his workes and to the poore creature reasonable and vnreasonable sensible and insensible Reasonable as to men hee-Saints and shee-Saints that are departed out of this world Vnreasonable and to Images carrion or reliques His workes are the Sacraments especially the Sacrament of the Eucharist which headoreth as God and as Iesus Christ seruing things blessed and consecrated and forbidding the worship of the onely God The second worke of Antichrist is that he robbeth Christ of his merit with all the sufficiency of grace righteousnesse regeneration remission of sinnes sanctification confirmation in grace and spirituall nourishment and imputeth and attributeth it to his authority and to the forme of words and to his workes and to Saints and to their intercession and to the fire of Purgatory drawing the people from Christ and his conduct vnto the things aboue-named to the end men should not seeke the things of Christ nor by Christ but trust only to be saued by the works of their hands and not by a liuely faith in God and his Sonne Christ Iesus and his holy Spirit but by the will and workes of Antichrist for so he teacheth that all saluation consisteth in his workes The third worke of Antichrist consisteth in this that he attributeth the renewing by the holy Ghostto an outward dead faith and baptizeth children into that faith and that by it wee haue the Baptisme and the regeneration and therein hee giueth Orders and Sacraments and in it he groundeth all Christianity which is repugnant to the Spirit of God The fourth worke of Antichrist is that hee hath ordained and placed all Religion and Sanctity of the people in the Masse and hath patched together many ceremonies whereof some are Iudaicall some Heathenish some Antichristian To the hearing whereof leading the congregation and the people hee depriues them of their spirituall and Sacramentall food and separateth them from the true Religion and the Commandements of God and withdrawes them from the workes of mercy by his Offertory and by his Masse he setteth the people in a vaine hope The fift worke of Antichrist is that hee doeth all his workes to the end hee may bee seene of men that he may solace himselfe in his vnsatiable auarice that he may make gaine of all things and doe nothing without Simony The sixt worke of Antichrist is that hee giueth way to all open and apparant sinnes without any Ecclesiasticall sentence neither doth hee excommunicate the impenitent The seuenth worke of Antichrist is that hee neither ruleth nor defendeth his vnity by the Word and power of the Spirit of God but by the secular power and hee addeth vnto his ayde things spirituall The eight worke of Antichrist is that hee hateth and persecuteth and putteth to death the members of Christ These are in a manner the principall workes which he doth against the truth for all of them can by no meanes bee written or numbred Let it suffice for this present that wee haue noted the more generall and shall likewise set downe by what workes this iniquity is couered First and principally by an outward confession of Faith whereof the Apostle sayth They confesse they know God with their mouthes but they deny him in their hearts Secondly hee couereth his iniquity by length of time and in that he is maintained by certaine Sages and religious Monkes and Virgins and Nunnes and Widowes and other women of austere life As also by the people without number of whom it is said in the Reuelation And power was giuen vnto him ouer euery Tribe and Language and Nation and all the Inhabitants of the Earth fell downe and worshipped him Thirdly hee couereth his iniquity with the spirituall authority of the Apostles against which the Apostle saith We can doe nothing against the truth and power there is none giuen vs to destruction Fourthly he couereth his iniquity with many miracles of whom the Apostle saith 2 Thes 2.9 Whose comming is after the working of Satan with all power and signes and lying wonders and with all deceiueablenesse of vnrighteousnesse Fifely by outward holinesse prayers fastings watchings and almesdeeds against which the Apostle saith Hauing the appearance of godlinesse but denying the power thereof Sixtly he coueroth his iniquity with certaine words of Christ and the writings of ancient Fathers and with Councels which they doe so farre forth obserue as that they may no way hinder their wicked liues and pleasures Seuenthly by the administration of the Sacraments viz. of Penance by which they disgorge and vomit vp all their errours Eightly by corrections and verball preachings against vice for they say and doe not Ninthly they couer their iniquity by the vertuous life of some that liue dissemblingly others truly For the Elect of God who will and doe that which is good are detained as in Babylon and are as gold wherewith Antichrist couereth his vanity not permitting them to serue the onely God or to put their trust in Christ alone or to embrace the true Religion These things and diuers others are as the mantell or cloake of Antichrist wherewith he couereth his lyes and malice to the end he may not be reiected as a Pagan and vnder which he proceedeth dishonestly and like a whore We are now to shew both out of the Old and New Testament that