The army, says he, having got footing, became very numerous by the addition of a
multitude of the neighboring Popish inhabitants, who, finding we were the
destined prey of the plunderers, fell upon us with an impetuous fury.
Exclusive of the Duke of Savoy's troops and the Popish inhabitants, there were
several regiments of French auxiliaries, some companies belonging to the Irish
brigades, and several bands formed of outlaws, smugglers, and prisoners who had
been promised pardon and liberty in this world and absolution in the next for
assisting to exterminate the Protestants from Piedmont.
This armed multitude, being encouraged by the Roman Catholic bishops and monks,
fell upon the Protestants in a most furious manner.
Nothing there was to be seen but the face of horror and despair.
Blood stained the floors of the houses, dead bodies bestrewed the seats,
groans and cries were heard from all parts.
Some armed themselves and skirmished with the troops, and many with their families
fled to the mountains.
In one village they cruelly tormented one hundred and fifty women and children after
the men were fled, beheading the women and dashing out the brains of the children.
In the towns of Villario and Bobbio, most of those who refused to go to Mass,
who were upwards of fifteen years of age, they crucified with their heads downwards,
and the greatest number of those who were under that age were strangled.
Sarah Ratignolle de Vigne, a woman of sixty years of age, being seized by some
soldiers, they ordered her to say a prayer to some saints, which she refusing,
they thrust a sickle into her belly, ripped her up, and then cut off her head.
Martha Constantine, a handsome young woman, was treated with great indecency
and cruelty by several of the troops, who first ravished and then killed her by
cutting off her breasts.
These they fried and set before some of their comrades, who ate them without
knowing what they were.
When they had done eating, the others told them what they had made a meal of,
in consequence of which a quarrel ensued, swords were drawn and a battle took place.
Several were killed in the fray, the greater part of whom were those
concerned in the horrid massacre of the woman, and who had practiced such an
inhuman deception on their companions.
Some of the soldiers seized a man of Trasignere, and ran the points of their
sword through his ears and through his feet.
They then tore off the nails of his fingers and toes with red-hot pincers,
tied him to the tail of an ass, and dragged him about the streets.
They finally fastened a cord around his head, which they twisted with a stick in
so violent a manner as to wring it from his body.
Peter Simmonds, a Protestant of about eighty years of age, was tied neck and
heels, and then thrown down a precipice.
In the fall the branch of a tree caught hold of the ropes that fastened him,
and suspended him in the midway, so that he languished for several days,
and at length miserably perished of hunger.
Esegar Chino, refusing to renounce his religion, was cut into small pieces,
the soldiers, in ridicule, saying they had minced him.
A woman named Armand had every limb separated from each other, and then the
respective parts were hung upon a hedge.
Two old women were ripped open, and then left in the fields upon the snow
where they perished, and a very old woman, who is deformed, had her nose and hands
cut off, and was left to bleed to death in that manner.
A great number of men, women, and children were flung from the rocks and dashed to
pieces.
Magdalene Bertino, a Protestant woman of La Torre, was stripped stark naked,
her head tied between her legs, and thrown down one of the precipices,
and Mary Raimonde, of the same town, had the flesh sliced from her bones until
she expired.
Magdalene Pilo, a villario, was cut to pieces in the cave of Castellus.
Anne Charbonniere had one end of a stake thrust up her body, and the other being
fixed in the ground, she was left in that manner to perish, and Jacob Perrin,
the elder of the church of Villario, and David, his brother, were flayed alive.
An inhabitant of La Torre, named Giovanni Andrea Michialm, was apprehended with four
of his children, three of them were hacked to pieces before him, the soldiers asking
him at the death of every child if he would renounce his religion, this he
constantly refused.
One of the soldiers then took up the last and youngest by the legs, and putting the
same question to the father, he replied as before, when the inhuman brute dashed out
the child's brains.
The father, however, at the same moment started from them and fled, the soldiers
fired after him but missed him, and he by the swiftness of his heels
escaped and hid himself in the Alps.
Further persecutions in the valleys of Piedmont in the seventeenth century.
Giovanni Palanchion, for refusing to turn papist, was tied by one leg to the tail of
a mule, and dragged through the streets of Lucerne amidst the acclamations of an
inhuman mob, who kept stoning him and crying out, he's possessed with the devil,
so that neither stoning nor dragging him through the streets will kill him,
for the devil keeps him alive.
They then took him to the river, chopped off his head, and left that and
his body unburied upon the bank of the stream.
Magdalene, the daughter of Peter Fontaine, a beautiful child of ten years of age,
was ravished and murdered by the soldiers.
Another girl of about the same age they roasted alive at Villanova, and a poor
woman, hearing that the soldiers were coming toward her house, snatched up the
cradle in which her infant son was asleep, and fled toward the woods.
The soldiers, however, saw and pursued her, when she lightened herself by putting
down the cradle and child, which the soldiers no sooner came to than they
murdered the infant, and, continuing the pursuit, found the mother in a cave,
where they first ravished and then cut her to pieces.
Jacob Michelino, chief elder of the Church of Bobbio, and several other Protestants,
were hung up by means of hooks fixed in their bellies, and left to expire in the
most excruciating tortures.
Giovanni Rostagnale, a venerable Protestant, upwards of fourscore years of
age, had his nose and ears cut off, and slices cut from the fleshy parts of
his body, until he bled to death.
Seven persons—Daniel Siliaggio and his wife Giovanni Durant, Ludwig Durant,
Bartholomew Durant, Daniel Ravel, and Paul Reno—had their mouths stuffed
with gunpowder, which, being set fire to, their heads were blown to pieces.
Jacob Birone, a schoolmaster of Rurata, for refusing to change his religion,
was stripped quite naked, and, after having been very indecently exposed,
had the nails of his toes and fingers torn off with red-hot pincers, and holes bored
through his hands with the point of a dagger.
He then had a cord tied round his middle, and was led through the streets with a
soldier on each side of him.
At every turning, the soldier on his right-hand side cut a gash in his flesh,
and the soldier on his left-hand side struck him with a bludgeon, both saying at
the same instant, Will you go to Mass?
Will you go to Mass?
He still replied in the negative to these interrogatories, and, being at length
taken to the bridge, they cut off his head on the balustrades, and threw both that
and his body into the river.
Paul Garnier, a very pious Protestant, had his eyes put out, was then flayed
alive, and being divided into four parts, his quarters were placed on four of the
principal houses of Lucerne.
He bore all his sufferings with the most exemplary patience, praised God as long as
he could speak, and plainly evinced what confidence and resignation a good
conscience can inspire.
Daniel Cardon of Roccapiata, being apprehended by some soldiers, they cut his
head off and, having fried his brains, ate them.
Two poor old blind women of Sant'Giovanni were burnt alive, and a widow of La Torre
with her daughter were driven into the river and their stone to death.
Paul Gilles, on attempting to run away from some soldiers, was shot in the neck.
They then slit his nose, sliced his chin, stabbed him, and gave his carcass to the
dogs.
Some of the Irish troops, having taken eleven men of Garciliana prisoners,
they made a furnace red-hot, and forced them to push each other in, until they
came to the last man, whom they pushed in themselves.
Michael Gonet, a man of ninety, was burnt to death, Baptiste Audry,
another old man, was stabbed, and Bartholomew Fraschke had holes made in his
heels through which ropes were put, and he was dragged by them to the jail,
where his wounds mortified and killed him.
Magdalene de la Pierre, being pursued by some of the soldiers and taken,
was thrown down a precipice and dashed to pieces.
Margaret Revella and Mary Pravilarin, two very old women, were burnt alive,
and Michael Bellino, with Anne Boccardinot, were beheaded.
The son and the daughter of a councillor of Giovanni were rolled down a steep hill
together, and suffered to perish in a deep pit at the bottom.
