1959. Lest We Forget (Continued). The Southern Presbyterian Journal. 4–5. Jul 8
1959. Lest We Forget (IV). The Southern Presbyterian Journal. 6–7. Jul 15
LEST WE FORGET (Con't.)
Pope Innocent VIII, in 1488, determined to persecute the Waldenses.
To this end he sent Albert de Capitaneis, Archdeacon of Cremona, to France, who,
on arriving in Dauphiny, craved the assistance of the king's lieutenant to exterminate
them from the valley of Loyse. The lieutenant readily granted his assistance and
marched a body of troops to the place, but when they arrived in the valley, they
found that it had been deserted by the inhabitants, who had retired to the mountains
and hid themselves in dens and caves of the earth. The archdeacon and lieutenant
immediately followed them with their troops, and, catching many, cast them headlong
from precipices, by which they were dashed to pieces. Several, however, retired
to the innermost parts of the caverns, and knowing the intricacies, were able to
conceal themselves. The archdeacon and lieutenant not being capable of finding them,
ordered the mouths of the caves to be filled with faggots, which being lighted,
those within were suffocated. On searching the caves, numerous children were found
smothered, either in their cradles or in their mother's arms; and upon the whole,
about 3,000 men, women, and children were destroyed in this persecution. After
this tragic work, the lieutenant and archdeacon proceeded with the troops of Pragelo
and Frassaniere, to persecute the Waldenses in these parts. But these having heard
the fate of their brethren in the valley of Loyse, thought proper to arm themselves;
and by fortifying the different avenues, and bravely disputing the passages through
them, they so harassed the troops, that the lieutenant was compelled to retire without
effecting his purpose.
In 1594 Anthony Fabria Christopher de Salience, having a commission
to persecute the Waldenses of Dauphiny, put some to death, sequestered the estates
of others, and confiscated the goods of many; but Louis XII coming to the crown
in 1598, the Waldenses petitioned him for a restitution of their properties.
The king determined to have the affair imparitally canvassed, and sent a commission
of his own, together with a commissary from the Pope, to make the proper inquiries.
Witnesses against the Waldenses having been examined, the innocence of those poor
people evidently appeared, and the king's commissioner therefore declared that he
only desired to be as good a Christian as the worst of them. This favorable report
being made to the king, he immediately gave orders that the Waldenses should have
their property restored to them. Since the Archbishop of Ambrone had the greatest
quantity of their goods, it was generally imagined that he would set a laudable
example to others by being the first to restore them. However, to the surprise of
the people in general, and the affliction of the Waldenses in particular, the prelate
protested that he would not restore any of the property, for it was incorporated
and become part of his archbishopric. He, however, with an affectation of candor,
offered to relinquish several vineyards, of which he had dispossessed the sufferers,
provided the lords of Dauphiny would restore all they had taken from them; but this
the lords absolutely refused, being as fond of keeping their plunder as the archbishop
himself.
The Waldenses finding that they were not likely to recover any
of their property, again appealed to the king; and the monarch having attended to
their complaints wrote to the archbishop; but that artful and avaricious prelate
replied, 'That at the commencement of the persecution the Waldenses had been excommunicated
by the Pope, in consequence of which their goods were distrained; therefore, till
the sentence of excommunication was taken off, which had occasioned them to be seized,
they could not be restored with propriety." This plea was allowed to be reasonable;
and application was in- effectually made to the Pope to remove the sentence of excommunication,
the archbishop having used all his interest at the court of Rome to prevent the
petition from succeeding. Thus were the poor Waldenses robbed of their property,
only because they would not sacrifice their consciences to the will of their enemies.
When these people first spread from Dauphiny into Provence, they
found it almost a desert, but by their great industry it soon abounded with corn,
wine, oil, and fruit. Because the Pope was near them at his seat at Avignon, he
heard occasionally many things concerning their differences with the Church of Rome,
which greatly exasperated him, and he determined to persecute them with severity.
His Proceeding to extremities, under the sanction of ecclesiastical authority only,
without consulting the King of France, alarmed the latter, who sent his master of
requests and his confessor to examine the affair. On their return they reported
that the Waldenses were not such dangerous people as they had been represented;
that they lived with perfect honesty, caused their children to be baptized, had
them taught the Lord's Prayer, Creed, and Ten Commandments, kept the Lord's day
sacred, feared God, honoured the king, and wished well to the State.
"Then," said the king, "they are much better Christians
than myself or my catholic subjects, and, therefore, they shall not be persecuted."
The king was as good as his word, and sent orders to stop the persecution.
