed ; and had sent a
printed account of his deeds through every country
in Europe."*

* Giutlicio sopra le lettere di tredeci huomini illustri publicate da
Dionigi Atanagi, Venet. 1551. Schelhornii Amocnit. Eccles. torn. ii.
pp. 11 — 15. Conf. torn. i. pp. 141 — 155. Colomesii Italia Orientalis,
p. iii. Sleidani Cora. lib. x. torn. ii. p. 54 ; lib. xxi. torn. iii. p. 190. edit.
Am Ende. To tbese may be added, the testimony of Aonio Paleario.
(Opera, pp. 561, 562.)

178 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

Gasparo Contarini was one of the distinguished
individuals whom Paul III., aware of the necessity of
conciliating public favour, had judiciously advanced
to the purple. It is impossible to read the treatise
on justification,* drawn up by him when he acted
as legate at the diet and conference held at Ratis-
bon in 1541, together with the letters which passed
between him and Pole at that time, without being
convinced that both these prelates agreed with the
reformers on this article, and differed widely from
Sadolet and others, whose sentiments were after-
wards sanctioned by the council of Trent. Pole tells
him, that " he knew long ago what his sentiments
on that subject were ;" that he rejoiced at what his
colleague had done, " not only because it laid a foun-
dation for agreement with the protestants, but such a
foundation as illustrated the glory of Christ — the
foundation of all Christian doctrine, which was not
well understood by many ;" that he and all who were
with him at Viterbo, joined in giving thanks to God
" who had begun to reveal this sacred, salutary, and
necessary doctrine ;" and that its friends ought not to
be moved by the censures which it met with at Rome,
where it was " charged with novelty," although " it
lies at the foundation of all the doctrines held by the
ancient church."f — That cardinal Morone was of the

* This was republished from Contarini's works, by cardinal Quiri-
ni, in his collection of Pole's Letters, vol. iii. p. cic. &c.

tSee Pole's letters to Contarini, of the 17th May and 16th July,
1541, and 1st May, 1542. (Epistola? Reginal. Poli, vol. iii. pp. 25,
27 — 30, 53.) Quirini, beside what is contained in his dissertations pre-
fixed to Pole's letters, attempted to defend Contarini's orthodoxy, in

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 179

same sentiments appears from the articles of charge
brought against him, supported by his known agree-
ment with Pole and Contarini.* — To these members
of the sacred college, we have to add Federigo Fre-
goso, a prelate equally distinguished by his birth,
learning, and virtues. f He gave great " scandal,"
by declining to appear at the court of the Vatican,
after the pope had honoured him with the purple.:}:
Disgusted with the manners of that court, he had
divested himself of the archbishopric of Salerno,
and retired to the diocese of Gubbio, of which he
was administrator ; and perceiving that the people
conceived the whole of religion to lie in pronouncing,
at stated hours and with the prescribed gesticula-
tions, the pater noster, ave maria, and hymns in hon-
our of the saints, he, with the view of initiating them
into a more rational and scriptural devotion, com-
posed in Italian a treatise on the Method of pray-

a separate tract, entitled, Epistola ad Greg-orium Ilothfischerum, Brix-
iw 1752; to which Jo. Rud. Kieslingius replied in his Epistola ad
Eminent. Princ. Angelum Mariam Quirinum, dc Religiune Lutherana
amabili, Lips. 1753, pp. 5 — 7.

* Wolfii Lect. Memor. torn. ii. p. 655. When the articles
were afterwards published, with scholia, by Vergerio, the inqui-
sitors did not insert the book in their index, from fear of exciting at-
tention to the fact that a cardinal had been accused of heresy. (Ver-
gerii Oper. torn. i. p. 262. Schelhornii Amcenit. Liter, torn. xii. p. 516,
&c.)

+ He was the nephew of Guidubalde, duke of Urbino, and the bro-
ther of Ottaviano Fregoso, doge of Genoa, a name celebrated in the
annals of that republic. (Tiraboschi, vii. 1076.) " Egli e tutto buono,
e tutto santo, e tutto nelle sacre lettere. e Latine, e Greche, e Ebraiche,"
says Bembo. (Opere, tomo vii. p. 2G7.)

X Bembo, Lettere, tomo i. p. 139.

180 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

ers, which had the honour of being prohibited at
Rome.* The same honour was reserved for the
elegant commentaries of the learned and pious ab-
bot, Giambatista Folengo, which abound with sen-
timents similar to those which have been quoted
from the writings of Flaminio, accompanied with
severe strictures on the superstitious practices which
the priests and friars recommended to the people.f

Angelo Buonarici, general of the canons regular
at Venice, is another example of the extent to which
the leading opinions of the reformed had spread in
Italy. In his exposition of the apostolical epistles,
he has stated the doctrine of justification by faith
with as much clearness and accuracy as either Luther
or Calvin. " This passage of scripture (says he)
teaches us, that if we are true Christians, we must
acknowledge that we are saved and justified, with-
out the previous works of the law, by means of faith
alone. Not that we are to conclude, that those
who believe in Christ are not bound and obliged to
study the practice of holy, devout, and good works ;
but no one must think or believe that he can at-

* An account of this book is given by Riederer, in the third volume
of his Nachrichten. Wolfii Lect. Memorab. torn. ii. p. 698. Index
Auct. Prohibit. Romae, 1559. There is a curious letter written in
1531, by Bembo to Fregoso, about a treatise in manuscript, which the
latter had sent to the former, on the subject of free-will and predestina-
tion. Bembo promises not to allow it to go into improper hands, but
refuses to burn it, as Fregoso had requested him to do. (Bembo,
Opere, torn. v. pp. 165, 166.)

+ See the extracts from his Commentary on the Psalms, in Gerdes.
Ital. Ref. pp. 257 — 261. Comp. Ginguene, Hist. Liter, d'ltalie, torn,
yii. p. 58. Teissier, Eloges, torn. i. p. 170. Tiraboschi, vii. 400.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 181

tain to the benefit of justification by good works,
for this is indeed obtained by faith, and good works
in the justified do not precede but follow their jus-
tification." Similar sentiments pervade this work,
which appeared with the privilege of the inquisi-
tors of Venice ; a circumstance which might have
excited our astonishment, had we not known that
still greater oversights have been committed by
these jealous and intolerant, but ignorant and in-
judicious, censors of the press.* — Still more remark-
able were the sentiments of Giovanni Grimani, a
Venetian of noble birth, and patriarch of Aquileia.
A Dominican monk of Udine had given offence
by teaching in a sermon, that the elect cannot in-
cur damnation, but will be recovered from the sins
into which they may fall ; and that salvation
and damnation depend upon election and predesti-
nation, and not on our free-will. The patriarch un-
dertook the defence of this doctrine, first in a letter
to the general of the Dominicans, and afterwards
in a treatise which he wrote expressly on the sub-
ject. This was subsequent to the decrees of the
council of Trent which determined the doctrine of
the church on these points. Grimani was not troub-
led for his opinions at this time, but having, at a
subsequent period, irritated his clergy by attempting
to reform their manners, he was delated to the in-
quisitors ; and at the very time that pope Pius IV., at
the request of the senate of Venice, was about to ad-

*Gerdesii Ital. Rcf. pp. 198—200.

182 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

vance him to the purple, he was accused of holding
Lutheran and Calvinian errors on seven different ar-
ticles. The republic of Venice procured an order
from the pope, to take the cause from the hands of
the inquisitors, and commit it to the judgment of
the fathers, who, in the year 1563, were still as-
sembled at Trent, and who, after an examination
which lasted twenty-four days, came at last to the
determination, that the writings of the patriarch
were not heretical, though they ought not to have
been made public on account of certain difficult
points which were treated in them, and not explained
with sufficient accuracy. So great was the influence
of the senate of Venice with the pope and council !*
Of the mode of thinking, or rather feeling, among
a numerous class of enlightened Italians, we have
an example in Celio Calcagnini, " one of the most
learned men of that age."f His friend Peregrino
Morata had sent him a book in defence of the re-
formed doctrine, and requested his opinion of it.
The reply of Calcagnini was cautious, but sufficiently
intelligible. «« I have read (says he) the book relating
to the controversies so much agitated at present ;t I

* Raynaldi Annal. ad ann. 1549, 1563. Pallavicini, apud Gerdes.
Ital. Ref. pp. 91 — 93. I have not adduced the examples of Foscarari,
bishop of Modena, and San Felicio, bishop of Cava, with several
others, who have been ranked among the favourers of the reformed
opinions by Schelhorn ; (Amcen. Eccles. torn. i. p. 151 ;) because I am
not aware that he had any other ground for doing this than the fact
that these distinguished prelates were thrown into the prisons of the
Inquisition by that violent pontiff, Paul IV.

+ Tiraboschi, vii. 163.

X Tiraboschi thinks that Morata was himself the author of the
book. (vii. 1199.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 183

have thought on its contents, and weighed them in
the balance of reason. I find in it nothing which
may not be approved and defended, but some things,
which, as mysteries, it is safer to suppress and
conceal than to bring before the common people, in
as much as they pertained to the primitive and
infant state of the church. Now, when the decrees
of the fathers and long usage have introduced
other modes, what necessity is there for reviving
antiquated practices which have long fallen into de-
suetude, especially as neither piety nor the salvation
of the soul is concerned with them ? Let us then, I
pray you, allow these things to rest. Not that I dis-
approve of their being embraced by scholars and lov-
ers of antiquity ; but I would not have them commu-
nicated to the common people and those who are fond
of innovations, lest they give occasion to strife and
sedition. There are unlearned and unqualified per-
sons who having, after long ignorance, read or
heard certain new opinions respecting baptism, the
marriage of the clergy, ordination, the distinction
of days and food, and public penitence, instantly
conceive that these things are to be stiffly maintain-
ed and observed. Wherefore, in my opinion, the
discussion of these points ought to be confined to
the initiated, that so the seamless coat of our Lord
may not be rent and torn. It was this consideration,
I suppose, which moved those good men who lately
laid before pope Paul a plan of reforming Chris-
tianity, to advise that the Colloquies of Erasmus
should be banished from our republic, as Plato for-

184 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

merry banished the poems of Homer from his." Hav-
ing made some observations of a similar kind on the
doctrine of predestination, taught by the author of
the book, he concludes thus : "Seeing it is dangerous
to treat such things before the multitude and in pub-
lic discourses, I must deem it safest to * speak with
the many and think with the few,' and to keep in
mind the advice of Paul, ' Hast thou faith ? have
it to thyself before God.' "* In this manner did the
learned Apostolical Protonotary satisfy his con-
science ; and very probably he was not aware, or
did not reflect, how much weight self-interest threw
into one of the scales of " the balance of reason."
The temporizing maxim in which he takes refuge
was borrowed from his intimate friend Erasmus ;
and it is curious to find it here employed to jus-
tify the sentence pronounced against one of the
most useful works of that elegant and accomplished
scholar. It will always be a favourite maxim with
those who are determined, like Erasmus, to escape
suffering, or who, as he expressed it, " feel that
they have not received the grace of martyrdom ;" a
mode of speaking, by the way, which shows that
those who are most shy to own the doctrine of pre-
destination are not the most averse to avail them-
selves of it, in its least defensible sense, as an apo-
logy for their weakness. Let us not, however,
imagine that this plea was confined to one age or
one description of persons. An attentive observa-

* Cselii Calcagnini Opera, p. 195.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 185

tion of the conduct of mankind will, I am afraid,
lead to the humiliating conclusion, that the greater
part, including those who lay claim to superior in-
telligence and superior piety, are but too apt, when-
ever a sacrifice must be made or a hardship endured,
to swerve from the straight path of duty which their
unbiassed judgment had discerned, and to act on
the principle, which, though glossed over with the
specious names of expediency, prudence, and neces-
sity, amounts to this, when expressed in plain lan-
guage, " Let us do evil that good may come."

The preceding narrative sufficiently shows that
the reformed opinions, if they did not take deep
root, were at least widely spread, in Italy. The
number of those who, from one motive or another,
desired a reformation, and who would have been
ready to fall in with any attempt to introduce it
which promised to be successful, was so great, that, if
any prince of considerable power had placed himself
at their head, or if the court of Rome had been
guilty of any such aggression on the political rights
of its neighbours as it committed at a future period,
Italy might have followed the example of Germa-
ny, and protestant cities and states have risen
on the south as well as the north of the Alps.*
The prospect of this filled the minds of the friends
of the papacy with apprehension and alarm. In a
letter to the nephew of pope Paul III., Sadolet
complains that the ears of his holiness were so pre-

* Bayle, Diet. art. Acontius ; addition in English translation.

186 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

occupied with the false representations of flatterers,
as not to perceive that there was " an almost univer-
sal defection of the minds of men from the church,
and an inclination to execrate ecclesiastical authori-
ty."? And cardinal CarafFa signified to the same
pope, " that the whole of Italy was infected with the
Lutheran heresy, which had been embraced not only
by statesmen but also by many ecclesiastics."!

No wonder, in these circumstances, that the ar-
dent friends of the Reformation should at this period
have cherished the sanguine hope that Italy would
throw off the papal yoke. " See (says one) how the
gospel, even in Italy, where it is so much borne
down, exults in the near prospect of bursting forth,
like the sun from a cloud, in spite of all opposi-
tion."^: " Whole libraries (writes Melanchthon to
George, prince of Anhalt) have been carried from
the late fair into Italy, though the pope has publish-
ed fresh edicts against us. But the truth cannot be
wholly oppressed: our captain, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, will vanquish and trample on the
dragon, the enemy of God ; and will liberate and go-
vern us."§ This issue of the religious movement in
his native country was hailed with still more enthu-

* Raynaldi Ann. ad an. 1539.

t Spondani Annal. ad an. 1542.

1 Gabrieli Valliculi, De liberali Dei Gratia, et servo hominis Ar-
bitrio. Norinib. 1536 ; apud Bock, Hist. Antitrin. ii. 396.

§ Epistola-, col. 303. Tins letter has no date ; but from compar-
ing its contents with Sleidan, Comment, torn. ii. p. 187, it appears
to have been written in 1 540.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 187

siastic feelings by Celio Secimdo Curio, in a dialogue
composed by him at the period now referred to, and
intended to prove that the kingdom of God or of the
elect is more extensive than that of the devil or of
the reprobate. He introduces his interlocutor, Mai-
nardi. as saying : "If the Lord shall continue, as he
has begun, to grant prosperous success to the gospel,
the delectable embassy of reconciliation and grace,
we shall behold the whole world thronging, more
than it has ever done at any former period, to this a-
sylum and fortified city, to Jesus Christ, the prince
of it, and to its three towers, faith, hope, and charity;
so that with our own eyes we may yet see the king-
dom of God of much larger extent than that which
the enemy of mankind has acquired, not by his own
power but by the providence of God." " O blessed
day ! O that I might live to see the ravishing pro-
spect realized !" exclaims Curio. — " You shall live,
Celio, be not afraid ; you shall live to see it. The
joyful sound of the gospel has within our own day
reached the Scythians, Thracians, Indians and Af-
ricans. Christ, the king of kings, has taken pos-
session of Rhoetia and Helvetia : Germany is under
his protection : he has reigned, and will again reign
in England : he sways his sceptre over Denmark
and the Cymbrian nations : Prussia is his : Poland
and the whole of Sarmatia are on the point of yield-
ing to him : he is pressing forward to Pannonia :
Muscovy is in his eye : he beckons France to him :
Italy, our native country, is travailing in
birth : and Spain will speedily follow. Even the

188 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

Jews, as you perceive, have abated their former
aversion to Christianity. Since they saw that we
acknowledge one God, the creator of heaven and
earth, and Jesus Christ whom he sent ; that we wor-
ship neither images, nor symbols, nor pictures ; that
we no longer adore mystical bread or a wafer as
God ; that they are not despised by us as formerly ;
that we acknowledge we received Christ from them ;
and that there is access for them to enter into that
kingdom from which they are secluded, as we
once were — their minds have undergone a great
change, and now at last they are provoked to emu-
lation."*

The striking contrast between this pleasing pic-
ture and the event which soon after took place, ad-
monishes us not to allow our minds to be dazzled by
flattering appearances, or to build theories of faith on
prospects which fancy may have sketched on the
deceitful horizon of public opinion ; and we should
recollect, that though persecution is one means, it is
not the only one, by which the march of Christianity
has been, and may yet again be, checked and ar-
rested.

* Ccelius Secundus Curio, De Amplitudine Regni Dei ; in Schel-
hornii Aracen. Liter, torn. xii. pp. 594, 595.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 189

CHAPTER V.

SUPPRESSION OF THE, REFORMATION IN ITALY.

It was in the year 1542, that the court of Rome
first became seriously alarmed at the progress of
the new opinions in Italy. Engrossed by foreign
politics, and believing that they could at any time
put down an evil which was within their reach, the
pope and his counsellors had either disregarded the
representations which were made to them on this
head as exaggerated, or contented themselves with is-
suing prohibitory bulls and addressing to the bishops
of the suspected places monitory letters, which were
defeated by the lukewarmness of the local magis-
trates, or the caution of the obnoxious individuals.
But in the course of the year referred to, the clergy,
and particularly the friars, poured in their complaints
from all parts of the country, as to the danger to
which the catholic faith was exposed from the bold-
ness of the reformers and the increase of conventicles.
At the head of these was PietroCarafl a, commonly cal-
led the Theatine cardinal, from an order of monks of
which he was the founder, a prelate who made high
pretensions to sanctity, and distinguished himself

190 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

by his violence, when he afterwards mounted the
pontifical throne, under the name of Paul IV. He
laid before the sacred college the discoveries he had
made as to the extent to which heresy had taken root
in Naples and spread through various parts of Ita-
ly ; and convinced them of the necessity of adopting
the speediest and strongest measures for its extermi-
nation.* It was resolved to proceed in the first place
against such of the ecclesiastics as were understood
to favour it, among whom Ochino and Martyr were
the most distinguished ; but as these individuals
were in possession of great popularity, and had not
yet made open defection from the catholic faith,
spies were placed round their persons, while a se-
cret investigation was instituted into their past con-
duct, with the view of procuring direct evidence of
their heretical opinions.

Such a deep impression had the sermons delivered
by Ochino at Venice made on the minds of the citi-
zens, that they joined in an application to the
pope to grant them an opportunity of hearing him
a second time. His holiness accordingly directed
the cardinal of Carpi, who was protector of the
order of Capuchins, to send him to preach at Ve-
nice during Lent in the year 1542 ; and at the same
time instructions were given to the apostolical nuncio
to watch his conduct. The whole city ran in crowds
to hear their favourite preacher. It does not ap-
pear that he used greater freedom in his discourses

* Caracciolus, De Vita Pauli IV. p. 240.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 191

on the present occasion than he had used on the
former ; but a formal complaint was soon made
against him, of having' advanced doctrines at vari-
ance with the catholic faith, particularly on the
head of justification.* On his appearance before
the nuncio, however, he was able to defend himself
so powerfully against his accusers, that no plausible
pretext could be found for proceeding against him.
Perceiving that he was surrounded by spies, he exert-
ed a greater circumspection over his words in the pul-
pitfor some time; but having heard that Julio Teren-
tiano, of Milan, a convert of Valdez, with whom he
had been intimate at Naples, was thrown into pri-
son, he could no longer restrain himself. In the
course of a sermon, at which the senators and princi-
pal persons in the city were present, he introduced
that subject, and broke out in these words : " What
remains for us to do, my lords ? And to what
purpose do we fatigue and exhaust ourselves, if
those, O noble Venice, queen of the Adriatic, if
those who preach to you the truth, are to be thrown
into prisons, thrust into cells, and loaded with chains
and fetters ? What place will be left to us ? what
field will remain open to the truth ? O that we
had liberty to preach the truth ! How many blind,
who now grope their way in the dark, would be re-
stored to light !" On hearing of this bold appeal,
the nuncio instantly suspended him from preaching,

* Palearii Opera, p. 294. The same thing is stated by Ochino him-
self in his Apology to the Magistrates of Sienna, republished at the
end of the second volume of his Prediehe.

192 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

and reported the matter to the pope. But the Ve-
netians were so importunate in his behalf, that the
interdict was removed after three days, and he again
appeared in the pulpit.* Lent being ended, he went
to Verona, where he assembled those of his order
who were intended for the function of preaching,
and commenced reading to them a course of lectures
on the Epistles of Paul. JBut he had not proceeded
far in this work, when he received a citation from
Rome to answer certain charges founded on his lec-
tures, and on the informations of the nuncio at Ve-
nice.! Having set out on his journey to the capital,
he had an interview at Bologna with cardinal Conta-
rini, then lying on his death-bed, who assured him
that he agreed with the protestants on the article of
justification, though he was opposed to them on the
other points of controversy 4 In the month of August,
Ochino went to Florence, where he received infor-
mation that his death was resolved on at Rome,
upon which he retired to Ferrara, and being assist-
ed in his flight by the duchess Renee, escaped the
hands of the armed men who had been dispatched
to apprehend him, and reached Geneva in safety. $

* Boverio, Annali de Capuccini, torn. i. p. 426.

t Ibid. p. 127.

J Ochino, Prediche, torn. i. num. 10. This fact has been strongly
denied by Boverio, (ut supra,) and by Card. Quirini, (Diatrib. ad
vol. iii. Epist. Poli, cap. ix.) Beccatello says, he was present at the in-
terview, and that the cardinal, who was very weak, merely requested
a share in Ochino's prayers. (Ibid. p. cxxxvii.)

§ Ochino has himself given an account of his departure from Italy
and the reasons of it, in his answer to Muzio, which is reprinted at

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 193

The defection and flight of Ochino struck his
countrymen with amazement, proportioned to the
admiration in which they had held him.* Claudio
Tolomeo, one of the best epistolary writers of his
age, in a letter which he addressed to him, says
that the tidings of his defection from the Catholic
to the Lutheran camp, had completely stunned him,
and appeared to him for some time utterly false
and incredible.f The lamentations of the Theatine
cardinal were still more tragical, and may be quoted
as a specimen of that mystical and sublimated devo-
tion which, at this period, was combined with a
spirit of ambition and bigotry, in a certain class of
the defenders of the papacy. " What has befallen
thee, Bernardino? What evil spirit has seized
thee, like the reprobate king of Israel of old ? My

the end of the second volume of his Predkhe. Lubieniecius and San-
dius represent him as having gone to Rome, and in the presence of
the pope to have reproved from the pulpit the tyranny, pride, and
vices of the pontifical court. The latter adds, that in a sermon he
brought forward a number of arguments against the doctrine of the
trinity, deferring the answer to them till another time, under the pre-
tence that the hour had elapsed ; but as soon as he left the pulpit, he
mounted a horse which was ready for him, and quitting Rome and Italy,
eluded the inquisitors. This is a ridiculous story, evidently made up
from the manner in which Ochino brought forward the antitrinitari-
an sentiments a little before his death.

* In a letter to Melanchthon, dated from Geneva, on the 14th of
Feb. 1.543, Calvin says : " Habemus hie Bernardinum Senensem, mag-
num et praeclarum virum, qui suo discessu non parum Italiam com-
movit. Is, ut vobis suo nomine salutem ascriberem, petiit." (Sylloge
Epist. Burman. torn. ii. p. 230.)

t Tolomeo, Lettere, p. 237. Venez. 1565. Schelhorns Ergoetzlich-
keiten, torn. iii. p. 1006.

194 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

father, ray father ! the chariot and the charioteer
of Israel ! whom a little ago we with admiration be-
held ascending to heaven in the spirit and power
of Elias, must we now bewail thy descent to hell
with the chariots and horsemen of Pharaoh ? All
Italy flocked to thee ; they hung upon thy breast :
thou hast betrayed the land ; thou hast slain the in-
habitants. O doting old man, who has bewitched
thee to feign to thyself another Christ than thou
wert taught by the catholic church ? Ah ! Ber-
nardino, how great wert thou in the eyes of all men !
oh, how beautiful and fair ! Thy coarse but sacred
cap excelled the cardinal's hat and the pope's mitre,
thy nakedness the most gorgeous apparel, thy bed
of wattles the softest and most delicious couch, thy
deep poverty the riches of the world. Thou wert
the herald of the highest, the trumpet sounding far
and wide ; thou wert full of wisdom and adorned
with knowledge; the Lord placed thee in the garden
of Eden, in his holy mount, as a light above the can-
dlestick, as the sun of the people, as a pillar in his
temple, as a watchman in his vineyard, as a shep-
herd to feed his flock. Still your eloquent discour-
ses sound in our ears — still we see your unshod feet.
Where now are all your magnificent words con-
cerning contempt of the world ? Where your in-
vectives against covetousness ? Thou that didst
teach that a man should not steal, dost thou steal ?"*

* Bock, Hist. Antitrin. torn. ii. p. 495. Quirini Diatr. ad vol. iii.
Epist. Poli, p. 86.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 195

In this inflated style, which cardinal Quirini calls
" elegant and vehement," did Caraffa proceed until
he had nearly exhausted all the metaphors in the
Flowers of the saints.

Ochino was not silent on his part. Beside an
aj)ologetical letter to the magistrates of his native
city of Sienna, and another to Tolomeo, he publish-
ed a large collection of his sermons, and various po-
lemical treatises against the church of Rome, which,
being written in the Italian language and in a po-
pular style, produced a great effect upon his coun-
trymen, notwithstanding the antidotes administer-
ed by writers hired to refute and defame him. *
His flight was the signal for the apprehension of
some of his most intimate friends, and a rigorous
investigation into the sentiments of the religious
order to which he belonged ; some of whom made
their escape, and others saved their lives by recanting
their opinions. The pope was so incensed by the
apostasy of Ochino, and the number of those who
were found implicated in his heresy, that he propos-
ed at one time to suppress the order of Capuchins. t
Martyr, in the mean time, was in equal danger
at Lucca. The monks of his order, who were irri-
tated by the reformation of manners which, as ge-
neral visitor, he had introduced among them, were

* A list of Ochino's works is to be found in Haym, Biblioteca,
tom.ii.p. 616,&c. inObservat. Halenses, torn. v.p. 65, ike. and in Bock,
ut supra, p. 515, &c. His principal antagonists were Girolarao Mu-
zio, the author of Le Mentite Ochiniane, and Ambrogio Catarino,
who wrote Re medio a la pestilcnte dottrinu di Bernardo Ochino.

t Hock, ut supra, p. 496.

196 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

forward to accuse him, and acted as spies on his con-
duct. For a whole year he was exposed to their secret
machinations and open detraction, against which he
could not have maintained himself, if he had not
enjoyed the favour of the Lucchese. * With the
view of trying their disposition, his enemies obtain-
ed an order from Rome to apprehend one of his
friends who was confessor to the Augustinian con-
vent, as one suspected of heresy. Some noblemen,
who admired his piety and were convinced of his
innocence, forced the doors of his prison, and set him
at liberty ; but having fallen and broken a limb in
his flight, he was again taken and conveyed to
Rome in triumph. Encouraged by this success,
they lodged a formal accusation against Mar-
tyr before the papal court ; messengers were sent
through the different convents to exhort the monks
not to allow the opportunity of recovering " their
ancient liberty," by inflicting punishment on their
adversary, to escape ; and a general congregation
of the order being convened at Genoa, he was cited
instantly to attend. Aware of the prejudice which
had been excited against him, and warned by his
friends that snares were laid for his life, he re-
solved, after deliberation, to avoid the danger, by
withdrawing himself from the rage and craft of

* See before, p. 123. In the course of the inquiries which he had
instituted, several individuals had been deprived of their offices on
account of gross delinquencies, and the rector-general of the order,
with some others, was condemned to perpetual confinement in the
islands of Trcmiti. (Simler, Oratio de Martyre, sig. b iij.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 197

his enemies. After allotting a part of his library to
the convent, he committed the remainder to Cristo-
foro Trenta, a patrician of Lucca, with the view of
its being sent after him to Germany ; and having
set the affairs of the convent in order, and commit-
ted the charge of it to his vicar, he left the city se-
cretly, accompanied by Paolo Lacisio, Theodosio
Trebellio, and Julio Terentiano, who had been re-
leased from prison. At Pisa he wrote letters to
cardinal Pole, and to the brethren of the monas-
tery at Lucca, which he committed to trusty per-
sons to be delivered a month after his departure.
In these he laid open the grievous errors and
abuses which attached to the popish religion in ge-
neral, and the monastic life in particular, to which
his conscience would no longer allow him to give
countenance ; and, as additional grounds for his
withdrawing, referred to the odium which he had
incurred, and the plots formed against his life. At
the same time, he sent back the ring which he had
been accustomed to wear as the badge of his office,
that it might not be said that he had appropriated
any part of the property of the convent to his
private use. Having met with Ochino at Florence,
and settled with him their respective routes, he set
out, and travelling cautiously and with expedition
by Bologna, Ferrara, and Verona, reached Zurich
in safety, along with his three companions.* They
had not been long there when they received an in-

* Siraler, Oratio de Martyre, sig. b iiij.

198 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

vitation from Bucer to come to Strasburg, where
they obtained situations as professors in the aca-
demy. From that place Martyr wrote to the re-
formed church of Lucca of which he had been pas-
tor, stating the reasons which had induced him to
quit his native country, and encouraging them to
persevere in their adherence to the gospel which
they had embraced.*

It was no sooner known that Martyr had fled,
than a visitation of the monastery over which he
had presided was ordered, with the view of ascer-
taining the extent to which it was tainted with his
heretical opinions. A great many of the monks
were thrown into prison, and, before a year elaps-
ed, eighteen of them had deserted Italy and re-
tired to Switzerland, j- The protestant church
which had been formed in the city, though dis-
couraged by the loss of its founder, and exposed to
the threats of its adversaries, was not dispersed or
broken up. Under the protection of some of the
principal persons of the state, it continued to hold
its meetings in private, enjoyed the instruction of
regular pastors, and increased in knowledge and
even in numbers. In a letter addressed to them,
more than twelve years after he left Lucca, and on
the back of a disastrous change in their situation,

* Martyris Epist. universis Ecclesite Lucensis fidelibus, 8 Calend.
Jan. 1.543; in Loc. Comraun. pp. 750 — 752. He about the same time
published an Exposition of the Apostles Creed in Italian, to render
to all an account of his faith. (Simler, ut supra, sig. cj.)

t Simler, ut supra, sig. b iiij.

HISTORY OE THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 199

Martyr says, " Such progress have you made for
many years in the gospel of Jesus Christ, that it
was unnecessary for me to excite you by my letters,
and all that remained for me to do was to make ho-
nourable mention of you everywhere, and to give
thanks to our Heavenly Father for the spiritual
blessings with which he had crowned you. To this I
had an additional motive, from reflecting that my
hand was honoured to lay the foundations of this good
work, in weakness I confess, but still, by the grace
of Christ, to your no small profit. My joy was in-
creased by learning that, after my labours among
you were over, God provided you with other and
abler teachers, by whose prudent care and salutary
instructions the work begun in you was advanced." *
One of the teachers to whom Martyr refers was
Celio Secundo Curio, who had obtained a situation
in the university. The senate protected him for
some time in spite of the outcries of the clergy ;
but the pope having, in the year 1543, addressed
letters to the magistrates complaining of this, and re-
quiring them to send him to Rome to answer charges
which had been brought against him from various
quarters, they gave him private intimation to con-
sult his safety. Upon this he retired to Ferrara,
whence, by the advice of the duchess Renee, who
furnished him with letters of recommendation to
the magistrates of Zurich and Berne, he quitted
Italy, and took up his residence at Lausanne. In

* Martyris Epistola ad fratres Lucenses, anno 1556; in Loc. Com-
mun. p. 771.

200 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

the course of the same year he returned for his wife
and children, whom he had left behind him : on
which occasion he made one of those escapes which,
though well authenticated, throw an air of romance
over the narrative of his life. The inquisition had
just been erected at Rome, and its familiars, scat-
tered over all the country, had tracked the route of
Curio from the time he entered Italy. Not ventur-
ing to appear in Lucca, he stopped at the neighbour-
ing town of Pessa until his family should join him.
While he was sitting at dinner in the inn, a cap-
tain of the papal band, called in Italy Barisello,
suddenly made his appearance, and entering the
room, commanded him in the pope's name to yield
himself as a prisoner. Curio, despairing of escape,
rose to deliver himself up, unconsciously retaining in
his hand the knife with which he had been carvinsr.
The Barisello seeing an athletic figure approaching
him with a large carving knife, was seized with
a sudden panic, and retreated to a corner of the
room ; upon which Curio, who possessed great pre-
sence of mind, walked deliberately out, passed with-
out interruption through the midst of the armed
men who were stationed at the door, took his horse
from the stable, and made good his flight.*

There had long been in Italy, as well as in France,
individuals, called inquisitors, whose employment
it was to conduct the examination of persons charged
with heresy; but they acted under the bishops, to

* Stupani Oratio de S. C. Curione, ut supra, pp.-344, 345.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 201

whom the power of regulating the process, and
pronouncing judgment properly belonged. In the
early part of the sixteenth century, there was no
separate and independent court for trying such
causes in either of these countries, as there had long
been in Spain. The want of such a powerful en-
gine for suppressing free inquiry, and preserving
the authority of the church, had been strongly felt
since the new opinions spread so widely in Italy.
The bishops were in some instances lukewarm ;
they were accessible to the claims of humanity or of
friendship ; their forms of process were slow and
open ; and the accused individual often escaped be-
fore they could obtain from the civil power the ne-
cessary order for his arrest. On these accounts the
erection of a court of inquisition had been for some
years eagerly pressed by the more zealous Roman-
ists, with cardinal Carafta at their head, as the only
means of preserving Italy from being overrun with
heresy. Accordingly, pope Paul III. founded at
Rome the congregation of the Holy Office, by a bull-
dated the 1st of April 1543, which granted the
title and rights of inquisitors-general of the faith to
six cardinals, and gave them authority, on both
sides of the Alps, to try all causes of heresy, with
the power of apprehending and incarcerating sus-
pected persons, and their abettors, of whatsoever
state, rank, or order, of nominating officers under
them, and appointing inferior tribunals in all places,
with the same or limited powers.*

* Limborch's Hist, of the Inquisition, vol. i. p. 151; Chandler's
transl. Llorente, Hist, de PInquis. torn. ii. p. 78.

202 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

This court instantly commenced its operations
within the ecclesiastical states ; and it was the great
object of the popes, during the remainder of this
century, to extend its power over Italy. The se-
nate of Venice refused to allow a branch of the in-
quisition to be set up within their territories ; but
they yielded so far as to admit inquisitors to
take the direction of trials for heresy, in the
way of prohibiting them to pronounce a definitive
sentence, at least in the case of laics, and providing
that certain magistrates and lawyers should be al-
ways present on such occasions, to examine the
witnesses, and protect the citizens of the republic
against injustice and avarice concealed under the
cloak of zeal for religion.* The popes found less
opposition in the other states of Italy. In places
where they did not succeed in their attempts to set
up a local tribunal, they obtained liberty to em-
ploy their agents in searching for suspected persons ;
and prevailed with the authorities to send such as
were accused, especially if they were either ecclesi-
astical persons or strangers, to be tried by the inqui-
sition at Rome. Even the senate of Venice, jealous
as it was of any interference with its authority,
yielded, in some instances, to requests of this kind.j-
No court ever knew so well as that of Rome
how to combine artifice with violence, to desist

" Busdragi Epistola; Scrinium Antiquar. torn. i. pp. 321, 326, 327.
Thuani Hist, ad an. 1548.

t Beza? Icones, sig. Hh. iij. Hist, des Martyrs, f. 414, 446. Ge-
neve, 1597.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 203

for a time from urging its claims without relin-
quishing them, and dexterously to avail itself of
events which crossed its wishes in any instance, for
the purpose of advancing its general designs. The
Neapolitans had twice successfully resisted the es-
tablishment of the inquisition in their country, at
the beginning of the sixteenth century. In 1546',
the emperor Charles V., with the view of extirpat-
ing the Lutheran heresy, renewed the attempt, and
gave orders to set up that court in Naples, after the
same form in which it had long been established in
Spain. This measure created the greatest discontent,
and one day as the officers of the inquisition were
conducting some individuals to prison, the inhabi-
tants, having released the prisoners, rose in arms,
and broke out into open tumult. The revolt was
suppressed by military force, but it was judged
prudent to abandon the design. Nothing could be
conceived more agreeable to the court of Rome than
this formidable tribunal; yet they took the part of
the people against the government of Naples, and
encouraged them in their opposition, by telling
them that they had reason for their fears, be-
cause the inquisition of Spain was extremely
severe, and refused to profit by the example of
that of Rome, of which none had had reason to
complain during the three years in which it had ex-
isted.* They pursued the same line of policy when
Philip II., at a subsequent period, endeavoured to

* Limborch, vol. i. p. 143. Llorente, torn. i. p. 332 ; ii. 118, 121.

204 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

establish his favourite tribunal in the duchy of Milan.
The reigning pontiff, Pius IV., was at first favourable
to that scheme, from which he anticipated effectual
aid to his measures in keeping down the reformed
opinions ; but finding that the Milanese were deter-
mined to resist the innovation, and had engaged the
greater part of the Italian bishops on their side, his
holiness told the deputies who came to beg his in-
tercession in their favour, that " he knew the ex-
treme rigour of the Spanish inquisitors," and would
take care that the inquisition should be maintain-
ed in Milan as formerly in dependence on the court
of Rome, " whose decrees respecting the mode of pro-
cess were very mild, and reserved to the accused the
most entire liberty of defending themselves." * This
language was glaringly hypocritical, and quite irre-
concilable with the conduct of the reigning pontiff,
as well as that of his predecessors, who had all sup-
ported the Spanish inquisition, and given their for-
mal sanction to the most cruel and unjust of its
modes of procedure. But it served the purpose of
preserving the authority of the holy see entire, and
of reconciling the minds of the Italians to the court
which had been lately erected at Rome. The Roman
inquisition was founded on the same principles as that
of Spain, nor did the forms of process in the two
courts differ in any essential or material point; and
yet the horror which the inhabitants of Italy had con-
ceived at the idea of the latter induced them to sub-
mit without reluctance to the former : so easy is it, by

* Liraborch and Llorente, ut supra.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 205

a little management and humouring of their preju-
dices, to deprive the people of their liberties.

The peaceable establishment of the inquisition
in Italy was decisive of the unfortunate issue of
the movements in favour of religious reform in that
country. This iniquitous and cruel tribunal could
never obtain a footing either in France or in
Germany. The attempt to introduce it into the
Netherlands was resisted by the adherents of the
old as well as the patrons of the new religion ; and
it kindled a civil war, which, after a bloody and
protracted struggle, issued in rending seven flourish-
ing provinces from the Spanish crown, and esta-
blishing civil and religious liberty in them. The
ease with which it was introduced into Italy, show-
ed that, whatever illumination there was among the
Italians, and however desirous they might be to share
in those blessings which other nations had secured
to themselves, they were destitute of that public spi-
rit and energy of principle which would have ena-
bled them to shake off the degrading yoke by which
they were oppressed. Popish historians do more
homage to truth than credit to their cause,
when they say that the erection of the inqui-
sition was the salvation of the catholic religion
in Italy. * No sooner was this engine of ty-
ranny and torture erected, than those who had ren-
dered themselves obnoxious to it by the previous
avowal of their sentiments, fled in great numbers
from a country in which they could no longer look

* Pallavicinij Istor. Concil. Trent, lib. xiv. c. 0.

206 HISTORY OF THE HE FORMATION IN ITALY.

for protection from injustice and cruelty. The pri-
sons of the inquisition were everywhere filled with
those who remained behind, and who, according to
the policy of that court, were retained for years in
silent and dark durance, with the view of inspiring
their friends with dread, and of subduing their own
minds to a recantation of their sentiments. With the
exception of a few places, the public profession which
had been made of the protestant religion was sup-
pressed. Its friends, however, were still numer-
ous ; many of them were animated by the most ar-
dent attachment to the cause ; they continued to
encourage and edify one another in their private
meetings ; and it required all the exertions and vio-
lence of the inquisitors during twenty years to dis-
cover and exterminate them.

It was natural for the protestants, when over-
taken by the storm, to retreat to the court of Fer-
rara, where they had found shelter at an early pe-
riod. But the court of Rome had taken the pre-
caution of gaining over the duke, and securing his
co-operation in its measures against the reformers.
The effects of this change were first felt at Moclena.
We have already adverted to the countenance which
the reformed opinions received from the members
of the academy erected in that city. To detach
persons of such celebrity from the protestant party,
four of the most eminent members of the conclave
were now employed. Sadolet corresponded with Lu-
dovico Castelvetro, who was regarded as the most
influential person in the academy, and exerted all
his eloquence to persuade him and his colleagues to

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 207

persevere in their obedience to the see of Rome.*
The affair, however, was managed chiefly by the
moderation and address of cardinal Morone, who
was at this time bishop of Modena, and generally
thought to be no enemy to ecclesiastical reform.
Being desirous that such of his flock as had been
infected with the new opinions should be reconciled
to the church in the easiest manner,-)- he prevailed
on his colleague Contarini, whose views coincided
with his own, to draw up a formulary of faith to be
subscribed by them. This he put into the hands of
some of the leading persons who were inclined to
the reformed doctrine, and listened with much con-
descension to the objections which they started
against particular expressions in it. Their objec-
tions related chiefly to the sacraments ; the docu-
ment having been expressed in such a manner as to
be satisfactory to them, so far as it related to matters
of faith4 Among the persons consulted by the bishop
were Don Hieronymo da Sassolo, and Don Giovanni
Poliziano, called also de' Berettari, a priest, a mem-
ber of the academy, and distinguished as an Italian
poet, who having been summoned to Rome on
a charge of heresy, and not appearing, was laid
under an excommunication, from which, however,
he had been lately relieved through the interces-

* Tiraboschi, tomo vii. pp. 169, 170.

t Beccatelli, Vita del Card. Contarini, sect. 33.

j Letter from Card. Morone to Card. Contarini, 3d July 1 5 12. (Poli
Epist. vol. iii. p. cclxxxiv.) Morone says : " Ben priego V. S. Reveren-
diss. non lascia che queste mie lettere vadino in mano d'altre, die del-
li suoi fedcli Secietari."

208 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

sion of friends.* To give the greater solemnity to
the transaction, cardinals Morone, Contarini, Sado-
leti and Cortese, with several other ecclesiastics of
rank, assembled at Modena, in September 1542,
when the formulary was subscribed in their presence
by the members of the academy and the principal
citizens. Franciscus Portus, a native of Candia, who
at this time read lectures on Greek in the city, gave
great offence by absenting himself on the day of
subscription ; but he appears to have afterwards
set his name to the articles.f

This accommodation of the differences at Modena
was, however, of short duration. In the year 1544,
two Conventual friars of the order of St. Francis, the
one named Pergala, and the other Pontremolo, were
thrown into prison, and subjected to punishment for
venting the new opinions from the pulpit ; and the
academicians again incurred the suspicion of heresy4
The most obnoxious of these was Filippo Valentino,
a young nobleman of great precocity of intellect
and versatility of genius.J Pellegrino Erri, a mem-
ber of the academy, having received an affront from

* Muratori, Vita del Castelvetro ; Opere Critiche, p. 18.

t Ibid. pp. 19, 20. Tiraboschi, vii. 17 0. To this affair cardinal
Pole probably refers, when, in writing to Contarini, he tells him that
the marchioness of Pescara gave thanks to God, « per il gran dono di
charita, il qual risplende piu in quello santo negozio di Modena."
(Poli Epist. vol. iii. p. 58.)

X Tiraboschi, vii. 171.

§ Castelvetro says, that at seven years of age he composed letters in a
style worthy of Cicero, and sonnets and canzoni which would have done
honour to a poet of mature age. He could repeat verbatim sermons
or lectures which he had heard only once ; and had the principal poets
in Latin and Italian by heart. (Muratori, ut supra, pp. 21, 22.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 209

some of the members, went to Rome, and gave in-
formation to the Holy Office, that the literati of his
native city were generally disaffected to the catholic
church, and that some of them were industrious in
disseminating their heretical sentiments in private.*
In consequence of this, the pope addressed a brief
to the duke of Ferrara, stating, that he had received
information, that the Lutheran heresy was daily
gaining ground in Modena, and that the author and
prime cause of this was that son of wickedness,
Filippo Valentino, on which account his holiness,
knowing how grieving this must be to a person of
the duke's piety, requires him to cause the said Fi-
lippo to be immediately seized, and to detain him at
the instance of the pope ; so that, the ringleader being
quelled, his accomplices might be reduced to obedi-
ence, and a stop put to the alarming evil.f Erri
returned to Modena in the character of apostoli-
cal commissary ; and attended by an armed force,

* That Erri was a man of learning, and acquainted with Hebrew,
appears from the following work : " I Salmi di David, tradotti con
bellissimo e dotissimo stile dalla lingua Ebrea, nella Latina e volgare,
dal S. Pellegrino Heri Modonesse." The dedication by the author,
to Conte Fulvio Rangone, is dated "Di Modena il i de Gennaio,
1568 ;" but the work was published at Venice in 1573, with a preface
by Giordan Ziletti. Riederer, who has given extracts, both from the
translation and notes, says : " Ich bin versichert, wenn man das Buch
geniiuer prufen wolte, man wurde viele Spuren eines heimlichen Pro-
testanten, der doch noch die ausere Gemeinschaft der Rdm. Kirche
beybehalten und der Inquisition sich nicht bios geben wollen, darin-
nen finden." (Nachrichten zur Kirchen-Gelevten und Biicher-Ges-
cbichte, torn. iv. p. 28.) The learned writer was mistaken in suppos-
ing Heri to be a protestant.

t Raynaldi Annal. ad an. 1545.

210 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

which lie had procured from the civil power, came
one night to the house of Filippo to apprehend him.
The latter having received warning of the design,
had made his escape ; but his books and papers were
seized by the inquisition, which proved the occasion
of great trouble to many of his fellow-citizens, and
especially those who had lived on terms of the
greatest intimacy with him. After remaining for
some time concealed, Filippo had sufficient influence
to get himself elected to the office of podesta, or chief
magistrate, of Trent, which protected him from the
attacks of his enemies.* Matters being quieted
in his native city, he ventured to return to it in the
course of a few years ; but in the year 1556 a new
storm arose. The inquisitors commenced a strict
search after heretics, and many were committed to
prison. Ludovico Castelvetro, Filippo Valentino,
his cousin, Bonifacio, provost of the cathedral
church of Modena, and Antonio Gadaldino, a printer,
were cited, as persons of the greatest note, to appear
before the office of the Congregation at Rome. The
two last were apprehended and conducted under a
guard to the capital, where they were thrown into
the prisons of the inquisition. Gadaldino was con-
victed of having sold heretical books at Modena, and
detained in prison. Bonifacio Valentino, having
confessed his errors, made a solemn and public re-
cantation in the church of Minerva at Rome, on the
6th day of May 1558, and being sent back to Mo-

* Muratori, ut supra, pp. 21 — 23.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 211

dena, went through the same ceremony, on the
29th of that month, in his own cathedral church.
Castelvetro and Filippo Valentino, perceiving the
danger to which they were exposed, had consulted
their safety by flight, in consequence of which sen-
tence of excommunication was passed against them
at Rome for contumacy.*

While these measures were taken at Modena, the
papal court was still more intent on extirpating the
reformed opinions in Ferrara, which they regarded
as the great nursery and hotbed of heresy in Italy.
In the year 1545, his holiness addressed a brief to
the ecclesiastical authorities of that place, requiring
them to institute a strict investigation into the con-
duct of persons of every rank and order, who were
suspected of entertaining erroneous sentiments, and
after having taken the depositions, applied the torture,
and brought the trial as far as the definitive sen-
tence, to transmit the whole process to Rome for
judgment.f The distress caused by the execution
of this mandate was greatly increased by a base ex-
pedient lately adopted for discovering those who
wavered in their attachment to the church of Rome.
A horde of commissioned spies were dispersed over
Italy, who, by means of the recommendations with
which they were furnished, got admission into fami-
lies, insinuated themselves into the confidence of in-
dividuals, and conveyed the secret information which

* Tassoni Cronaca MS. ; apud Tiraboschi, vii. 11(59.
t Raynaldi Annal. ad an. 1545.