a Christian is bound by the Commandement of God to separate himselfe from Antichrist For the Lord saith in the 52. of Esay 11. Depart ye depart ye goe ye out from thence touch no vncleane thing goe ye out of the middest of her be ye cleane that beare the vessels of the Lord For ye shall not goe out with hast nor goe by flight c. And the Prophet Ieremy Chap. 50.8 Remoue out of the middest of Babylon and goe forth out of the Land of the Caldeans and be as the hee-goates before the flockes For loe I will raise and cause to come vp against Babylon an assembly of great Nations from the North Countrey and they shall set themselues in army against her from thence shee shall be taken And Numbers 16.21 Separate your selues from among this Congregation that I may consume them in a moment And againe in the 26 verse Depart from the Tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs least ye be consumed in all their sinnes And again Leuit. 20.24 I am the Lord your God and haue separated you from other people Yee shall therefore put difference betweene cleane beasts and vncleane and you shall not make your soules abominable by beast or by fowle nor by any manner of liuing thing that creepeth on the ground which I haue separated from you as vncleane Againe in the 34. of Exodus Take heed to thy selfe lest thou make a Couenant with the inhabitants of the land for feare lest when they goe a whoring after their Gods and doe sacrifice vnto their gods and one call thee and thou eate of his sacrifice And thou take of their daughters vnto thy sonnes and their
Matchlesse Crueltie DECLARED At large in the ensuing History of the WALDENSES Apparently manifesting unto the World the horrible Persecutions which they have suffered by the Papists for the space of four hundred and fifty years Wherein is related their Original and Beginning their Piety and Purity in RELIGION both for Doctrine and Discipline LIKEWISE Hereunto is added an exact Narrative of the late Bloody and Barbarous Massacres Murders and other unheard of Cruelties committed on many thousands of the Protestants dwelling in the Valleys of PIEDMONT c. by the Duke of Savoy's Forces joyned with the French Army and several bloody Irish Regiments Published by Command of his Highness the Lord Protector LONDON Printed for Edward Brewster at the Crane in Pauls Church-yard 1655. THE HISTORIE OF THE WALDENSES COMMONLY CALLED IN ENGLAND LOLLARDS The first Booke CHAP. I. That God in all times hath raised vp labourers for the gathering together of his Saints At what time Valdo began to teach and with what fruite what he was and all they that from his name are called Waldenses GOD hath neuer left himselfe without witnesses but from time to time he raiseth vp instruments to publish his grace enriching them with necessarie gifts for the edification of his Church giuing them his holy Spirit for their guide and his truth for a rule to the end they may discerne the Church which began in Abel from that which began in Caine As also teaching them to define the Church by the faith and the faith by the Scriptures strengthening them in the middest of their greatest persecutions and making them to know that the crosse is profitable so long as the faithfull change by that meanes earth for heauen and the children of God are not lost when being massacred and cast into the fire by a course of iustice we may find in their bloud and ashes the seed of the Church That which hath bene obserued in all ages hath after a more particular manner appeared amongst those Christians that are called Waldenses who were raised in a time when Satan held men in ignorance hauing wrapt the greatest part of those that call themselues Christians in that great sinne of the world I meane Idolatrie Kings and Princes imploying their authoritie for the establishment thereof appointing all those to the slaughter that would exempt themselues from the wounds due vnto Idolaters This was about the yeare of our Lord a thousand one hundred and threescore at what time the punishment of death was inflicted vpon all those that did not beleeue that the words of consecration being pronounced by the Priest the body of our Lord Iesus Christ was in the Hoste vnder the accidents of the bread the roundnesse and whitenesse yea the very bodie as great and as large as it was vpon the crosse the bread vanishing and being transsubstantiated into the flesh of Christ At what time it was likewise enioyned to adore the Hoste to crouch vnto it to bow the knees before it yea it was called God and men did beate their breasts before it and locked it vp in a boxe to worship it as they still vse euen at this day This doctrine being altogether vnknowne to the Apostles who neuer spake word of any such mysterie as also in the Primitiue Church wherein there was neuer any Doctor that taught this expiatorie sacrifice for the liuing and for the dead occasioned many Christians to enter into a detestation thereof chusing rather to suffer a temporall death by resisting such Idolatrie then by consenting thereunto to suffer in hell Peter Valdo a citizen of Lions shewed himselfe most couragious in the opposition of this inuention Guido de Perignan in the flower of Chronicles taxing therewithall diuerse