Some time after, the inhabitants of Merindol received a summons
that the heads of the families of that town should appear before the ecclesiastical
court. When they appeared and confessed themselves Waldenses, they were ordered
to be burnt, their families outlawed, their habitations laid waste, and the woods
that surrounded the town cut down two hundred paces square, so that the whole should
be rendered desolate. The king, however, when informed of this barbarous decree,
sent to countermand the execution of it; but his order was suppressed by Cardinal
Tournon, and the greatest cruelties were consequently perpetrated with impunity.
The president of Opede sent several companies of soldiers to
burn some villages occupied by Protestants; this commission they too faithfully
executed, exceeding it by a brutal treatment of the inhabitants, in which neither
infancy, age, nor sex was spared. He also proclaimed that none should give any manner
of assistance or sustenance to the sufferers. On reaching another small town, the
president found only a boy who had surrendered himself to a soldier, the other inhabitants
having deserted the place. The boy he ordered to be shot by the soldier to whom
he had surrendered. He next marched against Cabrieres and began to cannonade it.
At this time there were not above sixty poor peasants with their families in the
town; and they sent him word that he need not expend powder and shot upon the place,
as they were willing to open the gates and surrender, provided they might be permitted
to retire unmolested to Geneva or Germany. This was promised them; but the gates
were no sooner opened, than the president ordered all the men to be cut to pieces,
which command was immediately executed. Several women and children were driven into
a large barn, which was set on fire. Other women and children having taken refuge
in a church, the president ordered one of his officers to go and kill them all:
the captain at first refused, saying, "Unnecessary cruelty is unbecoming a
military man." The president, displeased at his reply; said, "I charge
you, on pain of being accused of mutiny, immediately to obey my orders;" the
captain, afraid of the consequences, thought proper to comply. The president then
sent a detachment of his troops to ravage the town of Costa, which was done with
the greatest barbarity.
At length the judgment of God overtook this monster of cruelty;
he was afflicted with a dreadful and most painful disease. In this extremity he
sent for a surgeon from Aries, who, on examining his disorders, told him they were
of a singular nature, and much worse than he had ever seen in any other person.
He then took occasion to reprehend him for his cruelties, and told him that unless
he repented, he might expect the hand of Heaven to fall still heavier upon him.
On hearing this, the president flew into a violent passion, and ordered his attendants
to seize the surgeon as a heretic. The surgeon, however, found means to escape,
and soon after the president's disorder increased to a terrible degree. As he had
found some little ease from the surgical operations, he again sent for the faithful
physician, having been informed of the place of his retirement; his message was
accompanied with an apology for his former behavior, and a promise of personal security.
The surgeon, forgiving what was past, went to him, but too late to be of any service;
for he found the tyrant raving like a madman, and crying out that he had a fire
within him. After blaspheming for some time, he expired in dreadful agonies.
— G. H. C.
Lest We Forget (Continued)
Albigenses were a people who lived in southern France. They were
condemned for their religious beliefs in the Lateran Council by order of Pope Alexander
III; but their numbers increased until several cities were almost exclusively of
their persuasion. Even some nobles accepted their faith, particularly the Earls
of Toulouse and Foxi. (I)
At first the Pope sent preachers to convince these people of their errors, but one of their pastors, Arnold by name, whose views were close to those of the later Protestants, argued too powerfully for the
Pope's emissaries. About the time of this debate, a friar named
Peter was murdered in the lands be- longing to the Earl of Toulouse. The Pope resolved
to make this an excuse to persecute the Earl and his people. This persecution was
labeled a holy war, and the Pope promised paradise to all who would enlist in his
armies against the Albigenses. The same terms were offered that were granted to
the Crusaders who went to the Holy Land. The Pope also ordered the bishops and archbishops
to excommunicate the Earl of Toulouse and to absolve his subjects from allegiance
to him. He commanded everbody to pursue the Earl, to possess his lands, to destroy
his property, and to murder anyone who remained faithful to him.
When the Earl heard of these preparations, he wrote a very candid
letter to the Pope, assuring him that he had had nothing to do with the friar's
death, and that the murderer had fled out of his territories. But the Pope denied
the Earl the hearing that he sought, and as the armies approached, the Earl saw
how tremendous they were and despairing of being able to defend himself by force
resolved to submit.
Therefore the Earl went to the Pope's legate who commanded the
army and voluntarily surrendered. He expressed surprise that such an army had been
raised against him before any evidence of guilt had been established. He requested
that the legate prevent the army from plundering his innocent subjects, inasmuch
as his voluntary surrender was a sufficient pledge of justice in the murder of the
friar.
To this the legate replied that he accepted the Earl's surrender,
but that he could not restrain the troops unless the Earl delivered up seven of
his best castles as securities for his future behavior. At this demand the Earl
saw that he had made a terrible error in surrendering; but being now in the legate's
power, he had to order the surrender of the castles.