212 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

they obtained in this way to the inquisitors. As-
suming a variety of characters, they haunted the
company of the learned and illiterate, and Were to
be found equally in courts and cloisters.* A num-
ber of excellent persons at Ferrara were caught in
the toils spread by these pests of society. They
succeeded in alienating: the mind of the duke from
the accomplished Olympia Morata, who, having
left the palace on the death of her father,f to take
charge of her widowed mother and the younger
branches of the family, was treated in a very harsh
and ungrateful manner by the court ; and would have
suffered still worse treatment, had not a German stu-
dent of medicine married her and carried her along
with him to his native country, f- The persecution
became more severe, when, on the death of Paul III.,
the papal chair was filled by cardinal De Monte, under
the title of Julius III. While this indolent pontiff wal-
lowed in voluptuousness,^ he signed, without scruple
or remorse, the most cruel orders which were dic-
tated by those to whom he intrusted the manage-
ment of public affairs. In the year 1550, the reformed

* Calcagnini Opera, p. 169. Olympian Morata? Opera, pp. 102, 1 11.
In writings of that time, these spies are called Corycceans. Vide Sui-

da? Lex. VOC. xaguxcciog.

t He died in 1548.

% Olympia? Morata? Opera, pp. 93 — 95. Noltenii Vita Olympian
pp. 122 — 125. Her husband's name was Andrew Grunthler, whose
life is to be seen in Mclch. Adam. Vit. Medic. Germ. Conf. Englerti
Franconic. Acta, vol. ii. p. 269. Nolten says that the duchess also
was alienated from her ; but Olympia herself does not state this.

§ Bayle, Diet. art. Julius III. Tiraboschi, vii. 27.

H ISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 213

church, which had subsisted for a number of years at
Ferrara, was dispersed ; many were thrown into pri-
son, and one of their preachers, a person of great pie-
ty, was put to death.* Olympia Morata writes on this
subject :f " We did not come here with the inten-
tion of returning to Italy ; for you are not ignorant
how dangerous it is to profess Christianity in that
country where antichrist has his throne. I hear
that the rage against the saints is at present so vio-
lent, that former severities were but child's play
compared with those which are practised by the new
pope, who cannot, like his predecessor, be moved by
entreaties and intercession." And in another letter,
she says :t " I learn from letters which I have lately
received from Italy, that the Christians are treated
with great cruelty at Ferrara ; neither high nor low
are spared ; some are imprisoned, others banished*
and others obliged to save their lives by flight."

The success of these measures in abolishing the face
of a reformed church, and silencing all opposition
to the established faith, in Ferrara, did not give sa-
tisfaction at Rome. All this availed nothing in the
eyes of the clergy, so long as there remained one

* Actiones et Monhnenta Martyrum, f. 163. Joan. Crispin. 1560,
•tto. Olympian Morata? Opera, p. 102.

+ To Celio Secundo Curionc: Olympian Opcr. p. 101.

J To Chilian Senapi : Ibid. p. 143. conf. p. 158; where, after
speaking of some of her acquaintance who had weakly renounced their
faith, she says to Vergerio, " Matrem vero meam constantem fuisse
in illis turbis, Deo gratias agimus, eique totum acceptum referimus.
Earn oravi, ut ex ilia Babylonia una cum sororibus ad nos proficisca-
tur."

214 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

individual, occupying the place nearest the prince,
who scrupled to yield obedience to their authority.
The high rank and distinguished accomplishments
of the duchess of Ferrara aggravated, instead
of extenuating, the offence which she had given
to the clergy, who resolved to humble her pride
if they could not subdue her firmness. Renee,
while she did not conceal her partiality to the re-
formed sentiments, testified great dissatisfaction at
the late persecution, and had exerted herself in
every way within her power to protect those who
were exposed to its violence. Repeated and strong-
representations were made by the pope to the
duke, her husband, on this head. He was told that
the minds of his children and servants were cor-
rupted, and the most pernicious example held out
to his subjects ; that the house of Este, which had
been so long renowned for the purity of its faith
and its fealty to the holy see, was in danger of con-
tracting the indelible stain of heresy ; and that if he
did not speedily abate the nuisance, he would expose
himself to the censures of the church, and lose the
favour of all catholic princes. In consequence of
this, Hercules pressed the duchess to avert the dis-
pleasure of his holiness by renouncing the new opi-
nions, and conforming herself to the rites of the
established worship. As she persisted in refusing
to sacrifice her convictions, recourse was had to fo-
reign influence. Whether it was with the view of
overcoming the reluctance which her husband tes-
tified to proceed to extremities, or of affording him
a plausible excuse for adopting those severe mea-

HIST011Y OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 215

sures which he had previously agreed to, the pope
procured the interference of the king of France, who
was nephew to the duchess. Henry II. according-
ly sent Oritz,* his inquisitor, to the court of Ferra-
ra. His instructions bore, that he was to acquaint
himself accurately with the extent to which the
mind of the duchess was infected with error ; he
was then to request a personal interview with
her, at which he was to inform her of the great
grief which his most Christian Miijesty had con-
ceived at hearing that " his only aunt," whom he
had always loved and esteemed so highly, had in-
volved herself in the labyrinth of these detestable
and condemned opinions ; if, after all his remon-
strances and arguments, he could not recover her
by gentle means, he was next, with the concur-
rence of the duke, to endeavour to bring her to rea-
son by rigour and severity : he was to preach a
course of sermons on the principal points on which
she had been led astray, at which she and all her
family should be obliged to attend, " whatever re-
fusal or objection she might think proper to make :"

* This appears to have been the same individual of whom we read
at an earlier period of the history of France. 'f Notre Maiire Oris,"
the Inquisitor of the faith, was in the year 1534, sent to Sancerre to
search for heretics ; hut the inhabitants, aware of his fondness for
good cheer, treated him with such hospitality that he reported them
to be a very good sort of people. His depute, Ilocheli, returned
with the same report. Upon which the Lieutenant Criminel, cha-
grined at missing his prey, said, that " good wine would at any time
make all these fellows quiet." (Beze, Hist, des Eglises Ref. de France,
torn. i. p. 20.) But " Notre Maitre" was then but young, and had
not yet tasted blood.

216 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

if this proved unsuccessful in reclaiming her, he
was next, in her presence, to entreat the duke, in
his majesty's name, to " sequester her from all so-
ciety and conversation," that she might not have
it in her power to taint the minds of others, to re-
move her children from her, and not to allow any
of the family, of whatever nation they might be,
who were accused or strongly suspected of heretical
sentiments, to approach her ; in fine, he was to bring
them to trial, and to pronounce a sentence of exem-
plary punishment on such as were found guilty,
only leaving it to the duke to give such directions
as to the mode of process and the infliction of the
punishment as that the affair might terminate, so
far as justice permitted, without scandal or bringing
any public stigma on the duchess and her depend-
ents.*

The daughter of Louis XII., whose spirit was
equal to her piety, spurned these conditions, and
refusing to violate her conscience, her children were
taken from under her management, her confidential
servants proceeded against as heretics, and she her-
self detained as a prisoner in the palace, f Renee
could have borne the insolence of Oritz, but felt in
the keenest manner the upbraidings of her husband,
who, without listening to her exculpations, told
her she must prepare herself to conform uncondi-
tionally, and without delay, to the practices of the

* Le Laboureur, Additions aux Memoires de Michel de Castelnau,
torn. i. p. 717.
t Ibid. p. 718.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 217

Roman church ; — an unnatural demonstration of
zeal on the part of Hercules, which the court of
Rome rewarded, at a subsequent period, by de-
priving his grandson of the dukedom of Ferrara,
and adding it to the possessions of the church.* The
duchess continued for some time to bear with great
fortitude the harsh treatment which she received,
aggravated as it was by various acts of unkindness
from her husband ; but, on the accession of that tru-
culent pontiff, Paul IV., in the year 1555, the perse-
cution began to rage with greater violence ; and it
would seem that the threats with which she was
anew assailed, together with the desire which she
felt to be restored to the society of her children, in-
duced her to relent and make concessions. t On the
death of the duke in 1559, she returned to France
and took up her residence in the castle of Montar-
gis, where she made open profession of the reformed
religion, and extended her protection to the perse-
cuted protestants. The duke of Guise, her son-in-

* Giovannandrea Barotti, Diffesa degli Scrittori Ferraresi, p. 112.
Muratori, Annali d'ltalia, torn. x. pp. 553 — 558.

+ Calvin, in a letter to Farel, says : " De Ducissa Ferrariensi tristis
nuncius, et certius quain vellem, minis et probris victara cecidisse.
Quid dicam nisi rarura in proceribus esse constantiae exemplum."
(Senebier, catalogue des Manuscrits dans la Bibliotheque de Geneve,
p. 274-5.) Mons. Senebier informs us tbat this letter is dated " du
1 Novembre," and he places it under the year 1554; but as Calvin
speaks in it of the defence which he had written for the Consensus, or
agreement, among the Swiss churches respecting the sacrament of the
Supper, and as the dedication of that work is dated, Nonis Januarii
1556, the letter to Farel was most probably written in 1555. (Cal vi-
lli Opera, torn. viii. p. GGO.)

218 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

law, having one day come to the castle with an armed
force, sent a messenger to inform her that, if she did
not dismiss the rebels whom she harboured, he would
batter the walls with his cannon, she boldly replied,
" Tell your master, that I will myself mount the bat-
tlements, and see if he dare kill a kind's daugh-
ter."* Her eldest daughter, Anne of Este, " whose
integrity of understanding and sensibility of heart
were worthy of a better age,"f was married to the
first Francis, duke of Guise, and afterwards to
James of Savoy, duke of Nemours, two of the most
determined supporters of the Roman catholic reli-
gion in France ; and if she did not, like her mother,
avow her friendship to the reformed cause, she ex-
erted herself in moderating the violence of both her
husbands against its friend s4

Next to the dominions of the duke of Ferrara, the
papal court felt most anxious for the suppression of
the reformed doctrine within the territories of the
Venetian republic. On the flight of Ochino, a ri-
gorous inquisition was made into the sentiments of
the Capuchins residing in that part of Italy.} For

* Bayle, Diet. art. Ferrara, note F.

-|- Condorcet, Eloge de Chancelier d'Hopital.

J Bayle says that she became zealous against the Hugonots dur-
ing the League, which he imputes to the remembrance of the assas-
sination of her first husband by Poltrot ; but he produces no autho-
rity for his assertion. Calcagnini, Riccio, Paleario, Rabelais, St.
Marthe, De Thou, and Condorcet, have vied with each other in ex-
tolling this amiable princess. There is a beautiful letter of OJympia
Morata, addressed " Anna? Estensi, principi Guisiana?," in the print-
ed works of the former, pp. 130 — 133.

§ Bock, Hist. Antitrin. torn. ii. p. 4.96.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 219

several years after this, the pope ceased not to urge
the senate, both by letters and by nuncios, to root out
the Lutheran heresy which had been embraced by
many of their subjects, especially in Vicenza. Car-
dinal Rodolfo, who was administrator of the bishop-
ric of Vicenza, showed great zeal in this work ; but
the local magistrates, either from personal aversion
to the task, or because they knew that their supe-
riors did not wish the orders which they had pub-
licly given to be carried into execution, declined
lending the assistance of the secular arm. Informa-
tion of this having been conveyed to Rome, the
pope, in 1546, addressed a long and earnest brief
to the senate, in which, after complimenting them
on their zeal for religion and fidelity to the holy see,
and telling them that innovation in religion would
lead to civil dissensions and sedition among them,
as it had done elsewhere, he complained loudly of
the conduct of the podesta and capitano of Vicen-
za, who, instead of obeying the commands which
had been repeatedly given them, allowed the Lu-
theran doctrines to be openly professed before
the eyes of their masters, and of the univer-
sal council which had been called, and was now
assembled at Trent, chiefly for the purpose of extir-
pating these heresies ; on which account his holi-
ness earnestly required the doge and senators to en-
join these magistrates more peremptorily to com-
pensate for their past negligence, by yielding every
assistance to the vicars of the diocese in seizing and

220 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

punishing the heretics.* The senate complied with
this request, and issued orders which led to the dis-
sipation of the church at Vicenza.f

They adopted similar measures in the rest of
their dominions. In the year 1548, an edict was
published, commanding all who had books opposed
to the catholic faith to deliver them up within
eight days, at the risk of being proceeded against
as heretics ; and offering a reward to informers.:}:
This was followed by great severities against the
protestants in Venice, and in all the territories of
that republic. " The persecution here increases
every day," writes Altieri. " Many are seized, of
whom some have been sent to the galleys, others
condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and some,
alas ! have been induced, by fear of punishment, to
recant. Many also have been banished along with
their wives and children, while still greater num-
bers have fled for their lives. Matters are come to
that pass, that I begin to fear for myself; for
though I have frequently been able to protect others
in this storm, there is reason to apprehend that the

* Raynaldi Annales, ad an. 154.fi.

t Ibid. This is the persecution by which Socinian writers say that
their colleges were dispersed. (See before, p. 154.) But the only he-
resy mentioned in the apostolical brief, or by the annalist, is the Lu-
theran ; and it is reasonable to suppose, that, if it had been known
that antitrinitarians existed in that place, they would have been spe-
cified, as we find they were in a subsequent bull. (See before, p. 158.)

X Thuani Hist, ad an. 1548. Surius, apud Bock, Hist. Antitrin.
torn. ii. p. 41G.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 221

same hard terms will be proposed to me ; but it is
the will of God that his people be tried by such afflic-
tions."* Altieri exerted himself with the most
laudable and unwearied zeal in behalf of his bre-
thren. He not only procured letters in their fa-
vour from the elector of Saxony and other German
princes, for whom he acted as agent with the Ve-
netian republic ; but he undertook a journey into
Switzerland, with the express view of persuading
the protestant cantons to exert their influence in
the same cause. On his way home he attended an
assembly of the deputies of the Grison confederation
at Coire, where he pleaded the cause of his perse-
cuted countrymen. In both places he succeeded so
far as to obtain letters interceding for lenity to the
protestants ; but he was disappointed in his expec-
tations of procuring a public commission to act for
these states, which would have given great weight
to any representations which he might make to the
doge and senate. The authorities in Switzerland,
and in the Grisons, might have good reasons for re-
fusing his request ; but we cannot help sympathiz-
ing with the disappointment, and even with the
complaints, of this good man, as well as admirino-
the rare example which he gave of disinterested
devotion to the cause of truth and the best inte-
rests of his country, at a time when the greater

* Alterius ad Bullingerum, d. 24. Mart. 15 19, Venetiis : De Porta,
Hist. Reform. Eccles. Rha?ticarum, torn. ii. p. 32. Curia? Rhan.
1774, 4to.

222 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

part either knew them not, or cared not for them. In
a letter from Coire to Bullinger, a distinguished mi-
nister of Zurich, he says : " I have delivered your
letters and those of Myconius to the ministers of
this church ; I have also conversed with them on my
business, but find them rather lukewarm, either be-
cause this is their natural disposition, or because
they think the matter too difficult to be obtained,
especially after your friends in Switzerland have
refused it. They, however, give me some hopes of
success."* In another letter to the same correspond-
ent, he writes : " From the assembly of the Grison
states, which has been held here, I have only been
able to obtain commendatory letters ; had it not
been for the opposition made by some enemies of
religion, I would have also obtained a public com-
mission. They have concluded a treaty with
France : the emperor's ambassador was present,
but could do nothing."! After mentioning the
discouragements he had met with from those of
whom he had hoped better things, he exclaims :
" Thus do the minds of men now cleave to the
world ! If the Spirit of the Lord had not long ago
taken possession of my heart, I would have follow-
ed the common example, and hiding myself in some
corner, would have attended to my private affairs,
instead of taking an active part in the cause of
Christ. But God forbid that I should entertain the

* Curia, ult. Jan. 1549 : De Porta, ut supra, p. 34.
t Julii 22, 1549: Ibid.

HISTOKY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITAEY. 223

blasphemous thought of desisting to labour for him,
who never ceased labouring in my cause until he had
endured the reproach of the cross. Therefore, I re-
turn to Italy as ready as before to encounter whatever
may befall me, and willing to be bound for the name
of Christ."* Before leaving the Grisons he receiv-
ed intelligence that the persecution was daily wax-
ing hotter at Venice. " It is not, therefore, with-
out danger that I return," says he " for you know
how much I am hated by the papists and wicked.
I do not undertake the journey rashly : God will
preserve me from all evil : do you pray for me."f
On his arrival at Venice, he found that his enemies
had incensed the magistrates against him ; and on
refusing to renounce his religion, he was ordered
instantly to quit the territories of the republic.
Without hesitation he chose the latter, but being
unwilling to despair of the reformation of his na-
tive country, and anxious to be at hand to lend
succour to his suffering brethren, he lingered in
Italy, wandered from one city to another, and when
he durst no longer appear in public, sought an
asylum in a retired place for himself, his wife, and
an only child. Soon after his banishment from
Venice he wrote to Bullinger : " Take the follow-
ing particulars concerning my return to Italy. I
am well with my wife and little child. As to other
things : all the effect of my commendatory letters

* Sangallo, 28 Jan. 154-9 : Ibid.
+ Curia, 28 Jul. 16*9: Ibid. p. 96.

224 HISTOllY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

was an offer on the part of the senate, that I should
be allowed to remain in safety among them, pro-
vided I would yield conformity to their religion,
that is, the Roman ; otherwise it behoved me to
withdraw without delay from all their dominions.
Having given myself to Christ, I chose exile rather
than to enjoy pleasant Venice, with its execrable re-
ligion. I departed accordingly, and went first to Fer-
rara, and afterwards to Florence."* In another let-
ter, written from his place of hiding somewhere in
the territory of Brescia, he says : " Know that I am
in great trouble and danger of my life, nor is there
a place in Italy where I can be safe with my wife
and boy. My fears for myself increase daily, for I
know the wicked will never rest till they have swal-
lowed me up alive. Give me a share in your
prayers."f These are the last accounts we have of
this excellent person. It is probable that he never
escaped from Italy, and that his fate will remain a
secret until the horrid mysteries of the Roman in-
quisition shall be disclosed.

When the protestants were treated in this man-
ner in the capital, we need not be surprised to find
the magistrates of Venice permitting the greatest se-
verities to be used against them in their more distant
provinces. This was particularly the case in Istria,
where the agents of Rome were irritated beyond
measure by the more than suspected defection of the

* Epist. ad Bulling. Ex itinere, 2.5 Aug. 1549: De Porta, ut
supra, p. 35.

t Ad Bulling. Ex agro Brixiano, prid. Kal. Nov. 1549 : Ibid.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 225

two Vergerii, the bishops of Capo (Tlstria and
Pola. Annibale Grisone, who was sent into these
dioceses as inquisitor, in the year 1546, spread dis-
tress and alarm among the inhabitants. He read
everywhere from the pulpits the papal bull, re-
quiring all, under the pain of excommunication, to
inform against those whom they suspected of here-
sy, and to deliver up the prohibited books which
might be in their possession. Those who confessed
and supplicated forgiveness he promised to treat
with lenity, but threatened to condemn to the fire
all who, concealing their crime, should he convict-
ed on information. Not satisfied with public denun-
ciations, he entered into every house in search of
heretical books. Such as confessed that they had
read the New Testament in the vulgar tongue, he
charged to abstain from that dangerous practice for
the future, under the severest pains. The rich he
subjected to private penance, and obliged the poor
to make a public recantation. At first, only a few
individuals of weaker minds were induced to in-
form against themselves or their acquaintances ;
but at last consternation seized the multitude, and
every one became afraid that his neighbour would
get the start of him in giving information. The
ties of consanguinity and gratitude were disregard-
ed : the son did not spare his father, nor the wife
her husband, nor the client his patron. Taking ad-
vantage of the agitated state of the public mind,
Grisone ascended the pulpit, in the cathedral of Capo
d'Istria, on a high festival day ; and after celebrat-
es

226 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

ing mass, harangued the crowded assembly. " You
see (said he) the calamities which have befallen you
for some years past. At one time your fields, at
another your olive trees, at another your vines have
failed ; you have been afflicted in your cattle, and
in the whole of your substance. To what are all
these evils to be ascribed ? To your bishop and the
other heretics among you ; nor can you expect any
alleviation of your distress until they are punish-
ed. Why do you not rise up and stone them ?" So
much were the ignorant and frightened populace in-
flamed, that Vergerio found it necessary to conceal
himself.

In the midst of this confusion, the bishop of
Pola died, not without suspicion of having been
carried off by poison.* His brother withdrew, and
took refuge at Mantua with his patron, cardinal
Gonzaga, who soon dismissed him, in consequence of
the representations made by the noted Delia Casa,
the papal nuncio, resident at Venice. Upon this
Vergerio went to the council of Trent, with the
view of vindicating himself; or, as some state, of
demanding his seat in that assembly. The pope
would have ordered him to be arrested, but was
afraid of giving any reason for asserting that the
council was not free, at a time when he professed
to wish the attendance of the German protestants.
In order to obtain the removal of so dangerous a

* A work by the bishop was afterwards published by his brother,
with this title: " Esposizione e Parafrasi sopra il Salmo cxix. di M.
Gio. Battista Vergerio Vescovo di Pola, data d. 6. Gcnnajo, 1550."
(De Porta, Hist. Ref. Rhcet. torn. ii. p. 151.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 227

person from Trent, the papal legates agreed to su-
persede the summons which had been given him to
appear at Rome, and remitted the trial of the charges
exhibited against him to the nuncio and patriarch
of Venice. Vergerio managed his defence with such
address as to protract the trial for two years, at the
end of which he was prohibited from returning to
his diocese.* At that time Francesco Spira, a lawyer
of Padua, died in a state of great mental horror, in
consequence of his having been induced, by the ter-
rors of the inquisition, to recant the protestant faith.
Vergerio, who had come from Venice to Padua, saw
him on his death-bed, and joined with some other
learned and pious persons in attempting to comfort
the wretched penitent.f The scene made such a
deep impression on the mind of Vergerio, that he

" Pallavicini, lib. vi. cap. 13. Tiraboschi, vii. 380.

t The History of Spira was first published by Vergerio, at Tubingen
in 1558, in Letters from Celio S. Curio, Matthaeus Gribaldus, a native
of Padua, Sigisraundus Gelous, a Pole, and Henricus Scotus. The
last named was our countryman, Henry Scrimger. In the Library of
the University of Leyden, I met with a manuscript volume, containing,
among others, a letter from Calvin to Bullinger, dated " 15th August
1549," in which he writes: " I received lately a letter from Paulus
Vergerius, along with a History of Franciscus Spira, which he wishes
printed here. He says the chief cause of his being obliged to leave
his native country was that the pope, irritated by this book, laid
snares for his life. At present he is residing in the Grisons, but ex-
presses a strong desire to see me. I have not yet read the history, but,
so far as I can judge from a slight glance, it is written with some-
what more prudence and gravity than in the letters translated by
Celio. When I have read the work more carefully, I shall think
of the preface which he urges me to write for it." — The history was
printed in 1550, with a preface by Calvin. (Miscell. Groningana,
torn. iii. p. 109.)

228 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IX ITALY.

determined to relinquish his bishopric and native
country, and to seek an asylum in a place where he
could with safety make a public profession of the
truth which he had embraced. " To tell the truth,"
says he, " I felt such a flame in my breast, that I
could scarcely restrain myself at times from going
to the chamber-door of the legate at Venice, and
crying out, * Here I am: where are your prisons and
your fires ? Satisfy your utmost desire upon me ;
burn me for the cause of Christ, I beseech you, since
I have had an opportunity of comforting the miser-
able Spira, and of publishing what it was the will
of God should be published.' "* In the end of the
year 1548, he carried his purpose into execution,
by retiring into the Grisons, to the surprise equal-
ly of those whom he deserted, and of those whom
he joined, j-

The inquisitor Grisone was succeeded by Tom-
maso de Santo Stella, who, after irritating the in-
habitants by his vexatious proceedings, endeavour-
ed to persuade the senate of Venice to put garri-
sons into their principal cities, under the pretext
that Vergerio meditated an invasion of Istria. J
This gave the latter an occasion to publish a de-
fence of his conduct, addressed to the dog-e and se-
nate, in which, beside complaining of the insidious
and violent methods adopted by the firebrands of

• Historia Spiera?, apud De Porta, torn. ii. p. 144.

f Sleidan, lib. xxi. torn. iii. p. 123-4. Bayle, Diet. art. Vergier.
(Pierre Paul.) Ughelli Italia Sac. torn. v. p. 391.

X Al Sereniss. Duce e alia Eccelsissima Rep. di Venezia, Orazione
e Defensione del Vergerio, di Vico Suprano, A x Aprile, 1551 ; apud
De Porta, tom.ii. p. 152.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 229

persecution through Italy,* he states several facts
as to their conduct in the Venetian dominions.
" Nothing (says he) can be more shameful than
what this pope has done ; who, while there are
many useless and godless bishops and archbishops
in your state, has honoured and rewarded them ;
and the bishop of Bergamo alone, who is your
countryman of the house of Soranzo,f he has thrown
into prison, for no other reason than that he stood
up for residence, and testified a love and concern
for evangelical doctrine, and a hatred to supersti-
tion. What is it to exercise oppression and ty-
ranny over you, if this is not ? Is it possible that
this should not awaken you ?"| The senate about
this time showed a disposition to check the violent
proceedings of the papal agents, by opposing a
stronger barrier to their encroachments on criminal
jurisdiction. " The news from Italy are," says Ver-
gerio, " that the senate of Venice have made a decree,
that no papal legate, nor bishop, nor inquisitor shall
proceed against any subject, except in the presence
of a civil magistrate; and that the pope, enraged

* Girolamo Muzio, who had fomented the persecution in Istria, and
afterwards wrote against Vergerio, he thus characterises : " Un certo
Muzio, le cui professione e di dettar cartello, e condurre gli uomini ad
ammazzarsi negli steccati, e fatto Teologo papesco in tre giorni, e di
piu Barigello de' papisti." In another work, (Giudicio sopra le Let-
tere di XIII. Uomini Illustri,) he names, as the leading persecutors at
a period somewhat later, the Archinti, Buldragi, Todeschini, FaU
zetti, and Crivelli.

t Laderchius mentions Victor Soranzius, bishop of Bergamo, among
those whom he calls Valdesians, Lutherans, Zuinglians and Calvin-
ists. (Annales ad an. 1567.)

t Orazione e Defensione, ut supra, p. 253.

230 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

at this, has fulminated a bull, interdicting, under
the heaviest pains, any secular prince from inter-
posing the least hindrance to trials for heresy. It re-
mains to be seen whether the Venetians will obey."*
But the court of Rome, by its perseverance and
intrigues, ultimately triumphed over patrician jea-
lousy. Even foreigners who visited the republic in
the course of trade, were seized and detained by the
inquisition. Frederic a Salice, who had been sent to Ve-
nice from the republic of the Grisons, to demand the
release of some of its subjects, gives the following
account of the state of mattei-s in the year 1557 :
" In this commonwealth, and in general through-
out Italy, where the pope possesses what they call
Spiritual jurisdiction, the faithful are subjected to
the severest inquisition. Ample authority is given
to the inquisitors, on the smallest information, to
seize any one at their pleasure, to put him to the
torture, and (what is worse than death) to send him
to Rome ; which was not wont to be the case until
the time of the reigning pontiff. I am detained here
longer than I could wish, and know not when I
shall be able to extricate myself from this laby-
rinth«"f Scarcely had this ambassador returned
home, after accomplishing his object, when another
of his countrymen, a merchant, was thrown into
prison by the inquisition at Vicenza. To procure
his release, it was necessary to dispatch Hercules a.
Salice, late governor of the Grisons. His remon-

* Vergerio al Gualt. On. Fratello; tli Samadenoin Agnedina, a' 24
April. 1551 : De Forta, ut supra, p. 252.
t De Porta, p. 299.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 231

strances, though seconded by the influence of the
French ambassador, were for some time disregard-
ed by the senate, who sought to evade the terms of
the treaty between the two countries, and the con-
cessions which they had made during the preceding
year ; until, having demanded a public audience, he
inveighed, amidst the murmurs of the elder patri-
cians, with such bold eloquence against the intoler-
able arrogance of the papal claims, that the majo-
rity of the senate ordered the instant discharge of
the prisoner.*

In spite of the keen search made for them, many
protestants still remained in the city of Venice.
In the year 156*0, they sent for a minister to form
them into a church, and had the Lord's supper
administered to them in a private house. But
soon after this, information having been given
of their meetings by one of those spies whom the
court of Rome kept in its pay, all who failed in
making their escape were committed to prison.
Numbers fled to the province of Istria ; and after
concealing themselves there for some time, a party
of them, amounting to twenty-three, purchased a ves-
sel to carry them to a foreign country. When they
were about to set sail, an avaricious foreigner, who
had obtained a knowledge of their design, preferred
a claim before the magistrates of the place against
three of them for a debt which he alleged they

* Ibid. p. 299 — 301. The ambassador was afterwards thanked by
several of the senators, who admired the boldness with which he, be-
ing a foreigner, and formerly in the military service of the republic,
had dared to state what might have cost any patrician his life.

232 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

owed him, and failing in his object of extorting the
money, accused them as heretics who fled from jus-
tice ; in consequence of which they were arrested,
conveyed to Venice, and lodged in the same prisons
with their brethren.* Hitherto the senate had not
visited the protestants with capital punishment ;
though it would appear that, before this period,
the inquisitors had, in some instances, prevailed on
the local magistrates of the remoter provinces to
gratify them to that extent.f But now the senate
yielded to those counsels which they had so long
resisted ; and acts of cruelty commenced which con-
tinued for years to disgrace the criminal jurisdic-
tion of the republic. Drowning was the mode of
death to which they doomed the protestants, either
because it was less cruel and odious than committing
them to the flames, or because it accorded with the
customs of Venice. But if the autos da fe of the
queen of the Adriatic were less barbarous than those
of Spain, the solitude and silence with which they
were accompanied was calculated to excite the deep-
est horror. At the dead hour of midnight, the prison-
er was taken from his cell, and put into a gondola or
Venetian boat, attended only, beside the sailors, by a
single priest, to act as confessor. He was rowed out
into the sea beyond the Two Castles, where another
boat was in waiting. A plank was then laid across the
two gondolas, upon which the prisoner, having his
body chained, and a heavy stone affixed to his feet,

■ Histoire dcs Martyrs, f. 680, a Geneve, 1597, folio.
| Calvini Epist. p. 85 : Oper. torn. ix.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 233

was placed ; and, on a signal given, the gondolas re-
tiring from one another, he was precipitated into the
deep.*

The first person who appears to have suffered
martyrdom at Venice, was Julio Guirlauda, a native
of the Trevisano.f When set on the plank, he cheer-
fully bade the captain farewell, and sank calling on
the Lord Jesus4 Antonio Ricetto, of Vicenza,
was held in such respect, that, subsequently to his
conviction, the senators offered to restore him not
only to his liberty, but also to the whole of his pro-
perty, part of which had been sold, and the rest
promised away, provided he would conform to the
church of Rome. The firmness of Ricetto was put
to a still severer test : his son, a boy of twelve years
of age, having been admitted into the prison, fell at
his feet, and supplicated him in the most melting
strains, to accept of the offers made him, and not leave
his child an orphan. The keeper of the prison hav-

* Histoire des Martyrs, f. 681. De Porta, ii. 33.

t The Socinian historians, formerly quoted, (p. 154, 220,) in giving
an account of the suppression of their colleges at Vicenza in 1546, say
that two individuals belonging to them, " Julius Trevisanus and
Franciscus de Ruego were strangled at Venice." This could not have
happened at that time; for it is a well-authenticated fact that none
was capitally punished for religion at Venice before the year 1560.
(Busdragi Epist. ut supra, p. 326. Histoire des Martyrs, f. 680.)
But I have little doubt that the two persons referred to were Julio
Guirlauda of the Trevisano, and Francesco Sega of Rovigo, mention-
ed in the text as drowned ; and the Martyrology represents them as of
the common protestant faith. The author of that work, speaking of
their death, uses the phrase " persecuted par nouveaux Ebionites."
Did the Socinian historians read pour instead of par?

% On the 19th October, 1562. He was in his fortieth year. (Hist,
des Martyrs, f. 680.)

234 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

ing told him one day, with the view of inducing him
to recant, that one of his companions had yielded, he
merely replied, " What is that to me ?" And in the
gondola, and on the plank, he retained his firmness ;
praying for those who ignorantly put him to death,
and commending his soul to his Saviour.* Frances-
co Sega, a native of Rovigo, composed several pious
works during his confinement, for the comfort of his
fellow- prisoners, part of which was preserved after
his death.f Francesco Spinula, a native of the
Milanese, being a priest, was more severely ques-
tioned than his brethren. He was thrice brought
before the judges, and on one of these occasions the
papal legate and a number of the chief clergy at-
tended. In their presence, and when threatened
with a fiery death, he professed openly the various
articles of the protestant faith, and bore an explicit
testimony against the usurpations of the pope, the
doctrine of purgatory, and the invocation of saints.
During a fit of sickness, brought on by the length and
riffour of his confinement, some concessions were ex-
torted from him, but on his recovery he instantly re-
tracted them, and being formally degraded from the
priesthood, obtained the same watery grave with
his brethren.:]: But the most distinguished of those

* He died on the 15th of February 1566. (Ibid.)
f He was drowned ten days after Ricetto. (Ibid.)
$ He suffered on the 31st of January 1567. (Ibid. p. 681.)
Gerdes makes Spinula, the martyr, the same individual who composed
the Latin poetical version of the Psalms, which has been several times
printed along with that of Flaminio. (Spec. Italiie Ref. p. 336.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 235

who suffered death at Venice, was the venerable
Fra Baldo Lupetino.* The following account of
him by his nephew, in a book now become very rare,
deserves to be preserved entire. " The reverend
Baldus Lupetinus, sprung from a noble and ancient
family, a learned monk and provincial of the order
to which he belonged, after having long preached
the word of God in both the vulgar languages, (the
Italian and Sclavonian) in many cities, and defend-
ed it by public disputation in several places of cele-
brity with great applause, was at last thrown into
close prison at Venice, by the inquisitor and papal
legate. In this condition he continued, during
nearly twenty years, to bear an undaunted testi-
mony to the gospel of Christ ; so that his bonds
and doctrine were made known, not only to that
city, but almost the whole of Italy, and by it to
Europe at large, by which means evangelical truth
was more widely spread. Two things, among many
others, may be mentioned as marks of the singular
providence of God towards this person during his
imprisonment. In the first place, the princes of
Germany often interceded for his liberation, but
without success. And, secondly, on the other hand,
the papal legate, the inquisitor, and even the pope
himself, laboured with all their might, and by
repeated applications, to have him from the very
first committed to the flames, as a noted heresiarch.
This was refused by the doge and senate, who, when

* See before, p. 91.

236 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

he was at last condemned, freed him from the pu-
nishment of the fire by an express decree. It was
the will of God that he should bear his testimony to
the truth for so long a time ; and that, like a person
affixed to a cross, he should, as from an eminence,
proclaim to all the world the restoration of Christi-
anity, and the revelation of antichrist. At last, this
pious and excellent man, whom neither threatenings
nor promises could move, sealed his doctrine by an
undaunted martyrdom, and exchanged the filth and
protracted tortures of a prison for a watery grave."*
We have good reason to think that many others,
whose names have not come down to us, suffered
the same death at Venice ;f beside those who pe-
rished by diseases contracted during a tedious and
unwholesome imprisonment. Among the latter was
Jeronimo Galateo, who evinced his constancy in
the faith by enduring a rigorous confinement of
ten years. I It may naturally be supposed that
these violent measures would dissipate the protest-

* Matth. Flacius, De Sectis, Dissensionibus, &c. Scriptorum Pon-
tificiorum ; Pra?fat. atl Ducom et Senat. Venet. p. 43. Conf. Vergerio,
Lettere al Moris. Delfino, Vescovo de Lesina ; apud De Porta, ii. 33.

+ " Veneti in sua ditione persecutionem satis gravem Christo faciunt
Bergomi, Brixia?, Verona?, Patavii. Omnia bona Ulixi comitis (nempe
Martinengi) ad fiscum redacta sunt Brixia;. Comes Ulysses mihi
tuas legit." (Aug. Maynardus ad Fabritium, 7 Mart. 1563: De
Porta, ii. 459.) " Veneti, cseterique Italia? Principes sa-vam adver-
sus pios persecutionem prosequuntur." (Ullysses Martinengus, Comes
a Barcbo, ad Bullingerum, idib. Decembr. 1563 : Ibid. p. 486.)

X Eusebius Captivus, per Hieronymum Marium, p. 249, Basil.
1553. Curionis Pasquillus Ecstaticus, p. 3t.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 237

ants in Venice; and yet we learn that they had se-
cret meetings for worship in the seventeenth cen-
tury, distinct from those which the ambassadors of
protestant states were permitted to hold.*

Everywhere throughout Italy, during the period
under consideration, those suspected of favouring
the new opinions were sought out with equal keen-
ness, and treated with at least equal cruelty, as in
the Venetian territories. An account of the barba-
rous measures adopted for extirpating the protest-
ant doctrine in the Milanese will be given when we
come to speak of the affairs of the Italian exiles
who settled in the Grisons, with which the former
are closely and almost inseparably connected. As
the archives of the inquisition are locked up, we
are left in general to judge of its proceedings in
the interior states, whose political or commercial
relations with protestant countries were slender,
from collateral circumstances and incidental notices.
From the number of those who escaped we may
form some idea of the far greater numbers who
must have been caught in the fangs of that vigi-
lant and insatiable tribunal ; and there was not a
city of any note in Italy from which there were not
refugees in some part of protestant Europe. The
execution done by the inquisition at Cremona may
be conjectured from the notice bestowed on it by

* Jacobi Gryna?i Epistola ad Hippolytuin a Collibus 1609 scripta;
in Monument. Pietatis, torn. ii. p. 157. Franc, ad Mcen. 1701.
Conf. Gerdes. Ital. Ref. p. 93.

238 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

the popish historians, who often refer with peculiar
satisfaction to the superior strictness of its regula-
tions and celerity of its movements.* A single fact
is sufficient, in the absence of other evidence, to
prove the unrelenting severity practised in the
duchy of Mantua. A person allied to the duke
being seized by the inquisition on suspicion of he-
resy, his highness begged the chief inquisitor to
set him at liberty. This request was refused by
the haughty monk, who replied that he acknow-
ledged the duke as his lord, but that the pope, for
whom he acted in this cause, possessed a power
paramount to that of any temporal prince. Some
days after the duke sent a second message, press-
ing his former request, when the inquisitor repeat-
ed his refusal, and showing the keys of the prison,
told the messengers that if they chose to release the
prisoner by force, they would do it at their peril, f
We have an equally striking and more horrid
proof of the fury with which persecution raged at
Faenza. A nobleman, revered for his high birth
and distinguished virtues, fell under the suspicion
of the inquisitors of that city as a Lutheran. Af-
ter being long detained in a foul prison, he was put
to the torture. Not being able to extort from him
what they wished, the inquisitors ordered the infer-
nal operation to be repeated, and their victim ex-
pired among their hands. The report of this bar-

* Limborch's History of the Inquisition, part ii. passim,
f Eglinus ad Bullingerum, 2 Mart. 1568: De Porta, ii. 486.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 239

barous deed spreading through the city created a
tumult, in which the house of the inquisition was
attacked, its altars and images torn down, and some
of the priests trodden to death by the incensed mul-
titude.* The persecution was also severe in the
duchy of Parma ; the duke having entered into a
treaty with that violent pontiff, Paul IV., by which
he delivered up the properties and lives of his in-
nocent subjects to the mercy of the inquisition. f

The flourishing church at Locarno was a great
eye-sore to the popes, distant as it was from Rome.
In the measures taken for its suppression it was
necessary to proceed with much caution ; as it in-
cluded persons of wealth and high respectability,
and as the sovereignty of the place belonged to the
Swiss cantons, some of which were protestant, and
all of them jealous of their authority. From the
year 1549, when the disputation, formerly mention-
ed, | took place between a priest of Lugano and the
chief Locarnese protestants, every means was taken
to excite odium against the latter in the minds of
their fellow-citizens, and to involve them in quar-
rels with the inhabitants of the neighbouring dis-
tricts and with the government of Milan. Beccaria,
their most zealous advocate, though dismissed from
prison, was exposed to such personal danger, that he
deemed it prudent, by the advice of his friends, to

* Id. ad eund. 29 Mart. 1568 : De Porta, p. 487-8.
f Fridericus Saliceus ad Bullingerum, 10 Jan. 1558 : Ibid. torn. ii.
p. 295.

$ See before, p. 133.

240 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

banish himself, and retire to Chiavenna.* Next to
him the individual most obnoxious, from his talents
and activity, was Taddeo a Dunis. His fame as a
physician having made his advice to be sought for
throughout the adjacent country, he found it ne-
cessary to remove to a more centrical place with-
in the Milanese. No sooner was it known that he
was without the protection of the Swiss confederacy
than his old antagonist, the priest of Lugano, in-
formed against him as a ringleader of the heretics, to
the inquisitor at Milan, who sent a party to inter-
cept and seize him on one of his professional jour-
neys. Being warned of his danger, he secured him-
self by retreating hastily to the mountains. Trust-
ing, however, to his innocence, or to the powerful
interest of the families which he attended, he after-
wards appeared voluntarily before the inquisitor,
and was so fortunate as to be dismissed, on condi-
tion of his quitting the Milanese, and confining his
medical aid for the future to his native district, f

During four years the protestants at Locarno
were subjected to every species of indignity short of
open violence. They had for some time desisted
from employing the priests to confess their sick, and
from burying their dead, after the popish manner,
with torches and the cross ; and they had their
children baptized by ministers whom they brought
for that purpose from Chiavenna, when they had
no pastor of their own. The increase of the pro-

* Muralti Oratio, in Tempe Helvetica, torn. iv. p. 165.
t Ibid. p. 149.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 241

testants lessened in this way the gains of the mer-
cenary priesthood, who endeavoured to move heaven
and earth against the innovators, as at once sacrile-
gious and unnatural. They circulated the base re-
port that the protestants were guilty of the most
licentious practices in their secret meetings ; and
such calumnious rumours, while they met with easy
credit from the ignorant and superstitious multi-
tude, were encouraged by others who were too en-
lightened not to know their falsehood. In the mean
time a deep plot was laid by one Walther, a native
of the popish canton of Uri, who was at that time
town-clerk of Locarno, and some years after was
banished for holding* a treasonable correspondence
with the duke of Alva, governor of Milan. He
forged a deed, purporting that the senators, citizens,
and inhabitants of the town and bailiewic of Locar-
no, bound themselves by oath, to the seven popish
cantons, that they would adhere to the pope and
the Roman religion, until the meeting of a general
council. This paper, after being kept secret for
several years, was sent, as a genuine deed, to an
assembly of the seven cantons, held in March 1554,
who, without making any inquiries, immediately
passed a decree, that all the Locarnese should,
agreeably to their bond, make confession to the
priests during the ensuing Lent, that they should
give their names to the superior of the church, and
that the rites of sepulture should be denied to those
who had not received mass on their death-bed.*

* March 10, 1554, Muralti Oratio, pp. 150—152.

242 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

The promulgation of this decree at Locarno came on
the protestants as a thunderbolt. They instantly-
dispatched a commissioner to the protestant cantons,
with instructions to represent the utter falsehood of
the alleged bond on which the decree proceeded, and
to intreat them, as their joint temporal superiors,
and as professors of the same faith, to exert their
influence to avert the ruin which threatened two
hundred heads of families, who had never swerv-
ed from their allegiance, and against whom no
occasion or fault had been found, except concern-
ing the law of their God. In consequence of this
representation, the deputies of the protestant can-
tons, having assembled at Arau, wrote to those of
the popish persuasion, desiring them not to pro-
ceed farther in the affair of Locarno until the
meeting of the next diet of the confederacy, nor to
take any step which would infringe the rights
of the protestant cantons in that territory. To
defeat this interposition, the enemies of the per-
secuted Locarnese industriously circulated through
Switzerland that they were not entitled to the pro-
tection of the protestant cantons, inasmuch as they
were infected with Servetianism, anabaptism, and
other fanatical opinions. * Being informed of this

* This report has misled a modern Swiss historian, who, speaking
of Locarno, says : — " Lelius et Faustus Socin avoient repandu dans
cette contree une doctrine beaucoup plus libre encore que celle de
Zwingli et de Calvin. Mais ils furent chasses, et leurs adhe'rens
punis par l'exil ou par la mort. Apres eux, Beccaria devint a Locar-
no," &c. (Histoire de la Nation Suisse, par Hen. Zschokke, trad,
par Ch. Monnard, p. 207.) Faustus Socinus was only born in
15S9 ; and there is not the least evidence that his uncle Lelius ever
visited Locarno.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 2V3

by their commissioner, they transmitted to Zurich a
confession of their faith, in which they avowed their
agreement with the reformed churches concerning
the Trinity, the incarnation and mediatory work
of Christ, justification, and the sacraments ; which
had the effect of silencing this unfounded calumny.
Two general diets were held in the end of the year
1554, for discussing this subject. The fictitious
bond was unanimously set aside ; but when they
came to the main point, the enemies of the reformed
at Locarno insisted that it should be decided by the
majority of votes in the diet, contrary to the rule
usually observed in questions relating to religion.
Ottaviano Riverda, bishop of Terracino, who had
been sent as papal nuncio, stimulated the popish de-
puties to violent measures, while those of the pro-
testant cantons were influenced, partly by jealousy
of one another, and partly by dread of interrupting
the peace of the confederacy. The matter was refer-
red at last to arbiters chosen from the two mixed can-
tons, who gave it as their judgment, that the inhabit-
ants of Locarno, who were free from crime, should
either embrace the Roman catholic religion, or leave
their native country, taking with them their families
and property ; that they should not return thither,
nor be permitted to settle in the territories of the
seven catholic cantons; that those chargeable with
reproaching the Virgin Mary, with anabaptism, or
other opinions contrary to both confessions, should be
punished; that this sentence should be intimated to
the prefect of Locarno ; and that it should be carried
into effect by deputies sent by the seven catholic can-

244 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

tons, provided those of the four protestant ones refus-
ed to take part in the affair, or absented themselves.
Against this decision the deputies of Zurich protest-
ed, declaring that, though they were resolved to
abide by the league and not to excite any commo-
tion, they could not agree to have this sentence in-
timated in their name, and still less to take any
share in carrying it into execution ; which protest
was afterwards formally approved of by their consti-
tuents. It was no small part of the indignity of-
fered to the protestants by this decree, that Locarno
was that year under the government of Isaiah
Reuchlin, the prefect appointed by the canton of
Zurich. This excellent man, who had already ex-
perienced repeated vexations in the discharge of his
office from the violence of the Roman Catholics,
was thrown into great perplexity by the intelligence
of what was concluded at the diet ; from which,
however, he was relieved by instructions from home
to regulate his conduct by the protest taken by the
deputies of his native city. *

So bent were the popish cantons on the execution
of their edict, and so much were they afraid lest any
thing might intervene to prevent it, that they ordered
their deputies to cross the Alps in the depth of win-
ter. On their arrival at Locarno the latter assembled
the inhabitants, and in a threatening harangue told
them, that, having by their rebellious and perverse
innovations in religion disturbed the peace, and
nearly broken the unity of the Helvetic body, they

* Mural ti Oratio, pp. 152 — 160.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 245

might justly have been visited with exemplary pun-
ishment, but that the diet, graciously overlooking
their past faults, had ordained a law by which their
future conduct should be imperiously regulated.
The decree having been read, the municipal autho-
rities immediately gave their consent to it by their
subscriptions : the inhabitants, being divided in sen-
timent, were allowed till next day to give in their
answer. On the following morning such as were re-
solved to adhere to the popish religion appeared before
the deputies, and begging forgiveness for any thing in
their past conduct which might have been offensive,
promised an entire obedience and conformity to the
laws for the future. In the afternoon, the protestants,
in a regular order, two men, followed by their wives,
walking abreast, the women carrying their infants
in their arms and leading their little children, and
those who were most respectable for their rank tak-
ing the lead, proceeded to the council-room, where
they were received by the deputies with marks of
indecent levity, instead of that respect and sympathy
to which their appearance and prospects entitled
them. One of their number, addressing the depu-
ties in the name of his brethren, said, That being
heavily accused of embracing novelties and danger-
ous opinions, they begged leave humbly to declare
that they professed that faith which was prefigured
under the Old Testament, and more clearly revealed
by Christ and his apostles ; that after searching the
scriptures, and comparing the Latin and Italian trans-
lations, with prayer for divine illumination, they

246 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

had embraced that doctrine which was summarily
comprehended in the apostles creed, and rejected
all human traditions contrary to the word of God ;
that they disclaimed Novatianism and all novel opi-
nions, and held in abhorrence every thing that fa-
voured licentiousness of manners, as they had often
protested to the seven popish and four protestant
cantons ; that, committing themselves to Provi-
dence, they were prepared to suffer any thing ra-
ther than foment strife, or be the occasion of war
in the confederation; that they had always preserved
their allegiance to the confederate cantons inviolate,
and were willing to spend their blood and treasure
in their defence ; that they threw themselves on the
generosity and mercy of the lords of the seven can-
tons, and supplicated them, in the bowels of Jesus
Christ, to take pity on such a multitude, including
delicate females and helpless infants, who, if driven
from their native country, must be reduced to the
greatest distress; but that whatever resolution
might be come to respecting this, they intreated
that a rigorous investigation should be made into
the crimes, affecting their honour and the credit of
their religion, with which they had been charged ;
and that, if found guilty, they should be punished,
according to their demerit, with the utmost sever-
ity. With hearts as rigid and haughty as the Alps
which they had lately passed, the deputies replied to
this touching and magnanimous appeal," We are not
come here to listen to your faith. The lords of the
seven cantons have, by the deed now made known to

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 247

you, declared what their religion is, and they will
not suffer it to be called in question or disputed.*
Wherefore say, in one word, Are you ready to quit
your faith, or are you not ?" To this the protest-
ants with one voice replied, " We will live in it, we
will die in it;" while the exclamations " we will never
renounce it" — " it is the only true faith" — " it is the
only holy faith" — " it is the only saving faith," con-
tinued for a considerable time to resound from dif-
ferent parts of the assembly, like the murmurs
which succeed the principal peal in a thunder storm.
Before leaving the room they were required indi-
vidually to give their names to the clerk, when two
hundred persons immediately came forward with
the greatest alacrity, and with mutual congratula-
tions.!