other corruptions which with time crept into the Church of Rome affirming that she had lost the faith of Iesus Christ that she was that whore of Babylon that barren fig-tree which our Sauiour had long before cursed That we were not to obey the Pope in as much as he was not the head of the Church That Monkerie was a stinking carrion and the marke of the Beast That Purgatorie Masses dedication of Temples worshipping of Saints commemoration of the dead were no other then the inuentions of the diuell and the snares of Auarice Valdo was so much the more attentiuely hearkned vnto See the Sea of Histories fol. 203. Claud. Rubis in his historie of the Citie of Lions p. 269. because he was in high esteeme for his learning and pietie as also for his great bountie towards the poore not onely nourishing their bodies with his materiall bread but their soules with the spirituall exhorting them principally to seeke Iesus Christ the true bread of their soules Many Historiographers do write Lois Cam. in his hist of the orthod brethren of Bohemia p. 7. Guido de Perignan in his flower of Chronicles that he had a resolution to leade an vnblameable life approching as neare as he could to that of the Apostles that vpon a mournfull vnluckie accident that fell out vnexpected and it was this Being one euening in the company of some of his friends after supper passing the time with talke and refreshing themselues one of the company fell downe dead vpon the ground The Catal. of witnesses of the truth p. 535. Simon de Noion in his booke of the names of the Doctors of the Church with which sudden accident all that were present being strangely affrighted Valdo amongst the rest was touched to the quicke and by this dart of Gods iustice was wrought to an extraordinary amendment of life applying himselfe wholly to the reading of the Scriptures seeking in them his saluation and sometimes consulting the writings of the ancients he continually instructed those poore people that resorted vnto him for almes The Archbishop of Lions called Iohn de Belles Mayons being aduertised that Valdo made profession of teaching the people boldly blaming the vice luxury excesse and arrogancie of the Pope and his Clergie inhibited him from teaching especially for that being a lay person he exceeded the limits of his profession and condition of life and therefore that he should not continue therein vnder paine of excommunication proceeding against him as against an Hereticke Valdo replyed that he could not hold his peace in a matter of so high importance as the saluation of men and that he would rather obey God who had enioyned him to speake then man who had commanded him to hold his peace Vpon this answer the Archbishop endeauoured to haue him apprehended but that could not be because Valdo hauing many kinsfolke and friends was beloued of many and so continued closely in Lions by the fauour and protection of his friends for the space of three yeares Pope Alexander the third of that name hauing vnderstood that in Lyons there were diuers persons that called into question his soueraigne authoritie ouer the whole Church fearing that this beginning of rebellion might giue some blow to
they made no profession of any such beleefe that may suffice that they haue said against Antichrist That he hath brought these errors into the Church vnder a colour of good intention and a shew of faith The thirteenth calumnie was that they maintaine that a man may kill or detaine from the Priests their tithes without scruple of conscience It is certaine that if the Waldenses had power to employ their tithes to some other vse then to the nourishment of those whom they find to be dumbe dogs drowsie watchmen slow bellies seducing and being seduced they had done it It appeareth by the processe against the Waldenses of Dauphiné by Albert de Capitaneis other Monkes Inquisitors but there was neuer any as yet that hath occasioned the least troubles that may be in that regard It well appeareth that in whatsoeuer depended on their owne wils they haue neuer offered more or lesse vnto those people taking no thought for their Masses and Trentals after their death the which the Priests complaine of and from thence take occasion to accuse them for heretickes And as touching reuenge heare what they say The Lord knowing that we shall be deliuered saith In the booke of the Waldenses intituled of Tribulations p. 274 Beware of men but he doth not teach or counsell any of his chosen to kill any but rather to loue their enemies When his disciples said vnto him in the ninth of S. Luke Wilt thou that we command that fire come downe from heauen and consume them Christ answered and said Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of Againe the Lord saith vnto Peter Put vp thy sword into thy sheath c. For temporall aduersities are to be contemned and patiently to be endured for there happeneth nothing therein that is new We are here the Lords floore to be beaten as the corne when it is separated from the chaffe The last calumnie of the Waldenses which we haue gathered out of the writings of their aduersaries is that which Claud. Rubis layes vpon them as a foule aspersion Claud. Rubis in his historie of Lions p. 269. in his Historie