A tradesman's family, namely himself, his wife, and an infant in her arms,
were cast from a rock and dashed to pieces, and Joseph Chéret and Paul Caniero
were flayed alive.
Cipriani Abustia, being asked if he would renounce his religion and turn Roman
Catholic, replied, I would rather renounce life or turn dog, to which a priest
answered, For that expression you shall both renounce life and be given to the
dogs.
They accordingly dragged him to prison, where he continued a considerable time
without food, until he was famished, after which they threw his corpse into the
street before the prison, and it was devoured by dogs in the most shocking
manner.
Margaret Saretto was stoned to death and then thrown into the river.
Antonio Bartina had his head cleft asunder, and Joseph Pont was cut through
the middle of his body.
Daniel Maria and his whole family, being ill of a fever, several papist
ruffians broke into his house, telling him they were practical physicians
and would give them all present ease, which they did by knocking the whole
family on the head.
Three infant children of a Protestant named Peter Fine were covered with snow
and stifled, an elderly widow named Judith was beheaded, and a beautiful young woman
was stripped naked and had a stake driven through her body, of which she expired.
Lucie, the wife of Peter Besson, a woman far gone in her pregnancy,
who lived in one of the villages of the Piedmontese Valleys, determined,
if possible, to escape from such dreadful scenes as everywhere surrounded her.
She accordingly took two young children, one in each hand, and set off towards the
Alps.
But on the third day of the journey she was taken in labour among the mountains
and delivered of an infant, who perished through the extreme inclemency of the
weather, as did the two other children, for all three were found dead by her and
herself just expiring by the person to whom she related the above particulars.
Francis Gros, the son of a clergyman, had his flesh slowly cut from his body
into small pieces and put into a dish before him.
Two of his children were minced before his sight, and his wife was fastened to a post
that she might behold all these cruelties practised on her husband and offspring.
The tormentors, at length being tired of exercising their cruelties, cut off the
heads of both husband and wife, and then gave the flesh of the whole
family to the dogs.
Monsieur Thomas Marguer fled to a cave when the soldiers shut up the mouth,
and he perished with famine.
Judith Revelin and seven children were barbarously murdered in their beds,
and a widow of near fourscore years of age was hewn to pieces by soldiers.
Jacob Roseno was ordered to pray to the saints, which he absolutely refused to do.
Some of the soldiers beat him violently with bludgeons to make him comply,
but he still refusing, several of them fired at him, and lodged a great many
balls in his body.
As he was almost expiring, they cried to him, Will you call upon the saints?
Will you pray to the saints?
To which he answered, No, no, no, when one of the soldiers with a broad
sword clove his head asunder and put an end to his sufferings in this world,
for which undoubtedly he is gloriously rewarded in the next.
A soldier attempting to ravish a young woman named Susanna Gacquin, she made a
stout resistance, and in the struggle pushed him over a precipice, when he was
dashed to pieces by the fall.
His comrades, instead of admiring the virtue of the young woman and applauding
her for so nobly defending her chastity, fell upon her with their swords and cut
her to pieces.
Giovanni Pulhus, a poor peasant of Latour, being apprehended as a Protestant by the
soldiers, was ordered by the Marquess of Pianesta to be executed in a place near
the convent.
When he came to the gallows, several monks attended and did all they could to
persuade him to renounce his religion, but he told them he never would embrace
idolatry, and that he was happy at being thought worthy to suffer for the name of
Christ.
They then put him in mind of what his wife and children, who depended upon his
labour, would suffer after his decease, to which he replied, I would have my wife
and children as well as myself to consider their souls more than their bodies,
and the next world before this, and with respect to the distress I may
leave them in, God is merciful and will provide for them while they are worthy of
his protection.
Finding the inflexibility of this poor man, the monks cried, Turn him off,
turn him off, which the executioner did almost immediately, and the body being
afterward cut down was flung into the river.
Paul Clement, an elder of the church of Rossana, being apprehended by the monks of
a neighbouring monastery, was carried to the market-place of that town,
where some Protestants had just been executed by the soldiers.
He was shown the dead bodies in order that the sight might intimidate him.
On beholding the shocking subjects, he said calmly, You may kill the body,
but you cannot prejudice the soul of a true believer, but with respect to the
dreadful spectacles which you have here shown me, you may rest assured that God's
vengeance will overtake the murderers of those poor people and punish them for the
innocent blood they have spilt.
The monks were so exasperated at this reply that they ordered him to be hanged
directly, and while he was hanging the soldiers amused themselves in standing at
a distance and shooting at the body as at a mark.
Daniel Rambo, of Vilario, the father of a numerous family, was apprehended and,
with several others, committed to prison in the jail of Pesana.
Here he was visited by several priests who, with continual importunities,
did all they could to persuade him to renounce the Protestant religion and turn
papist.
But this he peremptorily refused, and the priests, finding his resolution,
pretended to pity his numerous family, and told him that he might yet have his
life if he would subscribe to the belief of the following articles, the real
presence of the host, transubstantiation, purgatory, the Pope's infallibility,
that masses said for the dead will release souls from purgatory, that praying to
saints will procure the remission of sins.
Monsieur Rambo told the priests that neither his religion, his understanding,
nor his conscience would suffer him to subscribe to any of the articles for the
following reasons, that to believe the real presence in the host is a shocking
union of both blasphemy and idolatry, that to fancy the words of consecration
perform what the papists call transubstantiation by converting the wafer
and wine into the real and identical body and blood of Christ, which was crucified
and which afterwards ascended into heaven, is too gross an absurdity for even a child
to believe who has come to the least glimmering of reason, and that nothing but
the most blind superstition could make the Roman Catholics put a confidence in
anything so completely ridiculous, that the doctrine of purgatory was more
inconsistent and absurd than a fairy tale, that the Pope's being infallible was an
impossibility, and the Pope arrogantly laid claim to what could belong to God
only as a perfect being, that saying masses for the dead was ridiculous and
only meant to keep up a belief in the fable of purgatory, as the fate of all is
finally decided on the departure of the soul from the body, that praying to saints
for the remission of sins is misplacing adoration, as the saints themselves have
occasion for an intercessor in Christ, therefore as God only can pardon our
errors, we ought to sue to him alone for pardon.
The priests were so highly offended at M.
Rambeau's answers to the articles to which they would have had him subscribe,
that they determined to shake his resolution by the most cruel method
imaginable.
They ordered one joint of his finger to be cut off every day until all his fingers
were gone.
They then proceeded in the same manner with his toes.
Afterward they alternately cut off daily a hand and a foot.
But finding that he bore his sufferings with the most admirable patience,
increased, both in fortitude and resignation, and maintained his faith with
steadfast resolution and unshaken constancy, they stabbed him to the heart,
and then gave his body to be devoured by the dogs.
Peter Gabriola, a Protestant gentleman of considerable eminence, being seized by a
troop of soldiers and refusing to renounce his religion, they hung a great number of
little bags of gunpowder about his body, and then setting fire to them,
blew him up.
Antony, the son of Samuel Cattieris, a poor dumb lad who was extremely
inoffensive, was cut to pieces by a party of the troops, and soon after the same
ruffians entered the house of Peter Monireat, and cut off the legs of the
whole family, leaving them to bleed to death, as they were unable to assist
themselves or to help each other.
Daniel Beneck, being apprehended, had his nose slit, his ears cut off,
and was then divided into quarters, each quarter being hung upon a tree,
and Mary Monino had her jawbones broke, and was then left to anguish till she was
famished.
Mary Palanchion, a handsome widow belonging to the town of Vilario,
was seized by a party of the Irish brigades, who having beat her cruelly and
ravished her, dragged her to a high bridge which crossed the river, and stripped her
naked in a most indecent manner, hung her by the legs to the bridge,
with her head downwards towards the water, and then going into boats, they fired at
her until she expired.