Perceiving that they could look for no favour
from the deputies, who sternly refused them per-
mission to remain till the rigour of winter was
over, the protestants made preparations for their
departure, and sent Taddeo a Dunis before them to
request an asylum at Zurich from the magistrates of
that city. But they had still to suffer greater trials.
Riverda, the papal nuncio, following up his success
in Switzerland, appeared at Locarno. Having ob-
tained an audience of the deputies, and thanked them
in the pope's name for the care they had testified for
the catholic faith, he requested, first, that they should

* " das wollen sie unarguieret unci ungedisputieret haben."
f Muralti Oratio, pp. 160—164.

248 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

require the Grison League to deliver up the fugi-
tive Beccaria, that he might be punished for the
daring crime which he had committed in corrupting
the faith of his countrymen ; and, secondly, that
they would not permit the Locarnese emigrants to
carry along with them their property and children ;
but that the former should be forfeited, and the latter
retained and brought up in the faith of the church of
Rome. The deputies readily acceded to the first of
these requests, but excused themselves from com-
plying with the second, with which their instructions
would not allow them to interfere. At the same time,
they begged the nuncio to grant power to the priests
of Locarno to receive such of the protestants as
might be induced to return into the bosom of the
church. This Riverda not only granted, but also
offered his services, along with those of two Domi-
nican doctors of theology, whom he had brought
along with him, for convincing the deluded heretics.
But though he harassed the protestants, by obliging
them to listen to harangues delivered by the monks,
and to wait on conferences with himself, he did not
succeed in making a single convert. Having heard
of three ladies of great respectability, Catarina Ro-
salina, Lucia di Orello, and Barbara di Montalto,
who were zealous protestants, the nuncio felt a
strong inclination to enter the lists of controversy
with them ; but they parried his attacks with so
much dexterity, and exposed the idolatry and
abuses of the Romish church with such boldness
and severity, as at once to mortify and irritate his

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 249

eminence. Barbara di Montalto, the wife of the
first physician of the place, having incurred his
greatest resentment, he prevailed on the depu-
ties to issue an order to apprehend her for blas-
phemies which she had uttered against the sacrifice
of the mass. Her husband's house, which had been
constructed as a place of defence during the violent
feuds between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, was
built on the Lake Maggiore, and had a concealed
door, which it required the strength of six men to
move, opening upon the water, where a boat was
kept in waiting, to carry off the inmates upon any
sudden alarm. This door he had caused his ser-
vants to open at night, in consequence of an alarm-
ing dream, which led him to apprehend danger,
not to his wife indeed, but to himself. Early next
morning the officers of justice entered the house,
and bursting into the apartment where the lady
was in the act of dressing herself, presented a war-
rant from the deputies to convey her to prison.
Rising up with great presence of mind, she begged
them, with an air of feminine delicacy, to permit
her to retire to an adjoining apartment, for the
purpose of putting on some article of apparel.
This being granted, she descended the stairs, and
leaping into the boat, was rowed off in safety, before
the eyes of her enemies, who were assembled in
the court-room to receive her. Provoked at this
disappointment, the nuncio and deputies wreaked
their vengeance upon the husband of the lady,
whom they stripped of his property. Not satisfied

250 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

with this, they amerced in a large sum two mem-
bers of the reformed church who had refused to
have their children baptized after the popish forms.
But the severest punishment fell on a poor trades-
man, named Nicolas, who belonged to the reformed
church. He had been informed against, some time
before, for using, in a conversation with some of
his neighbours, certain expressions derogatory to the
Virgin Mary, who had a celebrated chapel in the vi-
cinity, called Madonna del Sasso ; and the prefect
Reuchlin, with the view of silencing the clamours of
the priests, had punished his imprudence, by con-
demning him to an imprisonment of sixteen weeks.
This poor man was now brought a second time to
trial for that offence, and, after being put to the tor-
ture, had sentence of death passed upon him, which
was unrelentingly executed by order of the depu-
ties, notwithstanding the intercession of the Roman
catholic citizens in his behalf. *

The protest ants had fixed on the 3d of March,
1555, for setting out on their journey ; and so bitter
had their life been for some time, that, attached as
they were to their native place, they looked forward
to the day of their departure with joy. But before
it arrived, they received intelligence which damped
their spirits. The government of Milan, yielding
to the instigations of the priesthood, published
an edict, commanding all their subjects not to en-
tertain the exiles from Locarno on their journey,

* Muralti Oratio, pp. 157, 164—170.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 251

nor allow them to remain above three days within
the Milanese territory, under the pain of death ; and
imposing a fine on those who should afford them
any assistance, or enter into conversation with them,
especially on any matter connected with religion.
Being thus precluded from taking the road which
led to the easiest passage across the Alps, they set
out early on the morning of the day fixed, and after
sailing to the northern point of the Lake Maggiore,
passed the Helvetian bailliages, by the way of Bel-
linzone, and before night came on, reached Rogoreto,
a town subject to the Grison League. Here the
Alps, covered with snow and ice, presented a bar-
rier which it was vain attempting to pass, and
obliged them to take up their winter quarters,
amidst the inconveniences necessarily attending the
residence of such a number of persons among stran-
gers. After two months, the thaw having opened
a passage for them, they proceeded to the Grisons,
where they were welcomed by their brethren of the
same faith. Being offered a permanent residence,
with admission to the privileges of citizenship, near-
ly the half of their number took up their abode in
that country ; the remainder, amounting to a hun-
dred and fourteen persons, went forward to Zurich,
the inhabitants of which came out to meet them
at their approach, and by the kind and fraternal
reception which they gave them, consoled and re-
vived the hearts of the sad and weary exiles. *

* Muralti Oratio, pp. 171, 172. Sleidan, torn. iii. lib. xxvi. p. 506.
Schelhoni makes the number of those who reached Zurich 133. (Er-

252 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

Ill the mean time the city of Locarno rejoiced at the
expulsion of the reformed, as if it had been the remov-
al of a plague ; but this exultation was of short con-
tinuance. The most industrious part of the commu-
nity being expelled, the trade of the place began to
languish. As if visibly to punish the cruelty with
which they had acted towards their brethren, their
lands were laid waste during the succeeding year
by a tempest, while the pestilence raged with still
more destructive violence among the inhabitants.
To these calamities were added intestine animosi-
ties and dissensions. The two powerful families of
the Buchiachi and Rinaldi, who had been leagued
against the protestants, now became competitors for
the superiority of the neighbouring village of Bri-
sago, vacant by the expulsion of the Orelli ; and in
support of their claims, they raised bands of armed
men, attacked each other, and committed depreda-
tions on the peaceable inhabitants ; in consequence
of which the Swiss government was obliged to main-
tain a garrison at great expense in Locarno. *

Hard as was the fate of the Locarnese protestants,
it was mild, compared with that of their brethren in
the interior of Italy, who had no friendly power to
save them from the vengeance of Rome, and no asy-
lum at hand to which they could repair when re-
fused the protection of their own governments. To
retire in a body was out of the question ; they were

gotzlichkeiten aus der Kirchenhistorie und Literatur, torn. iii. p.
1162.) A few persons attached to the reformed doctrine still remain-
ed at Locarno. (De Porta, ii. 346.)
* Muralti Oratio, p. 1 74-5.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 253

obliged to fly singly ; and when they ventured to
return for the purpose of carrying away their fami-
lies or recovering the wreck of their fortunes, they
were often seized by the familiars of the inquisition
and lodged in the same prisons with their brethren
whom they had left behind them. While the pro-
fession of the truth exposedpersons to such hardships
and perils, we need not wonder that many were in-
duced to recant, while still greater numbers, with
the view of avoiding or allaying suspicion, gave ex-
ternal countenance to a worship which they inward-
ly detested as superstitious and idolatrous. This
was the case at Lucca. Averse to quit their native
country, and to relinquish their honours and posses-
sions, trusting in their numbers and influence, and
deceived by the connivance of the court of Rome at
their private meetings for a course of years, the pro-
testants in that republic became secure, and began
to boast of their superior resolution in maintaining
their ground, while many of their brethren had ti-
midly deserted it, and suffered the banner of truth
which had been displayed in different quarters of
Italy to fall. But this pleasing dream was soon to
be dissipated. Scarcely had Paul IV. mounted the
papal throne when orders were issued for the sup-
pression of the Lucchese conventicle ; according to
a preconcerted plan, its principal members were in
one day thrown into the dungeons of the inquisi-
tion ; and at the sight of the instruments of tor-
ture the stoutest of them lost their courage, and
were fain to make their peace with Rome on the

254 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

easiest terms which they could purchase. Peter Mar-
tyr, whose apology for his flight they had with diffi-
culty sustained, and whose example they had re-
fused to follow when it was in their power, felt
deeply afflicted at the dissipation of a church in
which he took a tender interest, and at the sudden
defection of so many persons in whose praises he
had often been so warm. In a letter which he ad-
dressed to them on the occasion, he says, " How
can I refrain from lamentations, when I think
that such a pleasant garden as the reformed
church at Lucca presented to the view, has been
so laid waste by the cruel tempest as scarcely to
retain a vestige of its former cultivation. Those
who did not know you might entertain fears that
you would not be able to resist the storm ; it never
could have entered into my mind that you would
fall so foully. After the knowledge you had of the
fury of antichrist, and the danger which hung
over your heads, — when you did not choose to retire,
by availing yourselves of what some call the com-
mon remedy of the weak, but which, in certain
circumstances, I deem a prudent precaution, — those
who had a good opinion of you said, ' These tried
and brave soldiers of Christ will not fly, because
they are determined, by their martyrdom and blood,
to open a way for the progress of the gospel in
their native country, emulating the noble examples
which are given every day by their brethren in
France, Belgium, and England.' Ah, how much
have these hopes been disappointed ! What mat-

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 255

ter of boasting lias been given to our antichristiau
oppressors ! But this confounding catastrophe is
to be deplored with tears rather than words. "*
The seeds of the reformed doctrine were not how-
ever extirpated in Lucca. We find the popish
writers complaining that, in the year 1562, the
heretics in that city kept up a correspondence with
their brethren in foreign countries, by means of
merchants, who imported protestant books from
Lyons and Geneva.f

At Naples, the protestants enjoyed a reprieve
from persecution, during the dissensions excited by
the renewed attempts to introduce the Spanish in-
quisition.^; But the people were satisfied with the
abandonment of this measure by the Neapolitan
government, which, in its turn, not only forgave the
pope for fomenting the late opposition to its mea-
sures, but entered into a treaty with him, in which
it was agreed to take common measures for rooting
out the new opinions. In consequence of this, a
rigorous search after heretics commenced in the
capital, which was afterwards extended to other
parts of the kingdom. Many were thrown into pri-
son, and not a few sent to Rome to be subjected to
the fiery ordeal. Two things conspired with this
violence to ruin the reformed cause in Naples.
The first was, the coming of certain adherents of
anabaptism and arianism, who got introduced to

* Martyris Loc. Cora. p. 771-2.
t Raynaldi Annates, ad an. 1562.

X See before, p. 203. Goncalo de lllescas, Historia Pontifical y Ca-
tholica, Parte ii. pp. 313 — 315.

256 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

the secret meetings of the protestants, and made
disciples to their peculiar tenets.* The second was,
the practice which some of them indulged, of at-
tending the popish worship, partaking of mass, and
conducting themselves in public in every respect as
if they had been papists. These have been called
Valdesians by some writers, because they justified
themselves by appealing to the example of Valdez,
and to the advice which he gave those whom
he had instructed in the doctrine of justification,
but whose minds were yet trammelled by preju-
dices in favour of the church of Rome and the
ancient rites. This practice, which became daily
more general as the persecution increased, not only
offended those conscientious individuals who shun-
ned the popish worship as idolatrous, but it gradu-
ally wore off from the minds of the conformists the
impressions of that faith which they had embraced,
and prepared them for sacrificing it on the slight-
est temptation. Notwithstanding all their caution,
not a few of them were seized as suspected per-
sons, and purchased their lives by recanting those
truths which they had professed to hold in the
highest estimation. But this was not all : having
once incurred the jealousy of the inquisitors, and
exposed themselves to the malice or avarice of in-
formers, some of them were seized a second time,
and subjected to tortures and a cruel death, as re-
lapsed heretics. f Afraid of incurring the same

* Life of the Marquis of Vico, chap. vii. p. 13. Lond. 1635.
t Ibid. p. 14,

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 257

punishment, or actuated by a desire to enjoy the
pure worship of God, a considerable number of
protestants agreed to quit Italy, ; but when they
came to the Alps, and stopped to take a last view
of their beloved country, the greater part, struck
with its beauties, and calling to mind the friends
and the comforts which they had left behind, aban-
doned their purpose, parted with their companions,
and returned to Naples ; where they had scarcely
arrived, when they were thrown into prison, and
having submitted to penance, spent the remainder
of their lives distrusted bv those around them, and
preyed upon by remorse and a consciousness of
self-degradation . *

When the reformed opinions had been sup-
pressed in the capital, the Neapolitan government
permitted the inquisitors to roam through the
country like wild beasts let loose, and to devour its
innocent subjects. Of all the barbarities of which
Rome was guilty at this period, none was more
horrible than those which were inflicted on the
descendants of the ancient Waldenses. It would
seem as if she wished to exceed the cruelties com-
mitted during the dark ages, in the crusades which
Simon de Montfort, of bloody memory, had con-
ducted against the ancestors of that people, under
the consecrated banners of the church.

The Waldensian colony in Calabria Citerioref
had increased in the sixteenth century to four thou-

* Life of the Marquis of Vico, chap. x. p. 21.
f See before, p. 1.

258 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

sand persons, who possessed two towns, Santo Xisto,
belon ging to the dnke of Montalto, and La Gnardia,
situate on the seacoast. Cut off from intercourse
with their brethren of the same faith, and destitute
of the means of education for their pastors, this
simple people, at the same time that they observed
their own forms of worship, had gradually become
habituated to attend on mass, without which they
found it difficult to maintain a friendly intercourse
with the original inhabitants of the place. Their
curiosity was awakened by hearing that a doctrine
bearing a strong affinity to that of their fathers
was propagated in Italy ; they eagerly sought to
become acquainted with it, and being convinced
that they had erred hitherto in countenancing the
popish worship, they applied to their brethren in
the valleys of Pragela, and to the ministers of
Geneva, to obtain teachers who should instruct them
more perfectly, and organize their churches after
the scripture pattern.*

No sooner was this known at Rome than the
sacred college sent two monks, Valerio Malvicino
and Alfonso Urbino, into Calabria, to suppress the
churches of the Waldenses, and reduce them to the
obedience of the Holy See. On their first arrival,
the monks assumed an air of great gentleness. Hav-
ing assembled the inhabitants of Santo Xisto, they
told them, that they had not come with the view of
hurting any person, but merely to warn them in a
friendly manner to desist from hearing any teachers

* Zanchii Epistolsc, lib. ii. p. .';60.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 859

but those appointed by their ordinary ; that if they
would dismiss those who had led them astray, and live
for the future according to the rules of the Roman
church, they had nothing to fear ; but that, if they
acted otherwise, they would expose themselves to
the danger of losing their lives and property, by in-
curring the punishment of heretics. They then ap-
pointed a time for celebration of mass, which they
required all present to attend. But instead of com-
plying with this injunction, the inhabitants, in a
body, quitted the town, and retired to the woods,
leaving behind them only a few aged persons and
children. Concealing their chagrin, the monks im-
mediately went to La Guardia, and having caused
the gates to be shut, and assembled the inhabitants,
told them that their brethren of Santo Xisto had re-
nounced their erroneous opinions, and gone to mass,
exhorting them to imitate so dutiful and wise an
example. The poor simple people, crediting the re-
port of the monks, and alarmed at the danger which
they held out, complied ; but no sooner did they
ascertain the truth, than overwhelmed with shame
and vexation, they resolved instantly to leave the
place with their wives and children, and to join
their brethren who had taken refuge in the woods ;
a resolution from which they were with difficulty
diverted by the representations and promises of
Salvatore Spinello, the feudatory superior of the
town. In the mean time the monks procured two
companies of foot soldiers to be sent into the woods,
who hunted the inhabitants of Santo Xisto like

260 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

beasts of prey, and having discovered their lurking-
place, fell on them with cries of Ammasss&i, ammaxxi,
" Murder them, murder them." A part of the fugi-
tives took refuge on a mountain, and having secured
themselves on the rocks, demanded a parley with the
captain. After intreating him to take pity on them,
their wives and children, they said, that they and their
fathers had inhabited that country for several ages,
without having given any person cause to complain
of their conduct ; that if they could not be allowed to
remain in it any longer, without renouncing their
faith, they hoped they would be permitted to retire
to some other country ; that they would go, by sea
or land, to any place which their superiors were
pleased to appoint ; that they would engage not to
return ; and that they would take no more along
with them than what was necessary for their sup-
port on the journey, for they were ready to part
with their property rather than do violence to their
consciences by practising idolatry. They implored
him to withdraw his men, and not oblige them re-
luctantly to defend themselves, as they could not
answer for the consequences, if reduced to despair.
Instead of listening to this reasonable offer, and re-
porting it to his superiors, the captain ordered his
men to advance by a defile, upon which those on
the hill attacked them, killed the greater part, and
put the rest to flight.*

* Pcrrin, I list, des Vaudois, part. i. pp. 199—202. Perrin relates
this under the year 15G0, and speaks of it as having taken place after

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 261

It was immediately resolved to avenge on the whole
body this unpremeditated act of resistance on the part
of a few. The monks wrote to Naples that the coun-
try was in a state of rebellion, upon which the vice-
roy dispatched several companies of soldiers to Ca-
labria, and, to gratify the pope, followed them in
person. On his arrival, listening to the advice of
the inquisitors, he caused a proclamation to be made
delivering up Santo Xisto to fire and sword, which
obliged the inhabitants to remain in their conceal-
ments. By another proclamation, he offered a par-
don to the bannitti, or persons proscribed for crimes,
(who are a numerous class in Naples,) on the con-
dition of their assisting in the war against the here-
tics. This brought a number of desperate characters
to his standard, who, being acquainted with the re-
cesses of the woods, tracked out the fugitives, the
greater part of whom were slaughtered by the sol-
diers, while the remainder took refuge in the ca-
verns of the high rocks, where many of them died
of hunger. Pretending to be displeased with the
severity of military execution, the inquisitors re-
tired to some distance from the place, and cited the
inhabitants of La Guardia to appear before them.
Encouraged by the reports which they had heard, the
people complied ; but they had no sooner made their

Louis Paschal came to Calabria. But I suspect he has placed it too
late. At least the author of Busdragi Epistola, which is dated lath
December, 1558, speaking of the progress of the reformed doctrine in
Italy, says: 'f Nam quotidie aliquid novi sentitur, nunc in hac civi-
tate, nunc in ilia. Calabria nuper fere tota tumultiiata est." (Serin,
Antiq. torn. i. p. 392.)

C2G2 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

appearance, than seventy of them were seized and con-
ducted in chains to Montalto. They were put to the
question by the orders of the inquisitor Panza, to in-
duce them not only to renounce their faith, but also to
accuse themselves and their brethren of having com-
mitted odious crimes in their religious assemblies.
To wring a confession of this from him, Stefano Car-
lino was tortured until his bowels gushed out. Ano-
ther prisoner, named Verminel, having, in the extre-
mity of pain, promised to go to mass, the inquisitor
flattered himself that, by increasing the violence of
the torture, he could extort a confession of the
charge which he was so anxious to fasten on the pro-
testants. But though the exhausted sufferer was
kept during eight hours on the instrument called the
hel/y he persisted in denying the atrocious calumny.
A person of the name of Marzone was stripped naked,
beaten with iron rods, dragged through the streets,
and then felled with the blows of torches. One of
his sons, a boy, having resisted the attempts made
for his conversion, was conveyed to the top of a
tower, from which they threatened to j>recipitate
him, if he would not embrace a crucifix, which was
presented to him. He refused ; and the inquisitor,
in a rage, ordered him instantly to be thrown down.
Bernardino Conte, on his way to the stake, threw
away a crucifix which the executioner had forced
into his hands ; upon which Panza remanded him to
prison, until a more dreadful mode of punishment
should be devised. He was conveyed to Cosenza,
where his body was covered with pitch, in which he

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 263

was burnt to death before the people.* The manner
in which those of the tender sex were treated by this
brutal inquisitor, is too disgusting to be related here.
Suffice it to say, that he put sixty females to the
torture, the greater part of whom died in prison in
consequence of their wounds remaining undressed.
On his return to Naples, he delivered a great num-
ber of protestants to the secular arm at St. Agata,
where he inspired the inhabitants with the greatest
terror ; for, if any individual came forward to in-
tercede for the prisoners, he was immediately put
to the torture as a favourer of heresy. t

Horrid as these facts are, they fall short of the
barbarity perpetrated on the same people at Mon-
talto in the year 1560, under the government of the
Marquis di Buccianici, to whose brother, it is said,
the pope had promised a cardinal's hat, provided the
province of Calabria was cleared of heresy. I shall
give the account in the words of a Roman catholic,
servant to Ascanio Caraccioli, who witnessed the
scene. The letter in which he describes it was pub-
lished in Italy, along with other narratives of the
bloody transaction. " Most illustrious Sir, — Having
written you from time to time what has been done
here in the affair of heresy, I have now to inform you
of the dreadful justice which began to be executed on
these Lutherans early this morning, being the 11th
of June. And, to tell you the truth, I can compare

* Perrin, ut supra, pp. 202 — 201. t Ibid. p. 205-6.

264 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

it to nothing but the slaughter of so many sheep.
They were all shut up in one house as in a sheep-
fokl. The executioner went, and bringing out one
of them, covered his face with a napkin, or benda,
as we call it, led him out to a field near the house,
and causing him to kneel down, cut his throat with
a knife. Then taking off the bloody napkin,
he went and brought out another, whom he put
to death after the same manner. In this way, the
whole number, amounting to eighty-eight men,
were butchered. I leave you to figure to yourself
the lamentable spectacle ; for I can scarcely refrain
from tears while I write ; nor was there any per-
son who, after witnessing the execution of one,
could stand to look on a second. The meekness
and patience with which they went to martyrdom
and death was incredible. Some of them at their
death professed themselves of the same faith with
us, but the greater part died in their cursed obsti-
nacy. All the old men met their death with cheer-
fulness, but the young exhibited symptoms of fear.
I shudder while I think of the executioner with the
bloody knife in his teeth, the dripping napkin in
his hand, and his arms besmeared with gore, going
to the house and taking out one after another, just
as a butcher does the sheep which he means to kill.
According to orders waggons are already come to
carry away the dead bodies, which are appointed
to be quartered, and hung up on the public roads
from one end of Calabria to the other. Unless his
holiness and the viceroy of Naples command the

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 265

marquis de Buccianici, the governor of this province,
to stay his hand and leave off, he will go on to put
others to the torture, and multiply the executions
until he has destroyed the whole. Even to-day a
decree has passed that a hundred grown up women
shall be put to the question, and afterwards ex-
ecuted ; so that there may be a complete mixture,
and we may be able to say, in well-sounding lan-
guage, that so many persons were punished, partly
men and partly women. This is all that I have to
say of this act of justice. It is now eight o'clock,
and I shall presently hear accounts of what was said
by these obstinate people as they were led to ex-
ecution. Some have testified such obstinacy and
stubbornness as to refuse to look on a crucifix, or
confess to a priest ; and they are to be burnt alive.
The heretics taken in Calabria amount to sixteen
hundred, all of whom are condemned ; but only
eighty-eight have as yet been put to death. This
people came originally from the valley of Angro-
gna, near Savoy, and in Calabria are called Ultra-
montani. Four other places in the kingdom of
Naples are inhabited by the same race, but I do not
know that they behave ill ; for they are a simple
unlettered people, entirely occupied with the spade
and plough, and, I am told, show themselves suffi-
ciently religious at the hour of death."* Lest the
reader should be inclined to doubt the truth of such

* Pantaleon, Rerum in Ecdes. Gest. Hist, f. 337-8. Dc Porta, ii.
309—312.

266 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

horrid atrocities, the following summary account of
them, by a Neapolitan historian of that age, may be
added. After giving some account of the Calabrian
heretics, he says : " Some had their throats cut, others
were sawn through the middle, and others thrown
from the top of a high cliff : all were cruelly but de-
servedly put to death. It was strange to hear of
their obstinacy ; for while the father saw his son put
to death, and the son his father, they not only gave
no symptoms of grief, but said joyfully, that they
would be angels of God : so much had the devil, to
whom they had given themselves up as a prey, de-
ceived them."*

By the time that the persecutors were glutted
with blood, it was not difficult to dispose of the
prisoners who remained. The men were sent to the
Spanish galleys ; the women and children were sold
for slaves ; and, with the exception of a few who
renounced their faith, the whole colony was exter-
minated.! " Many a time have they afflicted me
from my youth," may the race of the Waldenses say,
" many a time have they afflicted me from my
youth. My blood, — the violence done to me and to
my flesh, be upon" Rome !

While the popes exerted themselves in the sup-
pression of the reformed doctrines in other parts of
Italy, it may be taken for granted that they were

* Tommaso Costo, Seconda Parte del Compendio dell 'Istoria di
Napoli, p. 257.

f Pcrrin, ut supra, p. 206-7. Hist, des Martyrs, f. ol6, a.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 267

not idle within the territories of the church. It
has been observed, that the procedure of the in-
quisition was milder in Italy than in Spain ; but
both the statement of the fact, and the reasons by
which it is usually accounted for, require to be
qualified. One of these reasons is, the policy with
which the Italians, including the popes, have al-
ways consulted their pecuniary interests, to which
they postponed every other consideration. This
however will be found to hold true as to their treat-
ment of the Jews, rather than of the Lutherans.
The second reason is, that the popes being tempo-
ral princes in the states of the church, had no oc-
casion to employ the inquisition to undermine the
rights of the secular authorities in them, as in other
countries. This is unquestionably true ; and it
accounts for the fact that the court of inquisition,
long after its operations had been suspended in Italy,
continued to be warmly supported by papal in-
fluence in Spain. But at the time of which I
write, and during the remainder of the sixteenth
century, it was in full and constant operation, and
the popes found that it enabled them to accomplish
what would have baffled their power as secular so-
vereigns. The chief difference between the Italian
and Spanish inquisitions at that period, appears to
have lain in their policy respecting the mode of
punishment. The latter sought to inspire terror
by the solemn spectacle of a public act of justice in
which the scaffold was crowded with criminals.

268 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

Except in the case of the remote and friendless Ca-
labrians, it was the object of the former to avoid
all unnecessary publicity and eclat. With this view,
the mode of punishment usual at Venice was some-
times adopted at Rome ; as in the case of Barto-
lommeo Fonzio. * In other cases the victims were
brought to the stake singly or in small numbers,
and often strangled before being committed to the
flames. The report of the aidos da fe of Seville
and Valladolid blazed at once over Europe : the
executions at Rome made less noise in the city, be-
cause they were less splendid as well as more fre-
quent ; and the rumour of them died away before
it could reach the ear of foreigners.

Paul III. threw many of the protestants into
the prisons of Rome ; they were brought forth
to execution by Julius III. ; and Paul IV. follow-
ed in the bloody track of his predecessor. Under
the latter the inquisition spread alarm everywhere,

* De Porta, ii. 33. Heidegger states that Fonzio was drowned
along with thirteen preachers of the gospel. (Diss, de Miraculis
Eccles. Evang. § 45.) I conjecture that this writer was misled by
a cursory inspection of a letter, (then probably unprinted,) from
Frechtus to Bullinger, dated July 24, 1538, which says : — " Bar-
tholomaeum Fontium Venetum, publica fide sibi a Romano Ponti-
fice data, Romam pervenisse et fidei sua? rationem dedisse, ac sta-
tim ab Antichristo sacco impositum et Tiberi immersum, in Domi-
num mortuum, in hujus locum XIII. emersisse evangelicos pra?di-
catores, qui Roma?, invito etiam Antichristo, Christum annuncient."
(Fueslin, Epist. Reform. Helvet. p. 177.) It is rather a serious mis-
take to confound emergo with i miner go.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 269

and created the very evils which it sought to allay.
Princes and princesses, priests, friars and bishops,
entire academies, the sacred college, and even the
holy office itself, fell under the suspicion of heretical
pravity. The conclave was subjected to an expur-
gatory process. Cardinals Morone and Pole, with
Foscarari, bishop of Modena, Aloysio Priuli, and
other persons of eminence, were prosecuted as heri-
tics. It was at last found necessary to introduce
laymen into the inquisition, " because," to use the
words of a contemporary writer, " not only many
bishops, and vicars, and friars, but also many of
the inquisitors themselves, were tainted with here-
sy." * Much of the extravagance displayed at
this time, is, no doubt, to be ascribed to the person-
al fanaticism and jealousy of the pontiff, who sent
for some of the cardinals to his death-bed, and re-
commended the inquisition to their support with
his latest breath. Such was the frenzied zeal of
this infallible dotard, that, if his life had been
spared a little longer, the poet's description of the
effects of superstition would have been realized,
" and one capricious curse enveloped all." Ir-
ritated by his violent proceedings, and by the
extortion and rapine with which they were ac-
companied, the inhabitants of Rome, as soon as
the tidings of his death transpired, rose in tumult,
burnt the house of inquisition to the ground,

* Bernini, Istoria di tutte L'Heresia, secol. xvi. cap. vii. : Pui
blanch's History of the Inquisition, i. 61-2.

270 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

after having liberated all the prisoners,* broke down
the statue which Paul had erected for himself, and
dragging its members with ropes through the streets,
threw them into the Tiber.f

Pius IV. overturned several of the measures pur-
sued by his predecessor ; but this proceeded more
from hatred to the house of Caraffa than from mo-
deration or the love of justice. His pontificate, in
fact, exceeded that of Paul IV. in cruelty, being
disgraced by the massacres in Calabria, and nume-
rous executions in Rome, Venice, and other parts
of Italy. In the room of that which had been de-
molished in the tumult, he appropriated to the in-
quisition a house beyond the Tiber, which had be-
longed to one of the cardinals ; and added cells to
it for the reception of prisoners. This was com-
monly called the Lutheran prison, and is said to
have been built on the site of the ancient Circus of
Nero, in which so many Christians were delivered
to the wild beasts. Here it was that Philip Came-
rarius, the son of Joachim Camerarius, and Peter
Rieter de Kornburg, a Bavarian gentleman, were
confined for two months during the year 1565 ;
having been seized when visiting Rome on their
travels, in consequence of the information of a Jew,
who mistook Rieter for another German, with
whom he had quarrelled. But although the mis-

* Among these prisoners was John Craig, one of our Reformers,
who drew up the National Covenant, in which Scotland abjured the
popish religion. (Life of John Knox, iL 55.)

t Natalis Comes, Hist, sui Temporis, lib. xii. f. 233, 209.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 271

take was acknowledged by the informer, they were
detained as heretics, and obtained their liberty only
through the interference of the imperial ambassa-
dor, accompanied with threats that the agents of
Rome would be treated in the same manner in
travelling through Germany.* Pompeio di Monti,
a Neapolitan nobleman, who had been seized by the
familiars of the inquisition, as he was crossing the
bridge of St. Angelo on horseback, along with his
relation, Marcantonio Colonna, was lodged in the
same apartment with Camerarius, who derived from
his conversation both Christian comfort and useful
counsel to avoid the snares which the inquisitors
were in the habit of spreading for their prisoners. f
During the subsequent year Di Monti was sentenced
to be burnt alive ; but, in consideration of a sum of
seven thousand crowns being advanced by his friends,
he was only strangled, and his body afterwards
committed to the flames. t

* Schelhorn, Vita Philippi Camerarii, pp. 86 — 101. Relatio de Cap-
tivitate Romana, ike. Philippi Camerarii et Petri Rieteri, pp. 7 — 30,
54 — 64. This last work was published by Camerarius himself, and
contains a particular account of the examinations which he under-
went, and the causes of his release, accompanied with documents.

f Relatio, ut supra, p. 73-4. They shared together the use of a
Latin Bible, which the baron had procured and kept concealed in his
bed. Camerarius having applied for a Psalter, to assist him in his
devotions, the noted Jesuit, Petrus Canislus, by whom he was visited,
pressed on him the Office of the Holy Virgin, as more conducive to
edification; and, when it was declined, sent him Amadis de Gaul,
and Ca?sar's Commentaries, in Italian. (Ibid. pp. 14, 15.)

J Relatio, ut supra, pp. 7, 8.

272 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

Nor did the persecution slacken under Pius V. who
was created pope in the year 1566. The name of this
fierce and inexorable pontiff was Michele Ghisleri ;
and the cruelties committed during the two preceding
pontificates are in no small degree to be ascribed to
his influence, as president of the inquisition, a situ-
ation which he had held, under the designation of
the Alexandrine cardinal, since the late establish-
ment of that tribunal.* His elevation to the pope-
dom was followed by a hot persecution in Rome and
the states of the church. It raged with great vio-
lence in Bologna, where " persons of all ranks were
promiscuously subjected to the same imprisonment,
and tortures and death."f " Three persons," says a
writer of that time, " have lately been burnt alive
in that city, and two brothers of the* noble family
of Ercolani have been seized on suspicion of heresy,
and sent bound to Rome." At the same time many
of the German students in the university were
imprisoned, or obliged to fly4 The following de-
scription of the state of matters in the year 1568 is
from the pen of one who was residing at that time
on the borders of Italy. " At Rome some are every
day burnt, hanged, or beheaded ; all the prisons
and places of confinement are filled ; and they are
obliged to build new ones. That large city cannot
furnish gaols for the numbers of pious persons who

* Thuani Hist. lib. xxxix. ad an. 1566. Vita Philippi Camerarii,
p. 102.

f Thobias Eglinus ad Bullingerum, 29 Decern. 1567: De Porta,
ii. 460.

X Epistola Joachimi Camerarii, 16 Feb. 1.566; et Epist. Petri
Rietcri, prid. Id. Mail 1.567 : Vita Phil. Camerarii, pp. 174, 197.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 273

are continually apprehended. A distinguished per-
son, named Carnesecchi, formerly ambassador to the
duke of Tuscany, has been committed to the flames.
Two persons of still greater distinction, baron Ber-
nardo di Angole, and count a Petiliano, a genuine
and brave Roman, are in prison. After long re-
sistance, they were at last induced to recant on a
promise that they should be set at liberty. But
what was the consequence ? The one was condemn-
ed to pay a fine of eighty thousand crowns, and to
suffer perpetual imprisonment ; and the other to
pay one thousand crowns, and be confined for life
in the convent of the Jesuits. Thus have they, by
a dishonourable defection, purchased a life worse
than death."* The same writer relates the follow-
ing anecdote, which shows the base stratagems which
the Roman inquisition employed to get hold of its vic-
tims. " A letter from Genoa to Messere Bonetti states,
that a rich nobleman at Modena in the duchy of Fer-
rara was lately informed against as a heretic to the
pope, who had recourse to the following method of
getting him into his claws. The nobleman had a
cousin at Rome, who was sent for to the castle of
St. Angelo, and told, « Either you must die, or write
to your cousin at Modena, desiring him to meet
you in Bologna at a certain hour, as you wish to
speak to him on important business.' The letter

* Thobias Eglinus ad Bullingerum, 2 Mart. 1568: De Porta, ii.
486.

274 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

was dispatched, and the nobleman having ridden in
haste to Bologna, was seized as soon as he had dis-
mounted from his horse. His friend was then set at
liberty. This is dragon's game."*

It is not my intention to write a martyrology ;
but I cannot altogether pass over the names of those
men who intrepidly displayed the standard of truth
before the walls of Rome, and fell within the breach
of the antichristian citadel.

Faventino Fanino, or Fannio, a native of Faenza,
within the states of the church, is usually, though not
correctly, said to be the first who suffered martyrdom
for the protestant faith in Italy. Having received
the knowledge of the truth by reading the Bible
and other religious books in his native language, he
imparted it to his neighbours, and was soon thrown
into prison. Through the persuasion of his friends
he purchased his liberty by recantation, which threw
him into great distress of mind. On recovering
from this dejection, he resolved to exert himself
more zealously than before in discovering to his
countrymen the errors by which they were deluded,
and in acquainting them with the way of salvation.
For this purpose, he travelled through the province
of Romagna. His plan was, after succeeding with
a few individuals, to leave them to instruct others,
while he removed to another place ; by which means
he disseminated extensively, in a short time, the

* Thobias Eglinus acl Bullingerum, 20 Mart. 1 568: ibid. p. 4.87.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 275

knowledge of evangelical doctrine. He was at last
seized at a place called Bagnacavallo, and conducted
in chains to Ferrara. Neither threats nor solicita-
tions could now move him to waver in his confes-
sion of the truth. To the lamentations of his wife
and sister, who came to see him in prison, he replied,
" Let it suffice you, that, for your sakes, I once denied
my Saviour. Had I then had the knowledge which
by the grace of God I have acquired since my fall, I
would not have yielded to your entreaties. Go home
in peace." Of Fannio's imprisonment, which last-
ed two years, it may be said, that it fell out " to the
furtherance of the gospel, so that his bonds in Christ
were manifest in all the palace." He was visited by
the princess Lavinia deliaRovere, by Olympia Mora-
ta, and other persons of distinction, who were edi-
fied by his instructions and prayers, and took a
deep interest in his fate. When orders were issued
to prevent strangers from having access to him, he
employed himself in doing good to his fellow-pri-
soners, including several persons of rank, confined
for state crimes, upon whom his piety, joined with
uncommon modesty and meekness, produced such
an effect, that they acknowledged, after their en-
largement, that they never knew what true liberty
and happiness was, until they found it within the
walls of a prison. Orders were next given to put
him in solitary confinement, when he spent his time
in writing religious letters and essays, which he
found means of conveying to his friends, and several

276 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

of which were published after his death. So much
were the priests afraid of the influence which he
exerted over those who approached him, that both
his prison and his keeper were repeatedly changed.
In the year 1550, Julius III. rejecting every inter-
cession made for his life, ordered him to be execut-
ed. He was accordingly brought out to the stake
at an early hour in the morning, to prevent the
people from witnessing the scene, and being first
strangled, was committed to the flames.*

At the same time, and in the same manner, did
Domenica della Casa Bianca suffer death. He was a
native of Basano in the Venetian states, and acquir-
ed the knowledge of the truth in Germany, whither
he had gone in the army of Charles V. With the zeal
of a young convert he endeavoured, on his return
to Italy, to disabuse the minds of his deluded coun-
trymen. After labouring with success in Naples
and other places, he was thrown into prison at
Piacenza, and refusing to retract what he had
taught, suffered martyrdom with great fortitude,
in the thirtieth year of his age.j-

We have already met repeatedly with Giovanni
Mollio, the Bolognese professor, who was held in
the highest esteem through Italy for his learning

* Olympic Morata? Opera, pp. 90, 102, 107. Nolten, Vita Olyra.
Moratie, pp. 127—134. Hist, des Martyrs, f. 185-7. Beza? Icones,
sig. Hh ij.

+ Hist, des Martyrs, f. 187, b. The following work I have not
seen : " He Fannii Faventini ac Dominiei Bassanensis morte, qui
nuper ob Christum in Italia Rom. Pontificis jussu impie occisi sunt,
brevis historia ; Fran. Nigro Bassanensi auctore. 1.550."

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 277

and holy life.* After the flight of his brethren
Ochino and Martyr, in 1542, he was frequently in
great danger, and more than once in confinement,
from which he had always providentially escaped.
But after the accession of pope Julius III. he was
sought for with great eagerness, and being seized
at Ravenna, was conducted under a strong guard to
Rome, and lodged in a strait prison.j- On the 5th
of September 1553, a public assembly of the inqui-
sition was held with great pomp, which was attend-
ed by the six cardinals and their episcopal assessors,
before whom a number of prisoners were brought
with torches in their hands. All of them re-
canted and had penances imposed on them, except
Mollio, and a native of Perugia, named Tisserano.
When the articles of accusation against Mollio were
read, permission was given him to speak. He de-
fended the different doctrines which he had taught
respecting justification, the merit of good works,
auricular confession, and the sacraments ; pronoun-
ced the power claimed by the pope and his clergy
to be usurped and antichristian ; and addressed his
judges in a strain of bold and fervid invective, which
silenced and chained them to their seats, at the same
time that it cut them to the quick. " As for you,
cardinals and bishops," said he, " if I were satisfied
that you had justly obtained that power which you
assume to yourselves, and that you had risen to

* See before, pp. 79, 119.

t During his imprisonment he composed a commentary on Genesis,
which is praised by Rabus. (Gcrdesii Italia Reform, p. 302.)

278 HISTOltY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY,

your eminence by virtuous deeds, and not by blind
ambition and the arts of profligacy, I would not say
a word to you. But since I see and know on the best
grounds, that you have set moderation, and modes-
ty, and honour, and virtue at defiance, I am con-
strained to treat you without ceremony, and to de-
clare that your power is not from God but the devil.
If it were apostolical, as you would make the poor
world believe, then your doctrine and life would re-
semble those of the apostles. When I perceive the
filth and falsehood and profaneness with which it is
overspread, what can I think or say of your church but
that it is a receptacle of thieves and a den of robbers?
What is your doctrine but a dream, — a lie forged by
hypocrites ? Your very countenances proclaim that
your belly is your god. Your great object is to seize
and amass wealth by every species of injustice and
cruelty. You thirst without ceasing for the blood
of the saints. Can you be the successors of the holy
apostles, and vicars of Jesus Christ — you who despise
Christ and his word, who act as if you did not be-
lieve that there is a God in heaven, who persecute
to the death his faithful ministers, make his com-
mandments of no effect, and tyrannize over the con-
sciences of his saints ? Wherefore I appeal from
your sentence, and summon you, O cruel tyrants
and murderers, to answer before the judgment seat
of Christ at the last day, where your pompous titles
and gorgeous trappings will not dazzle, nor your
guards and torturing apparatus terrify us. And in
testimony of this, take back that which you have

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 279

given me." In saying this, he threw the flaming
torch which he held in his hand on the ground, and
extinguished it. Galled and gnashing upon him with
their teeth, like the persecutors of the first Christian
martyr, the cardinals ordered Mollio and his com-
panion, who approved of the testimony he had borne,
to instant execution. They were conveyed, accord-
ingly, to the Campo del Fior, where they died with
the most pious fortitude.*

Pomponio Algieri, a native of Nola, in the king-
dom of Naples, was seized when attending the uni-
versity of Padua, and after being examined in the
presence of the podesta, was sent bound to Venice.
His answers, on the different examinations which
he underwent, contain a luminous view of the truth,
and form one of the most succinct and nervous re-
futations of the principal articles of popery, from
scripture and the decretals, which is anywhere to
be found. They had the effect of spreading his
fame through Italy. The senators of Venice, from
regard to his learning and youth, were anxious to

* Hist, des Martyrs, f. 264-5. Gerdesii Ital. Reform, p. 104. Zanchi
gives the following anecdote of this martyr in a letter to Bullinger :
" I will relate what (Mollio of) Montalcino, the monk who was af-
terwards burnt at Rome for the gospel, once said to me respecting
your book, De origine erroris. As I had not read or seen the work,
he exhorted me to purchase it ; * and (said he) if you have not mo-
ney, pluck out your right eye to enable you to buy it, and read it
with the left.' By the favour of providence, I soon found the book
without losing my eye ; for I bought it for a crown, and abridged it in
such a character as that not even an inquisitor could read it, and in
such a form, that, if he had read it, he could not have discovered what
my sentiments were." (Zanchii Epist. lib. ii. p. 278.)

280 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

set him at liberty, but as he refused to abandon his
sentiments, they condemned him to the galleys.
Yet yielding to the importunities of the nuncio, they
afterwards sent him to Rome, as an acceptable pre-
sent to the newly-elected pope, Paul IV., by whom
he was doomed to be burnt alive, in the twenty-fourth
year of his age. The Christian magnanimity with
which the youthful martyr bore that cruel death
terrified the cardinals who attended to grace the
spectacle. — A letter written by Algieri, in his pri-
son at Venice, describes the consolations by which
he was refreshed and upheld under his sufferings,
in language to which I scarcely know a parallel.
It appears from this interesting document, that the
friends of evangelical truth were still numerous in
Padua.*

Equally distinguished was the constancy of Fran-
cesco Gamba, a native of Como. He was in the
habit of visiting Geneva for the sake of conversa-
tion with the learned men of that city. Having,
on one of these occasions, participated along with
them of the Lord's supper, the news of this fact
reached home before him, and he was seized on the
Lake of Como, thrown into prison, and condemned
to the flames. His execution was prevented for a
few days by the interposition of the imperial am-
bassador and some of the Milanese nobility, during

* The autograph of this letter, together with the facts respecting
the writer, were*communicated by Celio Secundo Curio to the histo-
rian Henry Pantaleon. (Rerum in Eccles. Gest. part. ii. app. 329 —
332. Conf. Bez<e Icones, sig. Ilh iij.)