of the Citie of Lions That being retired vnto the Alpes at their departure from Lions they became like the rest of the people of that countrey beesome riders And he is not content to tie himselfe to the Vaudois onely but he addeth These are things that ordinarily follow one another Heresie and Sorcerie as it is verified saith he in our times in those Cities and Prouinces that haue giuen entertainment vnto heresie We will first iustifie the Waldenses and then answer Rubis in the behalfe of those Cities and Prouinces which he hath inclosed within this calumnie All they offend against the first Commandemēt say the Vaudois in the exposition of the first Commandement that beleeue that the Planets can enforce the will of man These kind of men as much as in them lies accompt the Planets as gods for they attribute vnto the creature that which belongs vnto the Creator Against which the Prophet Ieremie 10. speaketh Learne not the way of the heathen and be not dismayed at the signes of heauen for the heathen are dismayed at them And S. Paul in the fourth to the Galathians Ye obserue moneths and dayes and times and yeares but I am afraid of you lest I haue bestowed vpon you labour in vaine All they offend against this commandement that beleeue Sorcerers and Soothsayers for these men beleeue the diuels are gods The reason is because they aske of diuels that which God alone can giue that is to manifest things hidden and to foreshew the truth of things to come which is forbidden of God Leuit. 19.31 Regard not them that haue familiar spirits neither seeke after wizards to be defiled with them And in the 20.6 The soule that turneth after such as haue familiar spirits and after wizards to go a whoring after them I will set my face against that soule and will cut him off from amongst his people And in the last verse of that Chapter A man or woman that hath a familiar spirit or that is a wizard shall surely be put to death they shall stone them with stones their bloud shall be vpon them As touching the punishment of this sinne and the vengeance that God taketh vpon such a one we reade in the 2. Kings 1.3 that the Angell of the Lord sent vnto Elijah to meete the messengers of Ahaziah and to say vnto them Is it not because there is not a God in Israel that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the God of Ekron and therefore saith the Lord in that place Thou shalt not come downe from that bed on which thou art gone vp but shalt surely die Saul died because he had disobeyed the commandement of God which he gaue vnto him he regarded it not neither did he hope in the Lord but tooke counsell of Sorcerers for which cause the Lord tooke away his life and transferred his kingdome vnto Dauid the sonne of Ishai Let euery man therefore know that all enchantment or coniuration or charme in writing made to giue remedie to any kind of persons or beasts is of no value but is rather a snare of our ancient aduersarie the diuell by which he entrappeth and deceiueth mankind Here you may see what the Waldenses haue written against Sorcerers out of the word of God It remaineth that we answer vnto that calumnie of Rubis that it is apparent in our times that heresie and sorcerie are inseparably ioyned together in those Cities and Prouinces that haue giuen place vnto heresie He taxeth without all doubt the Citie of Geneua and the States of the Cantons that haue receiued the Gospell without any other shew of proofe but that most commonly in those places Sorcerers are cōdemned to death following the commandement of God which suffereth no Sorcerer to liue He might farre better haue concluded if he had said that in those places where the reformation of Religion was established in our times no man doth either conuerse or hath acquaintance with Sorcerers but so soone as any such is found he is put to death And therefore no man can affirme that to be true except he will say that to burne Sorcerers is to support them and by the authoritie of the word to put them to death be a kind of heresie It is true indeed that in those places heresie and sorcerie are ioyned together where they that make profession to teach the people are for the most part Sorcerers whereof many men haue complained who haue written with a great deale of griefe that which they knew to be put in practise by their Priests and Monks yea by some of the Popes themselues Bodin affirmeth Bodin in his Demon l. 4. c. 6. p. 211. that there are infinite indictments in which it appeareth that the Priests many times are not onely Sorcerers or at least wise that Sorcerets haue intelligence with the Priests but