Mary Negrino and her daughter, who was an idiot, were cut to pieces in
the woods, and their bodies left to be devoured by wild beasts.
Susanna Bales, a widow of Vilario, was immured until she perished through
hunger, and Susanna Calvio, running away from some soldiers and hiding herself in a
barn, they set fire to the straw and burned her.
Paul Armand was hacked to pieces.
A child named Daniel Bertino was burnt.
Daniel Michielino had his tongue plucked out, and was left to perish in that
condition, and Andreo Bertino, a very old man, who was lame, was mangled
in a most shocking manner, and at length had his belly ripped open and his bowels
carried about on the point of a halberd.
Constantia Bellione, a Protestant lady, being apprehended on account of her faith,
was asked by a priest if she would renounce the devil and go to Mass,
to which she replied, I was brought up in a religion by which I was always taught to
renounce the devil, but should I comply with your desire and go to Mass,
I should be sure to meet him there in a variety of shapes.
The priest was highly incensed at what she said, and told her to recant, or she would
suffer cruelly.
The lady, however, boldly answered that she valued not any sufferings he could
inflict, and in spite of all the torments he could invent, she would keep her
conscience pure and her faith inviolate.
The priest then ordered slices of her flesh to be cut off from several parts of
her body, which cruelty she bore with the most singular patience, only saying to the
priest, What horrid and lasting torments will you suffer in hell for the trifling
and temporary pains which I now endure?
Exasperated at this expression, and willing to stop her tongue,
the priest ordered a file of musketeers to draw up and fire upon her, by which she
was soon dispatched, and sealed her martyrdom with her blood.
A young woman named Judith Mandon, for refusing to change her religion and
embrace potpourri, was fastened to a stake and sticks thrown at her from a distance,
in the very same manner as that barbarous custom which was formerly practised on
Shrove Tuesday of shying at rocks, as it was termed.
By this inhuman proceeding the poor creature's limbs were beat and mangled in
a terrible manner, and her brains were at last dashed out by one of the bludgeons.
David Pallier and Paul Jeanret, attempting to escape to the Alps with each
his son, were pursued and overtaken by the soldiers in a large plain.
Here they hunted them for their diversion, goading them with their swords and making
them run about until they dropped down with fatigue.
When they found that their spirits were quite exhausted and that they could not
afford the many more barbarous sport by running, the soldiers hacked them to
pieces and left their mangled bodies on the spot.
A young man of Bobbio, named Michael Greve, was apprehended in the town of
Latour and being led to the bridge was thrown over into the river.
As he could swim very well he swam down the stream thinking to escape,
but the soldiers and the mob followed on both sides of the river and kept stoning
him until receiving a blow on one of his temples.
He was stunned and consequently sunk and was drowned.
David Armand was ordered to lay his head down on a block when a soldier with a
large hammer beat out his brains.
David Baradona, being apprehended at Villario, was carried to Latour where,
refusing to renounce his religion, he was tormented by means of brimstone
matches being tied between his fingers and toes and set fire to, and afterward by
having his flesh plucked off with red-hot pincers until he expired, and Giovanni
Barolina, with his wife, were thrown into a pool of stagnant water and compelled by
means of pitchforks and stones to duck down their heads until they were
suffocated.
A number of soldiers went to the house of Joseph Garniero and, before they entered,
fired in at the window to give notice of their approach.
A musket-ball entered one of Mrs. Garniero's breasts as she was suckling an
infant with the other.
On finding their intentions, she begged hard that they would spare the life of the
infant, which they promised to do, and sent it immediately to a Roman
Catholic nurse.
They then took the husband and hanged him at his own door, and having shot the wife
through the head, they left her body weltering in its blood and her husband
hanging on the gallows.
Isaiah Mondon, an elderly man and a pious Protestant, fled from the merciless
persecutors to a cleft in a rock, where he suffered the most dreadful
hardships, for in the midst of the winter he was forced to lie on the bare stone
without any covering.
His food was the roots he could scratch up near his miserable habitation,
and the only way by which he could procure drink was to put snow in his mouth until
it melted.
Here, however, some of the inhuman soldiers found him, and after having
beaten him unmercifully, they drove him towards Lucerne, goading him with the
points of their swords.
Being exceedingly weakened by his manner of living and his spirits exhausted by the
blows he had received, he fell down in the road.
They again beat him to make him proceed, when on his knees he implored them to put
him out of his misery by dispatching him.
This they at last agreed to do, and one of them, stepping up to him,
shot him through the head with a pistol, saying, There, heretic, take thy request.
Mary Revall, a worthy Protestant, received a shot in her back as she was
walking along the street.
She dropped down with the wound, but recovering sufficient strength she
raised herself upon her knees, and lifting her hands towards heaven,
prayed in a most fervent manner to the Almighty, when a number of soldiers who
were near at hand fired a whole volley of shot at her, many of which took effect,
and put an end to her miseries in an instant.
Several men, women, and children secreted themselves in a large cave, where they
continued for some weeks in safety.
It was the custom for two of the men to go when it was necessary, and by stealth
procure provisions.
These were, however, one day watched, by which the cave was discovered,
and soon after a troop of Roman Catholics appeared before it.
The papists that assembled upon this occasion were neighbours and intimate
acquaintances of the Protestants in the cave, and some were even related to each
other.
The Protestants therefore came out, and implored them by the ties of
hospitality, by the ties of blood, and as old acquaintances and neighbours
not to murder them.
But superstition overcomes every sensation of nature and humanity, so that the
papists, blinded by bigotry, told them they could not show any mercy to heretics,
and therefore bade them prepare to die.
Hearing this, and knowing the fatal obstinacy of the Roman Catholics,
the Protestants all fell prostrate, lifted their hands and hearts to heaven,
prayed with great sincerity and fervency, and then bowing down put their faces close
to the ground and patiently waited their fate, which was soon decided, for the
papists fell upon them with unremitting fury, and having cut them to pieces left
the mangled bodies and limbs in the cave.
Giovanni Salvaggio, passing by a Roman Catholic Church and not taking off his
hat, was followed by some of the congregation, who fell upon and murdered
him, and Jacob Barrel and his wife, having been taken prisoners by the Earl of
St. Secondo, one of the Duke of Saffoy's officers, he delivered them up to the
soldiery, who cut off the woman's breasts and the man's nose, and then shot them
both through the head.
Antony Guigo, a Protestant of a wavering disposition, went to Periero with an
intent to renounce his religion and embrace popery.
This design he communicated to some priests who highly commended it,
and a day was fixed upon for his public recantation.
In the meantime Antony grew fully sensible of his perfidy, and his conscience
tormented him so much night and day that he determined not to recant but to make
his escape.
This he affected, but being soon missed and pursued, he was taken.
The troops on the way did all they could to bring him back to his design of
recantation, but finding their endeavours ineffectual, they beat him violently on
the road.
When coming near a precipice he took an opportunity of leaping down it and was
dashed to pieces.
A Protestant gentleman of considerable fortune at Bobbio, being nightly provoked
by the insolence of a priest, retorted with great severity, and among other
things said that the Pope was anti-Christ, mass idolatry, purgatory a farce,
and absolution a cheat.
To be revenged, the priest hired five desperate ruffians, who the same evening
broke into the gentleman's house and seized upon him in a violent manner.
The gentleman was terribly frightened, fell on his knees, and implored mercy,
but the desperate ruffians dispatched him without the least hesitation.
A narrative of the Piedmontese War The massacres and murders already mentioned to
have been committed in the valleys of Piedmont nearly depopulated most of the
towns and villages.
One place only had not been assaulted, and that was owing to the difficulty of
approaching it.
This was the little commonality of Roras, which was situated upon a rock.
As the work of blood grew slack in other places, the Earl of Cristopal,
one of the Duke of Savoy's officers, determined if possible to make himself
master of it, and with that view detached three hundred men to surprise it secretly.