HISTOltY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 281

which interval his firmness was assailed by the so-
phistry of the monks, the entreaties of his friends,
and the interest which many of his townsmen of
the popish persuasion took in his welfare. He mo-
destly declined the last services of the friars, ex-
pressed his gratitude to those who had testified a
concern for his life, and assured the judge, who la-
mented the necessity which he was under of exe-
cuting the law, that he forgave him, and prayed
God to forgive him also. His tongue having been per-
forated to prevent him from addressing the specta-
tors, he kneeled down and prayed at the place of
execution ; then rising, he looked round the crowd,
which consisted of several thousands, for a friend,
to whom he waved his right hand, which was loose,
as the appointed sign that he retained his confi-
dence ; after which he stretched out his neck to the
executioner, who had been authorized, by way of
favour, to strangle him before committing his body
to the fire,*

Godfredo Varaglia, though a Piemontese, and put
to death in his native country, deserves a place
here from his intimate connexion with Italy. He
belonged to the order of Capuchins, and acquired
great celebrity as one of their preachers. Inherit-
ing from his father a strong antipathy to the Wal-
denses, he received a mission to labour in their con-

* This account is taken from a letter written by a gentleman of
Como to the martyr's brother. (Acta et Monim. Martyrum, f. 270 —
272. Wolfii Lect. Memorab. torn. ii. p. 686.) Gamba suffered on
the 21st of July 1554.

282 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

version, from which the highest hopes, founded on
his eloquence and zeal, were formed^ but the issue
turned out very different, for he became a convert
to the opinions of his opponents, and, like another
Paul, began to preach the faith which he had sought
to destroy.* From that time he acted in concert
with Ochino. When the latter left Italy, he and
twelve others of his order were apprehended and
conveyed to Rome. As the suspicions against them
were slight, or their interest powerful, they were
admitted to make an abjuration of heresy in gene-
ral terms, and confined to the capital on their parole
for five years. At the end of that period Varaglia
was persuaded to lay aside the cowl, and enter into
secular orders. His talents had procured him the
friendship of a dignitary of the church, from whom
he enjoyed a pension for some time ; and his patron
being appointed legate from the pope to the king
of France in the year 1556, he accompanied him to
that country. But his conscience not permitting
him any longer to conceal his sentiments, he parted
from the legate at Lyons and repaired to Geneva,
where he accepted an appointment to preach the
gospel to the Waldenses in the valley of Angrogna.f

* Leger, Histoire cles Eglises Vaudoises, p. 29. Hospinian, by mis-
take, makes Varaglia to have been the founder of the Capuchins.
(De Orig. Monach. cap. ix. p. 297.) This order of monks was insti-
tuted by Matthseus de Baschi. (Observationes Halenses, torn. iv.
p. 410.)

f This is the account which he gave of himself on his examination
before the supreme court of justice at Turin. (Hist, des Martyrs,
f. 1186.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 283

He had not laboured many months among that
people, when h^ was apprehended, conveyed to Tu-
rin, and condemned to death, which he endured
with great fortitude on the 29th of March 1 558, in
the 50th year of his age. When interrogated on
his trial as to his companions, he told his judges
that he had lately been in company with twenty-
four preachers, who had mostly come from Geneva ;
and that the number of those who were ready to
follow them was so great that the inquisitors would
not find wood wherewith to burn them.*

Ludovico Paschali was a native of Cuni in Pie-
mont, and having acquired a taste for evangelical
doctrine at Nice, left the army to which he had been
bred, and went to study at Lausanne. When the
Waldenses of Calabria applied to the Italian church
at Geneva for preachers, Paschali was fixed upon
as eminently qualified for that station. Having ob-
tained the consent of Camilla Guerina, a young wo-
man to whom he had previously been affianced, he
set out along with Stefano Negrino. On their ar-
rival in Calabria, they found the country in that
state of agitation which we have already described,
and after labouring for some time to quiet the minds
of the people and comfort them under persecution,
they were both apprehended at the instance of the

* The account of Varaglia was transmitted to Pantaleon by Celio
Secundo Curio. (Rerum in Eccl. Gest. pp. 33-1, 33.5. Hist, des Mar-
tyrs, f. 418 — 121.) In 1363, the nuncio Visconti wrote to cardinal
Borromeo, that more than the half of the Picmontese were Hugonots-
(Epist. apud Gerdes. Ital. Ref. p. 91.)

284 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

inquisitor. Negri no was allowed to perish of hun-
ger in the prison. Paschali, after being kept eight
months in confinement at Cosenza, was conducted
to Naples, from which he was transferred to Rome.
His sufferings were great, and he bore them with
the most uncommon fortitude and patience, as ap-
pears from the letters, equally remarkable for their
sentiment and pious unction, which he wrote from his
prisons to the persecuted flock in Calabria, to his
afflicted spouse, and to the church of Geneva. Giv-
ing an account of his journey from Cosenza to Na-
ples, he says : " Two of our companions had been
prevailed on to recant, but they were no better treat-
ed on that account ; and God knows what they will
suffer at Rome, where they are to be conveyed, as
well as Marquet and myself. The good Spaniard,
our conductor, wished us to give him money to
be relieved from the chain by which we were
bound to one another ; yet in addition to this he put
on me a pair of handcuffs so strait that they enter-
ed into the flesh and deprived me of all sleep ; and I
found that, if at all, he would not remove them un-
til he had drawn from me all the money I had,
amounting only to two ducats, which I needed for
my support. At night the beasts were better treat-
ed than we, for their litter was spread for them, while
we were obliged to lie on the hard ground without
any covering ; and in this condition we remained
for nine nights. On our arrival at Naples, we were
thrust into a cell, noisome in the highest degree from
the damp and the putrid breath of the prisoners."

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 285

His brother, who had come fromCuni, with letters of
recommendation to endeavour to procure his liberty,
gives the following account of the first interview
which, after great difficulty, he obtained with him at
Rome, in the presence of a judge of the inquisition.
" It was hideous to see him, with his bare head and
his hands and arms lacerated with the small cords
with which he was bound, like one about to be led
to the gibbet. On advancing to embrace him, I sank
to the ground. ' My brother !' said he, ■ if you are
a Christian, why do you distress yourself thus ?
Do you not know, that a leaf cannot fall to the
earth without the will of God ? Comfort yourself
in Christ Jesus, for the present troubles are not
worthy to be compared with the glory to come.'
' No more of that talk !' exclaimed the judge. When
we were about to part, my brother begged the
judge to remove him to a less horrid prison.
4 There is no other prison for you than this.' —
' At least show me a little pity in my last days,
and God will show it to you.' — ' There is no pity
for such obstinate and hardened criminals as you.'
A Piemontese doctor who was present joined me
in entreating the judge to grant this favour ; but
he remained inflexible. ' He will do it for the
love of God,' said my brother. — * All the other pri-
sons are full,' replied the judge. — ' They are not
so full but that a small corner can be spared for
me.' — ' You would infect all who were near you by
your smooth speeches.' — ' I will speak to none who
does not speak to me.' — ' Be content : you cannot

l286 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

have another place.' — ' I must then have patience,'
replied my brother." How convincing a proof of
the power of the gospel do we see in the confidence
and joy displayed by Paschali under such protract-
ed and exhausted sufferings. " My state is this,"
says he, in a letter to his former hearers : " I feel
my joy increase every day as I approach nearer to
the hour in which I shall be offered as a sweet-
smelling sacrifice to the Lord Jesus Christ, my
faithful Saviour ; yea, so inexpressible is my joy,
that I seem to myself to be free from captivity, and
am prepared to die not only once, but many thou-
sand times, for Christ, if it were possible ; never-
theless, I persevere in imploring the divine assist-
ance by prayer, for I am convinced that man is a
miserable creature, when left to himself, and not
upheld and directed by God." And a short time
before his death, he said to his brother, " I give
thanks to my God, that, in the midst of my long-
continued and severe affliction, there are some who
wish me well ; and I thank you, my dearest brother,
for the friendly interest you have taken in my wel-
fare. But as for me, God has bestowed on me that
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ which assures
me that I am not in an error, and I know that I
must go by the narrow way of the cross, and seal
my testimony with my blood. I do not dread
death, and still less the loss of my earthly goods ;
for I am certain of eternal life and a celestial in-
heritance, and my heart is united to my Lord and
Saviour." When his brother was urging him to

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 287

yield somewhat, with the view of saving his life
and property, he replied, " O ! my brother, the
danger in which you are involved gives me more
distress than all that I suffer, or have the prospect
of suffering ; for I perceive that your mind is so
addicted to earthly things as to be indifferent to
heaven." At last, on the 8th of September 1560,
he was brought out to the conventual church of
Minerva, to hear his process publicly read ; and
next day he appeared, without any diminution of
his courage, in the court adjoining the castle of
St. Angelo, where he was strangled and burnt, in
the view of the pope and a party of cardinals as-
sembled to witness the spectacle.*

Passing over others, I shall give an account of
two individuals of great celebrity for their talents
and stations, but whose names, owing to the
secrecy with which they were put to death, have
not obtained a place in the martyrology of the
protestant church.

Pietro Carnesecchi was a Florentine of good
birth, and liberally educated.f From his youth it
appeared that he was destined to " stand before
kings and not before mean men." Possessing a
fine person, and a quick and penetrating judgment,
he united affability with dignity in his manners, and

* Hist, des Martyrs, f. 506—516. Leger, Hist, des Eglises Vau-
doises, part. i. p. 20 1.

t Camerarius says, that Francesco Robertcllo was his preceptor.
(Epistola? Flaminii, &c apud Schelhornii Amcenit. Literarite, torn. x.
p. 1200.) If this was the case, the master must have been as young
as the scholar. (Tiraboschi, torn. vii. p. 841.)

288 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

was at once discreet and generous. Sadolet praises
him as " a young man of distinguished virtue and
liberal accomplishments ;"* and Bembo speaks of
him in terms of the highest respect and affection.f
He was made secretary, and afterwards apostolical
protonotary, to Clement VII. , who bestowed on him
two abbacies, one in Naples, and the other in France ;
and so great was his influence with that pope, that
it was commonly said, " that the church was go-
verned by Carnesecchi rather than Clement." Yet
he conducted himself with so much modesty and
propriety in his delicate situation, as not to incur
envy during the life of his patron, and to escape dis-
grace at his death. But the advancement of Car-
nesecchi in the career of worldly honour which he
had commenced so auspiciously, was arrested by a
different cause. At Naples he formed an intimacy
with Valdez, from whom he imbibed the reformed
doctrine ;| and, as he possessed great candour and
love of truth, his attachment to these doctrines daily
acquired strength from reading, meditation, and con-
ference with learned men. During the better days
of cardinal Pole, he made one of the select party
which met in that prelate's house at Viterbo, and
spent the time in religious exercises. $ When his

* Epist. Famil. vol. ii. p. 189.

+ Lettere, torn. iii. pp. 437 — 439.

X Laderchii Annates, ad an. 1567.

§ " II resto del giorno passo con questa santa e utile compagnia
de' Sig. Carnesecchi, e Mr. Marco Antonio Flaminio nostro. Utile
io chiamo, perche la sera poi Mr. Marco Antonio da pasto a me, e
alia miglior parte della famiglia, de illo cibo qui non perit, in tal ma-

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 289

friend Flaminio, startling at the thought of leaving
the church of Rome, stopped short in his inquiries,
Carnesecchi displayed that mental courage which
welcomes truth when she tramples on received pre-
judices, and follows her in spite of the hazards which
environ her path.* After the flight of Ochino and
Martyr, he incurred the violent suspicions of those
who prosecuted the search after heresy, and in 1546,
he was cited to Rome, where cardinal de Burgos,
one of the inquisitors, was ordered to investigate the
charges brought against him. He was accused of cor-
responding with the heretics who had fled from
justice, supplying suspected persons with money
to enable them to retire to foreign parts, giving tes-
timonials to schoolmasters, who, under the pretext
of teaching the rudiments of knowledge, poisoned the
minds of the youth with their heretical catechisms,
and particularly with having recommended to the
duchess of Trajettof two apostates, whom he praised
to the skies as apostles sent to preach the gospel to
the heathen. t Through the favour of the mild pon-
tiff Paul III. the matter was accommodated, but
Carnesecchi, to avoid the odium which had been
excited against him, found it necessary to quit Italy

niera che io non so quando io abbia sentito maggior consolatione, ne
maggior edificatione." Lettere, il Card. Reg. Polo al Card. Grasp.
Contarini; di Viterbo, alii ix di Decembre 1541. (Poli Epistolo?
vol. iii. p. 42.)

* See before, p. 171.

t See before, p. 162.

+ Ladercbii Annal. ad an. lo<j7.

290 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

for a season. After spending some time with Mar-
garet, duchess of Savoy, who was not unfriendly to
the reformed doctrines, he went to France, where
he enjoyed the favour of the new monarch, Henry
II., and his queen, Catharine de Medicis. In the
year 1552, he returned to his native country, con-
firmed in his opinions hy the intercourse which he
had had with foreign protestants,* and took up his
residence chiefly at Padua, within the Venetian ter-
ritories, because he was in less danger there from the
intrigues of the court of Rome, and could enjoy the
society of those who were of the same religious sen-
timents with himself. Paul IV. had not been long-
seated on the papal throne when a criminal process
was commenced against him. As he did not choose
to put himself at the mercy of that furious pope, he
was formally summoned at Rome and Venice, and
failing to appear within the prescribed term, the sen-
tence of excommunication was launched against him,
by which he was delivered over to the secular
power to be punished, when taken, as a contu-
macious heretic. f When Giovanni Angelo de' Me-
dici ascended the chair of St. Peter, under the

* Ladcrchius says he formed an intimacy with Philip Mclanchthon.
But as the latter was never in France, Schelhorn thinks the person
referred to might be Andrew Melanchthon, a relation of that reform-
er, who was imprisoned for preaching in the Agenois. (Amoen. Hist.
Eccles. torn. ii. p. 1 92. )

t The process against him was commenced October 25, 1557 ; the
monitory summons was issued March 24, 155S ; and the excommuni-
cation was passed April G, 1559. (Laderchius, ut supra.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 291

name of Pius IV., Carnesecchi, who had always
lived on terms of great intimacy with the family
of this pontiff, obtained from him the removal of
the sentence of excommunication without being
required to make any abjuration of his opinions.
The popish writers complain, that, notwithstanding
these repeated favours, he still kept up his corre-
spondence with heretics in Naples, Rome, Florence,
Venice, Padua, and other places both within and
without Italy ; that he gave supplies of money to
Peter Gelid, a sacramentarian heretic, Leone Mari-
onio, and others who had gone to Geneva ; and
that he recommended the writings of the Lutherans
while he spoke degradingly of those of the catholics.
On the accession of Pius V. he retired to Florence,
and put himself under the protection of Cosmo, the
grand duke of Tuscany, justly dreading the venge-
ance of the new pontiff. From papers afterwards
found in his possession, it appears that he had in-
tended to retire to Geneva, but was induced by the
confidence which he placed in his protector to delay
the execution of his purpose until it was too late. The
pope despatched the master of the sacred palace to
Florence with a flattering letter to Cosmo, and in-
structions to request that he would deliver up Car-
nesecchi as a dangerous heretic, who had long la-
boured in various ways to destroy the catholic faith,
and been the instrument of corrupting the minds
of multitudes. When the master of the palace
arrived, and delivered his letter, Carnesecchi was

292 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

sitting at table with the grand duke, who, to ingra-
tiate himself with the pope, ordered his guest to
be immediately arrested as a prisoner, and con-
ducted to Rome ; a violation of the laws of hos-
pitality and friendship for which he received the
warm thanks of his holiness.* The prisoner was
proceeded against without delay, before the court of
inquisition, on a charge consisting of thirty-four
articles, which comprehended all the peculiar doc-
trines held by protestants in opposition to the church
of Rome.t These articles were proved by witnesses,
and by the letters of the prisoner, who, after defend-
ing himself for some time, admitted the truth of the
charge, and owned the articles generally. We have
the testimony of a popish historian, who consulted
the records of the inquisition, to the constancy with
which Carnesecchi adhered to his sentiments. "With
hardened heart (says he) and uncircumcised ears
he refused to yield to the necessity of his circum-
stances, and rendered the admonitions and the often
repeated delays granted him for deliberation use-
less, so that he could not by any means be induced

* Thuani Hist, ad an. 1566. Laderchius, who has inserted in
his Annals the pope's letters to Cosmo, admits the truth of De Thou's
narrative as to the manner of Carnesecchi's apprehension, which he
applauds, — " ex bene acta re et optima Cosmi mente." The letter
demanding Carnesecchi is dated June 20, and the letter of thanks
July 1, 1566.

f The articles are given at large by Laderchius, in his Annals,
from which they have been reprinted by Schelhorn, (Amcen. Hist.
Ecclcs. torn. ii. pp. 197 — 205,) and by Gerdesius with some abridg-
ment. (Ital. Ref. pp. 14*— 148.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 293

to abjure his errors and return to the bosom of the
true religion, as Pius wished, who had resolved, if
he repented, to visit his past crimes with a milder
punishment than they merited."* We will not run
great risk of transgressing the law of charity by
supposing that the inquisitors detained him fifteen
months in prison with the view of having the credit
of proclaiming him a penitent; and that no confession
would have saved him from a capital punishment.
On the 3d of October 1567, he was beheaded, and
his body committed to the flames. f

It has been the barbarous policy of the church of
Rome to destroy the fame, however well earned,
and, if possible, to abolish the memory and blot out
the very names, of those whose lives she has taken
away for heresy. When we consider that Flaminio
did not altogether escape this occulta censura, and
that his name was expunged from letters which
were published after his death, though he was
never formally convicted of heresy, and had seve-

* Laderchius, ut supra.

t Laderchius, Annales ad an. 1567. — Thuani Hist, ad an. 1566.
Tiraboschi, Storia dellaLett. ItaL tomo vii. pp. 384, 385. Laderchius
says, the sentence was passed Aug. 16, and publicly read Sept. 21.
Tirabosclvi has given the date of the execution from Storia del Gran
Dacato di Toscano, by Sig. Galluzzi, a work which I regret not hav-
ing seen. Laderchius expresses great displeasure at De Thou for
saying that Carnesecchi was condemned to ihe fire without saying
whether he was to be committed to it dead or alive ; and he asserts
that the Roman church never determined that heretics should be
burnt alive. But in his next volume he found it necessary to cor-
rect his own error, and to admit the truth of what he had denied.
(Annal. torn, xxiii. f. 200.)

294 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

ral friends in the sacred college, need we wonder
that the name of Carnesecchi should have suffered
the same fate ?* The subject is curious, and it may
not be improper to adduce an example or two. The
celebrated Muretus was engaged in publishing a
work which was intended to contain a poem in
praise of Carnesecchi. In the mean time a prosecu-
tion for heresy was commenced against the object
of his panegyric, which threw the delicate author
into great perplexity. Averse to lose the ode, but
afraid to associate himself with a person suspected
of heresy, he held a consultation on the subject, and
the result was, that his caution conquered his vanity
and the poem was suppressed.! — Carnesecchi was the
intimate friend of the learned printer Aldus Manu-
tius, and was godfather to one of his sons ; but in
a collection of the letters of Manutius, published af-
ter Carnesecchi had incurred the heretical stigma,
the godfather sinks into one Pero. In an edition
of his letters published in 1558, the same scholar,
writing to Muretus, speaks in the most kindly man-
ner of his Carnesecchi ; but in subsequent editions,

* " Neque tamen occultam censuram effugit, (Flamiuius) ejus no-
mine passim in epistolis, qute postea publicatae sunt, expuncto."
(Thuani Hist, ad an. 1551.) Schelhorn has produced a number of
instances in illustration of the truth of De Thou's assertion. (Er-
gotzlichkeiten, torn. i. pp. 201 — 205.)

t The passage relating to this subject is in a letter to Aldus Ma-
nutius, and begins in the following characteristic strain : " Erat ad Pe-
trum rot \r,£oxpt* (finge aliquod ejustnodi nomen aut latinum aut ver-
naculum, ita quern dicam intelliges) ode una jam pridem scripta ; de
qua, quid faciam, nescio," &c. (Mureti Orat. et Epist. lib. i. p. 442.
Lips. 1672.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 295

including those which proceeded from his own press,
we find the harsh name of his friend gratefully soft-
ened down to Molini. Again, in dedicating an edi-
tion of the works of Sallust to cardinal Trivulzi, Ma-
nutius mentions " Petrus Carneseccus, the protono-
tary, an honoured person, distinguished for every vir-
tue, and excelling in a cultivated mind any that I have
met with in the course of my life ;" but in the sub-
sequent editions of the dedication we look in vain
for the name of the " honoured" protonotary ! *
To come nearer to our own times, about the mid-
dle of the eighteenth century, an edition of the
poems of Flaminio was published by Mancurti, one
of his countrymen, who found it necessary, or judg-
ed it proper, to omit the odes addressed to Car-
nesecchi, " lest he should incur the censure of those
who have said and written that Marcus Antonius
Flaminius was a heretic, because he cultivated the
friendship of Carneseechi."f Nor is this all ; for the

* Schelhorn, Ergotzlichkeiten, torn. i. pp. 205 — 209.

+ Flaminii Carmina, ex prelo Cominiano, 1743, p. 375. The editor,
Franciscus Maria Mancurtius, had included the odes referred to in
a former edition of the work, printed in 1727. (Schelhorn, Ergotz-
lichkeiten, tom. i. pp. 189, 191, 197. C'onf. Amcen. Hist. Eccl. torn,
ii. p. 209.) I subjoin one of the poems, from which the learned
reader will judge of the violence which the editor must have done to
his taste, when he prevailed on himself to exclude it :

Ad Petrum Carnesecum.

O dulce hospitium, O lares beati,
O mores faciles, O Atticorum
Conditse sale collocutiones,
Quain vos tegro aniino, et laborioso,
Quantis cum lacrymis miser relinquo !

296 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IX ITALY.

learned editor, in quoting from a dedication to a
former edition of the poems in which Carnesecchi
was highly praised,* suppresses his name ; forget-
ting, perhaps, that his excellent author had himself
been formerly subjected to the same unworthy treat-
ment. These facts are not irrelative to our subject.
They will suggest to the intelligent reader a train
of reflections as to the fatal influence which bigotry
and intolerance must have exerted at this time in
Italy over all that is liberal in letters or generous
in spirit. If it is only after the most laborious
search, and often in the way of catching at obscure
hints, detecting fallacious names, and cross-examin-
ing and confronting editions of the works of the
learned, that we have been able to discover much of
what we know of the Reformation and its friends in
that country, how many facts respecting them must

Cur me sseva necessitas abire,
Cur vulturflj atque oculos, jocosque suaves
Cogit linquere tam veriusti amici ?
Ah reges valeant, opesque regum,
Et quisquis potuit domos potentum
Anteponere candidi sodalis
Blandis alloquiis, facetiisque ;
Sed quanquam procul a tuis ocellis,
Jucundissime Carncsece, abibo
Regis imperium mei secutus,
Non loci tamen ulla, temporisve
Intervalla., tuos mihi lepores,
Non mors ipsa adimet. Manebo tecum,
Tecum semper ero, tibique semper
Magnam partem animtE meae relinquam,
Mellite, optime, mi venuste amice.
Schelhom, Ergotz. tom.i. p. 196-7.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 297

remain hid, or have been irrecoverably lost, in con-
sequence of the long-continued practice of such sys-
tematic suppression and combined imposture ?

We have already spoken of Aonio Paleario, *
or, according to his proper name, Antonio dalla
Paglia.f On quitting the Siennese about the year
1543, he embraced an invitation from the senate of
Lucca, where he taught the Latin classics, and act-
ed as orator to the republic on solemn occasions. To
this place he was followed by Maco Blaterone, one of
his former adversaries, a sciolist who possessed that
volubility of tongue which captivates the vulgar
ear, and whose ignorance and loquacity had been
severely chastised, but not corrected, by the satiri-
cal pen of Aretino. Lucca at that time abounded
with men of enlightened and honourable minds ;
and the genuine eloquence of Paleario, sustained by
the lofty bearing of his spirit, enabled him easily
to triumph over his unworthy rival, who, disgraced
and driven from the city, sought his revenge from
the Dominicans at Rome. By means of his friends
in the conclave, Paleario counteracted at that
time the informations of his accuser, which, liow-

* See before, p. 125, &c.

f Tiraboschi, vii. 1452. — The wretched iambics in which Latinus
Latinius charges Paleario with having renounced his baptism by
changing his Christian name, and alleges that his dropping the letter
T from it was ominous of the manner in which " the wretched
old man expiated his crimes on a gibbet," have been thought wor-
thy of a place in the Menagiana. De la Monnoye, who wrote an
epigram in Greek and Latin in opposition to them, says, " They are
so frigid that they would have quenched the flames in which Palea-
rio was consumed." (Menag. torn. i. p. 21 7. J

298 HISTORY OV THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

ever, were produced against him at a future period.*
Meanwhile, his spirit submitted with reluctance to
the drudgery of teaching languages, while his income
was insufficient for supporting the domestic esta-
blishment which his wife, who had been genteel-
ly bred, aspired to.f In these circumstances, after
remaining about ten years at Lucca, he accepted an
invitation from the senate of Milan, which conferred
on him a liberal salary, together with special im-
munities, as professor of eloquence.:]: He kept his
place in that city during seven years, though in
great perils amidst the severities practised towards
those suspected of favouring the new opinions. But
in the year 1566, while deliberating about his re-
moval to Bologna, $ he was caught in the storm
which burst on so many learned and excellent men
at the elevation of Pius V. to the pontifical chair.
Being seized by Frate Angelo de Cremona, the
inquisitor, and conveyed to Rome, he was commit-
ted to close confinement in the Torre Nona. His
book on the Benefit of Christ's death, his commend-
ations of Ochino,|| his defence of himself before the
senators at Sienna, and the suspicions which he had
incurred during his residence at that place and at
Lucca, were all revived against him. After the
whole had been collected and sifted, the charge at last

* Epistola?, lib. iii. 10, 1? : Opera Palearii, pp. 525 — 531, 550 —
554. edit. Halbaueri.

+ Epist. lib. iv. 4 : ibid. p. 563.

% Halbauer has given the diploma of the civic authorities, in his
Life of Paleario, pp. 27 — 29.

§ Tiraboschi, vii. 1454. || Palearii Opera, p. 102-3.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 299

resolved itself into the four following articles : — that
he denied purgatory ; disapproved of burying thedead
in churches, preferring the ancient Roman method
of sepulture without the walls of cities ; ridiculed
the monastic life ; and appeared to ascribe justifi-
cation solely to confidence in the mercy of God for-
giving our sins through Jesus Christ.* For holding
these opinions, he was condemned, after an im-
prisonment of three years, to be suspended on a
gibbet and his body to be given to the flames ; and
the sentence was executed on the 3d of July 1570,
in the seventieth year of his age.f A minute,
which professes to be an official document of the
Dominicans who attended him in his last mo-
ments, but which has neither names nor signa-
tures, states that Paleario died confessed and eon-
trite.:!: The testimony of such interested report-
ers, though it had been better authenticated, is
not to be implicitly received ; as it is well known
that they were accustomed to boast, without the
slightest foundation, of the conversions which they
made on such occasions. $ In the present instance

* Laderchii Annales, torn. xxii. p. 202.

t Writers have varied as to the year of his martyrdom, which
however may be considered as determined by an extract from a re-
gister kept in San Giovanni de' Fiorentini cli Roma, which was print-
ed in Novelle Letterarie dell' Anno 1715, p. 328, and reprinted by
Schelhorn. (Dissert, de Mino Celso Senensi, p. 2o-G.)

± Diss, de Mino Celso, p. 26. Tiraboschi, following Padra Lago-
marsini and Abbate Lazzeri, has adopted this opinion, but solely
on the ground referred to in the text.

§ Conringius has shown this from a variety of examples. (Pra>-
fat. ad Cassandri et Wicelii Libr. de Sacris nostri tcmporis Contro-
versiis, p. 148.)

300 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

it is contradicted by the popish continuator of the
annals of the church, who drew his materials from
the records of the inquisition, and represents Pale-
ario as dying impenitent. His words are : " When
it appeared that this son of Belial was obstinate
and refractory, and could by no means be recovered
from the darkness of error to the light of truth, he
was deservedly delivered to the fire, that, after suf-
fering its momentary pains here, he might be bound
in everlasting flames hereafter."* The unnatural and
disordered conceptions which certain persons have
of right and wrong prompt them to impart facts
which their more judicious but not less guilty as-
sociates would have concealed or coloured. To
this we owe the following account of Paleario's be-
haviour on his trial before the cardinals of the in-
quisition. " When he saw that he could produce
nothing in defence of his pravity," sa)^s the annal-
ist just quoted, " falling into a rage, he broke out
in these words : ' Seeing your eminences have so
many credible witnesses against me, it is unneces-
sary for you to give yourselves or me longer trou-
ble. I am resolved to act according to the ad-
vice of the blessed apostle Peter, when he says,
Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that
we should follow his steps ; who did no evil, nei-
ther was guile found in his mouth ; who, when he
was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered
threatened not, but committed himself to him that

* Ladcrchii Annal. torn. xx. f. 201.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 301

judgeth righteously. Proceed then to give judg-
ment— pronounce sentence on Aonio ; and thus
gratify his adversaries and fulfil your office.' "*
Instead of supposing that the person who uttered
these words was under the influence of passion,
every reader of right feeling will be disposed to ex-
claim, " Here is the patience and the faith of the
saints !" Before leaving his cell for the place of
execution, he was permitted to write two letters,
one to his wife, and another to his sons, Lampri-
dio and Fedro.f They are short, but the more af-
fecting from this very circumstance ; because it is
evident, that he was restrained by the fear of
saying any thing which, by giving offence to his
judges, might lead to the suppression of the letters,
or to the harsh treatment of his family after his
death. They testify the pious fortitude with which
he met his death, as an issue which he had long an-
ticipated and wished for, and that warmth of con-
jugal and paternal affection which breathes in all
his letters.:}: They also afford a negative proof that
the report of his recantation was unfounded ; for if
he had really changed his sentiments, would he not
have felt anxious to acquaint his family with the
fact? and if his repentance had been merely feigned,
would the monks have insisted on his noticing the
subject when they granted him permission to write ?
Paleario had, before his apprehension, taken care

* Laderchius, ut supra, f. 205.

f He left two sons and two daughters.

X The letters will be found in the Appendix.

302 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

to secure his writings against the risk of suppres-
sion, by committing them to the care of friends
whom he could trust ; and their repeated publication
in protestant countries has saved them from those
mutilations to which the works of so many of his
countrymen have been subjected. From his letters
it appears that he enjoyed the friendship and corre-
spondence of the most celebrated persons of that time
both in the church and in the republic of letters.
Among the former were cardinals Sadolet, Bembo,
Pole, Maflfei, Badia, Filonardo, and Sfondrati ; and
among the latter Flaminio, Riccio, Alciati, Vittorio,
Lampridio, and Buonamici. His poem on the Im-
mortality of the soul was received with applause by
the learned.* It is perhaps no high praise to say
of his Orations, that they placed him above all the
moderns who obtained the name of Ciceronians from
their studious imitation of the style of the Roman
orator ; but they are certainly written with much
elegance and spirit.f His Letter, addressed to the
reformers, on the council of Trent, and his Testi-
mony and Pleading against the Roman pontiffs,

* Tiraboschi, torn. vii. pp. 1454—1456. Sadolet says of it, in a
letter to Sebastian Gryphseus, " Tarn graviter, tam erudite, tam
etiam et verbis et numeris apte et eleganter tractatum esse ; nihil ut
ferme nostrorum temporum legerim, quod me in eo genere delectavit
magis." (Palearii Opera, p. 627 ; conf. p. 624.)

t Morhbffsays, " Longe aliter sonat quod Palearius scribit, quam
Longolius et alii inepti Ciceronis iinitatores." (Colleg. Epistolic.
p. 17.) Crenius has collected several testimonies to the merit of Pa-
learius. (Animad. Philolog. et Historic, part. ii. pp. 18—23. Conf.
Misccll. Groning, torn. iii. p. 92-3. Des Maizeaux, Scaligerana, &c.
torn. ii. p. 483.) A Life of Paleario is in Bayle, and in Niceron.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 303

evince a knowledge of the scriptures, soundness in
the faith, candour, and fervent zeal, worthy of a
reformer and confessor of the truth.* His tract on
the Benefit of the death of Christ was uncommonly
useful, and made a great noise at its first publica-
tion. Forty thousand copies of it were sold in the
course of six years. f It is said that cardinal Pole
had a share in composing it, and that Flaminio
wrote a defence of it ;$ and activity in circulating it
formed one of the charges on which cardinal Mo-
rone was imprisoned and Carnesecchi committed to
the flames.} When we take into consideration his

* The Letter appears to have heen written with the view of being sent
along with Ochino, when he retired from Italy ; and one copy of it was
addressed to Bucer and another to Calvin. Salig gave an account of
it, without knowing the author ; (Historie der Augspurgischen Con-
fession, torn. ii. lib. v. p. 66;) but it was published for the first time in
1737, by Schelhorn, along with a short account of the martyrdom of
the author. (Amcenit. Hist. Eccles. torn. i. pp. 425 — 462.) The other
work, entitled Testimonia et Actio in Pontifices Romanos et eorum
Asseclas, though intended also by the author to be sent across the
Alps, was first found in his hand-writing at Sienna in the year 1596,
and printed in 1606 at Leipsic. (Halbauer, Vita Palearii, p. 49.)
The only peculiar opinion which the author adopted was the unlaw-
fulness of an oath in any case, which he endeavours to support at
some length. (Opera, p. 317, &c.) When he calls marriage a sa-
crament, he appears to me merely to mean that it was a divine or sa-
cred ordinance. (Ibid. pp. 305, 315.)

f Schelhorn, Ergotzliehkeiten, torn. i. p. 27.
X Schelhorn, Amcenit. Hist. Eccl. torn. i. p. 156. Laderchii An-
nal. torn. xxii. p. 326.

§ Wolfii Lect. Memorab. torn. ii. p. 656. Schelhorn, ut supra,
torn. ii. p. 205. The only writer for two centuries, so far as I know,
who has seen this rare work is Reiderer. The proper title is : Trat-
tato utilissimo del beneficio de Giesu Christo crucifisso, verso i Chris-
tiani. Venetiis apud Bernardinum de Bindonis, Anno Do. 1543.

304 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

talents, his zeal, the utility of his writings, and the
sufferings which he endured, Paleario must be view-
ed as one of the greatest ornaments of the reformed
cause in Italy.*

A number of other excellent men suffered about
the same time with Carnesecchi and Paleario, of
whom the most noted were Julio Zannetti and Bar-
tolommeo Bartoccio.f The latter was the son of a
wealthy citizen of Castel in the duchy of Spoletto, and
imbibed the reformed doctrine from Fabrizio Tom-
massi of Gubbio, a learned young gentleman, who
was his companion in arms at the siege of Sienna, i
On returning home he zealously propagated the
truth, and made converts of several of his relations.
During a dangerous sickness by which he was at-
tacked, he refused to avail himself of the services of
the family confessor, and resisted all the arguments

(Nachrichten zur Kirchen-gelerten und Biicher-geschichte, torn. iv.
p. 121.) An answer was made to it by Ambrogio Catarino, after-
wards rewarded with an archbishopric.

* The Italian works of Paleario, printed and in MS. including some
poems, are mentioned by Tiraboschi. (Tom. vii. p. 1456.) Joannes
Matthreus Toscanus, the author of Peplus Hulioc, who was a pupil of
Paleario, composed the following verses, among others, on his mas-
ter :

Aonio Aonides Graios prompsere lepores,

Et quascunquc vctus protulit Hellas opes.
Aonio Latise tinxer-unt melle Camcense

Verba ligata modis, verba soluta modis.
Quae nee longa dies, nee (quae scelerata cremasti
Aonii corpus) perdere flamma potest,
f Thuani Hist, ad an. 1566. Mat. Flacii Catal. Test. Vcrit. ap-
pend .

% In 1555.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 305

by which the bishop of the diocese attempted to
bring him back to the catholic faith ; upon which
he was summoned, along with his companions, be-
fore the governor Paolo Vitelli. Though still weak
with the effects of his distemper, he rose in the
night time, surmounted the wall of the city by the
help of a pike, and escaped first to Sienna and af-
terwards to Venice. Having ascertained by letters
that there was no hope of his being allowed to re-
turn to his native place, or of his receiving support
from his father, except in the way of recanting his
opinions, he retired to Geneva, where he married
and became a manufacturer of silk. In the end of
the year 1567 while visiting Genoa in the course
of trade, having imprudently given his real name
to a merchant, he was apprehended by the in-
quisition. The magistrates of Geneva and Berne
sent to demand his liberation from the Genoese re-
public, but before their envoy arrived the prisoner
had been sent to Rome at the request of the pope.
After suffering an imprisonment of nearly two
years, he was sentenced to be burnt alive. The
courage which Bartocci had all along displayed did
not forsake him in the trying hour. He walked
to the place of execution with a firm step and un-
altered countenance ; and the cry, Vittoria, vittoria }
was distinctly heard from him after he was wrap-
ped in the flames.*

But it is time to bring this distressing part of
our narrative to a close. Suffice it to say, that

* Histoire des Martyrs, f. 7.57, 758.
X

306 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

during the whole of this century the prisons of the
inquisition in Italy, and particularly at Rome, were
filled with victims, including persons of noble birth,
male and female, men of letters and mechanics.
Multitudes were condemned to penance, to the gal-
leys, or other arbitrary punishments ; and from
time to time individuals were put to death. Several
of the prisoners were foreigners, who had visited
the country in the course of business or of their
travels. Englishmen were peculiarly obnoxious to
this treatment.* In the year 1595 two persons
were burnt alive in Rome, the one a native of Sile-
sia and the other of England. The latter, having
in a fit of zeal offered an indignity to the host when
it was carrying in procession, had his hand cut off
at the stake, and was then committed to the flames.
The noblemau from whose letter this fact is taken
adds in a postscript, that he had just heard that

* Hist, des Martyrs, f. 758, a. I omitted to mention in the pro-
per place, that Dr. Thomas Wilson, afterwards secretary to Queen
Elizabeth, was among the prisoners who escaped in 1559, when the
house of the inquisition was destroyed by the populace of Rome on
the death of Paul IV7. He had been apprehended in the preceding
year on account of some things contained in his books on Logic and
Rhetoric. After giving an account of this, in a preface to a new
edition of one of these works in 1560, he adds facetiously: "And
now that. I am come home, this booke is shewed me, and I am de-
sired to looke upon it and to amende it where I thought meete.
Amende it ? quoth I. Nay ; let the book first amende itself, and
make me amendes. For surely I have no cause to acknowledge it for
my booke ; bpcause I have so smarted for it. If the sonne were the
occasion of the father's imprisonment, would not the father be of-
fended with him, think you?" &c. (Art of Rhetorike, Prologue, sig.
A 5. Lond. 15S3.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 307

some other Englishmen were thrown into the inqui-
sition at Rome.* Notwithstanding all these severi-
ties, persons secretly attached to the reformed doc-
trines were to be found in that country during the
seventeenth century ; and some of our own coun-
trymen, who had been induced to expatriate them-
selves out of zeal for popery, were converted to the
protestant faith during their residence in Italy.f

* Letter from John, earl of Gowrie, dated from Padua, the
28th of November 1595, and printed in the appendix to Life of An-
drew Melville, vol. ii. p. 525-6.

t Mr. Evelyn, in his travels through Italy in 1646, met with a
Scotsman, an officer of the army, at Milan, who treated him courte-
ously, and who, together with an Irish friar, his confidant, concealed
their protestantism from dread of the inquisition. (Evelyn's Me-
moirs, vol. i. pp. 215 — 217.)

308 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

CHAPTER VI.

FOREIGN ITALIAN CHURCHES, WITH ILLUSTRA-
TIONS OF THE REFORMATION IN THE GRISONS.

An account of those exiles who left Italy from
attachment to the protestant cause forms an im-
portant branch of our undertaking. It is impor-
tant, whether we take into view the testimony
which was given to the authority of religious prin-
ciple and the reformed faith, by the fact of so many
persons quitting their homes and all that was dear
to them in obedience to its dictates ; or the loss
which their ungrateful and deluded country sus-
tained by their emigration ; or the benefits which
accrued to those countries which opened an asylum
to the unfortunate strangers, and treated them with
hospitality and fraternal regard.

It was calculated that in the year 1550 the exiles
amounted to two hundred, of whom a fourth or
fifth part were men of letters, and these not of the
meanest name.* Before the year 1559, the num-
ber had increased to eight hundred, f From that

" Vergerio, Lettere al Vescovo di Lesina : De Forta, ii. 36.
+ Busdragi Epist. ut supra, p. 322.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 309

time to the year 1568, we have ground to believe
that the increase was fully as great in proportion ;
and down to the close of that century individuals
were to be seen, after short intervals, flying to the
north, and throwing themselves on the glaciers of
the Alps to escape from the fires of the inquisition.
The settlements which the Italian refugees made
in the Grisons claim our first notice. With a few
exceptions they all visited that country in the first
instance, and a great part of them made it the
place of their permanent abode. This was chiefly
owing to its proximity to Italy, and its affording
them the best opportunities of corresponding with
the friends they had left behind them, or of grati-
fying the hope, to which exiles long fondly cling,
of revisiting their natal soil, as soon as such a
change should occur as would render this step prac-
ticable and safe. But in choosing this as a place of
residence, they must also have been influenced by
the consideration that the native tongue of the in-
habitants in the southern dependencies of the Grison
republic was Italian, while a language bearing a
near affinity to it was spoken over the greater part
of the republic itself. The affairs of the Italian
settlers in the Grisons are so interwoven with the
progress of the Reformation in that country, that
the former cannot be understood without some ac-.
count of the latter. I shall be the less scrupulous
in entering into details on this subject, because it
relates to a portion of the history of the reformed
church which is comparatively little known among

310 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

us ; for while the interesting fates of the Vaudois,
who took refuge in the Valais and Piemont, have
attracted the attention of ecclesiastical historians to
the Cottian or western range of the Alps, the Rheti-
an or eastern has been in a great measure overlooked.
To the south-east of Switzerland, in the higher
region of the Alps, where these gigantic mountains,
covered with ice and clouds, are cleft into narrow
valleys, and around the sources of the Rhine and
Inn, lies the country of the ancient Rhetians and
modern Grisons. Secluded from the rest of the
world, and occupied in feeding their cattle on the
mountains, and cultivating corn and the vine within
their more fertile valleys, the inhabitants who came
originally from Italy had preserved their ancient
language and manners, with little variation, from a
period considerably anterior to the Christian era.
During the middle ages they fell under the dominion
of the bishops of Coire, the abbots of Disentis, and a
crowd of other chiefs, ecclesiastical and secular, who
kept them in awe by means of innumerable castles, the
ruins of which are still to be seen in all parts of the
country. Worn out by the injuries which they suf-
fered from these petty tyrants, and animated by the
example which had been lately set them by their
neighbours the Swiss, the miserable inhabitants, in
the course of the fifteenth century, threw off the
yoke of their oppressors one by one ; and, having
established a popular government in their several
districts, entered into a common league for the de-
fence of their independence and rights. The Grison

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 311

league or republic consisted of a union of three dis-
tinct leagues, the Grey League, that of God's House,
and that of the Ten Jurisdictions ; each of which
was composed of a number of smaller communities,
which retained the right of managing all its internal
affairs, as well as of sending deputies to the general
diet, whose powers were extremely circumscribed.
In no nation, ancient or modern, have the princi-
ples of democracy been carried to such extent as in
the Grison republic ; and as the checks necessary to
prevent its abuse were not provided by a rude peo-
ple smarting under the recent effects of tyranny, its
form of government, according to the confession of
its own as well as foreign writers, not only created
great dissensions, but led to gross corruption and
bribery in election to offices and in the administra-
tion of justice.* Toward the beginning of the six-
teenth century, the Grison republic obtained a large
accession to their territories by the possession of the
Valteline, Chiavenna, and Bormio, fertile districts si-
tuate between the Alps and the Milanese and Ve-
netian territories.

The corruptions which had overspread the catho-
lic church before the Reformation were to be found
in the Grisons with all the aggravations arising
from the credulity of a rude people utterly ignorant
of letters. The clergy lived openly in concubinage,
figured at revels, rode about the country in complete

• De Porta, Hist. Ref. Eccl. Raet. torn. i. p. 15; ii.2G4. Zschokke,
Des Schweizerlands Geschichte, pp. 275 — 279. Id. traduit par Mon-
nard, pp. 222 — 224. Coxe's Travels in Switzerland, vol. iii. let. 85,

.'312 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

armour, and claimed and enjoyed, under a republi-
can government, a complete exemption from the
laws, even when they were guilty of the most flag-
rant crimes and outrages.* Bands of foreign priests,
furnished with bulls from the pope, continually
prowled about in search of vacant benefices ; and as
they were ignorant of the language of the country,
could do nothing but say mass in Latin. Preaching
was unknown even among the native clergy for the
most part, and when they did attempt it on the ap-
pearance of the reformers among them, their per-
formances were such as to excite at once ridicule
and pity.f In many of the communities the people
were as ignorant as brutes. Half a century after the
light of the Reformation had penetrated into the
Rhetian valleys, the government found it necessary
to issue a decree that the Roman catholic priests
should recite the Lord's prayer, apostles creed and
ten commandments for the instruction of the peo-

* In the eighteenth century this exemption continued to be enjoy-
ed in the Valteline, not only by the clergy, but also by all who pur-
chased permission from the Bishop of Como to wear a clerical dress.
(Coxe's Travels in Switzerland, vol. iii. p. 130.)

■f Theodore Schlegel, abbot of St. Luke in the city of Coire, vicar
of the diocese, and one of the acutest opponents of the Reforma-
tion, in a sermon preached by him on Christmas 1525, told the peo-
ple : " St. John was the most excellent of all the Evangelists on ac-
count of his virginity, which enabled him to write in an elevated
strain, and under divine inspiration concerning the Godhead. But,
you will say, Peter returned a good answer to the question of the
Lord, when he said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
I answer, he spoke this ex exteriore cotyectura, computatione, he had
acquired the knowledge of it from external things, when he saw him

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 313

pie. There were however a few honourable excep-
tions both among the clergy and laity.

The inhabitants of the Grisons first caught their
love of evangelical reform, as they had done their
love of civil liberty, from the Swiss. A year had
scarcely elapsed from the time that Zuingle embark-
ed in the reform of the church of Zurich, when a
schoolmaster at Coire, the capital of the league of
God's House, became his correspondent, and inform-
ed him that his name was known to many in that
country, who approved of his doctrine, and were
weary of the simony of the church of Rome.*
He soon after received a letter to the same purpose
from the Stadtvogt, or chief magistrate, of the town
of Mayenfeld within the league of the Ten Jurisdic-
tions. In the year 1524, the government of the
Grisons imitated the example of the popish can-
tons of Switzerland, who, as a means of checking
the progress of innovation, had enacted laws for
the reformation of the clergy. In a diet held at
Ilantz, the capital of the Grey League, it was de-
creed, among other articles, that parish priests should
discharge their duty in instructing the people ac-

walking on the sea and doing other wonders ; but he did not call him
the Son of God from divine inspiration, as St. John did. As the in-
carnation of Christ was brought about through the figures of the law,
the promise of the Father and the writings of the prophets, so truly
does he come into the hands of the priest in the bread in the service
of the mass; and whoever denies the latter denies also the former."
— The writer who has reported this passage adds : " May we not apply
to the preacher the adage, Among- co7vs an o.t is an abhvt ?" (C'o-
tnander ad Zuinglium, an. 1526: De Forta, i. 48.)
' De Forta, i. pp. 10— 51.

