CHAPTER IV.

HENRY II. 1547-1559.

FRANCIS I. was succeeded by his son Henry. His court was divided into parties; but we need only pursue the history of two of these parties, namely, that of the Guises, and that of the queen, the too famous Catharine de' Medici. These are intimately connected with the troubled story of Protestantism in France.

On the accession of Henry II., the Protestants greatly increased. The existence of the rival parties, and the consequent occupation of the court, drew attention from them. Nobles and princes, to further their own interests, or strengthen their cause, began to conciliate them, but many persons of rank joined them from unworldly motives. Appearances, however, soon became adverse to the Protestants.

Catharine de' Medici acted but a minor part during the reign of her husband; she had a rival in the court, whose influence with the king was much greater than that of his domineering queen. This lady, the beautiful Diana of Poitiers, had her own party; she is said to have been a good Catholic, and a sincere

hater of "the religion." The duke of Guise, and the cardinal of Lorraine, his brother, formed the most powerful party; ambition and love of power actuated both, but the defence of the Catholic and established church was their ostensible motive.

We shudder at the name of Catharine de' Medici, but it is only in the reign of her sons that that terrible woman's character becomes developed. Among all those court parties, the Protestants were not long left in doubt of their sovereign's conduct. The new reign was ushered in with rejoicings, but to these people the words of our Lord were verified: "Ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice."

It is painful in these milder times even to glance over the horrible transactions of the past. We would fain believe that the world could no longer tolerate the hideous spectacle once exhibited upon it. Yet the spirit of bigotry is not extinct; and if history will inform us that the Protestants and reformers were guilty of some violence, it should not conceal or mitigate the barbarism and provocations of their adversaries.

Such is the reason for quoting the following extract from the French author, Mezerai. We shall not often repeat the description of such occurrences. It describes the scene which Paris presented on the entry of king Henry and his wife, Catharine de' Medici, after their coronation at St. Denis, A.D. 1549 :

"The court passed almost all this year in joy and carousals. The king and queen made a splendid entry into Paris.

When the

court was weary of these gay diversions, the scene changed, and piety succeeded to gallantry. A procession was made to the cathedral of Notre Dame, in which the king joined, in order to manifest, by this public act, his zeal to maintain the religion of his ancestors, confirming this evidence of his intentions by the frightful punishment of multitudes of miserable Protestants, who were burned on the Place de Grêve. They were fastened to beams with an iron chain and pulley, successively raised and plunged again into an enormous fire. The king chose to feast his eyes with this tragic sight; but it is said that the cries of one of his own domestics, whom they tormented in this manner, so struck his imagination, that, all his life after, he was troubled by the recollection, which made him shudder and turn pale, as often as the image recurred." "It is certain," adds the historian, "that the people, seeing the constancy of the victims on the one hand, and the dissoluteness of the court on the other, called this justice a persecution, and this punishment a martyrdom."

Political reasons, and a war with the great rival of Francis, the emperor Charles v., were the causes of suspending this persecution. Through the influence of the Guises, the foremost foes of Protestantism, Henry was induced to aid the Protestants of Germany in their

struggle against Charles. Such is the little weight that religion in general is found to have in reasons of state or of policy. A great relief to the suffering people was also accorded by an edict published at that time, which removed the charge of investigating their offences from the ecclesiastical to the secular courts.

Pope Julius III., who had made a cardinal of a boy that took care of a pet monkey, died in the year 1555. His successor followed him in a few days after his elevation. The memorable opponent of Martin Luther, Charles v., opposed the election of Paul IV., who, being notwithstanding chosen, declared that antagonist of Protestantism an enemy to the church, and promised to divide his conquests in Italy with whoever aided him in driving Charles from that country. The king of France was to have had his share; but, to the surprise of the world, the emperor and warrior, Charles v., suddenly resigned his crown, gave up his wealth, and retired to end his days as a monk in a Spanish monastery.

After the publication of Calvin's work before mentioned, the Protestant church in France almost entirely followed the model he proposed, the same which the Protestant church of Geneva, and much the same which that of Scotland, adopted. The season of peace now afforded to them, after thirty years of continued persecution, might allow an opportunity for organizing the constitution and outward

forms of their religious societies and services. While under the secular authority and protection, and while the attention of the state was directed to foreign affairs, Calvinism (for the French Protestants are as generally named Calvinists, from the reformer Calvin, who was a native of their country, as the German Protestants are named Lutherans) gained ground still more. At Lyons, it prevailed to a great extent. That city has, from the earliest ages of Christianity, been remarkable in the history of the church; and its vicinity to Geneva, the head-quarters, as it might be called, of the reformers, rendered it likely to maintain its place in that of the reformation.

The first Calvinist church was now opened for Divine worship at Paris, and, instead of meeting privately to read the Scriptures, pray, and sing psalms, the Protestants openly assembled for the worship of God.

This state of things, however, was only allowed to last so long as the attention of statesmen and politicians was engrossed by other affairs. The bigotry of neither the clergy nor people could directly assail them without the aid of the law. The indignation of Rome at this toleration of heretics was soon aroused, and the cardinal of Lorraine found means to do away with all the indulgence which the edict before alluded to had afforded to the Protestants. The church could once more boast of pursuing vigorous measures for the suppression of heresy in France. Cardinal Tournon,

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