The inhabitants of Roras, however, had intelligence of the approach of these
troops, when Captain Joshua Giannavel, a brave Protestant officer, put himself at
the head of a small body of the citizens and waited in ambush to attack the enemy
in a small defile.
When the troops appeared and had entered the defile, which was the only place by
which the town could be approached, the Protestants kept up a smart and
well-directed fire against them, and still kept themselves concealed behind
bushes from the sight of the enemy.
A great number of the soldiers were killed, and the remainder, receiving a
continued fire and not seeing any to whom they might return it, thought proper to
retreat.
The members of this little community then sent a memorial to the Marquis of
Pianessa, one of the Duke's general officers, setting forth that they were
sorry upon any occasion to be under the necessity of taking up arms, but that the
secret approach of a body of troops, without any reason assigned or any
previous notice sent of the purpose of their coming, had greatly alarmed them,
that, as it was their custom never to suffer any of the military to enter their
little community, they had repelled force by force, and should do so again,
but in all other respects they professed themselves dutiful, obedient, and loyal
subjects to their sovereign, the Duke of Savoy.
The Marquis of Pianessa, that he might have the better opportunity of deluding
and surprising the Protestants of Roras, sent them word in answer that he was
perfectly satisfied with their behaviour, for they had done right and even rendered
a service to their country, as the men who had attempted to pass the defile were not
his troops, all sent by him, but a band of desperate robbers, who had for some time
infested those parts, had been a terror to the neighbouring country.
To give a greater colour to his treachery, he then published an ambiguous
proclamation, seemingly favourable to the inhabitants.
Yet the very day after this plausible proclamation and specious conduct,
the Marquis sent five hundred men to possess themselves of Roras, while the
people, as he thought, were lulled into perfect security by his specious
behaviour.
Captain Giannavel, however, was not to be deceived so easily.
He therefore laid an ambuscade for this body of troops, as he had for the former,
and compelled them to retire with very considerable loss.
Though foiled in these two attempts, the Marquis of Pianessa determined on a
third which should be still more formidable, but first he imprudently
published another proclamation, disowning any knowledge of the second
attempt.
Soon after, seven hundred chosen men were sent upon the expedition, who in spite of
the fire from the Protestants forced the defile, entered Roras, and began to murder
every person they met with without distinction of age or sex.
The Protestant Captain Giannavel, at the head of a small body, though he had
lost the defile, determined to dispute their passage through a fortified pass
that led to the richest and best part of the town.
Here he was successful by keeping up a continual fire, and by means of his men
being all complete marksmen.
The Roman Catholic commander was greatly staggered at this opposition, as he
imagined that he had surmounted all difficulties.
He however did his endeavours to force the pass, but being able to bring up only
twelve men in front at a time, and the Protestants being secured by a
breastwork, he found he should be baffled by the handful of men who opposed him.
Enraged at the loss of so many of his troops, and fearful of disgrace if he
persisted in attempting what appeared so impracticable, he thought it the wisest
thing to retreat.
Unwilling, however, to withdraw his men by the defile at which he had entered,
on account of the difficulty and danger of the enterprise, he determined to retreat
towards Villario by another pass called Piempre, which though hard of access was
easy of descent.
But in this he met with disappointment, for Captain Gianavelle having posted his
little band here greatly annoyed the troops as they passed, and even pursued
their rear until they entered the open country.
The Marquis of Pianessa, finding that all his attempts were frustrated, and that
every artifice he used was only an alarm signal to the inhabitants of Roras,
determined to act openly, and therefore proclaimed that ample reward should be
given to anyone who would bear arms against the obstinate heretics of Roras,
as he called them, and that any officer who would exterminate them should be
rewarded in a princely manner.
This engaged Captain Mario, a bigoted Roman Catholic and a desperate ruffian,
to undertake the enterprise.
He therefore obtained leave to raise a regiment in the following six towns
having completed his regiment, which consisted of one thousand men,
he laid his plan not to go by the defiles or the Parsis, but to attempt gaining the
summit of a rock, whence he imagined he could pour his troops into the town
without much difficulty or opposition.
The Protestants suffered the Roman Catholic troops to gain almost the summit
of the rock without giving them any opposition or ever appearing in their
sight, but when they had almost reached the top they made a most furious attack
upon them, one party keeping up a well-directed and constant fire,
and another party rolling down huge stones.
This stopped the career of the Papist troops, many were killed by the musketry
and more by the stones which beat them down the precipices.
Several fell sacrifices to their hurry, for by attempting a precipitate retreat
they fell down and were dashed to pieces, and Captain Mario himself narrowly escaped
with his life, for he fell from a craggy place into a river which washed the foot
of the rock.
He was taken up senseless, but afterwards recovered, though he was ill of the
bruises for a long time, and at length he fell into a decline at Lucerne,
where he died.
Another body of troops was ordered from the camp at Villario to make an attempt
upon Roras, but these were likewise defeated by means of the Protestants'
ambush fighting, and compelled to retreat again to the camp at Villario.
After each of these signal victories, Captain Giannavele made a suitable
discourse to his men, causing them to kneel down and return thanks to the
Almighty for his providential protection, and usually concluded with the Eleventh
Psalm, where the subject is placing confidence in God.
The Marquis of Pianessa was greatly enraged at being so much baffled by the
few inhabitants of Roras.
He therefore determined to attempt their expulsion in such a manner as could hardly
fail of success.
With this view, he ordered all the Roman Catholic militia of Piedmont to be raised
and disciplined.
When these orders were completed, he joined to the militia eight thousand
regular troops, and dividing the whole into three distinct bodies, he designed
that three formidable attacks should be made at the same time, unless the people
of Roras, to whom he sent an account of his great preparations, would comply with
the following conditions.
1.
To ask pardon for taking up arms.
2.
To pay the expenses of all the expeditions sent against them.
3.
To acknowledge the infallibility of the Pope.
4.
To go to Mass.
5.
To pray to the saints.
6.
To wear beards.
7.
To deliver up their ministers.
8.
To deliver up their schoolmasters.
9.
To go to confession.
10.
To pay loans for the delivery of souls from purgatory.
11.
To give up Captain Giannavelle at discretion.
And 12.
To give up the elders of their church at discretion.
The inhabitants of Roras, on being acquainted with these conditions,
were filled with an honest indignation, and in answer sent word to the Marquis
that, sooner than comply with them, they would suffer three things which,
of all others, were the most obnoxious to mankind, namely, their estates to be
seized, their houses to be burned, themselves to be murdered.
Exasperated at this message, the Marquis sent them this laconic epistle.
To the obstinate heretics inhabiting Roras, you shall have your request,
for the troops sent against you have strict injunctions to plunder,
burn, and kill.
Pianessa.
The three armies were then put in motion, and the attacks ordered to be made thus,
the first by the rocks of Villario, the second by the Pass of Bagnol,
and the third by the Defile of Lucerne.
The troops forced their way by the superiority of numbers, and having gained
the rocks, pass, and defile, began to make the most horrid depredations and exercise
the greatest cruelties.
Men they hanged, burned, racked to death, or cut to pieces.
Women they ripped open, crucified, drowned, or threw from the precipices.
And children they tossed upon spears, minced, cut their throats, or dashed out
their brains.
One hundred and twenty-six suffered in this manner on the first day of their
gaining the town.
Agreeable to the Marquis of Pianessa's orders, they likewise plundered the
estates and burned the houses of the people.
Several Protestants, however, made their escape, under the conduct of Captain
Giannavelle, whose wife and children were unfortunately made prisoners, and sent
under a strong guard to Turin.
The Marquis of Pianessa wrote a letter to Captain Giannavelle, and released a
Protestant prisoner that he might carry at him.