314 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

cording to the word of God ; and that, provid-
ed they failed in this or were unfit for it, the pa-
rishioners should have liberty to choose others in
their room. These regulations were evaded by
the clergy, but they were the means of fixing the
attention of the people on a subject to which they
had hitherto been indifferent, and produced unfore-
seen consequences of the greatest importance. The
first public reformation in the Grisons took place in
the years 1524 and 1525, when the inhabitants of
the valley of St. Anthony, of Flesch, and of Ma-
lantz, in the high jurisdiction of Mayenfeld,
though surrounded by powerful neighbours ad-
dicted to popery, embraced with one consent the
protestant doctrine and abolished the mass. * This
produced so great an effect, that within a short
time the new doctrine began to be preached by
priests, and was eagerly listened to by the people,
in various places throughout the three leagues.
Among these preachers, the most distinguished
were Andrew Sigfrid and Andrew Fabritz at Da-
vos, the chief town in the league of the Ten Ju-
risdictions ; and in the league of God's House,
James Tutschet or Biveron, in Upper Engadi-
na ; Philip Salutz or Gallitz, in Lower Enga-
dina ; and John Dorfman or Comander, who, in
consequence of the late regulations of the diet, had
been chosen parson of St. Martin's church in the town
of Coire.f The two last afterwards became col-

* De Porta, i. 57—68.

t Ibid. pp. 58, 59, 76—78. Ruchat, Hist, de la Reform, de la
Suisse, torn. i. p. 273- 1.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 315

leagues at Coire, and they may with propriety be
designed the joint reformers of the Grisons, having
contributed beyond all others to the advancement of
knowledge and religion in their native country.
Comander was a man of learning, sound judgment,
and warm piety. To these qualities Gallitz added
great dexterity in the management of public busi-
ness, an invincible command of temper, and uncom-
mon eloquence both in his native tongue and in
Latin.* The conversion of John Frick, parish priest
of Mayenfeld, was brought about in a singular man-
ner. Being a zealous catholic and of great note
among his brethren, he had warmly resisted the
new opinions when they first made their appear-
ance. Filled with chagrin and alarm at the progress
which he saw them making in his immediate
neighbourhood, he repaired to Rome to implore the
assistance of his holiness, and to consult on the best
method of preventing his native country from being
overrun with heresy. But he was so struck with
the irreligion which he observed in the court of
Rome, and the ignorance and vice prevailing in
Italy, that, returning home, he joined the party
which he had opposed, and became the reformer of
Mayenfeld. In his old age he used to say to his
friends pleasantly, that he learned the gospel at
Rome.f

In the mean time the clergy, aroused from the
slumbers into which they had sunk through indo-

* De Porta, i. 67, 79; ii. 278.

t Schelhorn, Amoen. Hist. Eccl. ii. 237; Ruchat, i. 27.5.

316 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

lence and the absence of all opposition, had recourse
to every means within their power in order to
check the progress of the new opinions. Bonds of
adherence to the catholic faith were exacted from
the parish priests. The most odious and horrid re-
presentations of the reformers and their tenets were
circulated among the people. Individuals belonging
to the anabaptists who had been banished from
Switzerland came to the Grisons, and laboured to
make proselvtes among the reformed by preaching
up a purer and more elevated religion than that
which was taught by Luther and Zuinglius, whom
they put on a level with the pope. The popish
clergy secretly encouraged these enthusiasts,* at
the same time that they made use of their excesses
to excite prejudice against the cause of the Reforma-

Their leader, who went by the name of Blaurok, in allusion to
the colour of his cloak, was an ex-monk of the Grisons, who had made
a great noise in Switzerland. At Zurich he said, " he would under-
take to prove that Zuinglius had offered greater violence to the scrip-
tures than the Roman pontiff himself." (Acta Senat. Tigur. apud De
Porta, ii. S6.) The following is an extract from one of his letters : —
" I am the door, he that entereth in by me shall find pasture; he that
entereth by any other way is a thief and a robber. As it is written,
' I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the
sheep,' so I give my life and my spirit for my sheep, my body to the
tower, my life to the sword, or the fire, or the wine-press to squeeze
out the blood and flesh, as Christ gave his on the cross. I am the
restorer of the baptism of Christ, and the bread of the Lord, I and
my beloved brethren Conrad Grebel and Felix Manx. Therefore
the pope, along with his followers, is a thief and a robber; and
so also are Luther with his, and Zuinglius and Leo Juda, with their
followers." (De Porta, ii. S9.) Blaurok and his associates were ba-
nished from the Grisons in the year 152S.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 317

tion. * When the general diet of the republic met
at Coire in the year 1525, the bishop and clergy
presented a formal accusation against Comander and
the other reforming preachers, praying that they
might be punished by the secular arm for propagat-
ing impious, scandalous, and seditious heresies, con-
trary to the faith of the catholic church during fif-
teen centuries, and tending to produce that rebel-
lion and outrage which had lately been witnessed
at Minister and other places. Comander having, in
the name of his brethren, declared their readiness to
vindicate the doctrine which they held against these
criminations, a day was appointed for a conference
or dispute between the two parties at Ilantz, in the
presence of certain members of the diet.f The dis-
pute which ensued added seven to the number of
the reformed preachers, who were previously above
forty ; while the articles which formed the subject
of dispute having been printed and circulated
throughout the valleys, multiplied their converts
among the laity4

In the mean time an event occurred which had
well nigh proved fatal to the reformed party. Irri-
tated by the assistance which the Orisons had given
to Francis I., the emperor and duke of Milan en-
couraged the turbulent John de Medicis, marquis
of Muss, to attack their southern territories. Hav-

* De Port3, pp. 87—92.

t Ruchat, i. 408—410. De Porta, i. 96—100.

X Ruchat, i. 410— 41G. De Porta, i. 102—130.

318 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

ing possessed himself of the castle and town of
Chiavenna, he threatened to attack the Valteline.
This obliged the republic to recall their troops from
Italy before the famous battle of Pavia ; but having
failed, after all, in recovering the castle, they had
recourse to the mediation of the Swiss cantons. The
deputies sent by the Swiss were keen Roman catholics,
and asserted that they had it in charge from their
constituents to obtain a pledge that heresy should
not be permitted to spread in the Grisons, without
which they could not co-operate in bringing the
negotiations to a favourable issue. The marquis
was ready to cover his ambitious project with the
pretext of zeal for the church, and was besides un-
der the influence of his brother, then an ecclesiastic
in the Valteline, and afterwards raised to the ponti-
fical chair under the designation of Pius IV. Avail-
ing himself of these circumstances, the bishop of
Coire prevailed on them to insert in the treaty an
article, which provided for the maintenance of the an-
cient religion and the punishment of all who refused
conformity to it. An extraordinary diet was called
to deliberate on this affair ; and so great was the in-
fluence of the bishop and mediators, together with the
anxiety of the nation to put an end to the war, that
a majority of the diet voted for the article respect-
ing religion. It was however warmly opposed by
the representatives of several districts, including
the city of Coire, which refused to affix its seal to
the decree. The manner in which the decree was
expressed seems to intimate that it partook of

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 319

the nature of an understood compromise and tem-
porary measure ; for while it provided that the
mass, auricular confession, and other rites should
be observed, it added that " along vith these the
gospel and word of God should be preached ;" and
in declaring that non-conformists should be sub-
jected to an arbitrary punishment, the diet " reserv-
ed to itself the liberty of altering its measures
upon being better informed by disputations, coun-
cils, or any other way."* The first effect of this
law was the banishment of Gallitz, whose talents
and success rendered him peculiarly obnoxious to
the abettors of popery. Several of his brethren were
also obliged to retire from the country to avoid the
processes intended against them. But the city of
Coire, in spite of their bishop, maintained Comander
in his situation ; their example was followed in
other places; and though the clergy endeavoured to
push the advantage which they had gained, they
found that a spirit was abroad in the nation too
powerful for all their efforts, even when supported
by legislative enactments. The subject was brought
before the next national diet by the report of the
commissioners appointed to attend the dispute at
Ilantz ; and after consultation it was moved and
agreed to, " That it shall be free to all persons of
both sexes, and of whatever condition or rank, with-
in the territories of the Grison confederation, to
choose, embrace, and profess either the Roman ca-

• De Porta, i. 131—134.

320 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

tholic or the Evangelical religion ; and that no
one shall, publicly or privately, harass another
with reproaches or odious speeches on account of
his religion, under an arbitrary penalty." To this
was added a renovation of a former law, " that the
ministers of religion should teach nothing to the
people but what was contained in the scriptures of
the Old and New Testament, and what they could
prove by them ; and that parish priests should be
enjoined to give themselves assiduously to the study
of the scriptures as the only rule of faith and man-
ners."*

This remarkable statute, which, whatever infrac-
tions it mayhave suffered, and whatever attempts may
have been made to overthrow it, remains to this day
the charter of religious liberty in the Grisons, was
formally sealed and solemnly confirmed by the oaths
of all the deputies at Ilantz on the 26th of June 1526,
along with a number of other regulations of great im-
portance. The power of appointing magistrates and
judges was taken from the bishop of Coire and other
ecclesiastics, and given to the people in their seve-
ral communities. Where persons had bequeathed
sums of money to churches and convents for offering
anniversary masses and prayers for their souls, both
they and their heirs were declared free from any obli-
gation to make such payments for the future, "because
no good ground could be shown for believing that this

* Ruchat, i. 41 C. De Porta, i. 146. Anabaptists and those of
other sects, if they retained and propagated their errors after due
information and admonition, were subjected to banishment.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 321

was of any benefit to the deceased." It was de-
creed that no new members, male or female, should
henceforth be admitted into monasteries ; that the
existing monks should be restrained from begging ;
and that after appropriating a certain sum for
their support during life, the remainder of the
funds should be returned to the heirs of those who
originally bestowed them, and failing them be dis-
posed of as each league thought best. The power of
choosing their respective ministers was given to
parishes.* All appeals from secular courts to the
jurisdiction of the bishop were strictly prohibit-
ed ; annats and small titles were abolished, and the
great tithes reduced to a fifth part.f

It thus appears that a great deal more was done
on this occasion by the authorities of the Grisons,
than merely recognising and sanctioning religious
liberty. A national reformation was introduced,
which so far as it went must have been attended
with the most beneficial consequences to the state,
and to individuals whether popish or protestant. The
grand principle of the protestant reformation was
in fact recognised by the legislature, when it declar-
ed the sacred scriptures to be the only rule of reli-
gion. Some of the grossest abuses of popery, and
those which draw many others after them, were abor

* The words of this article are : " Ad hinc etiam penes singulas
parochias esto suos pastores omni tempore eligendi, conducendi atque
rursusquando lubitum fucrit, dimittendi." (De Porta, i. 150.) For-
merly the bishop of Coire had the power of appointing and removing
the parish-priests throughout the whole of his diocese.

t De Porta, i. H8— 151. Ruchat, i. 416, 417.

322 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

lished. And the liberties of the Roman catholics
were secured, not only against attacks from the pro-
testants, but also against the more dangerous en-
croachments and demands of their own clergy, and
of a foreign priest who claimed dominion over both.
It is impossible to read the document on which we
are commenting without being convinced that there
were at this period in the Grisons statesmen of enlight-
ened minds and liberal principles. The historians
of that country have gratefully preserved the names
of the individuals by whom the deed was drawn up,
and through whose influence chiefly it was adopted
by the supreme council of the republic. Two of
them were distinguished above the rest — John Gul-
er, whose name often occurs in the history of his
country, and John Travers, neither of whom had at
that time joined the reformers. The latter, who be-
longed to a noble and ancient family of Zutz in Upper
Engadina, had received his education at Munich, and
improved his mind by travelling in different parts of
Europe. His abilities and learning, adorned by the
most unimpeachable integrity, secured the confidence
of his countrymen, who intrusted him with the high-
est offices of the state and the management of their
most delicate affairs. He was equally distinguished
as a soldier and a scholar, a politician and a di-
vine. The first book ever composed in the Gris-
on language came from his pen,* being a poem on
the war against the marquis of Muss, in which he

• It docs not appear that this work was printed.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 323

had himself commanded the forces of his country.
The late period at which he renounced the commu-
nion of the church of Rome was beneficial to the
reformed cause, as his colleagues in the senate, and
his countrymen at large, entertained on that account
the less jealousy of the measures which he proposed
in favour of religious liberty. After adjoining him-
self to the reformed church, he promoted its inter-
ests with the utmost zeal. As the protestant mini-
ster settled in his native city was a young man, and
met with great opposition from the principal fa-
milies of the place, Travers asked and readily ob-
tained from the ministers permission to act as assists
ant to him. The whole country was struck with as-
tonishment to see a man of such rank, and so renown-
ed for his services in the senate, the field, and foreign
courts, mount the pulpit. The Roman catholics
tried to conceal the chagrin and alarm which they
felt by circulating the report that he was mad or
in dotage; but his performances soon put to silence
these invidious and artful allegations.*

The publication of the edict in favour of religi*
ous liberty was followed by the rapid spread of the
new opinions. The formation of churches was how-

* De Porta, i. 229, 233 — 241. Coxe's Travels in Switzerland, iii,
295 — 298. — A fine letter which Gallitz addressed to him on his appli*
cation for liberty to preach, has been preserved. "O felicem terrain
qua? tales nanciscitur doctores et magistros ! — Sed quae mcdestia est
ista explodenda, imo quod facinus hoc, quod permittis tibi, petere a
nobis auctoritatem, quum fecerit opus concionandi ? Tu, inquam, qui
Rhretire nostra; primoribus auctor fuisti, vcniam nobis conccdendi ut
pradiccmus evangclium," ike.

324 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

ever slower. This proceeded partly from the plan
pursued by the first reformers, who, to use their own
expression, " sought to remove idols from the hearts
of the people before they removed them from the
churches ;" and partly from the democratical nature
of the government, which required the unanimous
or at least general concurrence of each community
previously to any change on the public worship.
In the year 1527, the mass was abolished, images
removed, and the sacrament of the supper celebrated
after the reformed mode, in St. Martin's church at
Coire, under the direction of Comander. The same
thing was done at Lavin in Lower Engadina, un-
der the direction of Gallitz ; at Davos in the Ten
Jurisdictions, under the direction of Andrew Fa-
britz ; and at Ilantz in the Grey League, under the
direction of Christian Hartman. And the example
set by these places was soon imitated by others.
The reformed religion was embraced earliest in the
league of the Ten Jurisdictions, where it soon be-
came almost universal. Within the league of God's
House it prevailed generally in the neighbourhood
of Coire, but it made little progress in Engadina and
other places to the south until 1542, when the Ita-
lian exiles arrived. In the High or Grey League
the number of its adherents was smaller.*

The reformed doctrine spread rapidly in the Gri-
sons during the six years which succeeded immedi-
ately to the declaration of religious liberty; and had

• Dc Torta, i. cap. S. Ruchat, i. 27 1, 117-8. Coxe, iii. 250—253.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 325

it continued to advance as it began, the ancient re-
ligion must soon have disappeared before it. Vari-
ous causes contributed to arrest its progress. One
of these is to be found in the languages of the coun-
try. The Rhetian, Italian, and German languages
were all spoken in the Grisons, and the inhabitants
of two adjacent valleys were often incapable of un-
derstanding one another. This of itself must have
proved a great hindrance to the communication of
knowledge at a time when the number of teachers
was small. But this was not all. The Rhetian or
Grison tongue is divided into two dialects, the Ro-
mansh and the Ladin, and there was not a single
book in either of them at the time of the Reforma-
tion. Nobody had ever seen a word written in that
tongue, and it was the common opinion that it
could not be committed to writing.* There can be
little doubt that the rapid and extensive spread of
the reformed doctrine among the inhabitants of the
Ten Jurisdictions was owing in a great degree to
their speaking the German tongue, and consequently
having access to the scriptures and other books in
their native language. The same remark applies to

• De Porta, i. 19 ; ii. 403. Coxe, iii. 294. In addition to a collec-
tion of words and phrases in Romansh, Ebel has inserted a dissertation
on the history of that language, (which he calls "la langue Hetrus-
co-Rhe'tienne,") by Placidus a Specha, capitular of Disentis. From
this it would appear that a number of old MSS. written in that lan-
guage during the middle ages were preserved, the greater part of
which, however, were destroyed when the French burnt the monas-
tery of Disentis in 1799. (Manuel du Voyageur en Suisse, torn. i.
pp. 318— 337.)

326 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

the citizens of Coire and of some other places. Those
who knew only the original language of the country,
were long; confined to oral instruction. The reformed
ministers laboured assiduously in supplying this de-
fect, and they at last practically demonstrated the fal-
lacy of an ignorant prejudice which the priests had
eagerly cherished in the minds of the people. In this
respect their country is under unspeakable obligations
to them. Other nations owe their literature to the
Reformation ; the Grisons are indebted to it for
their alphabet. But a number of years elapsed be-
fore the preachers, occupied with other labours
and straitened in their finances, could bring their
writings from the press, and by that time the de-
sire for knowledge which the first promulgation
of the reformed doctrines had excited must have
been in some degree worn off from the minds of
the people. A translation of Comander's German
catechism into the Ladin by James Tutchet or Bi-
veroni, printed at Puschiavo in the year 1552, was
the first work which had appeared in the Rhetian
language. " At the sight of this work," says a his-
torian then alive, " the Grisons stood amazed, like
the Israelites of old at the sight of the manna." Bive-
roni printed, in 1560, his translation of the New
Testament into the same language, which was fol-
lowed in 1562 by a metrical version of the Psalms,
and a collection of hymns, composed by Ulrich Cam-
pel.*

* De Porta, ii. 404 — 407. The Bible was published in the Ladin of
Lower Engadina, for the first time, in 1679; and in the Romansh
of the Grey League bo late as 1718. (Coxe, iii. 301—304.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 327

Another cause was the poverty of the pastors,
which inflicted a lasting injury on the reformed
church.* "While the popish priests possessed for
the most part the tythes, beside what they gained
by private masses and confessions, the protestant
ministers received a small stipend from their congre-
gations, and in many cases were reduced to the ne-
cessity of supporting themselves by manual labour.
Gallitz, a man of liberal education, states, in one of
his familiar letters, that he and his family had been
for two years in great straits, were obliged to sleep
during the night in the clothes which they wore
through the day, seldom tasted flesh, were often
without bread, and for weeks together lived solely
on vegetables seasoned with salt. Yet he trained his
son for the church ; and when the young man had an
advantageous offer made him during his attendance
at the academy of Basle, his father declared it would
be impiety in him to accept it when there were so few
capable of preaching to his countrymen in their na-
tive language.f But it was not to be expected that
the first reformers would be succeeded by per-
sons of the same nobility of mind. The con-
sequence was, that the people in many parts
of the country remained destitute of pastors, or

* In Travellers Guides through the Grisons it is to this day a
common direction, " If the town to which you come be catholic, call
for the cure of the parish, who will entertain you hospitably ; if it
be protestant, you may ask for the pastor, who will direct you to the
best inn, for the salaries of the pastors are so sorry, and their houses
so bad, that, however willing, they cannot show hospitality."

f De Porta, i. 181, 186, 187.

328 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

were induced to receive illiterate persons of low
character, who disgraced their office by their mean-
ness or their vices. " Assuredly," says the excel-
lent man last mentioned, " covetous persons are
most cruel to themselves, while they choose rather
to be without good pastors than to be at the expense
of maintaining them. O the ingratitude of men,
who a little ago cheerfully gave a hundred crowns
for teaching lies, and now grudge to give twenty
for preaching the truth !" * — Another radical defect
of the Grison reformation consisted in neglecting
entirely to provide the means of education for youth.
This the reformed ministers exerted themselves to
remedy, and they succeeded at last, not only in pro-
viding parochial teachers for the chief towns, but
in persuading the legislature to appropriate the re-
siduary funds of such of the monasteries as were
suppressed to the establishment of a national semi-
nary at Coire. f These evils arose from or were ag-
gravated by the political state of the country. Proud
of their liberty, the Grisons were weakly jealous of
those common measures which were in fact neces-
sary to preserve it ; while they roamed about their
valleys without control they forgot that savages
are free; and pleased to hear their mountains re-echo
the votes which they gave at the election of a mu-
nicipal landammarii or of a deputy to the diet, they

* Gallicius ad Bullingerum, 6 Mart. 1553: De Porta, i. 180.

t This academy was opened in the year 1542; the individual first
placed at the head of it was John Pontisella, a native of Pregalia, for
whom Bullinger, at the request of the Grison reformers, had obtained
a gratuitous education at Zurich. (Ibid. i. 187, 192 — 197.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 329

did not perceive that their voices were in reality at
the command of a few men of superior intelligence,
many of whom had sold themselves, and would sell
them to the highest bidder. Foreign princes had their
constant pensioners in the Grisons ; the chief states-
men were secretly in the interest either of the emperor
or of the king of F ranee ; and between the two fac-
tions the country was at once distracted, corrupted,
and betrayed. Next to his labours in reforming re-
ligion, Zuingle is entitled to immortal praise for de-
nouncing, at the expense of incurring the odium of
his countrymen, the practice of hiring themselves out
as mercenaries to fight the battles of foreign princes.
The Orison reformers imitated his example and they
met his reward : their countrymen, imagining that
they were hirelings like themselves, punished them
by reducing their stipends. *

The churches in the Grisons were organized in
the same manner as those in the protestant cantons
of Switzerland, as to government as well as doc-
trine and worship. From the beginning congre-
gations had their consistories. To these were add-
ed, probably at a later period, colloquies or presby-

* In answer to a letter from Bullinger, (Feb. 18, 1544,) dissuading
him from leaving his station at Coire, Comander writes: " Another rea-
son is, that six years ago, when I opposed myself to the worthless pen-
sioners in a sermon, as I was in duty bound to do, I excited their rage
against me, and they took away thirty-three florins from my benefice,
which was before sufficiently small. Hitherto I have digested this
injury, and have supplied the deficiency from my own and my wife's
fortune; but if I continue to do this much longer, my children must
be reduced to beggary after my death." (De Porta, i. 183; conf.
p. 256.)

330 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

teries, of which there were two in each league. The
pastors were accustomed to meet together occasion-
ally for consultation about the common interests of
the reformed body, for examining and ordaining can-
didates for the ministry, and for rectifying the disor-
ders which occurred. But these meetings were vo-
luntary, and their determinations were given out in
the form of advices. The report having gone
abroad that a great scarcity of preachers was felt
in the Grisons, numbers flocked into the country
from Switzerland and Germany, pretending to be
preachers, although they were both illiterate and of
disreputable character. Repairing to the valleys,
they insinuated themselves into the affections of
the country people, and having clandestinely con-
cluded a bargain with them to serve their churches
for a small sum of money, behaved in such a man-
ner as to open the mouths of the Roman catholics,
and bring great discredit on the evangelical cause.
To remedy this evil the ministers applied to the
diet of the republic for their sanction to the holding
of a national synod, which should have power to
call to account those who had come from foreign
parts, inquire into their qualifications and exact
from them certificates of character, to examine all
who should afterwards be admitted to the ministry,
watch over their conduct, censure the disorderly,
and in general to preserve the order and promote
the edification of the whole reformed body. This
petition was granted by the diet on the 14th of
January 1537, and from that time the synod was

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 331

held regularly every year in the month of June,
when the passage across the mountains was easiest.*

Such was the state of the reformed churches in the
Grisons, when the exiles from Italy first made their
appearance in that country. The encouragement
presented to them, in a worldly point of view, was
certainly not flattering. But they had come seeking
a refuge, not a fortune. They had left a land flowing
with milk and honey ; what they wanted was a land
of religious liberty, and in which there was not a fa-
mine of hearing the word of God. They were re-
ceived in a very different manner from the vagrants
formerly mentioned. The tale of their distress had
arrived before them, and their sufferings were held
to be sufficient testimonials.

Their first arrival in the country produced an im-
pression highly favourable to the interests of the
Reformation. The very sight of so many persons,
many of them illustrious for birth, learning, and
rank, civil and ecclesiastical, who had voluntarily
renounced their honours and estates, left their
dearest friends,f and encountered poverty with all

" De Porta, i. 188—192.

f Julio de Milano, writing to Bullinger, from Tirano in the Val-
teline, 23d June 1352, says: "The circumstances of the person
who will deliver you this letter arc as follows. God has permitted
his two sons to be thrown into prison for confessing Christ, and they
will soon either suffer martyrdom or be condemned for life to the gal-
leys. They have wives and thirteen children, the eldest of whom,
who may be about thirteen years of age, accompanies the unfortunate
old man. Do something to prevent this family from perishing with
want." (Ibid. ii. H5.)

332 HISTORY OP THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

the other hardships attendant on exile, rather than
do violence to their consciences, while it esta-
blished the protestants in the doctrine which they
had embraced, struck the minds of their adver-
saries with amazement, and forced on the most
reluctant the suspicion that such sacrifices could
not have been made for no reason. No sooner did
the exiles find themselves safe than they detailed the
cruelties of the inquisition, and laid open the arts
of the court of Rome, with the ignorance, supersti-
tion, and vice which reigned in it. They dwelt with
enthusiasm on the liberty of conscience and the pure
preaching of the gospel enjoyed in the Grisons.
They grudged no labour in communicating instruc-
tion privately and publiclv wherever an opportunity
offered, by which means they gained many souls
to Christ, especially among those who spoke Italian.
Some of them made themselves masters of the lan-
guage of the country, so as to be able within a short
time to preach to the inhabitants. They made at-
tempts, and often successfully, to preach in parts of
the country from which the native ministers deem-
ed it prudent to abstain ; and in every place in which
they remained for any time, new churches were sure
to spring up.*

Bartolommeo Maturo arrived in the Grisons at a
much earlier period than any of his countrymen.
He had been prior of a Dominican convent at Cre-
mona, and being disgusted at the lives of the monks
and the fictitious miracles by which they deluded

* De Porta, ii. 36, 37.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 333

the people, he threw off the cowl and left Italy.
Having preached the reformed doctrines in the Val-
teline he was accused to the diet which met at Ilantz
in 1529, and had sentence of banishment passed
against him. But he was taken under the protection
of one of the deputies, and conducted to Pregalia,
where he commenced preaching with success. From
that place he went into the neighbouring district of
Engadina, where Gallitz had hitherto gained very
little ground on account of the determined hostility
of the most powerful inhabitants. The first appear-
ance of Maturo threatened a tumult, but he perse-
vered, and the matter being referred to the suffrages
of the community, he obtained a majority in his fa-
vour, and preached openly before the eyes of those
who in the late diet had voted for his banishment.*
Returning to Pregalia, he undertook the pastoral
charge of Vico Soprano and Stampa, where he con-
tinued until 1547, and died a pastor in the valley of
Tomliasco.t

Soon after Maturo's removal, Vico Soprano ob-
tained for its pastor the celebrated Vergerio. It is true
the bishop did not distinguish himself by observing
the law of residence, having frequently visited the
Valteline, beside the journeys which he undertook
into Switzerland and Germany, during the period in
which he held this cure. I Some allowance must how-

• Ruchat, ii. 458, 459. + De Porta, i. 158; ii. 14, 27—30.

X De Porta says that at this time Vergerio drew the yearly stipend
of 150 crowns, as ordinary pastor of Vico Soprano, (ii. 46.)

33<4 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

ever be made for the habits of a man who had been
accustomed all his life to a change of scene and em-
ployments. Besides, he was never idle ; and con-
sidering the state of the country at that time,
he perhaps did more good by his preaching ex-t
cursions than he could have done by confining him-
self to a parish. The stateliness of his figure, his
eloquence, and the rank which he had lately held
in the papal church, conspired in fixing the eyes of
the public upon him ; and persons of all classes were
anxious to see and hear a man who had repeatedly
sustained the office of ambassador from the court of
Rome, was supposed to be acquainted with all its se-
crets, and was not scrupulous about divulging what
he knew. In returning from one of his visits to the
Valteline he lodged a night at Pontresina, a town si-
tuate on the northern base of mount Bernino. It
happened that the parish priest had died that day,
and the inhabitants assembled in the evening at the
inn to converse with the landlord, who was judge of
the village, about choosing a successor. After
engaging their attention by conversing on the sub-
ject which had called them together, Vergerio ask-
ed them if they would not hear a sermon from him.
The greater part objecting to this, " Come," said
the judge, " let us hear what this new-come Ita-
lian will say." So highly gratified were the people
with his sermon, that they insisted on his preaching
to them again before his departure. Accordingly
he did preach next day to a crowded audience on the
merits of Christ's death and justification, with such

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 335

effect that the inhabitants soon after agreed harmo-
niously in abolishing the mass and giving a call to a
protestant minister. Having preached, during one
of his short excursions, in the town of Casauccia,
at the foot of mount Maloggia, all the images in
the church of St. Gaudentius were thrown down
during the following night ; and the same thing
happened after a visit which he paid to Samada.
An accusation was brought against him for instigat-
ing these disorderly practices, but he was acquit-
ted.* His countrymen were no less diligent in plant-
ing and watering churches in that part of the coun-
try. In general, it appears that the greater part of
the important districts of Upper and Lower Enga-
dina, and the whole of Pregalia, a district lying on
the southern declivity of the Alps, were reformed by
means of the Italian refugees. This took place be-
tween 1542 and 1552, and from that time the pro-
testants became decidedly the majority, compre-
hending the greater part of the population as well
as the wealth of the republic, f

* De Porta, i. 231, 232 ; ii. 46, 47.

■f Castanet was reformed by Jeronimo Ferlino, a Sicilian, who was
succeeded as pastor by Agostino, a Venetian, Giovanni Batista, a na-
tive of Vicenza, &c. Jeronimo Turriano of Cremona was the first
minister of Bondo, which enjoyed a succession of Italian ministers.
Bevers was reformed by Pietro Parisotti of Bergamo ; and Siglio by
Giovanni Francesco, who had for successor Antonio Cortesio of Brcs-
jcia. Bartolommeo Sylvio of Cremona was pastor at Pontresina; and Leo-
nardo Eremita and a number of his countrymen were successively pas-
tors in Casauccia. Vettan was reformed by an Italian named F.vandro,
who was succeeded by Francesco Calabro. (Ibid. i. 226, 232, 233 ; ii.
16—48.)

33G HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

But the principal scene of the labours of the refu-
gees was in the provinces subject to the republic, and
situate between the Alps and Italy. These consisted
of the Valteline, a rich, beautiful, and populous val-
ley, fifty miles long and from twelve to fifteen
broad ; the county of Chiavenna, which forms the
point of communication for the trade between Italy
and Germany ; and the county of Bormio. To these
may be added the valley of Puschiavo, a jurisdiction
or community within the republic, and lying to the
north of the Valteline, In all these districts the
language spoken by the inhabitants was Italian.
From the time that the new opinions began to pre-
vail in the Grisons, the attention of the court of Rome
was directed to this quarter, and precautionary
measures were adopted to prevent them from spread-
ing into Italy. As early as 1523, the bishop of Co-
mo sent a friar named Modesta into the Valteline to
make inquisition after heretics, but the inhabitants
were so incensed at the extortion of which he was
guilty that they forced him to depart, and a decree
was passed that no inquisitor should afterwards be
allowed to enter that territory. The reformed opin-
ions were brought across the Alps by inhabitants
of the Grisons who came to reside in the Valteline
for the purpose of trade, or on account of the mild-
ness of the climate ; and subsequently to the decla-
ration of religious liberty by the diet, it was na-
tural for them to think that they had a right to pro-
fess in the subject states that religion which had
been authorized within the bounds of the governing

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 337

country.* The increase of their numbers, particular-
ly at Chiavenna, where they were joined by some of
the principal families, alarmed the priests. They
durst not attack the persons or property of the ob-
jects of their hatred, for fear of being called to ac-
count by the public authorities, but every thing short
of force was employed to intimidate and distress
them. The minds of the people were inflamed by the
most violent invectives against the Lutheran heresies
from the pulpit ; and recourse was had to arts of a
still worse description. A simple maid was decoyed
into the belief that the Virgin Mary had appeared
to her and given her a charge to acquaint the in-
habitants of Chiavenna, that heaven, provoked by
the encouragement given to heresy, was about to
visit the place with an awful calamity, unless
the heretics were speedily exterminated. Proces-
sions, accompanied with fasting and prayers, were
immediately proclaimed and observed with great
solemnity in the town and surrounding villages,
and every thing tended to some violent explo-
sion of popular hatred against the protestants. But,
in consequence of a judicial investigation, it was
found that the whole affair had originated in the
wicked device of a parish priest to gratify his lust,
at the same time that he testified his zeal for the
catholic faith, f The detection of this imposture,
under a governor who was unsuspected of any lean-
ing to the new opinions, together with the subse-
quent conviction of some other priests of notorious

* De Porta, ii. I. t \b. ii. 15—20.

338 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

crimes, silenced the clergy, and contributed to check
the delusions under which the minds of the people
had fallen.*

The greater part of the learned Italians who fled
to the Valteline between 1540 and 1543, after re-
freshing themselves from the fatigues of their jour-
ney, crossed the Alps. But a considerable number
of them were induced to remain by the pleasantness
of the country, the importunity of some of the prin-
cipal inhabitants who were anxious to have the
benefit of their private instructions, and the pros-
pect which they had of being useful among a peo-
ple who were entirely destitute of the means of
religious knowledge. Among these was Agostino
Mainardi, a Piemontese, and an Augustinian monk.
Having been thrown into prison in the town of
Asti for maintaining certain propositions contrary
to the received faith, he was liberated upon the
explications which he gave, and went to Italy.
At Pa via and other places he acquired great repu-
tation by his preaching and disputing in behalf of
the truth ; and after escaping repeatedly the snares
laid for his life, was obliged at last to betake him-
self to flight. His learning, mildness, and prudence
qualified him for the difficult situation in which he
was now placed, f Julio da Milano, a secular priest,
and doctor of theology, who had escaped from the
imprisonment into which he had been thrown at Ve-

" De Porta, ii. 20, 21.

t Raynaldi Annates ad an. 1535. Celio Secundo Curio, De am-
plitudine regni Dei, p. 15. Museum Helvet. apud Gerdesii Ital. Re-
form, p. 300. Schelhom, Ergotz. torn. ii. p. 16.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 339

nice,* proved a zealous and able coadjutor to Main-
ardi. They were joined by Camillo, a native of
Sicily, who, on embracing the protestant doctrine,
took the name of Renato ; and by Francesco Negri of
Bassano, who is known as the author of several books
against the church of Rome which had an extensive
circulation at the time of their publication.! The

* Following Gerdes, (Italia Ref. pp. 279, 280,) I have confounded
this person with Julio Terenziano. (See before, pp. 191, 197.) They
were different individuals. Fueslin has published a letter from Ju-
lius Terenlianus, and another from Julius Mcdiolariensis.. (Epistolas
Ref. pp. 304, 353.) The former, according to Simler, continued with
Martyr from the time he left Italy till his death. (Vita Martyris,
sig. b iiij.) He was with him in England in 1548 r,nd 1553, retired
with him to Strasburg in the end of that year, and was still with
him in 1558 at Zurich. (Serin. Antiq. torn. iv. pp. 6G4, 667, 674.
Fueslin, pp. 313, 318.) But Julius Mediolanensis was in the neigh-
bourhood of Chiavenna during all that period. (Fueslin, p. 359. De
Porta, ii. 30, 40.) Argelati, in his Bibl. Script. Medici., as quoted by
Tiraboschi, (Storia, vii. p. 383,) says that some sermons by " Giulio
Terenziano da Milano" were printed at Venice ; but I suspect that
these learned writers have mistaken the real author, and that the ser-
mons, as well as the work vhich appeared under the concealed name
of Girolamo Savonese, were the production, not of Giulio Terenziano,
but of Giulio da Milano.

+ Bock, Hist. Antitrin. torn. ii. p. 482. Beside the work formerly
mentioned, (p. 276,) Negri was the author of Tragedia di libe?-o ar-
bitrio, which Fontanini characterizes as " empia c diabolica," and
from which Schelhorn has gi\ en extracts. (Ergotzlichkeiten, torn. ii.
pp. 29 — 31.) Verci has given an account of his writings; and the do-
cuments which he has produced refute the opinion of Quadrio and
others, that Negri was a native of Lovero in the Valteline. (Scrittori
Bassan. i. 60: Tiraboschi, vii. 383.) " Antonius Nigrus, medicus,"
is mentioned, as having come from Italy, by Melanchthon. (Epist.
col. 719.) And " Theobaldus Nigrus" is spoken of, as at Strasburg
in 1551, by Martyr. (Loc. Commun. p. 763.)

340 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

two last were not preachers, as has been erroneous-
ly stated by some writers,* but confined themselves
to the teaching of youth. Camillo had under his
charge the sons of several of the principal gentry,
and took up his residence at Caspan in the Valteline,
while Negri fixed his abode at Chiavenna.f To them
may be added Francesco Stancari, a native of Man-
tua, who remained some time in the Valteline, and
commenced teaching the Hebrew language, of which,
before he left his native country, he had been pro-
fessor at Terra di Spilimbergo, in the province of
Friuli.i

Among the distinguished citizens of the Grisons
who resided in Chiavenna was Hercules a Salice or
de Salis, the descendant of a noble family, who had
already gained great reputation as a soldier, and af-
terwards rose to the first employments in the repub-
lic. He entertained Mainardi, who pleased him and
the friends who frequented his house so highly, that
they determined to have the obstacles which stood
in the way of his remaining with them removed.
The zealous Roman catholics insisted that it was a
fundamental law of the democracy, that no religious
service could be set up or observed in any commu-
nity, town ir village, without the formal permission
of the majority of the inhabitants. The protectants

* Fuesliu, Epist. Ref. p. 254. Gerdesii Italia Kef. p. 307.
t De Porta, i. 197 ; ii. 45.

* Ibid. p. 1^7. Tirabosehi, vii. 10S7.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 341

pleaded the liberty which had been granted to use the
reformed worship within the republic. De Salis
brought the affair before the national diet held at
Davos in the year 1544, which determined that it
should be lawful to such as embraced the evangeli-
cal religion in the Yalteline, Chiavenna, and other
places within the dominions of the Grisons, to enter-
tain and keep privately teachers and schoolmasters
for the spiritual instruction of their families ; and
that those who had fled from their native country
on account of that religion should be permitted to
settle in any part of the Grison territory, upon sub-
scribing the received protestant confession and giv-
ing such other securities as the laws required. * In
consequence of this law, Mainardi was established
as pastor of the flock which had already been ga-
thered by his private instructions at Chiavenna. To
this congregation De Salis gave his chapel, called
Santa Maria del Paterino, together with a house,
garden and salary to the minister. It increased
rapidly, and great care was afterwards taken to pro-
vide Chiavenna with learned pastors.f

About the same time, Julio da Milano, after
preaching with great success in Lower Engadina,
founded a congregation at Puschiavo which enjoyed

* De Porta, ii. 37, 38.

+ .Mainardi was succeeded by the celebrated Jeronimo Zanchi, who
had Simone Florillo, a Neapolitan, for his colleague ; after whom
Scipione Lentulo of Naples, and Ottaviano Meio of Lucca, successive-
ly occupied this important post. (Zanchii Epist. lib. ii. p. 376. De
Porta, ii. 40— .54.)

342 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITAEY.

his ministry for nearly thirty years, and con-
tinned long to be one of the most flourishing
churches in the republic. Julio also laid the foun-
dation of a number of churches in his neighbour-
hood. * About the time of his death, which hap-
pened soon after 1571, an able successor was provid-
ed for him by the opportune arrival of Cesare Gaf-
fori, a native of Piacenza, who had been guardian
of the Franciscans, f The first printing press in
the Grisons was erected in the town of Puschiavo
by Rodolfino Landolfo, the descendant of a noble
family in that place, who expended a large sum on
the undertaking. It contributed greatly to the illu-
mination of the country, but was very annoying to
the Roman catholics ; and in 1561 the pope and
king of Spain made a demand for its suppression
as a nuisance, with which however the diet did not
think proper to comply4

The church of Caspan was the first fruits of the
Valteline, having, so early as the year 1546, met
for worship in a house provided by the Paravi-

* Brusio, Ponteilla, Prada, Meschin, and Piuri or Plurs were all in
a short time provided with pastors from among the Italian refugees.
(Schelhorn, Dissert, de Mino Celso Senensi, pp. 34, 46. De Porta,
torn. ii. part. ii. p. 179.) The village of Plurs was overwhelmed in
the year 1618 by the falling of mount Conto, on which occasion all
the inhabitants, to the number of more than 2000, were buried in the
ruins, with the exception of three individuals, who happened at the
time to be in the fields. (Ebel, Manuel du Voyageur en Suisse, torn,
ii. pp. 390, 391.)

t De Porta, ii. 40, 41.

t Ebel, torn. iv. p. 53.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 343

cini, one of the most honourable families in that
country. It was, however, nearly ruined by the
imprudence of an individual belonging to the fa-
mily to which it owed its erection. A crucifix
having been found broken in one of the churches,
the clergy directed the suspicions of the inflamed
populace against the protestant minister, who, on
being arraigned and put to the rack, was made to
confess that he had committed the sacrilegious deed.
On being liberated from confinement he repaired to
Coire, and protesting that the extremity of the tor-
ture had wrung from him the confession of a crime
in which he had no participation, demanded a fair
trial. On examination it was found that the out-
rage on the crucifix had been committed by Barto-
lommeo Paravicino, a boy of thirteen, on the night
before he set out for the university at Zurich.
But though the innocence of the minister was clear-
ed, so strong were the prejudices of the Roman
catholics, that it was not judged prudent to permit
him to return to Caspan, and his congregation was
directed to choose another pastor in his room. *
Teglio, the chief town of the most populous district
in the Valteline, obtained for its pastor the pious
and learned Paolo Gaddio, a native of the Cre-
monese, who, after visiting Geneva, had acted as
a temporary assistant to the venerable pastor of
Puschiavo. f Sondrio, which was the seat of the

* De Porta, ii. 41—44.

+ Fueslin, p. 359. Zanchii Opera, torn. vii. p. 4.

344 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

government, enjoyed for some time the labours of
Scipione Lentulo, a learned Neapolitan, who had
devoted himself to the service of the Waldensian
churches in the valleys of Lucerna and Angrogna,
and been exposed to the severe persecution which
they suffered in 1560 and 1561 from Emanuel Phi-
libert, duke of Savoy. * His talents and learning
were of the greatest utility to the reformed cause
during his residence at Sondrio, and afterwards at
Chiavenna. f Churches were also erected in a
number of other places in the Valteline ; ^ and they
spread subsequently into the county of Bormio.§
Upon the whole, the number of protestant churches
to the south of the Alps appears to have exceeded
twenty, which were all served, and continued till
the end of the sixteenth century to be for the most
part served, by exiles from Italy.

I have brought into one view what concerns the
formation of Italian churches in this part of the
country; but it was after a considerable interval, and
the most violent opposition, that permission was ob-
tained to erect the greater part of them. No soon-
er did the priests perceive the success of the re-

* Leger has inserted an account of the deliverance of the Waldenses,
in a letter from Lentulus to an illustrious person at Geneva. (Hist,
des Eglises Vaudoises, torn. ii. pp. 34 — 36.)

t Gerdesii Ital. Ref. pp. 281—28*. De Porta, ii. 335, 495—500.

J Those of Tirano, Rovoledo, Mellio, Morbegno, and Dubino, are
particularly mentioned.

§ Coxe, iii. 102. De Porta, ii. 286, 287.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 345

formed doctrine at Chiavenna and Caspan, than
thev began to exclaim against the edict of 1544.
Not being able, with any decency, to object to the
first part of it, they directed their invectives against
the liberty which it granted to the Italian exiles to
settle among them, exclaiming that it was disgrace-
ful to the republic of the Grisons to give entertain-
ment to banditti, (as they called them,) whom
other Christian princes and states had expelled
from their dominions. The popular mind was still
farther inflamed by a crowd of monks who came
from the Milanese, and especially by Capuchins
sent by the bishop of Como, who in the fanatical
harangues which they delivered during the time of
Lent did all but exhort the people to rebel against
their rulers. Failing in their applications to the
diet for a repeal of the obnoxious edict, the oppo-
nents of the Reformation had recourse to the local
government. In the year 1551 a petition was
presented, demanding that it should be declared,
agreeably to the spirit of an ancient law, that no
exile or evangelical preacher should be permitted to
remain above three days in the Valteline. Antho-
ny de Planta, the governor, was a protestant ; but
dreading, from the irritated feelings of the popu-
lace, a massacre of the refugees, he gave his con-
sent to the measure. In consequence of this, the
preachers were obliged to retire for a time to Chia-
venna ; and several distinguished individuals, both
male and female, among whom were count Celso

346 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

Martinengho and Isabella Manricha, prepared to
remove into Switzerland.* The diet was highly
offended at these illegal and disorderly proceedings,
but contented itself with renewing in 1552 its for-
mer edict, and charging the governor and vicar of
the Valteline to see it strictly observed.

The firmness of the government repressed, with-
out allaying, the hostility of those who had gained
the command over the passions of the Roman ca-
tholics, which burst forth on the slightest occasions
in acts of violence against the protestant preachers.
They felt a strong hatred and dread of Vergerio, and
during a visit which he paid to the Valteline in 1553,
a deputation waited on the governor and insisted on
the instant banishment of the bishop, adding, that if
their demand was not complied with, " they would
not be answerable for the scandals which might
ensue." Understanding the meaning of this threat,
Vergerio agreed voluntarily to retire ; " for," says he,
" they meant to oppose me with the dagger, and
pistol and poison." One of the basest methods

* De Porta, ii. 50. Frederic de Salis writes, June 20, 1559, that
Isabella Manricha (see before, p. 160) was still at Chiavenna waiting
for her household, and uncertain whether to remain in that place or
to remove elsewhere. (Ibid. p. 343; conf. p. 170.) Annibale Caro ad-
dressed a letter from Rome, April 27, 1548, to this lady, who was
then at Naples. There are four letters by the same learned man to
her son George Manricha, from the last of which it appears that this
young man was at Milan on the 18th of June 1562. (Lettere Famil.
del Commendatore Annibal Caro, tomo i. pp 269, 270, 293; ii. 16,
279. edit. 1572.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 347

adopted by the monkish trumpeters of sedition,
was to impress on the minds of their hearers that
it was unlawful for true catholics to hold civil in-
tercourse with heretics, or to live with them as
masters or servants, husbands or wives ; by which
means they disturbed the peace and broke up the har-
mony of some of the principal families in the coun-
try. A Dominican monk of Cremona, named Fra
Angelo, declaiming from the pulpit at Teglio dur-
ing the festival of Easter 1556, accused the rulers
of the Grisons of listening to heretical teachers, and
gave a formal challenge to any of the evangelical
party, offering to prove from the scriptures that
those who refused the mass were diabolical he-
retics, and that their spouses were not legitimate
wives, but worse than strumpets. On leaving
the church the infuriated audience rushed to the
protestant place of worship, attacked Gaddio the
pastor, and wounded several of the protestants
who attempted to defend him. Instead of call-
ing Angelo to account for instigating this tu-
mult, the Grison government invited him to Coire
to maintain the dispute which he had provoked ;
but, although offered a safe-conduct, he refused to
make his appearance, and orders being afterwards
issued to apprehend him, he made his escape into
Italy. The procurator who appeared for those
who had been active in the riot, did not deny that
it was caused by the monks, and had the effrontery
to declare before the judges appointed to examine

348 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

the affair, " that there would never be quietness in
the republic until that religion of the devil (the
protestant) was exterminated." Yet so forbearing
was the government, that it not only passed over
the tumult with impunity, but sacrificing private
interests, and in some degree the character of the
innocent sufferers, to public peace, agreed that
Gaddio should remove to another place, although
his congregation earnestly petitioned for his being
allowed to continue with them.*

This lenity was entirely thrown away on the
enemies of the protestants both within and without
the republic. At the very time that the govern-
ment was labouring to allay animosities, two bro-
thers, Francesco and Alessandro Bellinchetti, were
seized in Italy. They were natives of Bergamo,
who, on embracing the reformed religion, had re-
tired into the Grisons and settled in the village of
Bergun at the foot of mount Albula, where they
wrought an iron mine. Having paid a visit to their
native place, they were thrown into the inquisition,
and proceeded against on a charge of heresy. On
hearing of this the authorities of the Grisons im-
mediately sent an ambassador to demand their libe-
ration as citizens of the republic; and as the magis-
trates of Bergamo and the senate of Venice referred
them to the inquisitors, they wrote to the prior of
the Dominican monastery at Morbegno in the Valte-

• De Porta, ii. U7— 119, 264—272.