there remaine in peace both of body and soule he returned into his Country and perswaded many to goe to Bohemia and to inhabit there who were louingly entertained and after that time there haue been no assemblies of the Waldenses in particular but they haue ioyned themselues vnto the Churches of the Hussites CHAP. XI Of the Waldenses inhabiting in Germany and the persecutions that there they suffered whereof we haue the proofes NOtwithstanding that incontinently after that Peter Waldo with those that followed him came into Germany there was so great a persecution along vpon the Rhine by the incitement and instigation of the Archbishops of Mayence and Strasbourg that there were burnt in one day in one fire Dubranius in the history of Bohemia to the number of eighteene yet wee find that in the time of the Emperor Frederic the second about the yeere one thousand two hundred and thirteene Germany and especially Alsatia was full of the VValdenses The searchers were so diligent and exact Coistans vpon the Reuel that they were inforced to disperse themselues into other places to auoide the persecution This flight turned to the great benefit of the Church because hereby many learned Teachers were scattered here and there to make knowne vnto the world the purity of their Religion In the yeere one thousand two hundred thirty a certaine Inquisitor named Conrad de Marpurg Vigâ—ier in the 1. part of his Bibli Historiale was ordained by the Pope Superintendent of the Inquisition He exercised this charge with extreame cruelty against all sorts of persons without any respect euen of the Priests themselues Trithem in Chron. Hirsaugiensi Godefridus Monan Aunalâ—bus whose bodies and goods he confiscated He tried men with a hot iron saying that they that could hold an iron red hot in their hands and not be burnt were good Christians but on the contrary if they felt the fire he deliuered them to the secular power In these times the Waldenses had in the Diocesse of Treues many Schooles wherein they caused their children to be instructed in their beliefe and notwithstanding all the Inquisitions persecutions executed vpon their flockes yet they aduentured to preach Krautz in Metropol l. 8. §. 18 in Saxon l. 8. ca. 16. calling their assemblies by the sound of a bell maintaining in publica statione saith the Historiographer publikly that the Pope was an hereticke his Prelates Simonaicall and seducers of the people That the truth was not preached but amongst them and that had not they come amongst them to teach God before he would haue suffered their faith to perish would haue raised others euen the stones themselues to enlighten his Church by the preaching of the word Vntill these times say they our Preachers haue buried the truth and preached lyes we on the contrary preach the truth and bury falshood and lyes and lastly we offer not a feined remission inuented by the Pope but by God alone and according to our vocation Mathew Paris an English writer obserueth that about the yeere 1220 Math Paris in Henry 3. anno 1220. there were a great number in a part of Germany that tooke armes where the Waldenses were cut in peeces being surprised in a place of great disaduantage hauing on the one side a marish ground and on the other the sea in such sort that it was impossible for them to escape About the yeer 1330 they were strangely vexed in many parts of Germanie Vignier in his third part of his Historicall Biblio in the yeere 1330. by a certaine Iacobin Monke Inquisitor named Echard but after many cruelties executed vpon them as hee pressed the Waldenses to discouer vnto him the reasons for which they were seperated from the Church of Rome being vanquished in his owne conscience and acknowledging those defects and corruptions which they alleaged to be in the Church of Rome to bee true and not being able to disproue the points of their beliefe by the word of God he gaue glory vnto God and confessing that the truth had ouercome him hee became a member of that Church which hee had a long time before persecuted to the death The other Inquisitors being aduertised of this alteration were much displeased and they sent presently so many after him that in the end hee was apprehended and brought to Heidelberg where he was burnt maintaining that it was iniustice and wrong to condemne so many good men to death for the righteousnesse of Christ against the inuentions of Antichrist In the yeere 1391 the Monkes Inquisitors tooke in Soxony and Pomerania foure hundred forty three VValdenses Krautzin Metrop l. 8. p. 18. in â—ax l. 8. cap. 16. who all confessed that they had been instructed in that beliefe for a long time by their ancestors and that their teachers came from Bohemia In the yeere one thousand foure fifty seuen the Monkes Inquisitors of the Diocesse of Eisten in Germany discouered many VValdenses which they put to death They had amongst them twelue Pastors that instructed them We must not ouerpasse the thirty fiue Burgesses of Mayence that were burned in the Towne of Bingue because they were knowne to be of the beliefe of the VValdenses nor the fourescore which the Bishop of Strasbourg caused to be burnt in one fire nor that which Trithemius recounts that they confessed in in those times that the number of VValdenses was so great that they could goe from Cologne to Milan and lodge themselues with hostes of their owne profession and that they had signes vpon their houses and gates whereby the might know them But the most excellent instrument amongst them that God imployed in his seruice was one Raynard Lollard who at the first was a Franciscan Monke and an enemy of the VValdenses but yet a man carried with a sanctified desire to finde the way of saluation wherein he had so profited that his aduersaries themselues were constrained to commend him Iohn le Maire in the 3. part of the diff of