The contents were that if the Captain would embrace the Roman Catholic religion,
he should be indemnified, for all his losses since the commencement of the war,
his wife and children should be immediately released, and himself
honourably promoted in the Duke of Savoy's army.
But if he refused to accede to the proposals made him, his wife and children
should be put to death, and so large a reward should be given to take him dead or
alive, that even some of his own confidential friends should be tempted to
betray him from the greatness of the sum.
To this epistle the brave Giannavelle sent the following answer.
My Lord Marquis, there is no torment so great or death so cruel but what I would
prefer to the abjuration of my religion, so that promises lose their effects and
menaces only strengthen me in my faith.
With respect to my wife and children, my Lord, nothing can be more afflicting to
me than the thought of their confinement, or more dreadful to my imagination than
their suffering a violent and cruel death.
I keenly feel all the tender sensations of husband and parent.
My heart is replete with every sentiment of humanity.
I would suffer any torment to rescue them from danger.
I would die to preserve them.
But having said thus much, my Lord, I assure you that the purchase of their
lives must not be the price of my salvation.
You have them in your power, it is true, but my consolation is that your power is
only a temporary authority over their bodies.
You may destroy the mortal part, but their immortal souls are out of your
reach, and will live hereafter to bear testimony against you for your cruelties.
I therefore recommend them and myself to God, and pray for a reformation in your
heart.—Joshua Giannavel." This brave Protestant officer, after writing the
above letter, retired to the Alps with his followers, and being joined by a great
number of other fugitive Protestants, he harassed the enemy by continual
skirmishes.
Meeting one day with a body of Papist troops near Bibiana, he, though inferior
in numbers, attacked them with great fury, and put them to rout without the loss of a
man, though himself was shot through the leg in the engagement by a soldier who had
hid himself behind a tree.
But Giannavel, perceiving whence the shot came, pointed his gun to the place,
and dispatched the person who had wounded him.
Captain Giannavel, hearing that a Captain Jeannier had collected together a
considerable body of Protestants, wrote him a letter proposing a junction of
their forces.
Captain Jeannier immediately agreed to the proposal, and marched directly to meet
Giannavel.
The junction being formed, it was proposed to attack a town inhabited by Roman
Catholics called Garciliana.
The assault was given with great spirit, but a reinforcement of horse and foot
having lately entered the town, which the Protestants knew nothing of,
they were repulsed, yet made a masterly retreat, and only lost one man in the
action.
The next attempt of the Protestant forces was upon St. Segondo, which they attacked
with great vigour, but met with a strong resistance from the Roman Catholic troops,
who had fortified the streets and planted themselves in the houses, from whence they
poured musket balls in prodigious numbers.
The Protestants, however, advanced under cover of a great number of planks which
some held over their heads to secure them from the shots of the enemy from the
houses, while others kept up a well-directed fire, so that the houses and
entrenchments were soon forced, and the town taken.
In the town they found a prodigious quantity of plunder which had been taken
from Protestants at various times in different places, and which was stored up
in the warehouses, churches, dwelling houses, etc.
This they removed to a place of safety, to be distributed with as much justice as
possible among the sufferers.
This successful attack was made with such skill and spirit that it cost very little
to the conquering party, the Protestants having only seventeen killed and
twenty-six wounded, while the Papists suffered a loss of no less than four
hundred and fifty killed and five hundred and eleven wounded.
Five Protestant officers, Giannavelle, Jahier, Laurentiaux, Genollet,
and Bonnet, laid a plan to surprise Biceras.
To this end they marched in five respective bodies, and by agreement were
to make the attack at the same time.
The captains Jahier and Laurentiaux passed through two defiles in the woods and came
to the place in safety under covert, but the other three bodies made their
approaches through an open country, and consequently were more exposed to an
attack.
The Roman Catholics taking the alarm, a great number of troops were sent to
relieve Biceras from Cavour, Bibiana, Fellini, Campiglione, and some other
neighbouring places.
When these were united, they determined to attack the three Protestant parties that
were marching through the open country.
The Protestant officers, perceiving the intent of the enemy and not being at a
great distance from each other, joined forces with the utmost expedition
and formed themselves in order of battle.
In the meantime, the captains Jahier and Laurentiaux had assaulted the town of
Biceras and burnt all the outhouses to make their approaches with a greater ease,
but not being supported, as they expected, by the other three Protestant captains,
they sent a messenger on a swift horse towards the open country to inquire the
reason.
The messenger soon returned and informed them that it was not in the power of the
three Protestant captains to support their proceedings, as they were themselves
attacked by a very superior force in the plain and could scarce sustain the unequal
conflict.
The captains Jahier and Laurentiaux, on receiving this intelligence,
determined to discontinue the assault on Biceras and to proceed with all possible
expedition to the relief of their friends on the plain.
This design proved to be of the most essential service, for just as they
arrived at the spot where the two armies were engaged, the Papist troops began to
prevail and were on the point of flanking the left wing commanded by Captain
Giannavelle.
The arrival of these troops turned the scale in favour of the Protestants,
and the Papist forces, though they fought with the most obstinate intrepidity,
were totally defeated.
A great number were killed and wounded on both sides, and the baggage, military
stores, etc., taken by the Protestants were very considerable.
Captain Giannavelle, having information that three hundred of the enemy were to
convoy a great quantity of stores, provisions, etc., from Latour to the
castle of Mirabach, determined to attack them on the way.
He accordingly began the assault at Molbec, though with a very inadequate
force.
The contest was long and bloody, but the Protestants at length were obliged
to yield to the superiority of numbers and compelled to make a retreat, which they
did with great regularity and but little loss.
Captain Giannavelle advanced to an advantageous post situated near the town
of Vilario, and then sent the following information and commands to the
inhabitants.
1.
That he should attack the town in twenty-four hours.
2.
That, with respect to the Roman Catholics who had borne arms, whether they belonged
to the army or not, he should act by the law of retaliation and put them to death
for the numerous depredations and many cruel murders they had committed.
3.
That all women and children, whatever their religion might be, should be safe.
4.
That he commanded all male Protestants to leave the town and join him.
5.
That all apostates, who had through weakness abjured their religion,
should be deemed enemies unless they renounced their abjuration.
6.
That all who returned to their duty to God and themselves should be received as
friends.
The Protestants in general immediately left the town and joined Captain
Giannavelle with great satisfaction, and the few who through weakness or fear
had abjured their faith recanted their abjuration and were received into the
bosom of the Church.
As the Marquis of Pianessa had removed the army and encamped in quite a different
part of the country, the Roman Catholics of Vilario thought it would be folly to
attempt to defend the place with the small force they had.
They therefore fled with the utmost precipitation, leaving the town and most
of their property to the discretion of the Protestants.
The Protestant commanders, having called a council of war, resolved to make an
attempt upon the town of Latour.
The Papists, being apprised of the design, detached some troops to defend a defile
through which the Protestants must make their approach, but these were defeated,
compelled to abandon the pass, and forced to retreat to Latour.
The Protestants proceeded on their march, and the troops of Latour, on their
approach, made a furious sally, but were repulsed with great loss and
compelled to seek shelter in the town.
The governor now only thought of defending the place, which the Protestants began to
attack in form, but after many brave attempts and furious assaults,
the commanders determined to abandon the enterprise for several reasons,
particularly because they found the place itself too strong, their own number too
weak, and their cannon not adequate to the task of battering down the walls.
This resolution taken, the Protestant commanders began a masterly retreat,
and conducted it with such regularity that the enemy did not choose to pursue them or
molest their rear, which they might have done, as they passed the defiles.
The next day they mustered, reviewed the army, and found the whole to amount to
four hundred and ninety-five men.
They then held a council of war, and planned an easier enterprise.
This was to make an attack on the commonality of Crusole, a place inhabited
by a number of the most bigoted Roman Catholics, and who had exercised during
the persecutions the most unheard of cruelties on the Protestants.