HISTOllY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 349

line to use his influence with his brethren to ob-
tain the release of the prisoners ; but he paid no re-
gard to the application. Upon this the diet met and
came to a peremptory resolution, that if the two
brothers were not released within the space of a
month, all the Dominicans within the territories of
the three leagues should be banished, and the pro-
perty of the monastery of Morbegno, movable and
immovable, forfeited and applied to the relief of
the poor or to other pious uses. An extract of this
deed being sent to the prior, the prisoners were im-
mediately set at liberty.*

In the mean time the foreign monks who in-
vaded the Valteline, confiding in the support
of their governments, became every day bolder
in their invectives and machinations against the
public peace. Through their influence persons of
the first respectability for birth, probity and talents
were not only excluded from civil offices, but deni-
ed the rites of sepulture, prevented from building
places of worship, and exposed to every species of
insult. Seeing no end to this illegal and degrading
oppression, they at last resolved on laying their grie-
vances formally before the government. Aware of
the justice of their complaints, impressed with the
equity of extending to the subject states that reli-
gious liberty which had been found so advantageous
to the governing country, perceiving that the threats

* De Porta, ii. 272, 273.

350 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

of strangers were heard above the voice of the law
in their southern dominions, and convinced that it
was high time to adopt decisive measures unless
they chose to allow their authority to sink into ab-
solute contempt, the diet, which met at Ilantz in
the beginning of the year 1557, unanimously adopt-
ed the following decree, which, being ratified by the
several communities, was enrolled among the fun-
damental and standing laws of the republic. It was
decreed, that it should be lawful to preach the sacred
word of God and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
in all places belonging to the Valteline, and to the coun-
ties of Chiavenna, Bormio, and Teglio ; that in those
villages in which there was a plurality of churches,
the Roman catholics should have their choice of one,
and the other should be given to the protestants ;
that in any village in which there was only one
church, the Roman catholics should have the privi-
lege of using it in the former part of the day, and
the protestants in the latter ; that each party should
be allowed to perform all the parts of their worship,
and to bury their dead, without opposition from the
other; that the professors of the protestant faith
should enjoy all honours and be admissible to all
offices equally with their fellow-subjects ; that no
foreign monk or presbyter, of whatever religious
persuasion, should be admitted to reside within these
territories unless he had been previously examined
and approved by the ordinary authorities in the
church to which he belonged — the ministers by the

HISTORY OY THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 351

protestant synod in the three leagues, and the priests
by the bishop and chapter of Coire ; and that none
should be admitted unless he declared his intention to
reside at least for a year, and gave security for his
good behaviour. In the course of the same year an
act was passed, freeing the protestants from penal-
ties for not observing the popish holydays. And in
the following year two statutes were enacted, one
for extending to the subject provinces the law which
prevented the admission of new members into monas-
teries, and the other making stated provision for the
pastors of the protestant churches. The former
was not executed. In pursuance of the latter, a
third of the ecclesiastic rents of Chiavenna was al-
lotted to the minister of the reformed church in
that village, which by this time included the half
of the population. To the pastors in other places
forty crowns a year were allotted, to be taken in
the first instance from the benefices of absentees
and pluralists, and failing these, from the revenues
which the bishop of Coire drew from the Valteline,
from the funds of the abbacy of Abundio, or, as
the last resource, from the common funds of each
parish.*

This was the only legislative enactment by
which positive encouragement was given to the
reformed religion in the Valteline ; but the pro-
testant ministers derived little from it except en-
vy, the clergy contriving by concealment, litigation

" Dc Porta, ii. 273—276, 283—287.

352 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

and violence to retain nearly the whole of the
funds. It was granted in consequence of the re-
presentation of the protestants, who pleaded, that,
though the minority in point of numbers, they con-
tributed the largest proportion to the funds of the
clergy, many of whom performed no duty, and the
rest confined themselves chiefly to the saying of
mass. As is usual on such occasions, those of the
laity who contributed next to nothing were loudest
in exclaiming, " that they were taxed for upholding
an heretical religion ;" while the clergy called upon
" the Italian deserters of monasteries" to imitate the
example of the apostle Paul, who laboured with
his hands that he might not be burdensome to the
churches, and of the Egyptian anchorites, with Peter
the hermit at their head ; and insisted that they could
not be the followers of Christ and his apostles, in-
asmuch as they did not work miracles nor live on
alms.* I may mention here another act, passed
at a later period, which gave great offence to
the Roman catholics. The diet of the Grison
republic agreed to erect a college at Sondrio in the
Valteline. f It did not partake of the nature of a
theological seminary, but was confined to the teach-
ing of languages and the arts. The children of
papists and protestants were equally admissible to
it, and provision was made for teachers of both
persuasions. But notwithstanding the liberal prin-

* De Porta, ii. 287, 289, 560, 561.

+ Though not erected till 1584, this college was planned so early
as 1563. (Zanchii Epist. lib. ii. p. 376.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 353

ciples on which it was founded, the clergy cried
out against it as a Lutheran seminary ; formal
representations were made against it by the po-
pish cantons of Switzerland and by the court of
Milan ; and the republic was obliged to send back
the principal, a learned and moderate man, whom
they had brought from Zurich, and to remove the
institution, after it had subsisted for only one year,
to the city of Coire. *

The Italian exiles were elated by the laws passed
in their favour, and looked forward with sanguine
hopes to the speedy triumph of the reformed cause
in the Valteline ; but their ultramontane brethren,
who were better acquainted with the genius of the
inhabitants, and more indifferent judges of the op-
position which might be expected from foreign
powers, repressed their fervour, and wisely urged
upon them the propriety of trusting for success to
the gradual illumination of the people, rather than to
legislative decrees which required external force to
carry them into execution, f The court of Rome
was highly displeased from the beginning at the
reception given to the Italian exiles in the Grisons ;
but its displeasure was converted into a mingled

* De Porta, torn. ii. part. ii. 32, 37, 48, 53, 57-8, 332. The erection
of a similar seminary in 1614, but on a smaller scale, and without
deriving any support from the funds of the Valteline, excited equal
hostility, and was made one pretext for the rebellion which followed
soon after. (Ibid. pp. 252 — 254, 322.)

t De Porta, ii. 280, 281.

2 A

354 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

feelinsr of indiomation and alarm, when it saw the
standard of evangelical truth planted in one of the
suburbs of Italy, from which, if not speedily dis-
lodged, it might be carried into the interior, and at
once insult and endanger the head of the church in
his capital. The extirpation of the colony was re-
solved on ; and to accomplish it the popes exert-
ed themselves in securing the co-operation of the
neighbouring catholic powers, especially the Spanish
monarch, who had lately obtained the sovereignty
of Milan. It is difficult to say whether ambition
or bigotry had the ascendant in the character of
Philip II., but both principles led him to embark
in this scheme with the utmost cordiality. The
Valteline bordered on the Milanese, and had for-
merly belonged to that dutchy. Philip, as well as
the dukes who preceded him, had ratified the ces-
sion of it to the republic of the Grisons, but that
did not prevent him from cherishing the idea of
recovering a territory which was the key to the
communication between Milan and Germany, and
the command of which would enable him at all times
with safety to convey troops from Austria to his
dominions in the north of Italy. For interfering with
the affairs of the Valteline, he found a pretext in the
plea, that it was necessary for him to avert heresy
from the Milanese, which had already been to no
inconsiderable extent tainted by that pestilential ma-
lady.

In no quarter of Italy had more cruel methods

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 355

been used to extirpate the new opinions than in the
Milanese. Galeazzo Trezio, a nobleman of Laude
Pompeia, while attending the university of Pavia,
had imbibed the reformed doctrines from Maynardi,
who acted at that time as an Augustinian preacher,
and was confirmed in them by the instructions of
Celio Secundo Curio. Having fallen into the hands
of the inquisition in 1551, and retracted some conces-
sions which he had been induced to make at his first
apprehension, he was sentenced to be burnt alive, a
punishment which he bore with the greatest for-
titude.* The persecution became more general when
the duke of Alva was made governor. In the year
1558 two persons were committed alive to the
flames. One of them, a monk, being forced by an
attending priest into a pulpit erected beside the
stake to make his recantation, confessed the truth
with great boldness, and was driven into the fire
with blows and curses. During the course of the
following year scarcely a week elapsed without some
individual being brought out to suffer for heresy ;
and in 1563 eleven citizens of rank were thrown into
prison. The execution of a young priest in 1569
was accompanied with circumstances of peculiar
barbarity. He was condemned to be hanged and
dragged to the gibbet at a horse's tail. In conse-
quence of entreaty the last part of the sentence was

* The account of this martyr was furnished by Celio S. Curio to
Pantaleon. (Rerum in Eccl. Gest. pp. 217-219. Conf. Ilieronymi Ma-
rii Eusebius Captivus, f. 105.)

356 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY*

dispensed with ; but after being half-strangled, he
was cut down, and refusing to recant, was literal-
ly roasted to death, and his body thrown to the
dogs.*

In the year 1559 the government of Milan erect-
ed forts on the confines of the Valteline. Under the
cover of these the inquisitors entered the country, and
as they durst not seize the persons of the inhabitants,
collected a large quantity of heretical books which
they burnt with great solemnity. They were fol-
lowed by a swarm of foreign monks, who, trusting
to the garrisons as places of retreat, despised the
edict which prohibited them from entering the
country, and went about inflaming the minds of the
people against the protestant preachers, and the
rulers by whom they were protected and favour-
ed.j- A college of Jesuits also was established
at Ponte, and maintained itself in spite of repeat-
ed orders issued by the diet for its removal. ^
These strangers kept up a regular correspond-
ence with the heads of their respective orders at

* De Porta, ii. 295-6, 486, 4-88. The following notice may be add-
ed to what has been already stated respecting the duke of Man-
tua. " Gulielmo duke of Mantua, by refusing to send some persons
accused of heresy to Rome, incurred the serious resentment of the
pope, who threatened to declare war against him if he permitted
Mantua to become a nest for heretics. And beyond all doubt he
would have attacked him, had not the princes of Italy prevailed on
him by their intercessions to pardon the duke on his submission."
(Bzovii Annal. ad an. 1566.)

t De Porta, ii. 297—299. £ Ibul- PP- 302—301.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 357

Como, Milan, Rome, and other places in Italy, the
effects of which were soon after made apparent. It
has been already mentioned that Pius IV., who
filled the papal throne between 1559 and 156G, had
been a priest in the Valteline ; a circumstance which
at once disposed him to take an interest in the af-
fairs of that country, and made his interposition the
more effective. In 1561 his legate Bianchi, provost
of Santa Maria della Scala at Milan, appeared at
Coire. Supported by the presence and influence of
Ritzio, the Milanese ambassador, the legate made
a formal demand on the diet, in the name of his
holiness, that they should banish the Italian exiles
from the Valteline and Chiavenna, allow free in-
gress and egress to foreign monks, make no oppo-
sition to the Jesuit college at Ponte, prevent the is-
suing of books derogatory to the church of Rome
from the press at Puschiavo, and in general over-
turn all that they had done in relation to religion in
that part of their dominions.* But the influence of
Pius, who had not left behind him the odour of sanc-
tity in the Grisons, was small, compared with that
of his nephew, the celebrated cardinal Borromeo,
archbishop of Milan. Though this prelate owed
his canonization more to his zeal for Catholicism
than to his piety, yet his talents and the decorum
of his private character rendered him by far the
most formidable adversary that appeared against
the protestant interest. It was the great object of

* Dc Porta, ii. 354— -871.

358 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

his ambition from an early period of life to oppose
an effectual barrier to the progress of heresy, and to
repair and prop the fabric of popery which he saw
tottering on its base. With this view he applied
himself to the removal of abuses in Italy ; intro-
duced reforms into the morals of the clergy, parti-
cularly of the monastic orders ; and erected semi-
naries in which young persons of talents should ob-
tain such an education as might qualify them for
entering the lists with the protestants, and fighting
them with their own weapons. Hitherto those
who had appeared as the champions of the church
of Rome, though often not destitute of talents, were
almost always deficient in learning, and could do
little more than ring changes, and that for the most
part rudely, on the popular prejudices against inno-
vation and in favour of the catholic church. But men
of learning now came forward who could " make the
Worse appear the better cause," — who, if they did not
convince by the solidity of their arguments, could
entangle the minds of their readers by their subtlety,
or dazzle them by the splendour of their eloquence,
and who could artfully withdraw attention from
the real image of the church as she existed, to one
which wTas the pure creation of their own imaeina-
tion. All the celebrated champions of the catholic
faith, fromBellarmine to Bossuet, proceeded from the
school of Borrorneo. It would have been well if
the cardinal had confined himself to methods of
this kind ; but, beside abetting the most violent

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 359

measures for suppressing the reformed opinions
within his own diocese, he industriously fomented
dissensions in foreign countries, leagued with men
who were capable of any desperate attempt, and
busied himself in providing arms for subjects who
were ready to rebel against their lawful rulers, and
to shed the blood of their peaceable fellow-citizens.*
It is only a general account which I can here give
of the course pursued for disturbing the peace of
the Grisons, and expelling the refugees from the
settlement which they had obtained in the Valteline.
The goods belonging to citizens of the republic who
traded with the Milanese were seized by the inqui-
sitors, and applications for restitution and redress
were almost in every instance refused or evaded.
Merchants who visited that country were appre-
hended on a charge of heres}', detained in prison,
forced to purchase their liberty with large sums of
money, or condemned to different kinds of punish-
ment. Borromeo was not afraid to incarcerate the
chief magistrate of the jurisdiction of Mayenfeld.j
At last a new species of outrage, unheard of among
civilized nations, was resorted to. Bands of armed
men haunted the roads of the Valteline, seized the
protestants unawares, and carried them into Italy.
Francesco Cellario, the protestant minister at Mor-

* The most serious of these charges is supported hy the cardinal's
letter of the 24th May 1584 to the nuncio Spczzani, published by
Quadrio, the catholic historian of the Valteline, and reprinted by De
Porta. (Tom. ii. part. ii. pp. 33 — 35 ; conf. part. i. pp. 161, 482.)

f Ibid. ii. 455, 461, 482.

360 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

begno, was returning in 1568 from a meeting of the
synod held at Zutz in Upper Engadina. He had
scarcely left the town of Chiavenna, when some vil-
lains rushed from a thicket on the margin of the
lake Lario, forced him into a boat which they had
ready, and conveying him first to Como and af-
terwards to Milan, delivered him to the inquisition.
Ambassadors were sent to demand the prisoner,
but they found that he had been sent to Rome, and
were told by the duke De Terranova, the governor,
that his abduction was the work of the inquisi-
tors, over whom he had no control.* After being
detained nearly a year in prison, Cellario was tried
by the inquisition at Rome, and committed to the
flames on the 20th of May 1569-f The practice of
manstealing now became a constant traffic in the Val-
teline; and at every meeting of the diet, for a course
of years, complaints were made that some persons had

* Gabutius, in his Life of Pius IV. gives the duke's answer in these
words : " That the pope has an absolute and lawful power over all
parts of the world to seize, as often as he pleases, and inflict merited
punishment on heretics." (Laderchii Annal. torn, xxxiii. 6, 198.)

t Laderchius, ut supra. De Porta, ii. 464 — 476. The first of these
writers gives, from the records of the inquisition, the sentence con-
demning Cellario to be burnt alive. Gabutius says he recanted when
he came in sight of the fire. De Porta, on the contrary, states that
a native of the Grisons, who was in Rome and witnessed the execu-
tion, deponed, that the martyr on being taken from the fiery stake
refused to confess, and was again thrown into the flames. — Cellario
had been a Minorite monk of the order De Observantia, and was
twice imprisoned at Pavia. The first time, he was released on mak-
ing some confession ; the second time, he broke his chains and made
his escape into the Grisons in the year 1568.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 361

been carried off, including not only exiles from Italy
but native citizens of the Grison republic* The in-
vestigations into these acts of violence implicated
in most instances the monks of Morbegno, who were
in the habit of regularly giving such information to
the inquisitors as enabled them to seize their prey.f
Nor did they confine themselves to the service.
After the abduction of Cellario, Ulixio Martinengho,
count De Barcho, a learned and pious nobleman who
had resided for a number of years in the Valteline,
officiated in his room until the admission of Scipione
Calandrino, a native of Lucca, whom the congrega-
tion had chosen for their pastor. The monks, who
had looked forward to the dispersion of that flock,
were greatly irritated at their disappointment ; and
two of them entering one day the church at Mellio,
fired a pistol at Calandrino while he was in the act of
preaching. An old man observed them levelling the
piece, and gave warning to Calandrino, who evaded
the shot ; upon which the ruffians stabbed the old man
mortally, and rushingforward to the pulpit, wounded
the preacher, and made their escape amidst the con-
fusion into which the congregation was thrown.:}:

The most humiliating circumstance in the whole
of this affair is the disgraceful timidity and irreso-
lution with which the Grison government acted.
They sent ambassadors, they craved redress, they
ordered investigations, and, on making discoveries,

* De Porta, ii. 477, 478, 4S0, 482; part, ii. 7— 9, .50, SS, 95.
t Ibid. ii. 455, 457, 465, 483.
% Ibid. ii. 483, 484.

3(J2 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

they passed threatening votes ; but they took no
step becoming the character of a free people in de-
fence of their violated independence and insulted
honour. Their neighbours showed them an exam-
ple worthy of their imitation. Cardinal Borromeo,
in one of his archiepiscopal visitations, entered the
territories of Switzerland. The Swiss government,
not relishing the visit, dispatched an envoy to re-
quest the governor of the Milanese to recall him.
No sooner had the envoy arrived at Milan, than he
was seized by the inquisitor and thrown into pri-
son ; but the governor, as soon as he learnt the fact,
ordered his release, and treated hiin with marks of
great respect. On being informed of what had hap-
pened, the Swiss authorities sent a message to the
governor, signifying that if the same post which
brought the news of the imprisonment of their en-
voy had not acquainted them with his enlargement,
they would instantly have seized the cardinal and
detained him as a hostage ; upon hearing which,
his eminence retired from the Swiss territories with
less ceremony than he had entered them. * If the
authorities of the Grisons had acted in this manner —
if they had, as they were advised, confiscated the
property belonging to the inhabitants of Milan and
Como, and retained it until their own merchants
were indemnified for the losses which they had sus-
tained ; and above all, if they had issued peremp-
tory orders to level the monaster)' of Morbegno with
the ground, as a watchtower of spies and a den of

* Fra Paolo, Discoiso dell' Inquisitionc di Vcnetia, p. 17.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IX ITALY. 3G3

thieves, the boldness of the measure, supported by
its justice, while it gave courage to the loyal and
checked the disaffected among their own subjects,
would have secured the respect and forbearance of
foreign powers. But the counsels of the republic
were distracted by dissensions, and its arm palsied
by corruption. The Grey league, wrhich was com-
posed chiefly of Roman catholics, refused its consent
to any vigorous measure. Spanish gold had found
its way into the other leagues ; and a protestant am-
bassador returned from Milan, bearing the insignia
of an order of knighthood conferred on him by a
papal brief, instead of bringing the prisoner whose
liberty he wTas sent to demand. France, on whose
aid the party opposed to Spain placed its chief de-
pendence, had fallen under the rule of the house of
Guise, which was secretly engaged in the league for
the extirpation of protestantism ; and the report of
the massacre of St. Bartholomew, while it blew up
the hopes entertained from the north, gave dreadful
note of a similar explosion from the south, which was
soon to shake the Grisons to its centre. The proper
season of applying the remedy being neglected, the
evil became inveterate, and all attempts to cure it
served only to inflame and exasperate. Provoked
by persevering injuries, alarmed by repeated con-
spiracies, and betrayed without being able to disco-
ver or convict the traitors, the authorities had re-
course to violent measures; and courts of justice, coin-
posed chiefly of protestants, were erected, by which
arbitrary and heavy punishments were inflicted, and

36-4 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY,

individuals were condemned on slight or suspi-
cious evidence. These severities were artfully heigh-
tened by the representations of foreign agents,
and ministered fresh fuel to the existing disaf-
fection. The joint influence of these causes led
to the catastrophe of 1620, of which no person
acquainted with the general history of Europe
is ignorant — the indiscriminate and barbarous mas-
sacre of the protestants in the Valteline, the re-
volt of all the southern dependencies of the repub-
lic, and the temporary subjugation of the Grisons
by the combined arms of Austria and Spain. Writ-
ers professing to have formed an impartial judg-
ment* impute these disastrous events, in a great
measure, to the impolitic zeal with which the Gri-
sons attempted to introduce the Reformation into
the Valteline. There can be no question that if the
Reformation had not been admitted into the Gri-
sons, the republic would not have been exposed to
that hostility which they actually encountered from
neighbouring powers. But ought they on that
ground to have prevented its reception ? And hav-
ing allowed it in the governing country, would they
have been warranted in prohibiting it within the sub-
ject states ? Or, are they greatly to be blamed for
having given encouragement to those who were their
best subjects, and on whom they could rely for an en-
tire and undivided allegiance ? If the subject be im-

* Coxc's Travels in Switzerland, vol. iii. p. 96.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 3G.5

partially considered, it will be found, I apprehend, that
the radical and main cause of the disturbances was
the retaining of the southern provinces in a state of
vassalage, together with the oppressions and pecu-
lation to which this led on the part of the indivi-
duals to whom the government of them was com-
mitted,— evils which are almost inseparable from
the government of colonies and dependent provinces,
whether they belong to monarchies or republics.
Had the Valteline and the adjoining districts been re-
ceived at first into the confederation as a fourth
league, and admitted to all its privileges, the inha-
bitants would have turned a deaf ear to the insi-
dious proposals made to them from Milan and In-
spruck, and the obstacles to the Reformation would
not have been greater in the Cisalpine than they
were in the Transalpine departments of the re-
public.

Before leaving the Grisons, it will be proper to
give some account of the internal dissensions which
prevailed among the Italian exiles. Though thegreat-
erpart of them were distinguished for their learning,
zeal and piety, and by their services amply repaid
the kindness of the country which afforded them an
asylum, it was soon found that others cherished in
their breasts a variety of subtle and dangerous opin-
ions, which they at first insinuated in private, and
afterwards taught and maintained with such factious
pertinacity as to bring scandal on the whole body of
the exiles, and to give great offence and uneasiness
to those who had been most active in procuring them

366 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

a hospitable reception. It is impossible to give such
an account of the opinions of this party as will apply
to all the individuals who composed it. While they
agreed in refusing their assent to the received
creed, some of them cavilled at one of its articles
and others at another. The leaders cautiously ab-
stained from disclosing their system, and contented
themselves with imparting privately to the initiat-
ed such of their views as they knew to be most
offensive and startling to the minds of serious
Christians. The more forward, who were usually
the most unlearned, advanced crude and contradic-
tory notions ; and, their minds being unhinged
and tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine,
they veered suddenly to opposite extremes, so that
it was not uncommon to find individuals main-
taining one day that God was the author of sinful
actions and that holiness had no connexion with
salvation, and the next day inveighing against the
doctrine of predestination as leading to these odious
consequences. In general, however, they were dis-
ciples of Servetus, whose creed was a compound of
anabaptism and antitrinitarianism, and had, as we
have seen, been embraced by a number of the pro-
testants in Italy.*

Francesco, a Calabrian, and Jeronimo, a Mantuan,
were the first who excited a noise by venting these
opinions. They had not been long settled as pas-
tors in the district of Engadina when the report

* See before, pp. Its — 158.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 367

arose that they were inculcating, that infants ought
not to be baptized ; that God is the author of sinful
actions ; that the body, flesh or death of Christ can
be of no avail for the salvation of men ; and that
the souls of the just sleep till the resurrection. The
church of Lavin dismissed Jeronimo as soon as they
ascertained his sentiments ; but the Calabrian, by
his address and eloquence, had so fascinated his flock
at Vettan, that they clung to him and regarded all
his sayings as oracular. This encouraged him to
persevere in the course which he had begun, and to
despise the admonitions of his brethren. Loud
complaints being made that his doctrine was cor-
rupting the morals of the people, a public disputa-
tion, according to the mode of those times, was held
in the year 1544 at Zutz, which was attended by
Roman catholic priests as well as protestant mini-
sters. Francesco, having appeared before this assem-
bly, was convicted of the chief errors imputed to him,
and was afterwards expelled the country.*

But it was in the Italian churches erected on the
south of- the Alps that these opinions were most in-
dustriously propagated and excited the greatest stirs.
The author and chief fomenter of these was Camillo
Renato,a man of considerable acuteness and learning,
but addicted to novelties, captious yet cool, opinion-
ative yet artful and insinuating. As long as he
remained at Caspan he had little opportunity of
making disciples, though he tainted the mind of

* Bock, Hist. Antitrin. torn. ii. p. <H0. De Porta, ii. 67—75.

368 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IX ITALY,

Paravicino, in whose house he lived as tutor. But
on his coming to Chiavenna, where the protestants
were numerous, he found a more extensive field for
propagating his peculiar notions. Mainardi,the mi-
nister of the protestant church in that town, perceiv-
ing that the minds of some of his flock were corrupt-
ed, and those of others scandalized by the opinions
which were secretly sown among them, remonstrat-
ed with Camillo, and endeavoured by private con-
ferences to effect a change on his views, or at least
to prevail on him to retain them within his own
breast. Failing to accomplish this, he first gave
warning to his people from the pulpit of the danger
to which they were exposed, and afterwards drew
up, in the name of his congregation, a confession of
faith, in which, without mentioning the name of
Camillo, he explicitly condemned his errors. Upon
this Camillo and his followers withdrew from the
ministry of Mainardi, and began to meet by them-
selves.

The following are the opinions which are said
to have been held by Camillo : That the soul dies
with the body, or sleeps until the resurrection ;
that the same body substantially shall not be raised
at the last day ; that there shall be no resurrection
of the wicked ; that man was created mortal, and
would have died though he had not sinned ; that
there is no natural law by which men can know
what to do or avoid ; that unregenerate men are
irrational creatures like the brutes ; that the de-
calogue is useless to believers, who have no law but

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 369

the Spirit ; that the scripture says nothing of the
merit of Christ ; that he had concupiscence residing
in him, was capable of sinning though lie did not ac-
tually sin, and that he is said to have been made a
curse because he was conceived in original sin, and
not because he was made a sacrifice for sin or
suffered the death of the cross for sinners ; that
justifying faith has no need of being confirmed by
sacraments ; that there is no resemblance between
baptism and circumcision ; and that baptism and
the Lord's supper are merely signs of what is past,
do not seal any blessing, and have no promise an-
nexed to them.* It is not difficult to perceive in
these propositions the elements which were after-
wards formed into a system by Faustus Socinus.
It is true, Camillo did not profess his disbelief of
the doctrine of the trinity, but some of his disciples
who enjoyed a large share of his confidence made
no scruple of openly disavowing it. He was also
wary as to what he advanced on the immortality of
the soul, and when pushed on that point by his
opponents was wont to reply, " Camillo is igno-
rant whether the soul be immortal or not ; he
does not affirm that the soul dies with the body, he
only says so for the sake of dispute."

« Mainardi's confession which contained these articles is lost; but
Pietro Leonis, a disciple of Camillo, inserted them in a book which he
published at Milan, from which they were extracted by De Porta, (ii.
83_86.) That Camillo carried his scepticism into philosophy as well
as divinity, appears from the following article : « Quod memoria
rei alicujus non fiat, ut is qui illam facit, rei vel facti certior fiat."

2 B

370 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

Irritated at the detection of his scheme before
he had time to mature it, Camillo complained
loudly of the conduct of Mainardi. He drew up
several writings against him, in which, confining
himself to the subject of the sacraments, he endea-
voured to hold up his opponent as at once ignorant
and intolerant, and the true cause of all the discord
which had arisen. In this he was encouraged by
Stancari and Negri. The former, who at a subse-
quent period excited great contentions in Poland and
in Germany, fomented the schism in the congrega-
tion of Chiavenna, although in his sentiments re-
specting the sacraments he went to the opposite ex-
treme from Camillo. Negri, a good but weak man,
vacillated between the views of Camillo and Stan-
cari, and lent his aid to the faction.* The conse-
quence of all this was, that Mainardi incurred the
censures of some of his countrymen who occasion-
ally visited the place, such as Vergerio and Altieri ;
and received letters from the Grisons and Switzer-
land, admonishing him to conduct himself with
greater moderation. Knowing that he had good
grounds for all which he had done, and that the pre-
judices raised against him would give way as soon
as the cause came to be investigated, Mainardi did
not relax in his vigilance. « The favourers of Ca-
millo (says he in a letter to Bullinger) tear my
sermons in pieces. If I hold my peace, the truth is

+ Museum Helveticum, torn. xix. pp. 481 — 4S7 ; where extracts
are given from the letters of Altieri and other distinguished persons
at Venice, describing the turbulent temper of Stancari.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 371

exposed to imminent danger : if I speak, I am a
morose old man, and intolerant. Write to Blasio
and Comander not to listen to the statements of one
party, but to come and examine the matter before
the whole congregation. I purposed to retire
into England, but providence has kept me from de-
serting this little flock. Yet I wish they could ob-
tain a better pastor and one of greater fortitude than
I." From the time that he came to the Valteline,
Camillo had kept up a correspondence with Bullin-
ger by letters, in which he endeavoured to ingra-
tiate himself with him, by professing his agreement
with the church of Zurich ; but when his opponent
offered to submit the controversy between them to
the judgment of that venerable divine he declined
the proposal. The Grison synod which met in 1547
called the parties before them, but Camillo neither
attended nor sent a letter of excuse, upon which
they enjoined him to desist from opposing his mi-
nister and disturbing the peace of the church. As
he disregarded this injunction and continued his
former practices, a deputation, consisting of four
of the principal ministers in the Grisons, was sent
to Chiavenna in the close of the year 1549, to in-
quire into the affair, and to put an end to a dissen-
sion which now made a great noise, and caused no
small scandal both among Roman catholics and
protestants.* The deputation found all the charges

• On this occasion, a correspondence of a rather singular kind took
place between the deputies and the Roman catholic chapter of Chi«-

372 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

brought against Camillo proved, and declared that
Mainardi had acted the part of a faithful, and vigi-
lant minister; but without censuring the former,
they, with the view of restoring harmony, drew up
certain articles upon the subjects which had been con-
troverted, to which they required both parties to
agree. But although Camillo subscribed this
agreement, the deputies had scarcely left the place
when he resumed his former practices, in conse-
quence of which the consistory of Chiavenna sus-
pended him from church privileges, and on his
proving contumacious, publicly pronounced the sen-
tence of excommunication against him.*

After this we hear little of Camillo.f I have
been the more particular in my account of him,
because there is every reason to think he had great
influence in forming the opinions of Lelius Socinus.
By their contemporaries the former is usually spo-
ken of as the master and the latter as the disciple.

avenna. The former, on their arrival, addressed a letter to the chap-
ter, intimating the design on which they had come, and inviting
them to meet with them, and " confer on those common articles of
Christianity about which they were both agreed." The chapter re-
turned a polite answer, but declined the meeting, " because there
was a great gulf between them ;" adding a number of exhortations to
unity and against divisions, the drift of which it was not difficult to
perceive.

* Hottinger, Helvetische Kirchengeschichte, torn. iii. 762, 791 :
De Porta, torn. ii. cap. 4.

t That he was alive, and in Chiavenna or the neighbourhood of
it, in 1555, appears from a letter of Julio da Milano to Bullinger, in
which he speaks of him as requiring still to be narrowly watched.
(Fueslin, p. 357.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 373

It is certain that Socinus had interviews with
Camillo at Chiavenna; and the resemblance be-
tween their opinions, and the cautions and artful
manner in which they uttered them, is very strik-
ing.*

Finding themselves baffled in their attempts to
propagate their peculiar tenets, the innovators had
recourse to a device which had nearly proved suc-
cessful. They got Celso Martinengho, Vergerio, and
some other respectable names to subscribe a peti-
tion for liberty to the Italian ministers to hold a
synod of their own, distinct from that which met
in the Grisons. In support of this proposal, they
pleaded the difficulty of the journey across the
Alps, the difference of languages, and certain rites
practised by the Grisons which the Italians dis-
liked, and which other reformed churches had laid
aside. f But the measure was quashed by the wiser
part, who saw that the preservation of the Italian

* Illgen, Vita Laelii Socini, pp. 17, 44. Bock, ii. 581-2. Hot-
tinger, iii. 791. Fueslin, p. 356. De Porta, ii. 86.

t These rites were the use of unleavened bread in the eucharist, the
pronouncing of the angelical salutation (commonly called Salve i?o
gina) after the Lord's prayer, and the admitting of godfathers in
baptism. In this last character Roman catholics were sometimes ad-
mitted; and Paul Iter, the popish bishop of Coire, occasionally pre-
sented the child for baptism to Comander. The ministers of the
Grisons were not rigidly attached to any of these rites, and they dis-
approved of the last-mentioned practice, though they scrupled to pro-
hibit it, (especially after the violence manifested by the priests of the
Valteline,) lest it should interrupt the friendly intercourse which
subsisted between popish and protestant families. The Italians ex-
claimed against every thing of this kind as symbolizing with anti-
christ. (De Porta, ii. 66, 226.)

374 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

churches, both from the arts of internal agitators
and from the attacks of their popish adversaries,
depended on their maintaining their union with the
churches of the Grisons inviolate. *

The noted antitrinitarians, Alciati and Blan-
drata, stirred the ashes of the late controversy,
during a visit which they paid to the Grisons in
1553, on their way from Italy to Switzerland. Af-
ter this Michael Angelo Florio, minister of Soglio,
and Jeronimo Turriano of Plurs, began to under-
mine the faith of their hearers in the doctrine of
the atonement by ascribing salvation solely to the
grace of God ; while the divinity of Christ was di-
rectly attacked by others, particularly by Ludovico
Fieri, a Bolognese, and a member of the church of
Chiavenna. In 1561 the synod summoned these
persons before them, and drew up certain articles
condemnatory of their opinions, which Florio and
Turriano subscribed ; but Fieri, avowing his senti-
ments, was excommunicated and retired to Mora-
via, f There were, however, still individuals se-
cretly attached to antitrinitarianism, who continued
to correspond with their friends in other countries ;
and in 1570 the controversy was revived, in conse-
quence of the arrival of some distinguished persons
belonging to the sect, who found it dangerous to
remain any longer in Switzerland. Among these
were Camillo Soccini, a brother of Lelius Socinus,
Marccllo Squarcialupo, a physician of Piombino,

* Bock, ii. 1GC. f Dc Toita, ii. 397, 497.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 375

and Niccolo Camulio, an opulent merchant, who
liberally patronised persons of this persuasion.*
Their presence encouraged Turriano to resume his
former course, in which he was joined by Sylvio,f
the minister of Trahona, and some other indivi-
duals. But the proceedings of the synod which,
met at Coire in the year 1571 induced the strangers
to withdraw from the Grisons. Turriano and the
other ministers were deposed, but subsequently re-
stored to their churches on making acknowledg-
ments for their offensive behaviour. \ Alciati and
Blandrata visited the Grisons a second time in the
beginning of 1579, but were ordered by the magi-
strates instantly to depart, after which the coun-
try does not appear to have been disturbed with
these controversies. $ When we consider that the
Italians were strangers, that they had obtained an
asylum on condition of their joining themselves
to the protestant church already settled in the coun-
try and submitting to its discipline, and that the
republic was subjected to great odium on account of
the harbour and protection which it afforded them,
we will be cautious in condemning the magistrates
for expelling individuals who fomented discord and
endangered the existence of the whole colony, by

• Schclhorn, Diss, de Mino Celso, p. 35. Bock, ii. 483, 551, 576;
conf. i. 907—910. Do Porta, ii. 508, 54-3, 511.

t Bartolommeo Sylvio was the author of a tract on the Eucharist,
printed in 1551.

$ De Mino Celso, pp. 35—37. De Torta, ii. 197—502, 513, 555.

§ Ibid. ii. 632.

376 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

propagating sentiments equally shocking to the ears
of papists and protestants. Expulsion was the
highest punishment which they inflicted ; and in
one instance in which they threatened to proceed
farther against an individual, named Titiano, who
had provoked them, the ministers interjDosed and
prevailed on them to desist from their intention. *
I cannot, however, speak so favourably of the sen-
timents entertained by many of the ministers re-
specting the punishment of heretics. This question
was keenly agitated after the execution of Ser-
vetus at Geneva. Gantner, one of the ministers
of Coire, maintained that heresy ought not to
be punished by magistrates, and was warmly
opposed by Eglin, his colleague. The dispute
was brought under the consideration of the synod
in 1571, which decided in favour of Eglin. It
is true the proposition adopted by the synod re-
fers to seditious heretics ; but several of the argu-
ments on which it appears to have been grounded,
and by which it was afterwards defended, would
(if they had any force) justify the punishment, and
even the capital punishment of persons who are
chargeable with simple heresy, and consequently
must have tended to lead those who held them
into measures of persecution, f

Though it appears from what has been stated, that a
number of the Italian exiles were tainted with Arian-
ism, yet several individuals among them have been

* De Torta, ii. 76.

t Ibid. ii. 533— 5 10. Diss, de Mino Cclso, pp. 37—44.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 377

suspected of this without the slightest reason. Even
Zanchi, who succeeded Mainardi,* has not escaped
the suspicion with some writers,! although he was
the individual selected by his brethren as most fit
for opposing this heresy, a task which he perform-
ed with distinguished ability. His assertion that
he was " neither a Lutheran, Zuinglian, nor Calvi-
nian, but a Christian," is what every person may
adopt whose faith is founded on the word of God,
and not on the wisdom and authority of men. The
suspicions against Celso Martinengho and Vergerio^
appear to have originated entirely in their having
at first taken part with Camillo against Mainardi,
before they discovered the real sentiments of the for-
mer. Martinengho afterwards enjoyed the confidence
of Calvin during all the time that he was pastor of
the Italian church at Geneva. Vergerio declared
himself openly against the anabaptists, and gave

* Mainardi died in the end of July 1563, in the 81st year of his
age. (Zanchii Opera, torn. vii. p, 35.) He was the author of the three
following works: (1.) Trattato dell' unica et perfetta sattisfattione
di Christo, a. 1551. (2.) Uno pio et utile sermone della Gratia di
Dio contra li meriti humani, a. 1552. (3.) LAnatomia della Messa.
The question concerning the real author of this last work, which Bayle
has discussed at great length, but unsatisfactorily, (Diet. art. Verge-
rio,) had been previously settled by Zanchi. (Ut supra.) — I may add
here, that Alessandro Trissino, a native of Vicenza, wrote a long let-
ter to count Leonardo Tiene, exhorting him and his fellow-citi-
zens to embrace the reformed opinions. It was dated from Chiaven-
na, July 20, 1570, and printed two years after. (Tiraboschi, vii.
383.)

t Bock, ii. 4,26, 563.

£ Ibid. ii. 410, 551—553. De Porta, ii. 63, 151—156.

378 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

early warning of the defection of his countrymen
Socinus and Gribaldi to the opinions of Servetus.*
The fate of this distinguished man was in some
respects hard. He forfeited the high character
which he had held in the church of Rome,f without
gaining the confidence of the protestants. By wav-
ering between the sentiments of the Lutherans and
Zuinglians, he incurred the displeasure of both.
He excited the jealousy of the ministers in the Gri-
sons by affecting a species of episcopal authority as
superintendent or visitor of the Italian churches ;
and they complained that he had not laid aside the
mitre, nor forgotten the arts which he had learned
at courts.:}: It is not improbable that, in addition
to the finesse which has been supposed to enter in-
to the Italian character, Vergerio had acquired from
his employments the habit of using policy to accom-
plish his ends, and that he felt some difficulty in re-
conciling himself to the simple life of a protestantpas-
tor after the splendour and opulence to which he had
been accustomed. But if he had not been attached
to the Reformation, he would have listened to the
proposals made to him by the court of Rome, which,
though it would have preferred seizing his person,
was not unwilling to purchase his faith. Though
his writings were not profound, and his conduct was
marked with versatility, protestants might have
treated with a little more tenderness the memory
of a man whose name lent at least a temporary cre-

" De Porta, ii. 15S, 159. f Bcnibo, Lcttere, tomo iii. p. 389.

% Dc Torta, ii. 154, 160—166.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 379

(lit to their cause, and who gave the rare example
of sacrificing worldly honours and affluence to reli-
gious principle. He died on the 4th of October
1565, at Tubingen in the dutchy of Wirtemburg,
where he had resided since the year 1553, although
he repeatedly visited the Grisons during that inter-
val.*

Ludovico Castelvetro, of whom we have already
spoken, was among the learned men who found a
refuge from persecution in the Grisons. After the
apprehension of his brethren of the academy at
Modena in 1557,f he concealed himself in the ter-
ritories of Ferrara until the death of Paul IV. In
1561, having obtained a safe-conduct, he was per-
suaded to go to Rome, along with his brother Gian-
maria, to give an account of his faith, and had the
convent of San Maria in Via assigned to him as a
prison, with liberty to receive his friends. But af-
ter undergoing several examinations he deemed it
prudent to withdraw in the night-time from the
city, and escaped with great difficulty to Chiavenna,
where he met his old friend Franciscus Portus. The
sentence of excommunication was in consequence
passed against him and his brother. Through the
interest of his friend Foscarari, bishop of Modena,
hopes were given him of a favourable issue to his
process provided he would return to Italy ; but he

* Salig, Hist. Auspurg. Confes. torn. ii. p. 1180. Bayle, Diet. art.
Vergcrio. De Porta, lib. ii. cap. v. Gcrdesii Ital. Rcf. pp. 340' — 350.
He was employed before his death in publishing a collection of his
works, the first volume of which was printed in 16G3. The Apologia
pro Yergerio adversvs Casam, by Schclhorn, I have not seen.

f See before, p. 211.

380 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

declined this as well as the proposals made by the
nuncio Delfino, who was sent into Switzerland to
treat with him, Vergerio, and Zanchi. It was most
probably the fears which he entertained for his
safety, at a time when many individuals were sur-
prised and carried off by force into Italy, that in-
duced him to leave Chiavenna and repair to Lyons.
But finding himself exposed to new dangers from
the civil war, which then raged in France between
the Catholics and Hugonots, he retired to Geneva,
and soon after returned to Chiavenna, where he
opened a private school at the desire of some young
students, to whom he read daily two lectures, one on
Homer and another on the Rhetorica ad Herennium.
Encouraged by the reception which his brother had
met with at the court of Vienna, he went there
in 1567, and put to press his celebrated commen-
tary on Aristotle's Art of Poetry, which he dedi-
cated to the emperor Maximilian II. But the
plague breaking out in that place, he returned again
to Chiavenna, where he continued till his death on
the 21st of February 1571, in the sixty-seventh
year of his age. Castelvetro was one of the great
literary ornaments of his country ; an acute and
ingenious critic ; and extensively acquainted with
Provencal and Italian poetry as well as with the
classics of Greece and Rome, to which he added the
knowledge of Hebrew.*

* Muratori, Vita del Castelvetro : Opere Critiche, pp. 33 — 49.
Tiraboschi, vii. 1170—1173. Freytag, Analect. Libr. Rar. p. 219.
Jacopo, tbe son of Giamnaria Castelvetro, who accompanied his
father and uncle into exile, paid a visit to Edinburgh in the year 1592.
(MS. in Bibl. Jurid. Edin. A. 4. 18.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 381

It is now time that we should quit the Alps,
and take a rapid survey of the Italian churches
formed in Switzerland, and other countries to the
north.

At Zurich the exiles from Locarno obtained from
the senate the use of a church, with liberty to cele-
brate public worship in their own language. They
enjoyed at first the instructions of their townsman
Beccaria ; but as he had come merely to supply
their present necessities, after labouring among
them for a few months, he resigned his place to a
person of superior talents.* Returning to the
Grisons, he took up his residence in the valley of
Misocco, a part of the country which remained in
a state of gross ignorance, and in which he was
extremely useful, in the double character of school-
master and preacher, until 1561 when he was ex-
pelled through the agency of cardinal Borromeo ;
after which he retired to Chiavenna.f

Ochino was the person chosen to succeed Bec-
caria at Zurich. After leaving his native country 4
he had remained for some time at Geneva, where
he acquired the esteem of Calvin ; $ but finding
himself shut out from employment there, as the

* Schelhorn, Ergotzlichkeiten, torn. iii. p. 1162.

t Beccaria, who also went by the name of Canesa, continued to
visit his flock in Misocco down to the year 1571. (Tempe Helve-
tica, torn. iv. pp. 200 — 202. De Porta, ii. pp. 344 — 350 ; conf.
p. 169.)

^ See before, p. 192.

§ Bunnanni Sylloge Epist. torn. ii. p. 230. Lettres de Calvin a
Jaque de Bourgogne, pp. 36, 108.

382 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

only language of which he was master was the
Italian, and none of his countrymen had as yet
come to that place, he repaired to Basle, for the
purpose of printing some of his works, and from that
went to Augsburg. The magistrates of this city
appointed him Italian preacher with an annual
salary of two hundred florins, partly to provide
for his support, and partly to gratify the mer-
chants and other inhabitants who knew that lan-
guage. * He accordingly commenced preaching on
the epistles of Paul, in the church of St. Anne, to
numbers attracted by curiosity and by the report of
his eloquence. For the sake of those who could
not understand him his discourses were translated
into German and printed. But the emperor Charles
V., having come to Augsburg with his army in July
1547, demanded that Ochino should be delivered
up to him, upon which he fled, along with Fran-
cesco Stancari, to Constance, whence he went by
Basle to Strasburg. f Here he found several of
his countrymen, and particularly his intimate friend
Peter Martyr, with whom he repaired in the end
of that year to England, upon the invitation of

* Schelhom, in his interesting collections relating to the life and
writings of Ochino, has published two decrees of the senate of Augs-
burg; in one of which, dated October 20, 15-1.5, they give permission
to " Frater Bernhardin Ochinus," along with his brother-in-law and
sister, to reside in the city ; and in the other, dated December 3, 1545,
they assign him the salary mentioned in the text as " Welscher Pre-
dicant." (Ergotzlichkeiten, torn. iii. p. 1141-2.)

f Ibid. pp. 994—998, 1142-3. Salig, torn. ii. p. 419. Seckendorf,
lib. iii. p. G13 ; et Supplcm. num. Ivi.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 383

archbishop Cranmer. Martyr obtained a professor's
chair in the university of Oxford, while Ochino ex-
ercised his talent of preaching in the metropolis.
But in consequence of the change of religion pro-
duced by the death of Edward VI., both of them
retired in 1554, the former to Strasburg and the
latter to Basle.* From this place Ochino was call-
ed to be minister of the Locarnese congregation at
Zurich, to the charge of which he was solemnly ad-
mitted on the 13th of June 1555, after making an
orthodox confession of faith, and swearing to ob-
serve the rites of the Helvetian church and the or-
dinances of its synods. f

Soon after the settlement of Ochino, his country-
man Martyr came to Zurich, to fill the chair of
theology and Hebrew which had become vacant in
the university by the death of the learned Conrad
Pellican. ^ This was of great advantage to the Lo-
carnese congregation. His interest with the magi-
strates and pastors of the city was exerted in their
behalf; they had the benefit of his sound advice in
the management of their internal affairs ; and he
preached to them as often as Ochino was unwell or
absent. § They must therefore have sustained a
great loss by his death, which happened on the 12th

• Strype's Memorials, vol. ii. p. 189. Burnet's Hist, of the Ref.
vol. ii. pp. 53, 250. Sanders, De Schism. Anglic, p. 3t9.