Schismes in the 24. scisme For Iohn le Maire puts him in the ranke of those holy men that haue foretold by diuine reuellation many things that haue come to passe in his time This worthy man taught the doctrine of the VValdenses was apprehended in Germany by the Monkes Inquisitors and being deliuered to the secular power was burnt at Cologne This man hath writ a Commentary vpon the Apocalipse where hee hath set downe many things that are spoken of the Romane Antichrist This was he of whom the faithfull in England were called Lollards where he taught witnesse that Towre in London which at this present is called by his name Lollards Tower where the faithfull that professed his Religion were imprisoned CHAP. XII Of the VValdenses that haue been persecuted in England ENgland hath been one of the first places that hath been honoured for receiuing the Gospell for not long after that VValdo departed from Lion there were many condemned to
aboue fiftie yeeres Vnder this name wee comprehend all the subiects of the Earles Remonds of Toulouze father and sonne and the subiects of the Earles of Foix and Comminge and all those that haue taken part with them that haue fought for their Religion and suffered the selfesame persecutions They receiued the beleefe of the Waldenses a little after the departure of Waldo from Lion The instruments that were imployed in this worke were Peter Bruis one Henry one Ioseph one Esperon and Arnold Hott of whom they were afterward called Pierrebruisiens or Petrobrusiens Henriciens Iosephists Esperonists and Arnoldists but aboue all the rest Henry and Arnold trauelled in the Countrey of Albi and that with so good successe that in a short time there were found but a few and in some places not any that would goe any more to Masse affirming that the sacrifice of the Masse was onely inuented to enrich the Priests and to make them to be more esteemed in the world as making the Body of Christ by their words and sacrificing him to God the Father for the sinnes of the liuing and of the dead which was an impierie destroying the sacrifice of the Sonne of God and annihilating the merit of his death and passion There were many that gaue eare to their reasons in the diocese of Rhodes Cahors Agen Toulouze and Narbonne Iaques de Riberia in his collections 〈◊〉 the Citie of Toulouze because the Doctors that taught amongst the Waldenses were learned men conuersant in the reading of the holy Scriptures whereas on the other side the Priests who studied nothing more than the sacrifices of the Masse and how to receiue their oblations for the dead were altogether ignorant and therefore contemned of the people Pope Alexander the third Claud. de Rubis in his History of the Citie o◠Lion Lib. 3. pa◠269. being much mooued with anger because he saw many great Prouinces to shake off the yoke of the Romish Church and to dispence with their obedience condemned them for Heretikes in the Councell of Latran Neuerthelesse they were in such a manner multiplied that in the yeere 1200. they possessed the Cities of Toulouze Apamies Montauban Villemur Saint Antonin Hologaray in his History of Foix. Puech Laurence Castres Lambes Carcassonne Beziers Narbonne Beaucaire Auignon Tarascon the Count Venecin and in Dauphine Crest Arnaud and Monteil-Amar And which is more they had many great Lords who tooke part with them that is to say the Earle Remond of Toulouze Remond Earle of Foix the Vicount of Beziers Gaston Lord of Bearne the Earle of Carmain the Earle of Bigorre the Lady of Lauaur and diuers others of whom we shall make mention in their deu place And besides all these the Kings of Aragon and of England haue many times defended their case by reason of that alliance that they had with the Earle Remond of Toulouze The doctrines that they maintained against the Church of Rome were these 1 That the Romish Church is not the holy Church and Spouse of Christ but a Church watered with the Doctrine of Deuils That Babylon which Saint Iohn hath described in the Apocalypse the mother of fornications and abominations couered with the bloud of Saints 2 That the Masse was not instituted by Christ nor by his Apostles but that it is the inuention of men 3 That the prayers of the liuing profit not the dead 4 That Purgatorie maintained in the Church of Rome was a humane inuention to glut and satisfie the couetousnesse of the Priests 5 That Saints are not to be praied vnto 6 That Transubstantiation is the inuention of men and an erroneous doctrine And that the adoration of the Bread is a manifest Idolatry And that therefore they were to forsake the Church of Rome wherein the contrary was affirmed and taught because a man may not bee present at the Masses where Idolatry is practised nor attaine saluation by any other meanes than by Iesus Christ nor transferre vnto the creatures the honor that is due to the Creator nor say of the Bread that it is God and adore it as being God without the incurring of eternall damnation for Idolaters shall not inherit the Kingdome of Heauen For all these things affirmed by them they haue beene hated and persecuted to the death CHAP. II. Pope Innocent the third of that name made shew of a desire to winne the Albingenses to the Church of Rome by preaching