The people of Crusole, hearing of the design against them, fled to a
neighbouring fortress situated on a rock, where the Protestants could not come to
them, for a very few men could render it inaccessible to a numerous army.
Thus they secured their persons, but were in too much hurry to secure their
property, the principal part of which, indeed, had been plundered from the
Protestants, and now, luckily, fell again to the possession of the right
owners.
It consisted of many rich and valuable articles, and what at that time was of
much more consequence, a great quantity of military stores.
The day after the Protestants were gone, with their booty, eight hundred troops
arrived to the assistance of the people of Crusole, having been dispatched from
Lucerne, Biceras, Cavour, etc.
But finding themselves too late, and that pursuit would be vain,
not to return empty-handed, they began to plunder the neighbouring villages,
though what they took was from their friends.
After collecting a tolerable booty, they began to divide it, but, disagreeing
about the different shares, they fell from words to blows, did a great deal of
mischief, and then plundered each other.
On the very same day in which the Protestants were so successful at Crusole,
some papists marched with a design to plunder and burn the little Protestant
village of Rocapiata.
But by the way, they met with the Protestant forces belonging to the
captains Jojier and Laurentio, who were posted on the hill of Angrogna.
A trivial engagement ensued, for the Roman Catholics, on the very first attack,
retreated in great confusion, and were pursued with much slaughter.
After the pursuit was over, some straggling papist troops, meeting with a
poor peasant, who was a Protestant, tied a cord round his head and strained it
until his skull was quite crushed.
Captain Giannavelle and Captain Jojier concerted a design together to make an
attack upon Lucerne, but Captain Jojier, not bringing up his forces at the time
appointed, Captain Giannavelle determined to attempt the enterprise himself.
He therefore, by a forced march, proceeded towards that place during the
whole night, and was close to it by break of day.
His first care was to cut the pipes that conveyed water into the town, and then to
break down the bridge, by which alone provisions from the country could enter.
He then assaulted the place, and speedily possessed himself of two of the outposts,
but finding he could not make himself master of the place, he prudently
retreated with very little loss, blaming, however, Captain Jojier for the
failure of the enterprise.
The papists, being informed that Captain Giannavelle was at Angrogna with only his
own company, determined, if possible, to surprise him.
With this view, a great number of troops were detached from Latour and other
places.
One party of these got on top of a mountain, beneath which he was posted,
and the other party intended to possess themselves of the gate of St. Bartholomew.
The papists thought themselves sure of taking Captain Giannavelle and every one
of his men, as they consisted but of three hundred, and their own force was two
thousand five hundred.
Their design, however, was providentially frustrated, for one of the popish
soldiers, imprudently blowing a trumpet before the signal for attack was given,
Captain Giannavelle took the alarm, and posted his little company so
advantageously at the gate of St. Bartholomew and at the defile by which the
enemy must descend from the mountains, that the Roman Catholic troops failed in
both attacks, and were repulsed with very considerable loss.
Soon after, Captain Jojier came to Angogna, and joined his forces to those of
Captain Giannavelle, giving sufficient reasons to excuse his before-mentioned
failure.
Captain Jojier now made several secret excursions with great success,
always selecting the most active troops belonging to both Giannavelle and himself.
One day he put himself at the head of forty-four men to proceed upon an
expedition, when, entering a plain near Ossac, he was suddenly surrounded by a
large body of horse.
Captain Jojier and his men fought desperately, though oppressed by odds,
and killed the commander-in-chief, three captains, and fifty-seven private
men of the enemy.
But Captain Jojier himself being killed, with thirty-five of his men, the rest
surrendered.
One of the soldiers cut off Captain Jojier's head, and carrying it to Turin,
presented it to the Duke of Savoy, who rewarded him with six hundred
ducatoons.
The death of this gentleman was a signal lost to the Protestants, as he was a real
friend to and companion of the Reformed Church.
He possessed a most undaunted spirit, so that no difficulties could deter him
from undertaking an enterprise, or dangers terrify him in its execution.
He was pious without affectation, and humane without weakness.
Bold in a field, meek in a domestic life, of a penetrating genius, active in spirit,
and resolute in all his undertakings.
To add to the affliction of the Protestants, Captain Giannavelle was soon
after wounded, in such a manner that he was obliged to keep his bed.
They, however, took new courage from misfortunes, and, determining not to let
their spirits droop, attacked a body of Popish troops with great intrepidity.
The Protestants were much inferior in numbers, but fought with more resolution
than the Papists, and at length routed them with considerable slaughter.
During the action, a sergeant named Michael Bertino was killed, when his son,
who was close behind him, leaped into his place and said, I've lost my father,
but courage, fellow soldiers, God is a father to us all.
Several skirmishes likewise happened between the troops of Latour and
Tagliaretto, and the Protestant forces, which, in general, terminated in favour of
the latter.
A Protestant gentleman named Andrian raised a regiment of horse and took the
command of it himself.
Monsieur Jean Legere persuaded a great number of Protestants to form themselves
into volunteer companies, and an excellent officer named Michelin instituted several
bands of light troops.
These, being all joined to the remains of the veteran Protestant troops,
for great numbers had been lost in the various battles, skirmishes, sieges,
etc., composed a respectable army, which the officers thought proper to
encamp near San Giovanni.
The Roman Catholic commanders, alarmed at the formidable appearance and
increased strength of the Protestant forces, determined, if possible,
to dislodge them from their encampment.
With this view, they collected together a large force, consisting of the principal
part of the garrisons of the Roman Catholic towns, the draft from the Irish
brigades, a great number of regulars sent by the Marquis of Pianessa, the auxiliary
troops and the independent companies.
These, having formed a junction, encamped near the Protestants and spent
several days in calling councils of war and disputing on the most proper mode of
proceeding.
Some were for plundering the country in order to draw the Protestants from their
camp, others were for patiently waiting till they were attacked, and a third party
were for assaulting the Protestant camp and trying to make themselves master of
everything in it.
The last of them prevailed, and the morning after the resolution had been
taken was appointed to put it into execution.
The Roman Catholic troops were accordingly separated into four divisions,
three of which were to make an attack in different places, and the fourth to remain
as a body of reserve to act as occasion might require.
One of the Roman Catholic officers, previous to the attack, thus harangued his
men.
Fellow soldiers, you are now going to enter upon a great action which will bring
you fame and riches.
The motives of your acting with spirit are likewise of the most important nature,
namely the honour of showing your loyalty to your sovereign, the pleasure of
spilling heretic blood, and the prospect of plundering the Protestant camp.
So, my brave fellows, fall on, give no quarter, kill all you meet,
and take all you come near.
After this inhuman speech the engagement began, and the Protestant camp was
attacked in three places with inconceivable fury.
The fight was maintained with great obstinacy and perseverance on both sides,
continuing without intermission for the space of four hours, for the several
companies on both sides relieved each other alternately, and by that means kept
up a continual fire during the whole action.
During the engagement of the main armies, a detachment was sent from the body of
reserve to attack the post of Castellus, which, if the papists had carried it,
it would have given them the command of the valleys of Parosa, San Martino,
and Lucerne, but they were repulsed with great loss, and compelled to return to the
body of reserve from whence they had been detached.
Soon after the return of this detachment, the Roman Catholic troops, being
hard-pressed in the main battle, sent for the body of reserve to come to
their support.
These immediately marched to their assistance, and for some time longer held
the event doubtful, but a length of valour of the Protestants prevailed, and the
papists were totally defeated, with the loss of upwards of three hundred
men killed, and many more wounded.
When the syndic of Lucerne, who was indeed a papist, but not a bigoted one,
saw the great number of wounded men brought into that city, he exclaimed,
Ah, I thought the wolves used to devour the heretics, but now I see the heretics
eat the wolves.