+ Schelhorn, Ergotz. torn. iii. p. 11G2.

J He came to Zurich in July 155G. (Melch. Adam, Vitie Exter.
Theolog. p. 49. De Porta, ii. 228.)

§ Zanchii Epist. lib. ii. p. 281.

384 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

of November 1562, after an illness of a few days.
Of all the Italian exiles none left behind him a
fairer and better-earned fame than Peter Martyr.
He possessed eminently the good qualities of his
countrymen without the vices which have been as-
cribed to them ; acuteness without subtlety, ardour
without enthusiasm, and dexterity without cunning.
In Italy he gave great offence by deserting the reli-
gion of his ancestors and violating the monastic
vow ; in England he was opposed to the champions
of the catholic faith after the government had de-
clared itself decidedly in their favour ; at the con-
ference of Poissi he appeared in support of the pro-
tectant doctrine, at a crisis when its adversaries
trembled at the prospect of its success within the
kingdom of France ; and at Strasburg he was in-
volved in a dispute with those who maintained
the peculiar sentiments of Luther on the eucha-
rist with less moderation than their master had
shown. But in none of these places did prejudice,
strong as it then was, and loud as it often lifted its
voice, whisper any thing unfavourable to the per-
sonal character of Martyr.* His piety and learning
were recommended by modesty, candour, and gentle-
ness of manners. As an author his talents were al-
lowed by his adversaries ; and in the reformed church
his writings were by general agreement placed next to

* Speaking of Bucer and Martyr, Walter Haddon exclaims : " O
aureum par senum felicissima? memorise, quorum doctrinoe testes libri
suntab illisconfecta?,morum tot habueruntapprobatores quotunquam
convictores invenire potuerunt !" (Haddoni Lucubrationes, p. 22-1.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 385

those of Calvin for judiciousness and perspicuity.
His last years were spent happily in the most unin-
terrupted harmony and cordial friendship with his
colleagues in Zurich. Bullinger, who loved him
as a brother, closed his eyes, and Conrad Gesner
spread the cloth over his face, while the pastor and
elders of the Locarnian church wept around his bed.*
The year in which Martyr died was remarkable
for the death of one of his countrymen, whose name
obtained still greater notoriety than his, though
on different grounds. This was Lelius Socinus,
who had for a number of years been a mem-
ber of the Locarnese congregation. f He was born
at Sienna in 1525, and educated under the eye of
his father Mariano Soccini, the younger, a celebrat-
ed professor of law. Having testified a decided
partiality to the Reformation, he left Italy in 15484
partly from regard to his safety and partly from a
desire to see and confer with the leading divines of
the protestant church, whose writings he had read

* Josias Simler, who had been appointed his colleague in the theo-
logical chair, drew up his life in the Oratio de Vita et Obitu D. Petri
Marty ris Vtrmilii, to which we have repeatedly referred. There is
a beautiful letter in commendation of him, written soon after his death,
by Wolfgang Haller to Zanchi. (Zanchii Epist. ut supra.) Beside
the collection of epistles appended to his Loci Communes, a number
of Martyr's letters were published by Gerdes, in his Scrinium Anti-
auarium, torn. iv.

■f Illgen, Vita Lselii Socini, p. 18. Fueslin, pp. 356, 358.

t Cornelio, Camillo and Celso, three of the brothers of Lelius,
embraced the same sentiments, and followed him at a later period in-
to Switzerland ; as did also his nephew Faustus. (Schelhorn, De
Mino Celso, p. 35. Bock, ii. 576, 577, 621.)

386 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

with delight. He came to Zurich at an early pe-
riod, and lodged with Pellican, under whom he com-
menced the study of the Hebrew language. Be-
tween 1549 and 1551 he resided at Wittemberg,
after which he returned to Zurich, where he spent
the remainder of his life, with the exception of
what was devoted to short excursions into France,
Poland and Italy. I have already given my rea-
sons for thinking, that, before leaving his native
country, he had not adopted the creed which has
obtained from him and his nephew the name of So-
cinian ; and that his interviews with Camillo Re-
nato at Chiavenna had great influence in leading
his mind into that train of thinking.* Soon after
his arrival in Switzerland he began, in his conver-
sations and epistolary correspondence with learned
men, to start doubts as to the commonly received
opinions concerning the sacraments and the resurrec-
tion, and afterwards concerning redemption and the
trinity. But he uniformly proposed these in the
character of a learner, not of a teacher or dispu-
tant, and as difficulties which he was anxious to have
solved, not sentiments which he held or wished to
patronise. The modesty with which he propound-
ed his doubts, together with the eager desire he

* The reader may compare the opinions of Camillo, as already
stated, with the doubts started by Socinus in his correspondence with
Calvin. The letters of Socinus indeed are not extant, but the sub-
stance of them is preserved in Calvin's replies. (Calvini Epist. pp. 52,
57 ; Opera, torn, ix.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 387

showed for knowledge, his courteousness, and the
correctness of his morals gained him the esteem
not only of Melanchthon and Bullinger but also
of Calvin and Beza. If at any time he gave offence
or alarm by the boldness with which he pushed his
speculations into high and inscrutable mysteries, or
by pertinaciousness in urging his objections, he
knew how to allay these feelings by prudent con-
cession and ample apologies ; and Calvin, after de-
clining farther correspondence with him, was in-
duced to renew it and to return a friendly answer to
his doubts respecting the doctrine of the trinity.*
In adopting this method toward the more learned
reformers, it was probably the object of Socinus to
ascertain what they could say against his opinions ;
but in other instances he exerted himself in secretly
making proselytes, and not without success, f He
carefully concealed his sentiments respecting the
trinity from the divines of Zurich.! On receiving
warning from the Grisons, Bullinger, whose affec-
tions he had gained, laid the matter before him, and
in a very friendly manner advised him to remove
the suspicions which had arisen as to his orthodoxy.
Socinus protested that he agreed in all points with
the church of Zurich, and complained of the reports

* Colomesii Opera, p. 502. Conf. Calvini Epist. p. 57 ; Opera,
torn. ix.

f Zanchii Praef. in Libr. de tribus Elobim ; Opera, torn. i.

+ Simler, Assertio Ortbod. Doctrinte de duabus naturis Cbristi,
prsef. p. 4.

388 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

circulated to his prejudice; but on being dealt with
more closely, he owned that he had indulged too
much in abstruse and vain speculations, promised
that he would guard against this for the future and
subscribed a declaration of his faith which was sa-
tisfactory to Bullinger.* Julio da Milano, who was
one of those from whom the information had come,
and knew the correspondence which Socinus held
with the antitrinitarians in the Valteline, was sus-
picious of the sincerity of his professions ; and
though he promised to use his influence to induce
his brethren to accept of the pledge which had been
given, implored Bullinger to watch over the purity
of the Locarnese congregation. f After this Socinus
was more circumspect ; we find no more noise made
about his opinions during his lifetime ; and there is
every reason to think that he continued to commu-
nicate, as he had formerly done, with the Ita-
lian church in Zurich. But after his death, the
antitrinitarians who had enjoyed his confidence,
thinking themselves no longer bound to secrecy,
proclaimed that he was of their sentiments, and as
a proof of this, circulated such of his writings as
were in their possession.^ On hearing of his death,

* Illgen, pp. 46 — 55. Bock, ii. 597—602.

t Fueslin, pp. 353—359.

J Bock has given an account of his writings. (Hist. Antitrin. torn,
ii. pp. 635 — 654.) But Illgen has shown greater discrimination in
distinguishing his genuine works from those which are supposititious,
or were written by others. (Vita Laelii Socini, pp. 7 4—85.) His
work written on occasion of the punishment of Servetus, and entitled

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 389

his nephew Faustus Socinus came from Lyons to
Zurich, and took possession of his papers, which he
afterwards made use of in composing his own works.
To this, however, he applied his mind at a period
much later ; for he went immediately to Florence,
where he spent twelve years in the service of the
grand duke of Tuscany, not in preparing his mind
for the task of illuminating the world, (as the Polish
knight who wrote his life has asserted,) but in the
idleness and amusements of a court, as he himself
has acknowledged.*

" Martini Bellii Farrago de hfereticis, an sint prosequendi, et omnino
quomodo sit cum eis agendum," was first printed at Basle in 1553.
The edition which I have examined wants the words " Martini Bel-
lii Farrago" in the title, and was printed " Magdeburgi 1554."
The following is a specimen of the style of reasoning : " Suppose one
accused at Tubingen, who makes this defence for himself, ' I believe
that Christopher is my prince, and I desire to obey him in all things;
but as to what you say about his coming in a chariot, this I do not
believe, but believe he will come on horseback; and whereas you say
that he is clothed in scarlet, I believe that he is clothed in white ;
and as to his ordering us to wash in this river, I believe that this
ought to be done in the afternoon, and you believe it ought to be done
in the forenoon.' I ask of you, prince, if you would wish your sub-
ject to be condemned for this ? I think not ; and if you were present
you would rather praise the candour and obedience of the man than
blame his ignorance ; and if any should put him to death on this
ground, you would punish them. So is it in the question under con-
sideration. A certain citizen of Christ says, I believe in God the
Father and Jesus Christ his Son," &c. (De Hsereticis, ike. p. 8.)
— No copy has for a long time been seen of his " Paraphrasis in Initi-
um Evangelii S. Johannis, scripta in 1561 ;" which contained the
famed interpretation of that passage, " In Evangelii princinio erat
Dei sermo," &c. This Paraphrase must not be confounded with the
" Explicatio Initii Evangelii Johannis," which was the work of his
nephew Faustus.

• Bock, ii. 663, 66 1.

390 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

The Locarnese exiles were surprised and dis-
tressed at learning that so respectable a member of
their church as Socinus had made defection from
the evangelical faith ; but their surprise and distress
were heightened by the discovery which was soon
after made that their pastor had followed his ex-
ample. Socinus had failed in making any impression
on the mind of his countryman Zanchi ; * but his
acuteness and address were too powerful for one
who was now advanced in years, and who, though
possessed of good talents, had read but little on the-
ology, in consequence of his ignorance of ancient and
foreign languages. Without supposing him to have
been the slave of popularity, Ochino could scarce-
ly have failed to be flattered with the crowds which
flocked to his preaching in Italy ; and he must have
felt the change, when, on coming to a foreign coun-
try, his hearers were necessarily few, from the cir-
cumstance of their being confined to those who un-
derstood his native tongue. Add to this, that he
had taken up the idea that the divines of Zurich de-
spised him for his want of learning, and though this
appears to have been groundless, we have his own
authority for saying that it soured his mind.t In
this state of his feelings, he was more ready to lis-
ten to the objections of his artful townsman, though
they struck at the root of sentiments which had
been the favourite topics of his sermons, and in
which he had gloried most when he left the church

* Zanchii Opera, torn. i. prtef. ad finem.

t Ochino, Dialogo, in Schelhorn, Ergotz., torn. iii. p. 2030.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 391

of Rome. In 1558 Martyr received a letter from
Chiavenna, stating that Ochino and the brothers of
Lelius Socinus were secretly undermining the doc-
trine of the merit and satisfaction of Christ. Even
according to his own explanation, Ochino had for-
saken his former views on that point ; but the matter
was accommodated by the friendship and prudence
of Martyr.* About the same time he gave great of-
fence to some of the divines of Switzerland by one
of his books ; on which occasion also, though the
work was printed without their knowledge and was
far from pleasing them, the ministers of Zurich in-
terposed in his favour.f But he forfeited their pro-
tection, and exhausted their forbearance, by a work
which he published in the course of the year after
his countryman Martyr died. It was printed pri-
vately, not at Zurich but at Basle, and consisted of
thirty dialogues, divided into two parts.| In the
first part he proves, in opposition to a Jew, that Je-

* A letter which Ochino wrote on this occasion has been preserved
by De Porta, torn. ii. pp. 392, 393.

t Schelhorn, Ergdtzlichkeiten, torn. iii. p. 216*. The book refer-
red to was" his Labyrinthi, in which he discusses the questions re-
specting freewill and predestination.

% Bernardini Ochini Senensis Dialogi XXX. Basilea? 1563. The
work was printed from a translation into Latin by Castalio. It was
afterwards disputed whether the work had undergone the examination
which the laws prescribed before its being printed. It appeared on
investigation that the Italian original in manuscript had been put
into the hands of Amerbachius, the rector of the university, who,
not understanding the language, gave it to Celio Secundo Curio, who
denied that he had ever given it his approbation. (Schelhorn, Er-
gdtzlichkeiten, torn. iii. pp. 1185 — 1188.)

392 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

sus is the true Messiah ; and on the general argu-
ment his proofs are strong, but when he comes to
defend the sacrifice and satisfaction of Christ he ar-
gues feebly. It was, however, the second part of the
work, in which he treats of polygamy and the tri-
nity, which chiefly gave offence. The first of these
questions is discussed in a dialogue between Teli-
poligamus, an advocate of polygamy, and Ochinus.
Every argument which had been urged in favour of
the practice, or which the ingenuity of the author
could devise, is put into the mouth of the former,
who reasons at great length and with much elo-
quence; while Ochinus replies at once with brevity
and feebleness, and in the end materially, though
not in so many words, yields the point in dispute to
his supposed antagonist. The dialogues on the trinity
are conducted in the same manner. Some writers in-
sist that Ochino cannot be charged with maintain-
ing polygamy and antitrinitarianism ; but I think
it must be difficult for any person impartially to read
the dialogues without coming to a contrary conclu-
sion.*

Certain citizens of Zurich, on a visit which they
paid to Basle, were told in a public company that
their town would soon become a sink of vile here-
sies, as their ministers had already begun to write
in favour of polygamy ; and on their resenting this
as a calumny, they were silenced by the production

* The dialogue on Polygamy has been published, and translated
into our own language, among others, by the friends of that prac-
tice.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 393

of the work of Ochino, which had been lately pub-
lished. Returning home, they called on the minis-
ters to wipe off a disgrace which had fallen upon
their order, and upon the whole city.* The divines
of Zurich had, at a former period, been greatly dis-
pleased at the conduct of such of the German re-
formers as had countenanced the bigamy of the land-
grave of Hesse,f which brought so much scandal on
the whole evangelical body ; and they now felt both
grieved and indignant at the conduct of their col-
league. At the desire of the chief magistrate, they
translated the dialogue on polygamy into German,
and laid it, with remarks on the other dialogues, be-
fore the senate, which came to the resolution of ba-
nishing him from the territories of the canton. Be-
ing unable to prevent this sentence, he petitioned for
liberty to remain during the winter ; but this was
refused, and he was ordered to depart within three
weeks 4

The banishment of an old man of seventy-six,
with four young children, in the depth of winter,
was a severe measure, calculated to excite compassion
for the sufferer ; and had Ochino left this feeling
to its own operation, it is probable that the magi-
strates and ministers of Zurich would have incur-
red public odium. But he published an apology
for himself, which was answered by the mini-

* Schelhorn, Ergotzlichkeiten, torn. iii. 2160, 2161.
+ Fueslin, Epist. Ref. pp. 198—200, 205.

+ Schelhorn, Ergotz. iii. 2022, 2161, 2166, 2174—2179. Bock, ii.
501 — 501.

394 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

sters, and injured instead of helping his cause.*
Beside the charges which he brought against the
senate and pastors in general, he made a personal
attack on Bullinger, whom he represented as one
who disliked all foreigners, especially Italians, wish-
ed to ruin the Locarnese congregation, had opposed
his election to be their pastor, and persecuted him
because he would not worship him as a pope or a
god. f Now all this was so contrary to the charac-
ter of that divine ; and his kindness to exiles, his
care about the Italian church, | the tenderness with
which he had treated Socinus, and the respect which
he had shown for Ochino himself, were all so well
known, that the ministers scarcely needed to use
their sponge in wiping off these aspersions, which
served only to throw suspicion on the charges which
accompanied them. Nor was Ochino happier in
the defence of his book. His chief apology for the
manner in which he had conducted the argument
was, that " truth does not stand in need of many
words like falsehood, for it can defend itself." § As

* His apology, entitled " Dialogo, Favellatori — Prudenza humana
e Ochino," and the reply to it, entitled " Spongia adversus aspergi-
nes Bernardini Ochini," are both published by Schelhorn in the
third volume of his Ergo tzlichkei ten. Jt would appear from the re-
ply that Ochino's apology was printed at that time, though Schelhorn
thinks it was only circulated in manuscript.

f Dialogo, ut supra, pp. 2021, 2029, 2030.

X There is an excellent letter by him to the protestants suffering
persecution in Italy, dated 6th January, 1561, and published by
Fueslin. (Epist. Ref. pp. 445 — 456.)

§ " La verita non ha bisogno di molte parole, sicome il mendacio ;
imperoche la verita per se stessa si difendi, resiste, supera e trionfa ;
ma il contrario e del mendacio." (Dialogo, ut supra, p. 2018.)

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 395

if we were warranted to strip truth and place her
on the pillory, to be insulted and pelted by the mob,
while we stood by and contented ourselves with
crying out, " Great is the truth and will prevail !"
Ochino alleges, that one chief reason of the keenness
with which the ministers of Zurich had persecuted
him was, that in the obnoxious dialogues he had
exposed their errors, and pointed out the defects of
their boasted reformation. But, as any thing of
this kind was put into the mouth of the interlocu-
tor whom he opposed, he by this allegation virtually
acknowledged the deception which he had practised,
and deprived himself of his principal defence. *
Whatever the faults of Ochino were, it is im-
possible to contemplate the termination of the career
of a man who had been held in such high estima-
tion, without feelings of deep regret. On coming
to Basle, he was given to understand by the magi-
strates that his continuing there would be offensive.
After residing for some time at Mulhausen, he set
out with the view of joining his countrymen of the
antitrinitarian persuasion who had gone to Poland.

* Dialogo, ut supra, pp. 2030 — 2031. Schelhorn is of opinion that
Ochino's Dialogue on Polygamy is not original, and that the greater
part of it was borrowed from a dialogue on the same subject, written
in defence of Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, and published in 1541 un-
der the fictitious name of Hulderichus Neobulus. (Ergotzlichkeiten,
torn. i. pp. 631 — 636 ; iii. 2136 — 2156.) There is certainly a striking
coincidence between the extracts he has produced from this dialogue
and that of Ochino, not only in argument but also in arrangement
and expression. The charge of plagiarism is, however, weakened
by the fact that Ochino was ignorant of the German language.

896 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

But cardinal Borromeo, by express orders from the
pope, wrote to cardinal Hosius to keep his eye upon
him and prevent his settlement in that country, a
service which was also given in charge to the nun-
cio Commendone. In consequence of this, he was
obliged to retire into Moravia, and died at Slacovia
in the end of the year 1564, after having lost two
sons and a daughter by the plague, which then
raged in that country.*

The Locarnese congregation continued to flourish,
and was provided with a succession of pastors, until
the emigration from Italy ceased, and it was no
longer necessary to have the public service perform-
ed in the language of that country.f Some of the
most distinguished families at this day in Zurich
are descended from these exiles, who first intro-
duced into it the art of manufacturing silk, set up
mills and dye-houses, and so enriched the city by
their industry and ingenuity that within a short
time it became celebrated beyond the limits of
Switzerland. i

Basle had long been distinguished as a resort of
learned men, which induced many of the Italian pro-
testants to select it as the place of their residence.
I can only name a few of them. Paolo di Colli, the
father of Hippolytus a Collibus, a celebrated lawyer

* Bock, ii. 504—508.

f Hottinger, Hebretische Kirchengeschichte, torn. iii. p. 762-3 :
Gerdesii Ital. Ref. p. 40.

X Zschokke, Schweizerlands Geschichte, p. 258. Tempe Helve-
tica, tom.iv. p. 173.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 397

and counsellor of the Elector Palatine Frederic IV.,
was a native of Alexandria in the Milanese, from
which he fled in consequence of the discovery of a
protestant conventicle which was kept in his house.*
Gulielmo Grataroli, a physician of Bergamo, was
equally distinguished by his piety, by his classical
learning, and by his skill in his own art, on which
he published several works, f Alfonso Corrado, a
Mantuan, and said to have been the instructor of
the wife of Alfonso duke of Ferrara, preached for
some time in the Grisons, and published at Basle
a commentary on the Apocalypse, " filled (says Ti-
raboschi) with invectives and reproaches against
the Roman pontiff.":): Silvestro Teglio and Francesco
Betti, a Roman knight, were both learned men.|
Mino Celso, a native of Sienna, is praised by Clau-
dio Tolomeo, and an edition of the letters of that
learned man was dedicated to him by Fabio Ben-
voglienti.|| Having left his native country from
love to the reformed religion, he became corrector of
the press to Petrus Perna, a Lucchese and long a

* Adami Vita? Jureconsult. p. 207. Tonjolae Monument. Basil.
p. 124.

t Thuani Hist, ad an. 1568. Beza? Epistola?, pp. 218,, 231. Speak-
ing of Grataroli, Zanchi says : " In his native country he enjoyed an
honourable rank and riches: his piety alone has impoverished him."
(Epist. lib. ii. p. 390.)

X Gerdesii Ital. Ref. pp. 231—234. De Porta, ii. 35. Tiraboschi,
vii. 383.

§ Teglio translated into Latin the Principe of Macchiavelli.
Betti was the author of a letter to the marchioness of Pescaro, and
afterwards a friend of Faustus Socinus. (Schelhorn, Dissert, de
Mino Celso, p. 62. Bock, ii. pp. 665, 817.)

|| De Mino Celso Senensi, pp. 14 — 18.

398 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

celebrated printer at Basle, " whose memory (says
Tiraboschi) would have been still more deserving
of honour, if he had not tarnished it by apostasy
from the catholic religion."* Mino Celso was the
author of a rare work against the capital punish-
ment of heretics, in which he has treated the ques-
tion with great solidity and learning.f But the
most learned person among the refugees who re-
sided in this city, was Celio Secundo Curio, whom
we have already met with repeatedly in the course
of this history. At his first coming from Italy,
the senate of Berne placed him at the head of the
college of Lausanne, from which he was translated
in 1547 to the chair of Roman Eloquence in the uni-
versity of Basle. On that occasion the degree of
doctor of laws was conferred on him sitting, a mark
of respect which had been shown to none but Bucer.
But greater honour was done him by the numbers
who came from all parts of Europe to attend his
lectures. He received an invitation from the em-

* Storia, vii. 1763. A Life of Perna was published at Lucca in
1763, by Domenica Maria Manni.

+ It is entitled " Mini Celsi Senensis de Hereticis capitali sup-
plied non afficiendis. Anno 1584.". This is the edition I have
consulted, but the work was first printed in 1577. The author
mentions that he was led to treat the question in consequence of his
finding it disputed among the protestants when he passed through
the Grisons in 1569. In the work he points out the distinction be-
tween the kingdom of Christ and secular kingdoms, examines the
doctrine of scripture on the subject, produces testimonies from the
fathers and reformers in favour of the opinion which he maintains,
and shows that it is not inconsistent with the exercise of civil autho-
rity in reforming and supporting religion. His reasoning is not con-
fined to capital punishment.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 399

peror Maximilian to the university of Vienna, from
Vaivod king of Transylvania to Weisseinburg, and
from the duke of Savoy to Turin ; while the pope
employed the bishop of Terracino to persuade him
to return to Italy, on the promise of an ample sal-
ary, with provision for his daughters, and on no
other condition than that of his abstaining from in-
culcating his religious opinions. But he rejected
these offers, and remained at Basle till his death in
1569.* Beside his writings on religious subjects,
he published various works on grammar, and edi-
tions of the Latin classics, accompanied with notes,
by which he did great service to Roman literature
and education. Of all the refugees the loss of none
has been more regretted by Italian writers than
that of Curio.f The testimonies which they have
borne to him deserve the more attention on this
ground, among others, that some of the most im-
portant facts concerning the progress and suppres-
sion of the Reformation in Italy have been attested
by him ; and the greater part of the narratives of
Italian martyrs proceeded from his pen, or were sub-
mitted to his revision before they were published
by his friend Pantaleon. The children of Curio,
female as well as male, were distinguished for their
talents and learning, and among his descendants we

* Stupani Oratio de Ca?lio Secundo Curione, ut supra, pp. 3-17
— 349.

•j- Tiraboschi, Storia, tomo vii. pp. 15j9 — 1561. Ginguene, Hist.
Litter, d'ltalie, tome vii. pp. 233— 23G.

400 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

find some of the most eminent persons in the pro-
testa nt church.*

In taking leave of Curio, I am reminded of his
amiable and accomplished friend Olympia Morata.
On retiring into Germany, f she and her husband
were kindly entertained by George Hermann, the
enlightened counsellor of Ferdinand, king of the
Romans, through whose influence they were offered
an advantageous situation in the Austrian domin-
ions, which they declined on account of its being
incompatible with their religious profession. In
Schweinfurt, an imperial town, and the native
place of her husband, Olympia resumed her fa-
vourite studies, but the muses were soon disturb-
ed by the trumpet of war. The turbulent Al-
bert, marquis of Brandenburg, having thrown his
forces into Schweinfurt, was besieged by the Ger-
man princes. During the siege, which was te-
dious and severe^ Olympia was obliged to live in a
cellar, and when the town was taken she escaped
with great difficulty from the fury of the soldiers,
and reached the village of Hainmelburg in a state of
exhaustion. " If you had seen me (she writes to
Curio) with my feet bare and bleeding, my hair
dishevelled, and my borrowed and torn clothes, you
would have pronounced me the queen of beggars, "ft

* It is sufficient to mention here the names of Buxtorf, Grynseus,
Freyus, and Werenfels. (Stupani Oratio, pp. 363, 381, 398. Ryhine-
rus, Vita Sam. Werenfelsii, in Tempe Helvetica, torn. vi. p. 47.)

t See before, p. 212. J Sleidan, tcm. iii. pp. 410, 449, 468.

§ Olympian Moratte Opera, pp. 160—162. Nolten, Vita Olympian
Moratte, pp. 138—147.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 401

In the mean time, her library, including her manu-
scripts, was entirely destroyed. The counts of Er-
bach showed her much attention during her adver-
sity ; the Elector Palatine provided her husband
with a place in the university of Heidelberg ; and her
literary friends united in sending her books to fur-
nish a new library. But her delicate constitution
had received an irreparable shock from the agitation
and fatigue which she had undergone, the symptoms
of consumption became decided, and after a linger-
ing illness, during which the sweetness of her tem-
per and the strength of her faith displayed them-
selves in such a manner as to console her husband
who doated upon her, she expired on the 26th of
October 1555, in the 29th year of her age.* She
ceased not to the last to remember her ungrateful
but beloved Italy, though every desire to return to
it had been quenched in her breast from the time
she saw the apathy with which her countrymen al-
lowed the standard of truth to fall, and the blood of
its friends to be shed like water in their streets.
Before she was confined to bed, she employed her
leisure time in transcribing from memory some of
her poems, which she bequeathed to her friend Curio,
by whom her works were published soon after her
death. They consist of dialogues and letters in La-
tin and Italian, and of Greek poems, chiefly para-
phrases of the Psalms, in heroic and sapphic verse ;

f Olympic Moratae Opera, pp. 167, 177, 185 — 192. Nolten, ut
supra, pp. 148 — 163.

2 D

402 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

all of them the productions of a highly cultivated
and pious mind.*

Strasburg, one of the free cities of Germany,
opened its gates to the Italian refugees. Paolo
Lacisio of Verona, highly praised by Robortello
for his skill in the three learned languages, came
to it along with Martyr, and obtained the situa-
tion of professor of Greek in the academy.-j- Je-
ronimo Massario of Vicenza was about the same
time admitted professor of medicine. This learn-
ed man, beside what he wrote on the subject of
his own art, was the author of a description of the
mode of procedure in the court of inquisition at
Rome. In this work he describes the trial of a fic-
titious prisoner, whom he calls Eusebius Uranius,
and puts into his mouth, during an examination
which lasted three days, the principal arguments
from scripture and the fathers against the church
of Rome. Though it contains several facts, yet it is
rather a controversial than an historical work, and
much inferior in usefulness to the account of the
Spanish inquisition by Gonsalvo4 The Italians were

* Her works were published in 15.5.3, and went through four edi-
tions in the course of twenty-two years. The first edition was dedi-
cated to Isabella Manricha, and the subsequent ones to Queen Eliza-
beth.

f Simler, Vita Martyris, sig. b iiij. Gerdes, Scrinium Antiq. torn,
iii. p. 17. Colomesii Italia Orientalis, pp. 67, 688.

X It is entitled, " Eusebius Captivus, sive modus procedendi in cu-
ria Romana contra Lutheranos — per Hieronymum Marium. Basileae."
The dedication is dated, " Basilese iiii. Nonas Novembris, Anno
1553." Colomies says that Hieronymus Marius is the disguised name

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 403

not so numerous in Strasburg as to require the use
of a church, but they met in private and enjoyed for
some time the instructions of Jerom Zanchi.* This
celebrated divine was a native of Alzano in the Ber-
gamasco, and descended from a family distinguished
in the republic of letters. f He was persuaded by his
relation Basilio to enter a convent of Canons Regular,
where he formed an intimate acquaintance withCelso
Martinengho. They were associated in their stu-
dies, in reading the works of Melanchthon, Bullin-
ger, Musculus and other reformers, and in attend-
ing the lectures of Martyr. They left Italy about
the same time, and their friendship continued un-
interrupted till the death of Martinengho. Having
come to Geneva in 1553, by the way of the Gri-
sons, Zanchi agreed to accompany Martyr into Eng-
land ; but when about to set out for this country,
he received an invitation to be professor of divi-
nity in the college of St. Thomas at Strasburg.

of Cselius Secundus Curio. (Des Maizeaux, Colomesiana, torn. ii.
p. 594.) But Zanchi, in a letter to Musculus, expressly says that Mas-
sario had gone to Basle to get the work printed. (Zanchii Epist. lib. ii.
pp. 312, 317.) He died of the plague at Strasburg in 1564.. (Wolfii
Note in Coloraesii Italia Orient, pp. 74, 75. Sturmii Institutiones
Literate, p. 140. Torun. Boruss. 1586.)

* Zanchii Epist. lib. i. p. 131.

t His father Francesco is enumerated among the historians of
Italy- (Tiraboschi, torn. vii. p. 369.) His second cousins Dionigi,
Grisostomo, and Basilio Zanchi, were all learned men. The last was
reckoned one of the finest Latin poets in Italy, and a mystery hangs
over the manner and cause of his death. It is supposed that he died
in prison, into which he had been thrown by pope Paul IV. (Ibid,
pp. 1182—1184; comp. pp. 387— 3S9, and Roscoe's Leo X. vol. i.
p. 76.)

404 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

This situation he filled with great credit and com-
fort for several years, until, after the death of James
Sturmius, the great patron of the academy, who
had been his steady friend, he was involved in
controversy with some of the keen Lutherans, led
on by John Marbach, who took offence at him for
opposing their novel notion of the omnipresence of
the human nature of Christ, and teaching the doc-
trines of predestination and the perseverance of the
saints. * In the midst of the uneasiness which this
quarrel gave him, he rejected the proposals made to
him by the papal nuncio,f but accepted, in the end of
the year 1563, a call from the Italian church at Chia-
venna. ^ In the beginning of 1568 he came to the
university of Heidelberg, where he taught during ten
years ; but finding that the prejudice which he had
encountered at Strasburg followed him to this place,
he gave way to it a second time, and removed to
Neustadt, where count John Casimir, the admi-
nistrator of the Electorate Palatine, had recently

• He gives an account of this dispute in his letter to the Landgrave
of Hesse. (Opera, torn. vii. pp. I — 46. Zanchii Opera, torn. iii. epist.
dedic. Conf. Melch. Adami Vita? Exter. Theolog. p. 149.) John
Sturmius, rector of the academy of Strasburg, and celebrated for the
elegance of his Latin style, wrote a philippic against the adversaries
of Zanchi, to which Melchior Speccer replied in a letter published
by Schelhorn. In this letter he says: — " Alter um caput crimina-
tionis tuse — Zanchium, suavissimas tuas delicias, vitam tuam, et ani-
mulam tuam continet." (Ergotzlichkeiten, torn. iii. p. 1136.) In a
letter to Bullinger, Sturmius praises the learning, piety, courteous-
ness, and placability of Zanchi. (Zanchii Epist. lib. ii. p. 287.)

f Tiraboschi, vii. 360.

jDe Porta, ii. 412—421.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITxVLY. 405

endowed an academy. He died in 1590, during a
visit which he paid to his friends at Heidelberg,
in the 76th year of his age. * The moderation of
Zanchi has been praised by writers of the Roman
catholic church, though his love of peace did not
lead him to sacrifice or compromise the truth. His
celebrity as a teacher procured him invitations from
the academies of Zurich, Lausanne and Leyden.
John Sturmius, called the German Cicero, was wont
to say, that he would not be afraid to trust Zanchi
alone in a dispute against all the fathers assembled
at Trent. Nor was he less esteemed as an author af-
ter his death. His writings, consisting of commen-
taries on scripture and treatises on almost all ques-
tions in theology, abound with proofs of learning;
but they are too ponderous for the arms of a modern
divine.t

Lyons, in the sixteenth century, was a place of
resort for merchants from all parts of Europe. The
Italian protestants in that city were so numerous,
that the popes reckoned it necessary to keep agents
among them to labour in their conversion. But so

* Thuani Hist, ad an. 1590. Teissier, Eloges, torn. iv. pp. 99 — 103.
Melch. Adami Vita? Exter. Theolog. pp. 148 — 153. A Life of Zan-
chi by Sig. Conte Cav. Giambatista Gallizioli, a patrician of Berga-
masco, was printed at Bergamo in 1785. (Tiraboschi, vii. 369.)

+ His works were collected and printed in eight volumes folio, at
Geneva, in 1613. Fridericus Sylburgius, celebrated as the author of
several learned works, and the editor of many of the Greek and Ro-
man classics which came from the presses of Wechel and Commelin,
was for some time the servant of Zanchi, to whom he was indebted for
his education. (Zanchii Epist. lib. ii. pp. 440, H2.)

406 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

far were they from succeeding in this work, that
Lyons came to be regarded at Rome as " the chief
seat of heresy," and- all who visited it fell under sus-
picion.* Several editions of the New Testament, and
other religious books in the Italian language, pro-
ceeded from the Lionese press. f In the beginning of
1562, the Italians obtained permission to hold meet-
ings for worship, and called Zanchi to be their mini-
ster. The magistrates of Strasburg having refused
to part with him, he, in the following year, receiv-
ed another pressing invitation from the celebrated
Viret, in the name of the protestant consistory at
Lyons ; but he had previously engaged himself to
the church of Chiavenna. When afterwards depriv-
ed of the preacher whom they had chosen, Zanchi
received a third call from his countrymen in Lyons,
who were again disappointed 4

Antwerp was in that age reckoned the emporium
of the world, and frequented by men of all nations.
The reformed doctrine had been early introduced into
it, and continued to spread among the inhabitants in
spite of the severities employed for its suppression. $

* Fontanini Biblioteca Italians, tom.i. p. 119.

t Beside the translation of the New Testament by Massimo Teo-
filo in 1551, an edition of Brucioli's was printed at Lyons in 1553,
and an anonymous translation in 1558. Whether the Italian and
French translation by Ludovico Paschali, the martyr, was printed at
Lyons or Geneva is uncertain. (Schelhorn, Ergotzlichkeiten, torn. i.
pp. 417—419.)

t Zanchii Epist. lib. ii. pp. 287, 375 — 378, 390.

§ Gerdesii Hist. Reform, torn. iii. pp. 217,243.

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY. 407

The Italian protestants satisfied themselves for many-
years with meeting for worship along with the
French church, which was erected in that city after
the Netherlands threw off the Spanish yoke. But
as their number had increased,* they resolved in the
year 1580 to form themselves into a separate church,
and invited their countryman Zanchi to be their
pastor. With this invitation, though warmly second-
ed by letters from the senate and ministers, he did
not think it prudent to comply.f It is however pro-
bable that they obtained Ulixio Martinengho J for
their minister ; for we find Zanchi, about this time,
Writing his opinion of that nobleman, at the desire of
one of the ministers of Antwerp. "I know him well,"
says he, " and can, with a good conscience and be-
fore the Lord, attest that he is incorrupt and well
grounded as to doctrine, possesses no common share
of learning, is unblamable in his life as a Chris-
tian, zealous toward God, charitable toward his
brethren, and distinguished for prudence and dex-
terity in the management of business, which, as you
well know, is a qualification very necessary in the
rulers of churches. The only thing of which I

* The Italian version of the New Testament by Brucioli was print-
ed at Antwerp in the year 1538, accompanied with two prefaces, in
which the advantages of reading the scriptures, and the propriety of
translating them into the vulgar language of every people, are urged
with great force. (Ergotzlichkeiten, torn. i. p. 408.) Schelhorn in
this work has thrown much light on the life and writings of Brucioli.

f Zanchii Epist. lib. ii. pp. 409 — 414, 424.

t See before, p. 361.

408 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ITALY.

cannot speak is his gift for preaching, for I never
heard him from the pulpit ; but he speaks Italian well.
O that I could spend what remains of my life in the
company of this excellent servant of God ! Believe
ine, you will find him on acquaintance still better
than he appears to be ; sincere, frank, kind, oblig-
ing, courteous, and one who adds lustre to the no-
bility of his birth by the correctness of his morals
as a Christian. I am sure he will greatly please
your illustrious prince." *

Of all the foreign Italian churches, none was
so distinguished as those which were established in
Geneva and in London. But as their affairs were
intimately connected with those of the Spanish re-
fugees who settled in these cities, I shall introduce
the account of them into the history of the progress
and suppression of the Reformation in Spain. For
that work I shall also reserve, the remarks I have
to make on the influence which the suppression of
the reformed opinions had on the national literature
and character of the Italians, which are applicable,
with a very little variation, to those of the Span-
iards.

* Zanchius Joanni Taffino: Epist. lib. ii. p. 411; conf. p. 366.

APPENDIX.

No. I.

Extracts from a Treatise of Gabriele Falliculi, De liberali Dei Gra-
tia, et Servo hominis Arhitrio*

To the very reverend father in Christ and worthy bishop of Luna,
Doctor Sylvestro Benedetto of Sarsina, with the greatest respect and
veneration, Gabriele Valliculi, in Jesus the only son of the Virgin,
wishes grace by which we are freely justified, and peace, according to
what the angels announced at the nativity of Christ, Peace on earth
and good will towards men.

I am placed in a strait betwixt two, being doubtful whether I
should keep silence respecting the free grace of God and the enslaved
will of man, in which case death awaits me ; or whether I should
treat of them, and run the risk of falling into the hands of the
wicked. But the Holy Spirit teaches me that I should choose to fall

" Nothing is known concerning the author of this book. It was
printed at Nurenberg in the year 1536 ; but it had most probably
been previously published in Italy. Melanchthon, in a letter to Veit
Dietrich, written in 1530, says : '* In Italy there has arisen a new
Luther, whose propositions I send you." (Epistolae, p. 432. edit. Lugd.)
But we have no evidence that he refers to the author of this book. Val-
liculi appears not to have been a man of talents, but of warm piety ; and
most probably wrote this treatise after reading Luther's celebrated work Do
Servo Arbitrio. Silvestro Benetto, to whom it is dedicated, was the ne-
phew of Thomas, bishop of Sarsina and Luna, succeeded his uncle in the
bishopric in 1497, and died in 1537. (I'gbelli Italia Sacra, torn. i. p. 556.)
The extracts are taken from Riederer, Nathrichtcn zur Kirchen-Gclebr-
t on mid Bucher-Geschichtc, torn. iv. p. 112, &c. Aldorf, 1768.

410 APPENDIX.

into the hands of the wicked rather than to sin in the sight of God.
Help me, O Lord, thou who art my hope, my refuge, my leader, my
justification, my protector and defender. All my safety and confidence
is placed in thee, not in human aid, much less in the enslaved will of
man. In thee alone, O God, have I hoped, and on this account shall
never be moved. But why am I not confounded when the Holy Spirit
cries in my ear, What fruit hast thou of those things whereof thou
are now ashamed? It is because I come to thee, my Christ, (not to
the enslaved will of man,) and my countenance is enlightened and not
covered with shame. When I am confounded by the enslaved will
of sin in Adam, I will by the free grace of God fly from him to Jesus
Christ my Saviour, and then I shall not be confounded. * * * * *Free
and deliver me for thy righteousness sake, not for mine, but for thine :
if I should say for mine, then I would belong to the number of those
of whom the Holy Spirit has said, Being ignorant of God's righteous-
ness they go about to establish a righteousness of their own. Being
wholly depraved, I am not justified by my own, but by thy righteous-
ness, and if not by mine but by thine, then is righteousness imputed
to me by thy sovereign grace.

* * " * * In the first place, then, we are of opinion that the human
understanding, from its very nature, is incapable of comprehending
any thing but what is carnal, or of distinguishing between good and
evil except by a carnal discernment. Poverty, want, ignominy, tem-
poral losses, disease, death, and all worldly misfortunes, it judges to
be evil ; but wealth, glory, reputation, health, long life, and all
worldly blessings, it reckons to be good. It knows nothing of a God
merciful, angry, avenging, prescient, predestinating, and producing
all things ; and this the apostle testifies when he says, For we have
not received the spirit of this world, nor of reason, intellect and will,
but of the free grace of God, that we may know the things which are
given us by God, and not by the understanding and the will — given,
saith the apostle, on account of no preceding merit. If they be given,
then they must be free, if free, wbat merit is there in them ? These
things I have said, not in the learned words of human wisdom, nor
in the dreams of the sophists, but by the teaching of the Spirit, com-
paring spiritual things with spiritual.

• « • • Qbserve to what length this blindness of heart and foolish-
ness of understanding have proceeded. Men have adulterated the
majesty of the immortal God, by shadowing out the image of perish-
ing man, and not of man only, but of brute creatures also ; they have
become corrupt in their own enslaved will, and stupidity of heart,

APPENDIX. 411

and abominable in their pursuits, because human reason is wholly
ignorant of God, and neither comprehends nor seeks after him ; and
accordingly they have turned aside to unprofitable things, not per-
ceiving the things of God. But as, by the enslaved will of man, sin
abounded, so the free grace of God hath abounded much more; and
as by the enslaved will of man, sin reigned to eternal punishment,
so by the free grace of God the king of Salm reigns to life everlast-
ing. And who is it then that reigns? Not the understanding or will
of man, but our Lord Jesus Christ the Saviour, who has given us
grace without any merit on our part. The plain truth is, that in
respect of spiritual judgment the human understanding is en-
tirely unacquainted with God, and though it were by day and by
night incessantly employed in examining, perusing and ruminating
upon the whole Talmud, the holy scriptures, and the books of phi-
losophers and divines, both ancient and modern, it could never, with-
out the assistance of the Spirit, comprehend truly his omnipotence,
prescience, providence, mercy, or anger. It listens to discourses, pro-
fesses to believe them, and hypocritically imitates them, though in
reality it is quite ignorant of God, and looks upon heavenly things
as fabulous. O the profound blindness of man ! as Jeremiah testi-
fies, saying, The human heart is depraved and unsearchable, who
can understand it ? The Lord searches the heart and reins, but the
reason of man is incapable of discerning the things of heaven.

No. II.

Extracts from a treatise on the Benefit of Christ crucified, by Aonio

Paleario*

* * " " God has fulfilled his promise in sending us that
great prophet, who is his only begotten Son, that we might be freed
from the curse of the law and reconciled to our God, and has inclined
our hearts to every good work, in the way of curing the freewill
and restoring in us the divine image which we had lost by the
sin of our first parents, and causing us to know that under heaven
there is no other name given to men by which they can be saved ex-
cept the name of Jesus Christ. Let us fly then with the wings of a

* These extracts are taken from a review of the original Italian in Rie-
dcrer, Nachrichten, torn. iv. pp. 239 — 211. See before, p. 333.

412 APPENDIX.

lively faith into his embraces, when we hear him inviting us in these
words, Come unto me all ye who are troubled and heavy-laden, and
I will give you joy. What consolation, what delight can be compar-
ed to that which is experienced by the person, who, feeling himself
overwhelmed with the intolerable weight of his iniquities, hears such
grateful and tender words from the Son of God, who promises thus
mercifully to comfort him and free him from so heavy a burden ! But
one great object we should have in view is to be acquainted in good
earnest with our weakness and miserable condition by nature ; for we
cannot relish the good, unless we have tasted evil. Christ accordingly
says, Let him that thirsteth come to me and drink ; as if he would
imply that the man who is ignorant of his being a sinner, and has ne-
ver thirsted after righteousness, is incapable of tasting how sweet the
Lord is, and how delightful it is to think and to speak of him and to
imitate his most holy life. When, therefore, through the instrumen-
tality of the law, we are made to see our infirmity, let us look to the
benign physician whom John Baptist points out to us with the finger,
saying, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world ;
who, I repeat, frees us from the galling bondage of the law, by abro-
gating and annihilating its bitter curses and threatenings, healing all
our diseases, reforming our freewill, bringing us back to our pristine
innocence, and restoring in us the image of God. If, according to St.
Paul, as by Adam all died, so by Christ we are all revived, then we
cannot believe that the sin of Adam, which we have by inheritance,
is of greater efficacy than the righteousness of Christ, which in like
manner we have inherited through faith. Once indeed, man might, with
some show of reason, have complained that without his own instru-
mentality he was conceived and brought forth in iniquity, and in the
sin of his first parents, through whom death has reigned overall men ;
but now all occasion of complaint is removed, since eternal life, toge-
ther with victory over death, is obtained, in the very same method,
without any instrumentality of ours, by the righteousness of Christ
which is imputed to us. Upon this subject St. Paul has written a
most beautiful discourse in Romans v. 12 — 31. • * * From these
words of St. Paul, it is clear that the law was given in order that sin
might be known, and that we might understand that it is not of
greater efficacy than the righteousness of Christ, by which we are jus-
tified in the tight of God ; for if Christ be more powerful than Adam,
and if the sin of Adam was capable of rendering us sinners and chil-
dren of wrath, without any actual transgression of our own, much
moie will the righteousness of Christ be able to justify us and make

APPENDIX. 413

us children of grace, without any good works on our part, works
which cannot be acceptable, unless, before we perform them, we be
made good and righteous through faith.

* * * * Let us, my beloved brethren, embrace the righteousness
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and make it our own by means of faith.
Let us seek establishment in holiness, not by our own works, but by
the merits of Christ ; and let us live in joy and security ; for his
righteousness destroys all our unrighteousness, and makes us good, and
just, and holy in the sight of God, who, when he sees us incorporated
with his Son by faith, does not regard us any more as children of
Adam, but as his own children, and constitutes us heirs of all his
riches along with his legitimate Son.

No. III.

Letters written by Aonio Paleario, to his wife and children, on the
morning1 of his execution*

Article and Memorial, copied from a book of San Giovanni de' Fio-
rentini di Roma.

Monday, the 3d day of July, 1570. Our confraternity having
been called on Sunday night, immediately preceding Monday the 3d
day of July, 1570, in Tordinona,t Mr. Aonio Paleario of Veruli,
resident on the hill of Valdenza, was delivered into its hands, con-
demned to death in the course of justice by the ministers of the
holy inquisition, who, having confessed and contritely asked pardon
of God and of his glorious mother, the Virgin Mary, and of all the
court of heaven, said that he wished to die a good Christian, and
to believe all that the holy Roman church believes. He did not
make any testament, except what is contained in the two under-
written letters, in his own hand-writing, requesting us to send them
to his wife and children at the hill of Valdenza.

• See before, p. 301. These letters, with the introductory memorial
of the friars, were reprinted in the original Italian by Schelhorn, in his
Dissertatio de Mino Celso Senensi, pp. 25 — 27, from Novelle Lettcrarie
dell' Anno 1745, p. 328, &c. Firenze.