When the castles were taken over by the Pope's army, the legate
told the people that they were now the Pope's subjects and not the Earl's. To impress
them, the legate was stripped of his clothes and beaten before the grave of the
friar.
The army next proceeded to the town Bezieres. The Earl here too
thought that he could not defend himself against such a large army, so he too surrendered,
imploring the Pope's legate to spare the inhabitants of the city on the ground that
there were as many Catholics in the city as there were Albigensians. The legate
brushed all this aside as mere excuses.
Upon this the Catholics of the city pressed the Albigenses
to renounce their faith and seek to mollify the legate. But this they would not
do. If God desired them to escape, they would escape; but if He would be glorified
by their death, they would prefer to die than to dishonor God. The Catholics of
the city then sent their bishop to the legate to ask him not to punish them along
with the Albigensians, and the bishop even urged that the best way to win the Albigensians
to Romanism was to deal with them gently.
This advice threw the legate into a rage. He ordered an assault
against the city and urged the soldiers to brutality. The babies were torn from
their mother's arms and dashed on the stones; the women were then raped; the city
was set on fire, and as some had tried to hide in their buildings, these were burned
to death. In all, the accounts indicate that about 60,000 persons were massacred.
The Earl of Bezieres escaped to Carcasson. The legate immediately
led his forces against Carcasson and expected to win another easy victory. But here
the defenders were able to hold their own and they drove back the Papal soldiers
in defeat. Two miles distant was another town that the Albigenses had fortified.
The legate, stung by defeat, wreaked his vengeance on this town. He took it by storm,
killed all the inhabitants he could find, and set the place on fire.
About this time the King of Arragon visited the legate. He asked
the legate's permission to visit the Earl of Bezieres, who was a relative of his,
for the purpose of persuading him to recognize his obligations to the Pope and the
Church.
The legates after considering it a few minutes, said that for
the King's sake he would grant the Earl and twelve others mercy, but as for the
rest, he said, I shall treat them as their offence deserves. As the Earl would not
accept these terms, the battle continued. The legate was again defeated.
Then the legate sent a man skilled in deception to tempt the
Earl to come out of the city for an interview with the legate. The messenger was
in advance granted absolution for any lies and false oaths he might have to make
to deceive the Earl. This plan worked, for the Earl thought he would be secure under
an agreement of personal safety. He soon found himself being dragged and the city
was called upon to open its gates.
Because the Earl had been the military leader, the people did
not know what to do. Some even wanted to surrender. Others said it was better to
die in battle. An old man came forward at this juncture and told them there was
a secret passageway, underground, which led from the city to a strong castle a little
bit away. If we can find this passageway, we can escape to safety. They found the
tunnel and escaped with what food they could carry. They then decided that it would
not be wise to stay in this castle, but instead, they scattered through the mounatins
where they were safe from the Pope's soldiers.
Next morning the legate expected a complete victory over what
he now knew to be a leaderless town. To his surprise he found the city empty. At
first he thought it was a ruse. Soon he found that it was not, and the soldiers
climbed over the wall and plundered the place. The unfortunate Earl of Bezieres
was locked up in a dungeon where he died.
(I) The name Albigenses sometimes is thought to have been given because they first lived in the town of Albi. Others say that they were called so because they were condemned by a council of New Testament religion. It is possible that the name covers several groups, and their exact views are not too well known. The Cathari are sometimes represented as dualists; but most scholars admit that some of them were not dualistic. The accounts of their beliefs are not only meagre, but they come from their enemies, who may not have been very accurate.
— G. H. C.
Lest We Forget (IV)
After the Earl of Bezieres had died, the papal legate called
the bishops and nobles together and suggested that, while he should accompany the
army, a professional military man should be put in charge of the actual operations.
Simon of Montfort, a noble of high rank, and experienced general, but a very wicked
and cruel man, was chosen to lead the Pope's army.
He began by leaving a garrison in Carcasson and marched the main
army against the city of Montpelier. The Albigenses there knew that they could expect
no mercy from this man, so they defended their place with desperate courage and
repulsed Simon. Simon then wrote to all the princes of Europe for help and said
he could make no headway against these heretics without a much larger army.
When reinforcements came, he was able to capture the castle of
Beron. All the defenders had their eyes put out and their noses cut off and were
left to perish. Simon next moved against the castle of Menerbe, which on account
of a lack of water had to yield to him. The governor of the castle was put in prison,
where he died; the wife of the governor, his sister, daughter, and more than a hundred
others were burned alive. Simon was able to capture other castles also, and their
garrisons were butchered in the same manner.
Simon and the papal legate next proceeded against Toulouse and
its Earl, who had previously helped the Waldensians. In spite of the size of the
besieging army, the Earl tried to repulse it with attacks from the gates of the
castle. The first time he was beaten back. On the second attempt he took Simon's
son prisoner. The third time he unhorsed Simon himself. After further battles the
Earl forced the Pope's army to withdraw. As they retreated they caught and murdered
all the defenseless Albigenses they could find.