This expression being reported to M.
Maroll, the Roman Catholic commander-in-chief at Lucerne,
he sent a very severe and threatening letter to the syndic, who was so terrified
that the fright threw him into a fever, and he died in a few days.
This great battle was fought just before the harvest was got in, when the papists,
exasperated at their disgrace and resolved on any kind of revenge, spread themselves
by night in detached parties over the finest cornfields of the Protestants,
and set them on fire in sundry places.
Some of these straggling parties, however, suffered for their conduct,
for the Protestants, being alarmed in the night by the blazing of the fire among the
corn, pursued the fugitives early in the morning, and overtaking many, put them to
death.
The Protestant Captain Bellin, likewise by way of retaliation,
went with a body of light troops, and burnt the suburbs of Latour,
making his retreat afterward with very little loss.
A few days later, Captain Bellin, with a much stronger body of troops,
attacked the town of Latour itself, and making a breach in the wall of the
convent, his men entered, driving the garrison into the citadel, and burning
both town and convent.
After having effected this, they made a regular retreat, as they could not reduce
the citadel for want of cannon.
An account of the persecutions of Michael de Molinos, a native of Spain.
Michael de Molinos, a Spaniard of a rich and honourable family, entered when young
into priests' orders, but would not accept of any preferment in the Church.
He possessed great natural abilities, which he dedicated to the service of his
fellow creatures, without any view of emolument to himself.
His course of life was pious and uniform, nor did he exercise those austerities
which are common among the religious orders of the Church of Rome.
Being of a contemplative turn of mind, he pursued the track of the mystical
divines.
And having acquired great reputation in Spain, and being desirous of propagating
his sublime mode of devotion, he left his own country and settled at Rome.
Here he soon connected himself with some of the most distinguished among the
literati, who so approved of his religious maxims, that they concurred in assisting
him to propagate them, and in a short time he obtained a great number of followers
who, from the sublime mode of their religion, were distinguished by the name
of Quietists.
In 1675, Molinos published a book entitled Il Guida Spirituale, to which were
subjoined recommendatory letters from several great personages.
One of these was by the Archbishop of Reggio, a second by the General of the
Franciscans, and a third by Father Martin de Espaza, a Jesuit who had been Divinity
Professor both at Salamanca and Rome.
No sooner was the book published than it was greatly read and highly esteemed both
in Italy and Spain, and this so raised the reputation of the author that his
acquaintance was coveted by the most respectable characters.
Letters were written to him from numbers of people, so that a correspondence was
settled between him and those who approved of his method in different parts of
Europe.
Some secular priests, both at Rome and Naples, declared themselves openly for it,
and consulted him as a sort of oracle on many occasions.
But those who attached themselves to him with the greatest sincerity were some of
the Fathers of the Oratory, in particular three of the most eminent, namely
Caloredi, Ciceri, and Petrucci.
Many of the Cardinals also courted his acquaintance, and thought themselves happy
in being reckoned among the number of his friends.
The most distinguished of them was Cardinal de Tres, a man of very great
learning, who so highly approved of Moulinot's maxims that he entered into a
close connection with him.
They conversed together daily, and notwithstanding the distrust a
Spaniard has naturally of a Frenchman, yet Moulinot, who was sincere in his
principles, opened his mind without reserve to the Cardinal, and by this means
a correspondence was settled between Moulinot and some distinguished characters
in France.
Whilst Moulinot was thus laboring to propagate his religious mode, Father
Petrucci wrote several treatises relative to a contemplative life, but he mixed in
them so many rules for the devotions of the Romish Church as mitigated that
censure he might have otherwise incurred.
They were written chiefly for the use of nuns, and therefore the sense was
expressed in the most easy and familiar style.
Moulinot had now acquired such reputation that the Jesuits and Dominicans began to
be greatly alarmed and determined to put a stop to the progress of this method.
To do this it was necessary to decry the author of it, and as heresy is an
imputation that makes the strongest impression at Rome, Moulinus and his
followers were given out to be heretics.
Books were also written by some of the Jesuits against Moulinus and his method,
but they were all answered with spirit by Moulinus.
These disputes occasioned such disturbance in Rome that the whole affair was taken
notice of by the Inquisition.
Moulinus and his book and Father Petrucci, with his treatises and letters,
were brought under a severe examination, and the Jesuits were considered as the
accusers.
One of the society had indeed approved of Moulinus's book, but the rest took care
that he should not be again seen at Rome.
In the course of the examination, both Moulinus and Petrucci acquitted
themselves so well that their books were again approved, and the answers which the
Jesuits had written were censured as scandalous.
Petrucci's conduct on this occasion was so highly approved that it not only raised
the credit of the cause, but his own emolument, for he was soon after made
Bishop of Jesi, which was a new declaration made by the Pope in their
favour.
Their books were now esteemed more than ever, their method was more followed,
and the novelty of it, with the new approbation given after so vigorous an
accusation by the Jesuits, all contributed to raise the credit and increase the
number of the party.
The behaviour of Father Petrucci in his new dignity greatly contributed to
increase his reputation, so that his enemies were unwilling to give him any
further disturbance, and indeed there was less occasion given for censure by his
writings than those of Moulinus.
Some passages in the latter were not so cautiously expressed, but there was room
to make exceptions to them, while on the other hand Petrucci so fully explained
himself as easily to remove the objections made to some parts of his letter.
The great reputation acquired by Moulinus and Petrucci occasioned a daily increase
of the quietists.
All who were thought sincerely devout, or at least affected the reputation of it,
were reckoned among the number.
If these persons were observed to become more strict in their lives and mental
devotions, yet there appeared less zeal in their whole deportment at the exterior
parts of the church ceremonies, they were not so assiduous at mass,
nor so earnest to procure masses to be said for their friends, nor were they so
frequently either at confession or in processions.
Though the new approbation given to Moulinus's book by the Inquisition had
checked the proceedings of his enemies, yet they were still inveterate against him
in their hearts, and determined, if possible, to ruin him.
They insinuated that he had ill designs, and was in his heart an enemy to the
Christian religion, that under pretense of raising men to a sublime strain of
devotion, he intended to erase from their minds a sense of the mysteries of
Christianity.
And because he was a Spaniard, they gave out that he was descended from a
Jewish or Mohammedan race, and that he might carry in his blood, or in his first
education, some seeds of those religions which he had since cultivated with no less
art than zeal.
This last calumny gained but little credit at Rome, though it was said an order was
sent to examine the registers of the place where Moulinus was baptised.
Moulinus, finding himself attacked with great vigour and the most unrelenting
malice, took every necessary precaution to prevent these imputations being credited.
He wrote a treatise entitled Frequent and Daily Communion, which was likewise
approved by some of the most learned of the Romish clergy.
This was printed with his spiritual guide in the year 1675, and in the preface to it
he declared that he had not written it with any design to engage himself in
matters of controversy, but that it was drawn from him by the earnest
solicitations of many pious people.
The Jesuits, failing in their attempts of crushing Moulinus's power in Rome,
applied to the Court of France, when in a short time they so far
succeeded, that an order was sent to Cardinal Destrez, commanding him to
prosecute Moulinus with all possible rigour.
The Cardinal, though so strongly attached to Moulinus, resolved to sacrifice all
that is sacred in friendship to the will of his master.
Finding, however, that was not sufficient matter for an accusation against him,
he determined to supply that defect himself.
He therefore went to the inquisitors and informed them of several particulars not
only relative to Moulinus, but also Petrucci, both of whom, together with
several of their friends, were put into the inquisition.
When they were brought before the inquisitors, which was the beginning of
the year 1684, Petrucci answered the respective questions put to him with so
much judgment and temper that he was soon dismissed, and though Moulinus's
examination was much longer, it was generally expected he would have been
likewise discharged, but this was not the case.