•f Torre Nona.

414 APPENDIX.

Copies of the letters, verbatim.

My Dearest Wife,
I would not wish that you should receive sorrow from my plea-
sure, nor ill from my good. The hour is now come when I must
pass from this life to my Lord and Father and God. I depart as joy-
fully as if I were going to the nuptials of the Son of the great King,
which I have always prayed my Lord to grant me, through his good-
ness and infinite mercy. Wherefore, my dearest wife, comfort your-
self with the will of God, and with my resignation, and attend to the
desponding family which still survives, training them up and pre-
serving them in the fear of God, and being to them a father and a
mother. I am now an old man of 70 years, and useless. Our chil-
dren must provide for themselves by their virtue and their industry,
and lead an honourable life. God the Father, and our Lord Jesus
Christ, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with your spirit !
Rome, 3d July, 1570.

Thy Husband,

Aonio Paleari.

The other letter follows, verbatim.

Lampridio and Fedro, beloved children,

These my very courteous Lords do not relax their kindness to me
even in tbis extremity, and give me permission to write to you.
It pleases God to call me to himself by this means, which may appear
to you harsh and painful ; but if you regard it properly, as happen-
ing with my full resignation and pleasure, you will acquiesce in the
will of God, as you have hitherto done. Virtue and industry I leave
you for a patrimony, along with the little property you already pos-
sess. I do not leave you in debt ; many are always asking when they
ought to give.

You were freed more than eighteen years ago ; you are not bound
for my debts. When you are called upon to discharge them, have re-
course to his excellency the Duke, who will not see you wronged. I
have requested from Luca Pridio an account of what is due to me,
and what I am owing. Take the dowry of your mother, and bring up
your little sister as God will give you grace. Salute Aspasia and sis-

APPENDIX. 415

ter Aonilla, my beloved daughters in the Lord. My hour approaches.
The Spirit of God console and preserve you in his grace !
Rome, 3d July, 1570.

Your Father,
Superscription. Aonio Paleari.

To his dearest wife Marietta Paleari, and to his beloved sons Lam-
pridio and Fedro Paleari, at the hill of Valdenza, in the suburbs of
St. Caterina.

No. IV.

Extract of a Letter written in prison by Pompon io Algieri to his
friends in the University of Padua*

To allay the grief you feel on my account, I am anxious to impart
to you a share of my consolation, that we may rejoice together, and
return thanks to the Lord with songs. I speak what to man will ap-
pear incredible : I have found honey in the bowels of the lion, (who
will believe it?) pleasantness in a dismal pit, soothing prospects of
life in the gloomy mansions of death, joy in an infernal gulf !
Where others weep, I rejoice; where others tremble, I am strong;
the most distressing situation has afforded me the highest delight, so-
litude an intercourse with the good, and galling chains rest. But in-
stead of this deluded world believing these things, it will be rather dis-
posed to ask in an incredulous tone : " How, think you, will you be
able to endure the reproaches and threats of men, the fires, the snow-
storms, the crosses, the thousand inconveniences of your situation ?
Do you not look back with regret on your beloved native land, your
possessions, your relations, your pleasures, your honours ? Have you
forgot the delights of science, and the solace which it yielded you
under all your labours ? Will you at once throw away all the toils,
watchings, and laudable exertions devoted to study from your child-
hood ? Have you no dread of that death which hangs over you, as if,
forsooth, you had committed no crime ? O foolish and infatuated man,
who can by a single word secure all these blessings and escape death,

• Translated from the original Latin, in Pantaleon, Rerum in Eccles.
Gest. pp. 329—332.

416 APPENDIX.

yet will not ! How rude to be inexorable to the requests of senators
the most august, pious, just, wise, and good ; to turn an obstinate ear
when men so illustrious entreat you !"

But hear me, blind worldlings, what is hotter than the fire which
is laid up for you, and what colder than your hearts which dwell
in darkness and have no light ? What can be more unpleasant, per-
plexed and agitated than the life you lead, or more odious and
mean than the present world ? Say, what native country is sweeter
than heaven, what treasure greater than eternal life? Who are my
relations but those who hear the word of God ? and where shall riches
more abundant or honours more worthy be found than in heaven ?
Say, foolish man, were not the sciences given to conduct us to the
knowledge of God, whom if it so be we know not, our labours, our
watchings, and all our painful exertions are doubtless utterly lost. —
The prison is severe indeed to the guilty, but sweet to the innocent,
distilling on the one side dew and nectar, sending forth on the other
milk and abundance of all things. It is a desert place and wild, but
to me a spacious valley, the noblest spot on earth. Listen to me, un-
happy man, and judge whether there be in the world a more pleasant
meadow. Here kings and princes, cities and people, are presented
to my view. Here I behold the fate of battles ; some are vanquished,
others victorious, some trodden to dust, others lifted into the triumphal
car. This is Mount Sion, this is heaven. Jesus Christ stands in the
front, and around are the patriarchs, prophets, evangelists, apostles,
and all the servants of God : he embraces and cherishes me, they en-
courage me, and spread the sacrament; some offer consolations, while
others attend me with songs. Can I be said to be alone, while sur-
rounded by so many and so illustrious attendants ? Here I find an
intercourse which affords me example as well as comfort; for in that
circle I behold some crucified and slain, others stoned and sawn
asunder, some roasted, others fryed in the pan and in brazen vessels,
one with his eyes dug out, another with his tongue cut off, one be-
headed, another maimed of hand and foot, some thrown into the
fiery furnace, others left a prey to the ravenous birds. Here I have
no fixed habitation, and seek for myself in the heavens the first New
Jerusalem which presents itself. I have entered upon a path which
conducts to a pleasant dwelling, and where I doubt not to find wealth,
and relations, and pleasures, and honours. Those earthly enjoyments
(all of them shadowy, and fading, and vanity of vanities, without the
substantial hope of a coming eternity) which the supreme Lord was
pleased to bestow upon me, have been made my companions and so-

APPENDIX. 417

lace. Now they bring forth good fruits. I have burned with heat,
and shuddered with cold, I have earnestly watched day and night ;
and now these struggles have come to a close. Not an hour nor a
day has passed without some exertion : the true worship of God is
now engraven on my heart, and the Lord has filled me with joy and
peacefulness. Who then will venture to condemn this life of mine,
and to pronounce my years unhappy? Who so rash as to declare his
labours lost who has found the Lord of the world, who has exchang-
ed death for life ? " The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, there-
fore will I seek him." If then to die be to begin a blessed life, why
does rebellious man cast death in my teeth ? O how pleasant is that
death which gives me to drink of the cup of God ! What surer earn-
est of salvation than to suffer as Christ suffered ! * * * * *
Be comforted, my most beloved fellow-servants of God, be comforted
when temptations assail you; let your patience be perfect in all
things, for suffering is our promised portion in this life ; as it is writ-
ten, " The time cometh, when he who slays you will think he doeth
God service." Tribulation and death therefore are our signs of elec-
tion and future life: let us rejoice and praise the Lord that we are
innocent ; for it is better, if such be the will of God, that we suffer
for well-doing, than for evil-doing. We have a noble pattern in Christ,
and the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord, whom the
children of iniquity have slain. Behold we call those blessed who
bore up under their trials. Let us rejoice in our innocence and
righteousness : God will reward our persecutors, for vengeance is his.
As to what they say concerning the Venetian nobility and senators,
extolling them as the most august, wise, just, pious, pacific, and of the
highest character and fame, I give this its due weight. The Apostle
teaches us, " that we ought to obey God rather than man." And ac-
cordingly, after first giving service to God, then and not till then are
we bound to obey the official powers of this world. I grant they are
august, but as yet they require to be perfected in Christ ; they arejust,
but the foundation and seat of justice, Jesus Christ, is wanting; they
are wise, but where is the beginning of wisdom, the fear of God ?
they are called pious, but I could wish they were made perfect in Chris-
tian charity ; they are called good, but I look in vain for the founda-
tion of goodness in them, even God the supreme good ; they are called
illustrious, but they have not yet received our Saviour, the Lord of
glory. Lift up your eyes, my dearly beloved, and consider the ways
of God ; the Lord has lately threatened with pestilence, and this he
has done for our correction : if wc do not receive him he will un-

2 E

418 APPENDIX.

sheath his sword and attack those who rise up against Christ, with
sword, pestilence, and famine. These things, brethren, have I writ-
ten for your consolation. Pray for me : I salute with a holy kiss my
masters Sylvio, Pergula, Justo, along with Fidelis a Petra, and the
person who goes by the name of Laelia, whom though absent I
knew, and the Lord Syndic of the university, with all others, whose
names are written in the book of life.

Farewell, all my fellow-servants of God ; farewell in the Lord, and
pray earnestly for me. From the delectable garden of the Leonine
prison, 21st July 1555, the most devoted servant of the faithful, the
bound

Pomtonius Algier.

No. V.

Extract of a Letter from Carnesecchi to Flaminio.*

I have received your letter, in which you enlarge both in the way
of instruction and admonition on those topics which we have often
discussed in conversation ; and I return you my sincere thanks, as in
duty bound, for the affection and good will you have displayed to-
wards me. When I reflect on the bitter animosities, and furious dis-
cord, which these disputes on ecclesiastical matters have engendered,
and on the license with which the contending parties have inveighed
against each other, forgetful of their own credit, as well as the good
of others, and violating the duties of charity, which requires us to ab-
stain from offending any professed Christian, I am charmed with the
mildness and moderation which you have shown, never casting abuse
upon your adversaries, or wounding them with cutting sarcasm, but
contenting yourself with pronouncing their sect execrable ; and, in
full possession of your temper, commending such of them as are dis-

" This letter is printed at length in Schelhorn, .Amcenitates Historias
Ecclesiastical et Literariae, tom. ii. pp. 155 — 170. It is the only production
of Carnesecchi's pen which I have met with. As my object is merely to
give the reader an idea of his character, I have not inserted that part of
the letter which enters into the merits of the controversy respecting the
eucharist.

APPENDIX. 419

languished for their talents, and superior to the rest in modesty and
manners. Conduct like this was highly approved of among the an-
cients, and has adorned our own age, as well as that which preceded
it. We are told that Jovianus Pontanus commended the studies
of all, and never abused the character of any man, either in public
or private. M. Sabellicus would not revenge himself upon his
opponents by retorting even their most violent and malevolent taunts,
although he was by no means deficient in the graces of a copious and
fine style ; a display of good nature which has led some over-rigid
critics to form too low an estimate of his talents. Pomponius Laetus,
an inhabitant of Rome, did not trouble himself with entering the
lists against those who had unjustly attacked him with their calum-
nies. Not to mention others in our own times, are not Nicholaus
Leonicus and Jacobus Sadoletus striking examples of modesty and
forbearance? But with respect to the Philelphi, the Poggii, the
Vallae and others, (for I will not mention by name any of the present
age,) what contumelies have they not thrown out against their an-
tagonists in defamation of their character? You, however, content
yourself with barely mentioning the names of those persons who in
your opinion have departed from the purity of religion, and treat the
points you condemn with accuracy and mildness. As to the question
itself, I will, for the purpose of enabling us to consider it with greater
attention, state, with your leave, what has occurred to me in opposi-
tion to your sentiments, and expect that you will take this in good
part, observing, according to your piety and learning, whether I have
adduced any thing in support of the other side. As in all discussions
of this kind, the discovery of the truth ought to be the grand aim,
you should remove every obstacle that stands in the way of its attain-
ment, all respect to customs, prescription of time, and authority of
human institutions, and pressing on to this one point, steadily fix
your eyes upon its light, that you may not, by walking in darkness,
stumble into error. You recommend me to read certain volumes, at
once numerous and bulky, but afterwards inform me, and I take it
exceedingly kindly in you, that in order to spare trouble on my part
you think it sufficient to rest your cause solely on the authority of
Irensus, an ancient and highly approved writer. To have sought out
and perused all the books you named, would have indeed proved a
difficult and inconvenient, and even Herculean labour. If, as be-
comes an impartial judge, I should read the writings of the opposite
party in order to know the arguments they make use of in their defence,

420 APPENDIX.

how could I ever discharge so weighty a task ? For you well know the
consequences of contentions, disputes, and altercations such as these,
when hoth parties wish to be victorious; how they search out every
argument that may confute their opponents, and devise whatever may
favour or assist their own cause. It is well known that this itch of
disputation is equally strong on both sides — in perverting truth as
well as in overthrowing falsehood ; and hence it happens, that even
truth, by being mixed up with artifice, has become suspected, as if by
this crafty policy the understanding were depraved, and the simplicity
of truth destroyed. Let us then pass over these, and giving to each
his due, proceed to weigh with diligence and accuracy the testimony
of those ancient writers who have treated the subject with most judg-
ment and impartiality. You had no occasion, in writing to me, to esta-
blish the authority cf Irenreus's works, or to commend the author so
warmly ; for I know well the universal esteem in which he and his
writings are held, and am myself an admirer of both. I often regret
that his works have not reached us in the original Greek, which, as
appears from the extracts inserted in the books of Eusebius, Epipha-
nius, and others, he seems to have written with much fluency and
elegance. I am astonished that a certain learned writer has express-
ed a doubt, whether he wrote in Greek. As to those of his writings
which have been translated into Latin, (such as it is,) I cannot vouch
for their fidelity to the original, but certainly the style is by no means
good or chaste ; for the translator makes use of unmeaning words,
and bis foreign idiom necessarily mars the understanding of the
reader. But in this, as in many other cases, we must take what we
can get, not what we would wish ; and in those books which have
been published, there is a good deal of discussion on subjects of great
importance. Let lis for a moment examine the excerpt from the
fourth book of Irenseus against heretics. It is necessary, however,
for the understanding of whatever is said, that we know the design,
the occasion, and the subject ; for otherwise the mind of the reader
will wander, and be unable to receive any certain information. For
example, Christ says, " Without me ye can do nothing ;" to commit
sin is to do something; does it therefore follow that without Christ
no sin is committed ? Again he says, "■ Give to every one that ask-
elh ;" are we therefore to give some heretic or other what he may ask
for a base and villainous purpose ? I could bring forward many ex-
amples of this kind, but these will explain what I mean. • * * *

Nor does the universal agreement of the catholic church concerning
ceremonies, among the Greeks, the Armenians, the Indians, and, if

APPENDIX. 421

you please, the Ethiopians, help the matter; for the frequency or ex-
tent of its use is no defence of a corrupt practice. It is evident that
in every nation carelessness in preserving truth and pure doctrine,
ignorance of the polite arts, and the turhulency of the times have ob-
structed the fruits of true religion and piety. -Consider, I pray you,
what is now the universal opinion concerning a barbarous style?
Shall we condemn those who exploded the rude diction which had
long been in use, and introduced a better and more elegant one in its
room ? But I need not enlarge on this subject to one of your learn-
ing. The rest of your letter consists in several accusations, which,
though in some respects severe, I do not impute to you, but to those
who prefer defending falsehood to embracing truth. These per-
sons, if they had common sense, would consider that no reproaches
are more futile and ridiculous than those which recoil, or at least
are easily thrown back on the head of the author. In your letter you
censure with great severity and justice the obstinacy of those who
remain blindly attached to their own opinion, cloak their pride under
a false zeal, arrogantly accuse general and established customs, and,
as you add, are actuated by fears of losing worldly dignities and
emoluments. All of these are pestilent things ; and I grant that
general and ancient custom ought to be retained, lest the very
foundations be sapped ; but this is the very question in dispute, and
it remains still undetermined, Who have transgressed or opposed the
catholic agreement ? You say that some have their minds puffed up
with contumacy, and are blinded by zeal, too confident in their bold-
ness, ambitious, avaritious. Let it then, I would say, be determined
who are the individuals chargeable with this. We know too well how
bitterly each party reproaches the other, and how far this evil has
proceeded in these dissolute and undisciplined times ; and according-
ly we should consider what is true, proper and laudable, attending
to what ought to be done, not to what has been done by this or that
person. Thus after deliberation, let us pronounce our sentiments
concerning the subject, and then, if we think proper, concerning the
persons. Of these, as I have already signified, I will say nothing,
either in the way of accusation or defence; for what Horace said of
the Trojan war, may, if I am not mistaken, be justly applied to this
controversy :

IliaCOS intra muros peccatur ct extra.

A man of probity will consider what he says of another, lest he

422 APPENDIX.

spread abroad any ill-founded reports. I am led to mention this
from your naming Bucer, of whom you seem to speak from the re-
port of some malevolent person, and not from your own knowledge.
I have heard many and various accounts, both respecting the man, and
that affair in reference to which you wish to depreciate him in my
esteem. Many letters celebrate the piety and learning of Bucer ; and
it is well known how zealous he has been in healing the wounds of
the church. 1 have been informed that he is of a mild temper, and
by no means pertinacious, litigious, or severe, although so firm in the
cause of the truth as not to be drawn from its defence by any respect
either to dignity, fortune, or life. But, as I have already said, we are
not to judge of persons but of things. You have my reply to your
letter, less accurate, and perhaps less to your mind, than you expect-
ed. I hope you will take it in good part, and that it will not pre-
vent you from prolonging the discussion, if you think proper, and con-
tinuing to repeat your instructions and advices. For in the cool dis-
putations of friends, though they should happen to differ in senti-
ment, the truth is often discovered, and, contrary to expectation, is
elicited by the very contention, as fire by the collision of flints.
Adieu.

No. VI.

Letter from Otympia Moratu to Madonna Cherubina Orsini.*

My Dearest Lady Cherubina,
To the letter I have already written you, I wish to add a few lines
for the purpose of exhorting you to pray to God that he would give you
strength, lest, through fear of those who can kill the body only, you of-
fend that gracious Redeemer who has suffered for our sakes ; and that
he would enable you gratefully to confess him, according to his will,
before this perverse generation, and ever to keep in remembrance the
words of David, " I hate the congregation of sinners,and will not sit in

" Translated from the original Italian, in Olympian Moratie Opera,
pp. 218—222. Basiled, 1580.

APPENDIX. 423

the company of the wicked." I am weak, you will be apt to say, and
cannot do this. Oh do you imagine that so many saints and prophets,
that so many martyrs, even in our day, have remained firm in their
own unaided virtue, and that it was not God who gave them strength ?
Then consider that those whose weakness is mentioned in the scrip-
tures did not continue always infirm. St. Peter's denial of his Mas-
ter is not recorded as an example for our imitation, but in order to
display the great mercy of Christ, and to show us our own frailty, not
to excuse it. He soon recovered from his weakness, and obtained
such a degree of strength, that he afterwards rejoiced to suffer for the
cause of Christ. From these considerations we should be induced,
when we are sensible of our infirmity, to apply by prayer to the phy-
sician, and request that he would make us strong. Provided we pray
to him, he will not fail to perform his promise ; only he does not wish
us to be idle and unemployed, but to be continually exercising our-
selves with that armour of which St. Paul speaks in the sixth chapter
of his epistle to the Ephesians. We have a powerful enemy who is
never at rest, and Christ by his example has showed us that he is to
be overcome by prayer and the word of God. For the love of Christ,
then, who has redeemed you with his precious blood, I entreat you
to study diligently the holy scriptures, praying that the Lord would
enable you to understand them. Mark how frequently and with
what ardour the great prophet David prays, " Lord, enlighten me —
teach me thy ways — renew in me a clean heart;" while we, as if we
were already perfect, neither study nor read. Paul, that illustrious
apostle, tells the Philippians, that he did not yet understand, but was
still engaged in learning. We ought to be advancing from day to day
in the knowledge of the Lord, and praying all the time with the apos-
tles that our faith may be increased, and with David, " Hold up my
steps in thy ways." We have ourselves to blame for our weakness,
because we are continually excusing it, and neglecting the remedies
which Christ has prescribed, viz. prayer and his word. Do you
think that, after having done and suffered so much from love to you,
he will not fulfil the gracious promises he has made by granting your
petitions for strength ? Had he not intended to bestow it, he would
not have invited you by so many promises to ask it ; and lest you
should entertain any doubts on this point, he has sworn that all that
you request of the Father in his name shall be given you. Nor does
he say that he will give this or that thing, but every thing you soli-
cit ; and St. John declares that he will bestow whatever we ask ac-
cording to the will of God. Now is it not agreeable to his will that

424 APPENDIX.

we desire of him faith and fortitude sufficient to enable us to confess
him ? Ah ! how backward are we, and how ready to excuse ourselves !
We ougbt to acquaint the physician with our disease, in order
that he may cure us. Oh, is it not the proper office of Christ to
save us from our iniquities, and to overcome sin ? Knock, knock,
and it shall be opened to you. Never forget that he is omnipotent,
and that, before your hour is arrived, no one shall be able to touch a
hair of your head ; for greater is he that is in us, than he that is in
the world. Do not be influenced by what the majority do, but by
what the godly have done, and still do to this day. May the word
of the Lord be a lamp to your feet, for if you do not read and listen
to it, you will fall before many stumbling-blocks in the world. I
beg you to read this letter to Vittoria, exhorting her by precept and
by example to honour and confess God : read also along with her the
holy scriptures. Entreat my dear lady Lavinia to peruse frequently
a portion of them, and so she will experience the efficacy of the word
of Cod. The Lord knows that I have written these exhortations
with sincere concern for your salvation, and I beg of you to read them
with the same feeling. I pray God that you may be enlightened and
fortified in Chiist, so as to overcome Satan, the world, and the flesh,
and to obtain that crown which is given only to those who overcome.
I have no doubt but that, in following my admonitions, you will find
the Lord strengthening you. Do not consider that it is a woman
oidy who is giving you advice ; but rest assured that God, speaking
by my mouth, kindly invites you to come to him. All false opi-
nions, all errors, all disputes arise solely from not studying the
scriptures with sufficient care. David says, Thou hast made me
wiser than all my enemies by thy law. Do not listen to those who,
despising the commandments of God and the means which he has
appointed for their salvation, say, If we be predestinated, we shall
be saved, although we neither pray nor study the Bible. He who is
called of God will not utter such blasphemy, but will strive to obey
God, and avoid tempting him. The Lord has done us the honour
and the benefit to speak to us, to instruct and console us by his
word, and should we despise such a valuable treasure? He invites
us to draw near to him in prayer ; but we, neglecting the opportu-
nity, and remaining inactive, are busied with disputes concerning the
high counsels of God, and the things which are to come to pass.
Let us use the remedies he has prescribed, and thus prove ourselves
to be obedient and predestinated children. Head and observe how
highly Cod wculd have his word prized. Faith, says Paul, comes by

APPENDIX. 425

hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Charity and faith, I
assure you, would soon become cold, were you to remain idle. And
it is not enough, as Christ remarks, to have begun ; we must per-
severe to the end. Let him that stands, says Paul, take heed lest he
fall. I entreat you, for the love of Christ, not to confine yourself to
the maxims of men, but to conduct yourself according to the word of
God ; let it be a lamp to your feet, otherwise Satan will be able to
deceive you in a variety of ways. Deliver these admonitions to my
sister also. Never consider who the person may be that speaks to
you, but examine whether she speaks the words of God or her own
words ; and provided the scriptures, and not the authority of man,
be your rule, you will not fail to discover the path of duty. Ask,
seek, knock, and it will be opened to you. Draw near to your heavenly
spouse, contemplating him in the Bible, that true and bright mirror,
in which shines all the knowledge which is necessary for us. May
God, for the sake of Christ, grant that I have not written in vain.
The pain in my breast has been considerably increased by the exer-
tion, but I sincerely wish I were able by my death to assist you and
others in the things which pertain to salvation. Do me the favour
to send me a single line, to acquaint me with the state of your
health.

Your Olymfia.

No. VII.

Letter of Olympia Morata to Celio Secundo Curio.

My Dearest Father Celio,
You may conceive how tenderly those who are united by true, that
is, Christian friendship, feel for one another, when I tell you that the
perusal of your letter drew tears from my eyes; for on learning that
you had been rescued from the jaws of the grave, I wept for joy.
May God long preserve you to be a blessing to his church. It grieves
me much to hear of the indisposition of your daughter, but I comfort
myself with the hopes you entertain of her recovery. As to myself,
my dear Celio, I must inform you that there are now no hopes of my
surviving long. No medicine gives me any relief. Every day, and
indeed every hour my friends look for my dissolution. It is probable

426 APPENDIX.

this may be the last letter you will receive from me. My body and
strength are wasted ; my appetite is gone ; night and day the cough
threatens to suffocate me. The fever is strong and unremitting, and
the pains which I feel over the whole of my body, deprive me of
sleep. Nothing therefore remains but that I breathe out my spirit.
But so long as life continues, I will remember my friends, and the
benefits I have received from them. I return my warmest thanks to
you for the books you sent me, and to those worthy men who have
bestowed upon me such valuable presents. Had I been spared I
would have shown my gratitude. It is my opinion that my departure
is at hand. I commend the church to your care ; O let all you do
be directed to its advantage. Farewell, excellent Celio, and do not
distress yourself when you hear of my death ; for I know that I shall
be victorious at last, and am desirous to depart and be with Christ.
My brother, about whom you inquire, is making proficiency in his
studies, though he needs the spur rather than the curb. Heidelberg
seems deserted on account of the numbers who have died of the
plague or fled for fear of it. My husband sends his compliments to
you. Salute your family in my name. I send you such of the poems
as 1 have been able to write out from memory since the destruction
of Schweinfurt. All my other writings have perished. I request that
you will be my Aristarchus, and polish them. Again farewell.
From Heidelberg."

* Curio received this letter by the same post which brought him the in-
telligence of the death of the amiable writer. It was the last exertion she
made. On looking over what she had written, she perceived some mis-
takes, and insisted on transcribing it; but, after making the attempt, was
obliged to desist, and said to her husband, with a smile which almost un-
nerved him, " I see it will not do !"

INDEX.

Acurio, Joseph, 46.
Albigemes. See Waldenses.
Alciati, Paolo, 154, 302, 374, 375.
Akander Cardinal, 49, 84., 88.
Alexander VI., Pope, 8, 20.
Alexandrine Cardinal. See Pius V.
Algieri, Pomponio, 279-280, 415.
Altieri, Baldassare, 83, 94, 95, 98,
100,143-146, 151, 220-221., 370.

Alva, Duke of, 355.
Ambrogio, Teseo, 45, 46.
Ancona, Progress of Reformation in,
137.

Andrew of Asolo, 47.

Angelo, Frate, 298, 347.

Angole, Baron Bernardo di, 273.

Ann'ius of Viterbo, 42.

Antitrinitarianism in Italy, 148-158.
In the Grisons, 365-376.

Arabic language, studied in Italy,
41.

Badia, Cardinal, 84, 302.
Baplista Mantuanus, 16.
Bartoccio, Bartolommeo, 304, 305.
Beccaria, John, 132, 133, 239, 248,

381.
Bcllinchctli, Francesco and Alexan-
dre , 348, 349.
Bcmbo, Cardinal, 9, 10, 57, 73, 112-

115, 120, 135,136, 288, 302.
Bcncdeiti. See Locarno, Bcnedetti.

Bercttari de'. See Poliziano.
Bergamo, Progress of Reformation

in, 97.
Betti, Francesco, 397.
Bexa, Theodore, 387.
Bianca, Domenica della Casa, 276.
Bianchi, legate of Pius IV., 357.
Biveron. See Tutschet, James.
Blandrata, Georgius, 154, 374, 375.
Blaterone, Maco, 297.
Bocaccio, 6, 7, 14.
Bologna, Progress of Reformation in,

79-88.
Bomberg, Daniel, 40, 45.
Bonfadio, Jacopo, 121.
Borromeo, Cardinal, 357-9,362, 381,

396.
Bracciolini, Poggio, 15, 16.
Brescia, Progress of Reformation in,

97, 137.
Brucioli, Antonio, translator of the

Scriptures, 54-56, 78, 406, 407.
Buccianici, Marquis di, 263, 265.
Bucer, Martin, 34, 36, 77, 83, 118,

129, 140-142, 144, 145, 197, 303,

384.
Bullinger, Henry, 139, 222-4, 227,

273, 328, 329, 331, 370-2, 385,

387, 388, 394, 403.
Buonarki, Angelo, 180, 181, 302.

C.
Cajetan, Cardinal, 48.
Calabria, Waldenses in, 4, 257.

428

INDEX.

Calandrino, Scipionc, SGI.
Calcagnini, Celio, 73, 91, 182-184,

218.
Calvin, John, 70, 139, 141, 156,

193, 217, 227, 242, 303, 377,

381, 38 j, 307.
Cdvus, (Calvi) Francesco, 32.
Camerarius, Joachim, 153, 270, 272.
Cnncrarius, Philip, 270, 272.
Camillo Renato. See Renato.
Cnnosa. See Paradisi Paolo.
Cajmio. See Reuchlin.
Gtraccioli, Galeazzo, 121.
Caraffa, Cardinal, 84, 86, 106, 186,

189, 193, 195, 201. See Paul IV.
Carlino, Stefano, 262.
Carnesccchi, (Carneseca) Pietro, 79,

94, 121, 171, 175, 273, 287-296,

303, 418.
Caro, Annibale, 346.
Cirpi, Cardinal of, 190.
Casa, Delia, papal Nuncio, 226.
Cascrta, Giovanni Francesco, 121.
Cisimir, Count John, 405.
Castclvctro, Gianmaria, 279.
Castelvctro, Jacopo, 280.
G.istclvetro, Ludovico, 76, 206, 208,

210, 211, 379, 380.
CastigUonc, Varnerio, 132.
Ccllario, Francesco, 359, 360.
Cclso, Mino, 130, 397, 398.
Ccrvini, Cardinal. See Marcellus

II.
Cftahlaic language, studied in Italy,

41, 44.
Charles V., the Emperor, 58, 59, CI,

81, 100, 106, 112, 203, 276, 317,

382.
Chiavenna, 336, 340, 341, 368, 370,

379, 404, 406.
Ciriaco of Ancona, 40.
CiltadeUa, Progress of Reformation

in, 137.
Clario, Isidoro, 48, 49, 51.

Claud, Bishop of Turin, 2.

Coire, Bishops of, 310, 317, 321,

351, 373.
Coire, Town of, 313, 315, 324, 375,

376.
Clement VII., Pope, 58, 60, 61, 62,

65, 68, 134, 288.
Colli, Paolo di, 396, 397.
Colonna, Marco Antonio, 28, 271.
Colonna, Vittoria, marchioness of

Pescaro, 112, 163-165.
Comander, John, 313, 314, 315, 317,

319, 32 1, 326, 329, 371, 373.
Como, 37, 280, 336, 345.
Conlarini, Cardinal, 78, 84, 120, 125,

178,179, 192, 207, 208.
Conte, Bernardino, 262.
Corncllo, James, 102.
Corrada, Alfonso, 397.
Coitese, Cardinal, 84, 208.
Cosmo. See Tuscany, grand duke

of, 383.
Craig, John, 270.
Cranmer, Archbishop, 383.
Crema, Batista de, 101-
Cremona, Progress of Reformation

in, 137.
Curio, (Curionc) Celio Secundo, 74,

101-106, 187, 188, 199, 200, 355,

391, 398-400, 403, 425.

Dante, 13, 52.

Dorfman. See Comander, John.

Bums, Taddeo a, 133, 240, 247.

Ecolampade, John, 39, 129, 139, 147.
Egidio of Viterbo, 1 8, 44, 49.
Eglhius, Thobias, 272-274.
Elias, an Abyssinian, 46.
Erasmus, 30, 47, 48, 87, 129, 173,

184.
Erastus, Thomas, 88.

INDEX.

429

Eni, Pellegrino, 208-210.
Este, Anne of, 74, 218.
Ethiopia language, studied in Italy,
44, 45.

Fabritz, Andrew, 314, 324.
Facnza, Progress of Reformation in,

88, 89.
Fanino, (Fannio) Farentino, 274-

276.
Felicio, San, bishop of Cava, 182.
Felix of Prato, 43.
Ferrara, Progress of Reformation in,

67, 75. Suppression of Reforma-
tion in, 211-213.
Ferrara, Hercules II., Duke of, 67

-70, 73, 78, 167, 209, 214-218.
Ferrara, Renee, Dutchess of, 68-

72, 172, 192, 199, 214-218.
Fieri, Ludovico, 374.
Fileno, Lisia. See Ricci, Paolo.
Filonardo, Cardinal, 302.
Flacio, Matteo, 94. -
Fluminio, Marco Antonio, 73, 118,

121, 127, 168-177, 180, 288,289,

293, 295, 302, 303, 418.
Florence, Progress of Reformation in,

78, 79.
Florio, Michele Angelo, 374.
Folcngo, Giambatista, 48, 159, 180.
Fontana, Balthasar, 38, 39, 131,

132.
Funzio, Bartolommeo, 268.
Foscarari, Bishop of Modena, 182,

269, 379.
Fossia?icits. Jerom Niger, 102.
Francesco of Calabria, 366, 367.
Francis I. of France, 43, 44, 58,

100, 317.
Frederic/': II., 3.
Fregoso, Cardinal Federigo, 36, 49,

84, 120, 179, 180.

Fregoso, Ottaviano, doge of Genoa,

179.
Frick, John, 315.
Friuli, Progress of Reformation in,

137.
Froben, John, printer, 31.

Gadaldino, Antonio, printer, 210.
Gaddio, Paolo, 343, 347, 348.
Gaffori, Cesare, 342.
Galateo, Jeronimo, 236.
Galat'mo, (Colonna) Pietro, 47.
Gallitz, (Salutz) Philip, 314, 315,

31 9, 324, 327, 328, 333.
Gamha, Francesco, 280, 281.
Gantner, 376.
Genoa, Waldenses in, 4. Progress of

Reformation in, 137.
Gcntilis, Valentino, 134.
Gesncr, Conrad, 385.
Ghisleri, Michele. See Pius V.
Gibert, Archbishop of Verona, 84.
Giraldi, Lilio, 73.
Gonzago, Cardinal of Mantua, 120,

123, 226.
Gonzago, Julia, Dutchess of Trajet-

to, 162, 163, 289.
Grataroli, Gulielmo, 397.
Greek language, taught in Italy, 6.
Gregory IX., Pope, 3.
Grillcnzone, a physician of Modena,

76.
Grimani, Giovanni, 181, 182.
Grisone, Annibale, 225, 226, 228.
Grisons, 157, 230, 251, 308, 380.
Gninthler, Andrew, 212.
Gruntvald, a soldier personating the

pope, 60, 61.
Gualtieri, Pierpaolo, 45.
Guarino, Francis, 102.
Guicciardini, the historian, 20-22.
Guidaccrio, Agathias, 43.

430

INDEX.

Guirlauda, Julio, 233.

Gidcr, John, 322.

Guise, Francis, duke of, 217, 218.

Hartman, Christian, 324.

Hebrew language, cultivated in Italy,

29, 39-56, 383.
Henry II. of France, 215, 290.
Hercules, II. See Ferrara, Duke of.
Ho&ius, Cardinal, 396.
Button, Ulric, 31.

Ignatius, Patriarch of Antioch, 46.

Imola, Progress of the Reformation
in, 88, 89.

Jstria, Progress of Reformation in,
133-137. Suppression of Refor-
mation in, 224.

Jamet, Lyon, 70, 72.

Jeronimo of Mantua, 366, 367.

Jochana, a teacher of Hebrew, 41.

Julius II., Pope, 20, 43.

Julius III., Pope, 212, 268, 276,
277.

Justinian, Augustine, 43, 44.

Kimchi, David, 42.

Lacisio, Paulo, 124, 197, 402.

Lampt idio, 302.

Landolfo, Rodolfino, printer, 342.

Languet, Hubert, 75.

Lcntulo, Scipione, 344.

Leo X., Pope, 20, 46, 102.

Leon, Juan, (Leo Africanus) 44.

Licbcr, Thomas. See Erastus.

Locarno, Progress of Reformation in,
131-133. Suppression of Reforma-
tion in, 239-252.
Locarno, Benedetti, 122, 123, 132.
Lo>i<roUits, Christopher, 137.

Louis XII. of France, 68, 216.

Lucca, Progress of Reformation in,
1 23- 1 25. Suppression of Reforma-
tion in, 253-255.

Lupetino, Baldo, 94, 235, 236.

Luther, Martin, 30, 31, 33, 34, 37,
39, 61, 75, 86, 87, 91, 98-100,

129, 134, 138, 139, 142-148, 173,
316, 384.

Lyons, Italian church in, 405, 406.

Maffci, Cardinal, 302.

Mainardi, Agostino, 338, 341, 355,

368, 370, 372, 377.
Malermi, (Malerbi) Nicolo, 52, 53.
Malhcsini, Tesso-Sionis, (Peter Sio-

nita,) 45.
Manetti, Giannozzo, 40.
Mamicha, Isabella, 160, 346, 402.
Mantua, Progress of Reformation in,

130, 131.

Mantua, Gulielmo, duke of, 356.

Manuiius, Aldus, 294, 295.

Manzolli, Pier Angelo, 73, 167, 168.

Marcellus II., Pope, 45, 164, 165.

Mardineus, Moses, 46.

Marbach, John, 404.

Marmocchini, Sante, 56.

Marot, Clement, 70-72.

Martinengho, Celso, 124, 346, 373,
377, 403.

Martinengho, Ulixio, count de Bar-
cho, 361, 407, 408.

Martyr, Peter, (Pietro Mar tire Ver-
migli) 79, 107, 117-120, 123, 124,
125, 168, 172, 190, 195-199, 254,
277, 382-385, 391, 402, 403.

Marzmie, 262,

Massario, Jeronimo, 402, 403.

Maturo, Bartolommeo, 332, 333.

Medici, Angelo de. See Pius IV.
Medici, John de, Marquis of Muss,

317.
Medici, Lorenzo de, 9.

INDEX.

431

Melanchthon, Philip, 34, 3.5, 39, 57,
87, 91-96, 129, 144, 145, 148,
150-153, 155, 186, 193, 290,387,
403.

Milanese, Progress of Reformation in,
100-106. Suppression of Reforma-
tion in, 353-365.

Milan, Dukes of, 317, 354.

MUano, Julio da, 191, 331, 338,

339, 341, 342, 372, 388.
'Mithridates, Teacher of oriental lan-
guages, 41.

Modcna, Progress of Reformation in,
75-78. Suppression of Reforma-
tion in, 206-211.

Modetia, Bishops of. See Morone
and Foscarari.

Mollio, John, 79, 80, 119, 276-279.

Montalto, Barbara di, 248, 249.

Monte, Cardinal de. See Julius III.

Monti, Pompeio di, 271.

Monlferat, Count, 103.

Morata, Fulvio Peregrino, 73, 74,
167, 182.

Morata, Olympia, 74, 160, 212, 213,
218, 275, 400, 402, 422-426,

Morell, John, 175.

Morone, Cardinal, 78, 100, 101, 178,
207, 208, 269, 303.

Moses, an Abyssinian deacon, 46.

Muralto, Martino a, 133.

Muretus, 294.

Musculus, 403.

Muzio, Girolamo, 229.

Naples, Progress of Reformation in,
106-123. Suppression of Reforma-
tion in, 255-257.

Navarre, Margaret, Queen of, 69-

71.

Negri, Francesco, 154, 156, 339,

340, 370.

Negrino, Stefano, 283, 284.
Nicholas V., Pope, 16.

Ocltino, (Ocello) Bernardino, 107-
117, 119, 122,125,154,156,164,
165, 168, 172, 190-195, 197, 298,
303, 381-383, 390-396.

Orcllo, Lucia di, 248.

Oritz, Inquisitor of Henry II., 215,
216.

Orsini. See Ursini.

Padua, Progress of Reformation in,

97.
Pagnini, Sante, 47.
Pagnino de Pagninis, 43.
Falcario, Aonio, 125-130, 218, 297,

304, 411, 413.
Pallavicini, 86, 173.
Palingenius. See Manzolli, Pier An-

gelo.
Panza, Inquisitor, 262, 263.
Parodist, (Canossa) Paolo, 43.
Paravkini, Family of, 342, 343, 368.
Parma, Duke of, 239.
Partlicnai, Anne de, 69, 74.
Parthcnai, Jean de, sieur de Soubise,

69.
Paschali, Ludovico, 283-287, 406.
Paul HI., Pope, 73, 84, 97, 100,

125, 131, 134, 178, 185, 201,

212, 268, 289.
Paul IV., Pope, 28, 86, 158, 190,

217, 239, 253, 268, 270, 280,

290, 306, 379, 403. See Caraffa,

Cardinal.
Pcllican, Conrad, 383.
Perez, Juan, 121.
Pema, Petrus, printer, 397, 398.
Pescaro, Marchioness of. See Co-

lonna.
Peter, Patriarch of theMaronites, 46.
Petiliano, Count, 273.
Petrarch, 6, 14, 52.
Philip II. of Spain, 342, 354.
Pico, John, count of Mirandula, 41.

432

INDEX.

Pico, John Francis, count of Mir-

andula, 18, 42.
Pisano, Progress of Reformation in,

130.
Pius IV., Pope, 181, 204, 270, 290,

291, 318, 357, 3(50.
Pius V., Pope, 272, 291, 293, 298.
Plantitz, John, 81-83.
Pole, Cardinal, 84, 85, 120, 127,

164, 173, 175-179, 197, 208,269,

288, 302, 303.
PJiziatio, Don Giovanni, 207.
Pans, Antoine de, count de Ma-

rennes, 69.
PonticcUa, John, 328.
Porta, Egidio a, 37, 38.
Portus, Franciscus, 208, 379.
Postel, William, 158.
Potken, John, 45.
Priuli, Aloysio, 127, 269.

Quiriniy Cardinal, 85, 86, 165, 178,
195.

Rugnoni, Lattantio, 130.

Rangone, Madonna Helena, of Ben-

tivoglio, 161, 162.
Renato, Camillo, 154, 156, 339, 340,

367-373, 377, 386.
Rente. See Ferrara, Dutchess of.
Reuchlin, Isaiah, 214, 250.
Rcuchlin, (Capnio) John, 29, 30,42.
Ricci, (Lisia Fileno) Paolo, 77, 78.
Riccio, Bartolommeo, 73, 302.
Ricetto, Antonio, 233, 234.
Ricoldu, Fra, 40.
Rider, Peter, de Kornburg, 270,

271.
Riveida, Ottaviano, bishop of Ter-

racino, 243, 247, 248.
Rodolplw, Cardinal, 219.
Rome, Progress of Reformation in,

137.

Rosalina, Catarina, 248.
Rosselli, Lucio Paolo, 92.
Rovere, Lavinia della, 160, 161,

275.
Runcho, Ludovico, 133.
Rustici, Filippo, 56.

Sadokt, Cardinal, 9, 10, 48, 57, 75,
84, 87, 88, 112, 126, 178, 185,
206, 208, 288, 302.

Salice, Frederica, 230, 346.

Salice, Hercules a, 230, 231, 340,
341.

Salmonius, Blasius, 31.

Salutz. See Gallitz, Philip.
Sannazzaro, 20.

Sasollo, Don Hieronymo da, 207.

Sauli, Theodorina, (Theodora,) 170.

Savonarola, Jerome, 16-18.

Savoy, Duke of, 103.

Savoy, Margaret, Dutchess of, 290.

Scaliger, the elder, 35.

Schenk, Burchard, 33, 34.

Schlegel, Theodore, 312, 313.

Schonbcrg, Cardinal, 88.

Scrimger, Henry, 227.

Sega, Francesco, 233, 234.

Seraphin, Cardinal, 35.

Servetus, Michael, 149-152, 366,
376, 378.

Sfrondati, Cardinal, 302.

Sicily, Progress of the Reformation
in, 122, 123.

Siculus, Camillus Renatus. See Re-
nato.

Sicnncse, Progress of the Reformation
in the, 125-130.

Sigfrid, Andrew, 314.

Sigismund, a German, 97.

Sigonio, Carlo, 75.

Sinapi, Chilian, 73.

Sinapi, John, 73.

Sionita. See Malhesini.

INDEX.

433

Sirt us IV., Pope, 19.

Socchii, Camillo, 374, 385.

Soccini, Cclso, 385.

Soccini, Cornelio, 385.

Socchii, Mariano, 385.

Socinas, Faustus, 155, 242,369, 389.

Socinus, Lcelius, 154, 15G, 242, 372,

374, 378, 385-389, 391, 394.
Socinianism. See Antitrinitarianism.
Soncinati, Printers, 39.
Soranzo, Bishop of Bergamo, 229.
Soubise, Madame de, 69-71. See

Parthenai.
Spalatinus, 33, 34.
Spincllo, Salvatore, 259.
Spinula, Francesco, 234.
Sjiira, Francesco. 227, 228.
Stancar, Francis, 42, 340, 370, 382.
Staphylo, Bishop of Sibari, 62-64.
Stello, Tomaso de Santo, 228.
Steuchi, (Steuco) Augustine, 48.
Stiirmius, James, 404.
Sturmius, John, 86, 405.

Tasso, Bernardo, 67, 73.

Teglio, Silvestro, 397.

Tcofilo, Massimo, 56, 78, 406.

Terentiano, Julio, 191, 197, 339.

Tisserano, 277.

Toledo, Don Pedro de, Viceroy of

Naples, 106, 107.
Totomeo, Claudio, 193, 195.
Tommassi, Fabrizio, 304.
Travels, John, 322, 323.
Trcbellio, Theodosio, 197.
TrcmeUio, Emanuel, 124.

Trcnta, Cristofero, 197.

Trctisano, Progress of Reformation
in, 97.

Tresno, Galleazzo, 355.

Troubadours, 12, 13.

Turriano, Jeronimo, 374, 375.

Tuscany, Cosmo, grand duke of, 78,
29], 292.

2 F

Tulschct, (Biveron) James, 314,

326.

U.
Ursino, (Orsini) Camillo, 160.
Ursino, Madonna Cherubina, 161,

422.
Ursino, Madonna Magdalena, 161.

Valdez, (Valdesso) Juan, 106, 107,
116, 117, 118, 121, 122, 163, 172,
191, 256, 288.

Valentino, Bonifacio, 210.
Valentino, Filippo, 208-211.

Valla, Laurentius, 15, 48.

Valliculi, Gabriele, 409.

Valteline, 336, 342-376.

Varaglia, Godfredo, 281-283.

Vaudois. See Waldenses.

Venice, Progress of Reformation in,
89-100. Suppression of Reforma-
tion in, 218-237.

Vergcrio, Giovanni Batista, bishop
of Pola, 137, 225, 226.

Vergcrio, Pierpaolo, bishop of Capo
d'Istria, 34, 57, 134, 137, 139,
140, 213, 225, 227, 230, 333-335,
346, 370, 373, 377, 379, 380.

Vermincl, 262.

Verona, Progress of Reformation in,
97, 137.

Viceniino, Progress of Reformation
in, 97. Suppression of Reforma-
tion in, 219.

Vittorio, Mariano, 45, 302.

Vitus, (Veit) Theodorus, 91, 148,

153, 164.
Voragine, Jacopo da, 52.

Waldenses, Settlement of, in Italy,
3-6. Extirpation of, 257, 266, 282,
283, 344.

Waliher, Town-clcrk of Locarno,
211.

434

INDEX.

Widmanstudter, Albert, 46, 47.
Wilson, Dr. Thomas, 306.

Zaecario, Fra, 56.
Zunclii, Basilio, 403.
Zatichi, Dionigi, 403.
Zurich! , Francesco, 403.

Zanchi, Grisostomo, 403.

Zanc/ri, Jeronimo, 156, 341, 377,

380, 390, 403, 408.
Zannetti, Julio, 3()4, 305.
Zieglcr, James, 9 1 .
Zuingle, Ulrich, 34, 36-39, 118, 132,

138, 139, 147, 150, 313, 316,

329.

FINIS.

FRINTED BY A. BALFOUR AND CO.

BIND!.;

SEP a 3 1970

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Full text of "History of the progress and suppression of the Reformation in Italy in the 16th century, including a sketch of the history of the Reformation in the Grisons"

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