Acting vigorously the Earl of Toulouse made alliances with the
King of Arragon and the Earls of Foix and Comminges. Simon was alarmed at this combination
and again sent throughout Europe for reinforcements.
When the Albigensian army was ready, the King of Arragon led
it against the fortified town of Murat. Unfortunately the King of Arragon maintained
poor discipline, and at night while the King was feasting with his officers, Simon,
who had come by forced marches, surprised him, killed him, and routed his army.
Simon insolently called upon the Earle to surrender, but they shut themselves up
in their castles and prepared for the coming attack.
Simon first attacked the city of Toulouse. Its Earl had gone
to Montalban and sent word that the city should seek the best terms from Simon because
it could not resist a siege. The citizens of Toulouse accepted this advice and offered
to surrender, if Simon would spare their lives and property. In order apparently
to keep in favor with the royal court, Simon agreed to these terms, for he wrote
to Prince Louis, son of Philip, King of France, telling him that he would like him
to receive the surrender of Toulouse. This mightily pleased the prince, who came
and received the city.
The Pope's legate, however, was as mightily displeased, and insisted
that although the place itself should come under the rule of the prince, the plunder
belonged to his "holy pilgrims" — as he called his soldiers. Further,
the people were heretics and ought to be destroyed. The prince tried to uphold the
terms of the surrender; but the legate insisted and Simon, and perhaps the prince
too, unwilling to anger the legate, gave in to him. The city was then plundered
and the "holy pilgrims" killed a great many of the inhabitants.
Simon now undertook the siege of the castle of Foix, some miles
south of Toulouse. For ten days he attempted to take the castle but was held at
bay. Hearing that another army was coming against him from Arragon, Simon raised
the siege to meet this new threat. At this the Earl of Foix sallied out and caught
Simon between himself and the Arragon army. Simon was totally defeated, and made
his escape to Carcasson.
About this time the Pope convened a council in the Lateran palace.
Seventy-one archbishops, 412 bishops, 800 abbots, besides ambassadors from the courts
of Europe were present. This council asserted the doctrine of transubstantiation
— the theory that the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ.
It seems that this council was the first to use the term transubstantiation. The
council condemned all people who refused to accept this theory. Offenders were to
be shown no mercy, and after a trial by the Church, they were to be handed to the
secular government for execution. Not only the heretics themselves, but all who
helped them were to be similarly treated. The measures used against the Albigenses
were approved and Simon was given authority to raise another army and to continue
the war.
No sooner had he collected an army than he heard that the Albigenses
had besieged the city of Narbonne, where his wife was residing. He marched immediately
to Narbonne and rescued his wife. In the meantime, however, the Albigenses were
able to recapture Toulouse, against which Simon now directed his efforts.
At Toulouse Simon suffered another defeat. Though discouraged,
under the legate's urging, Simon tried again. But once more he was driven back.
To make things worse, the Earl of Foix appeared with a body of troops and before
Simon could regroup his forces, the Earl put Simon's troops to rout. Simon himself
had to swim the Garonne to save his life.
The papal legate continued to urge Simon to attack again. After
three years he raised another army and besieged Toulouse for nine months. In one
of the sorties from the walls, the Albigenses wounded Simon's horse. In pain the
animal ran blindly and carried Simon directly under the battlement walls. A crossbowman,
taking advantage of this opportunity, shot him through the thigh. Still carried
on by his horse, he met his death, like Israel's ancient enemy Sisera, by the hand
of a woman. For the wife of one of the soldiers, seeing Simon just beneath her,
took up a stone and dropped it. It hit his head and he fell to the ground.
The legate still intent on exterminating the heretics
persuaded the King of France to send his son against Toulouse. The besiegers were
again driven back with a great loss. To comfort themselves, they attacked the nearby
town of Mirimande and massacred about 5000 men, women, and children.
But time had been passing, and now the legate was old and sick.
He requested the Pope to appoint an- other legate in his place. This was done, and
the new legate persuaded the King of France to attack in person. When the Albigenses
learned of the new preparations, they sent their women and children in- to
hiding, in the mountains; they destroyed the crops on the farms around, and drove
the cattle away, so that the King's troops would not be able to find food.
It turned out as the Albigenses had planned, and even the King
himself fell ill and died before the siege was ended. But the siege continued nonetheless.
In one of the sallies, which had on previous occasions been so successful, the Earl
of Toulouse was captured. Without their leader the people of the city were forced
to yield. The catholic soldiers poured into the city and thousands were brutally
outraged and massacred. Thus the light of the Gospel was pretty well extinguished
in southern France.
— G. H. C.
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