and conference A famous disputation at Montreal To what end the Pope permitted disputation in matter of Religion POpe Innocent the third of that name seemed to be carried with a desire to reduce the Albingenses vnto the Church of Rome by preachings and reasons or to oppresse them and vtterly root them out by violence of armes and by crueltie of punishments But before he would come to extremities he thought in necessary for the better iustification of his proceedings to begin with words and after wards to come to blowes Hee sent therefore amongst them certaine Preachers who endeuoured to draw them by gentle perswasions See here how the Compiler of the treasure of Histories speakes of those times The Comp. of the Treasure of Histories in the yeere 1206. When there came newes saith he to Pope Innocent the third that in his Prouince of Narbonne the traiterous Heresie was spread abroad not onely amongst the poore but Earles Barons and Knights he sent the Abbot of Cisteaux and two Monkes with him to preach against those disloyall buggerers When they had trauelled some little way preaching throughout the Countrey they came to Mompelier where they met with a worthy man that was Bishop of Cestre This honest man asked the Abbot of Cisteaux what hee did there He answered that the Pope had sent him thither against those Sodomites but that he could not conuert them This good man was nothing astonied at it but he still maintained the worke of the Lord valiantly and went on foot to giue good example to others and they stayed and went on foot with him Afterwards the Abbot returned to the Chapter or generall assembly but the Bishop and the two Monkes passing a long time through the Countrey and preaching they conuerted many of the meaner sort of people but of the great ones and richer sort there were few or none that returned to the true faith The Abbot came backe into the Countrey and brought with him another Abbot and diuers Monkes and came all on foot whereupon the Bishop of Cestre began to thinke with himselfe how to returne into his Countrey but dyed by the way The Monkes who preached throughout the Countrey found the Princes so obdurate in their malice that they resolued to stay no longer there but returned into their Countries except one good man who was called Frier Peter of Chasteauneuf who continued preaching with one of his companions When the Albingenses knew the intention of the Pope which was to prerend that he was not the cause why they whom
he was sure he should repent it but it was now too late to recall it He cursed his owne imprudency and his friends and subiects his too great facility for he saw them incontinently to fortifie his Castle that it might serue them for a canesson and bridle for his owne subiects As also from the time of their entrance into that place he found that they grew bold to speake all the ill they could of the Earle Remond and that with open mouth saying that he had mocked the Pope giuing him to vnderstand that which was false and promising that which he would neuer performe insomuch that he was as great an heretike as he was before his abiuration That in the ruine and punishment of the Earle Remond the destruction of the Albingenses did consist but on the contrary though the ground were couered with the dead bodies of the Albingenses if the Earle Remond should remaine they would alwaies bud and spring vp againe and therefore it was resolued to exterminate and vtterly to destroy the house of Remond from the bottome to the top But when men purpose that which God hath otherwise disposed they come many times short So it was with the Earle Simon who was frustrated of this hope by the sudden vnexpected death of the Legat Milon which changed the face of the affaires of the said Earle Milon for he was faine to spend many yeares in the ruinating of that house of the Earle Remond and his adherents which hee had promised to doe in a few daies CHAP. VIII Theodosius succeedeth the Legat Milon proceedeth against the Earle Remond excommunicateth him and frames very violent articles against him The Earle Remond retireth himselfe from St. Giles and Arles with the king of Aragon lest they should be apprehended by the Legat Simon besiegeth Montferrand Baudoin reuolteth The king of Aragon allieth himselfe with the Earle Simon IN the yeere of our Lord 1211. Thedize gaue the Earle Remond to vnderstand that he should haue what was iust and right touching his affaires and with faire words perswaded him to come to St. Giles Being there he ript vp the businesse touching the murder of the Monke Frier Peter de Chasteauneuf from the beginning without consideration of any precedent iustification and excommunicated the said Earle Remond not as being guilty of the death of the said Monke but because he had not driuen the Albingenses out of his countrey as he was bound by promise The Earle Remond hauing felt the blast of the said excommunication retired himselfe to Toulouze not speaking a word before the Legat had meanes to publish the sentence The Bishop of Toulouze knowing hee was excommunicated sent one to certifie vnto him that hee was to depart out of the citie of Toulouze so long as the Masse was singing because he might not say Masse there