Though the inquisitors had not any just accusation against him, yet they strained
every nerve to find him guilty of heresy.
They first objected to his holding a correspondence in different parts of
Europe, but of this he was acquitted, as the matter of that correspondence could
not be made criminal.
They then directed their attention to some suspicious papers found in his chamber,
but Moulinus so clearly explained their meaning that nothing could be made of them
to his prejudice.
At length, Cardinal de Tres, after producing the orders sent him by the King
of France for prosecuting Moulinus, said he could prove against him more than
was necessary to convince them he was guilty of heresy.
To do this, he perverted the meaning of some passages in Moulinus's books and
papers, and related many false and aggravating circumstances relative to the
prisoner.
He acknowledged he had lived with him under the appearance of friendship,
but that it was only to discover his principles and intentions, that he had
found them to be of a bad nature, and that dangerous consequences were
likely to ensue.
But in order to make a full discovery, he had assented to several things which in
his heart he detested, and that by these means he saw into the secrets of Moulinus,
but determined not to take any notice until a proper opportunity should offer of
crushing him and his followers.
In consequence of de Tres's evidence, Moulinus was closely confined by the
Inquisition, where he continued for some time, during which period all was quiet
and his followers prosecuted their mode without interruption.
But on a sudden the Jesuits determined to extirpate them, and the storm broke out
with the most inveterate vehemence.
The Count of Espignani and his lady, Don Paolo Rocchi, confessor to the
Principle Gese, and some of his family, with several others, in all seventy
persons, were put into the Inquisition, among whom many were highly esteemed for
their learning and piety.
The accusation laid against the clergy was their neglecting to say the breviary,
and the rest were accused of going to the communion without first attending
confession.
In a word, it was said they neglected all the exterior parts of religion and gave
themselves up wholly to solitude and inward prayer.
The Countess of Espignani exerted herself in a very particular manner on her
examination before the Inquisitors.
She said she had never revealed her method of devotion to any mortal but her
confessor, and that it was impossible they should know it without his discovering the
secret, that therefore it was time to give over going to confession if priests made
this use of it, to discover the most secret thoughts entrusted to them,
and that for the future she would only make her confession to God.
From this spirited speech, and the great noise made in consequence of the
Countess's situation, the Inquisitors thought it most prudent to dismiss both
her and her husband, lest the people might be incensed, and what she said might
lessen the credit of confession.
They were therefore both discharged, but bound to appear whenever they should
be called upon.
Besides those already mentioned, such was the inveteracy of the Jesuits
against the Quietists, that within the space of a month upwards of two hundred
persons were put into the Inquisition, and that method of devotion which had
passed in Italy as the most elevated to which mortals could aspire was deemed
heretical, and the promoters of it confined in a wretched dungeon.
In order, if possible, to extirpate Quietism, the Inquisitors sent a circular
letter to Cardinal Cibo, as the chief minister, to disperse it through Italy.
It was addressed to all prelates, informed them that whereas many schools
and fraternities were established in several parts of Italy, in which some
persons, under the pretense of leading people into the ways of the Spirit and to
the prayer of Quietness, instilled into them many abominable heresies,
therefore a strict charge was given to dissolve all those societies and to oblige
the Spiritual Guide to tread in the known paths, and in particular to take care that
none of that sort should be suffered to have the direction of the nunneries.
Orders were likewise given to proceed in the way of justice against those who
should be found guilty of these abominable errors.
After this, a strict inquiry was made into all the nunneries of Rome, when most of
their directors and confessors were discovered to be engaged in this new
method.
It was found that the Carmelites, the nuns of the Conception and those of
several other convents, were wholly given up to prayer and contemplation,
and that instead of their beads and the other devotions to saints or images,
they were much alone and often in the exercise of mental prayer, that when they
were asked why they had laid aside the use of their beads and their ancient forms,
their answer was that their directors had advised them to do so.
Information of this being given to the Inquisition, they sent orders that all
books written in the same strain with those of Molinus and Petrucci should be
taken from them, and that they should be compelled to return to their original form
of devotion.
The circular letters sent to Cardinal Cibo produced but little effect, for most of
the Italian bishops were inclined to Molinus's method.
It was intended that this, as well as all other orders from the Inquisitors,
should be kept secret.
But notwithstanding all their care, copies of it were printed and dispersed in
most of the principal towns in Italy.
This gave great uneasiness to the Inquisitors, who used every method they
could to conceal their proceedings from the knowledge of the world.
They blamed the Cardinal and accused him of being the cause of it, but he retorted
on them and his secretary laid the fault on both.
During these transactions, Molinus suffered great indignities from the
officers of the Inquisition, and the only comfort he received was from being
sometimes visited by Father Petrucci.
Though he had lived in the highest reputation in Rome for some years,
he was now as much despised as he had been admired, being generally considered as one
of the worst of heretics.
The greater part of Molinus's followers, who had been placed in the Inquisition,
having abjured his mode, were dismissed.
But a harder fate awaited Molinus, their leader.
After lying a considerable time in prison, he was at length brought again before the
Inquisitors to answer to a number of articles exhibited against him from his
writings.
As soon as he appeared in court, a chain was put round his body and a wax
light in his hand, when two friars read aloud the articles of accusation.
Molinus answered each with great steadiness and resolution, and
notwithstanding, his arguments totally defeated the force of all, yet he was
found guilty of heresy and condemned to imprisonment for life.
When he left the court, he was attended by a priest, who had borne him the greatest
respect.
On his arrival at the prison, he entered the cell allotted for his confinement with
great tranquillity, and on taking leave of the priest thus addressed him,
Adieu, Father, we shall meet again at the Day of Judgment, and then it will appear
on which side the truth is, whether on my side or on yours.
During his confinement he was several times tortured in the most cruel manner,
until at length the severity of the punishments overpowered his strength and
finished his existence.
The death of Molinus struck such an impression on his followers that the
greater part of them soon abjured his mode, and by the assiduity of the Jesuits
quietism was totally extirpated throughout the country.
Chapter 7 An Account of the Life and Persecutions of John Wycliffe It will not
be inappropriate to devote a few pages of this work to a brief detail of the lives
of some of those men who first stepped forward, regardless of the bigoted power
which opposed all reformation, to stem the tide of papal corruption and
to seal the pure doctrines of the Gospel with their blood.
Among these Great Britain has the honour of taking the lead, and first maintaining
that freedom in religious controversy which astonished Europe, and demonstrated
that political and religious liberty are equally the growth of that favoured
island.
Among the earliest of these eminent persons was John Wycliffe.
This celebrated reformer, denominated the Morning Star of the Reformation,
was born about the year 1324 in the reign of Edward II.
Of his extraction we have no certain account.
His parents, designing him for the Church, sent him to Queen's College, Oxford,
about that period founded by Robert Eaglesfield, Confessor to Queen Philippa.
But not meeting with the advantages for study in that newly established house
which he expected, he removed to Merton College, which was then esteemed one of
the most learned societies in Europe.
The first thing which drew him into public notice was his defence of the University
against the begging friars, who about this time, from their settlement in Oxford in
1230, had been troublesome neighbours to the University.
Feuds were continually fermented, the friars appealing to the Pope,
the scholars to the and sometimes one party and sometimes the other prevailed.
The friars became very fond of a notion that Christ was a common beggar,
that his disciples were beggars also, and that begging was of gospel
institution.
This doctrine they urged from the pulpit and whenever they had access.
Wycliffe had long held these religious friars in contempt for the laziness of
their lives, and had now a fair opportunity of exposing them.
He published a treatise against able beggary, in which he lashed the friars and
proved that they were not only a reproach to religion, but also to human society.
The University began to consider him one of their first champions, and he was soon
promoted to the mastership of Balliol College.
About this time, Archbishop Islip founded Canterbury Hall in Oxford, where he
established a warden and eleven scholars.