being an excommunicated person within the citie The Earle Remond being much moued with the audacious boldnesse of the Bishop sent a Gentleman one of his followers to tell him that hee was to depart and that speedily out of his territories vpon paine of his life The Bishop departed and sent to the Prouost of the Cathedrall Church and to the Canons that they were to depart with them and that with the Crosse and the Banner and the Hoast and for the greater deuotion they should goe barefoot and in procession In this equipage they arriued at the Armie of the Legat where they were receiued as Martyrs persecuted for the Masse euen with teares of the Pilgrims and the generall applause of euery one The Legat thought now that he had sufficient cause to prosecute the Earle Remond as a relapse and impenitent man but yet he desired much to get hold of him because if he could once apprehend him hee would quickly make him to conclude that businesse as the Earle of Beziers did To this purpose hee flattered him by Letters full of testimonies of his great loue towards him by this meanes drew him once againe to Arles The Earle entreated the King of Aragon that he would be there to hinder if need should be any foule play that might bee offered Being come to the place the Legat commanded the King of Aragon and the said Earle Remond that they should not depart the city without his leaue vpon paine of indignation and to be prosecuted as rebells to the Church Some friend of the Earles vsed the meanes to giue him a sight of the Articles of the Sentence which the Legat had a purpose to publish against the said Earle Remond which were these that follow That the Earle of Toulouze shall incontinently dismisse and casheere all his men of Armes not retaining any one of them That he shal be obedient and subiect to the Church of which he shall repaire the damages and satisfie all costs and charges That throughout all his lands no man shall eat more than two sorts of flesh That he shall expell out of his countries and territories all the heretikes and their allies That he shall deliuer into the hands of the Legat and the Earle of Montford all those that shall bee named vnto him to doe with them as they please and that within one yeare That no man within his lands noble or ignoble shall weare any apparell of great price but blacke and course clokes That all the strong places and castles of defence belonging vnto him shall be ouerthrowne and laid euen with the ground That no Gentleman of his shall remaine or dwell in any City or Castle but shall make his abode in the fields and countrey houses as a villager That he shall not leuy in his lands any tolles but those that haue beene of old time imposed That euery master of an house shall pay yearely to the Legat foure Toulouzian pence That when the Earle of Montford or any of his people shall passe through his countries they shall pay nothing for any thing they take or spend That hauing performed all things as aboue he shall trauell beyond the Seas to make warre against the Turkes neuer returning againe into these parts but by the commandement of the Legat. That after all these things the Legat and the Earle of Montfort should restore vnto him all his Lands and Signories when it should please them These Articles being communicated to the King of Aragon he found them so vniust that he would stay no longer in that place but counselled the Earle of Toulouze presently to mount on horse-backe for feare lest they should ceaze vpon his person euen to the full execution of those Articles who it should seeme went about to enrich themselues by his spoyles And forasmuch as the said King of Aragon had perswaded the said Earle that hee should put no more confidence in the Legat and Earle Simon hee cast in his teeth his too great facillitie saying vnto him in Gascongne tongue Pla bous an pagat that is to say They haue well payed you The Legat and the Earle Simon being much
answer much lesse the Legat who found another way to winne him vnto them And that was that there were within his lands and territories and about the said Earledome subiects of his who being frighted with an apprehension of their ruine should intreat him to haue compassion both of himselfe and his poore subiects who should doubtlesse be ouerthrowne by this last violence And at the very same time hee caused the Earle Remond of Toulouze to write to the principall men of the Countries of the said Roger Earle of Foix that there was an excellent opportunitie offered their Lord if hee made not himselfe vnworthy thereof by his obstinacie that it was the onely meanes to make them liue in perfect peace that they should perswade him whilest the occasion and time serued before the expedition of the Crosse were on foot The subiects of the Earle of Foix partly for their owne interest partly for feare lest their Lord being strooken in yeeres without wife and children should leaue them to the mercie of the first Conquerour if he should depart this life without a lawfull heire they ioyned together in humble supplication to their Lord at the instant reasons and perswasions of the said Earle of Toulouze They obtained by their requests and teares that which the Earle of Toulouze could not by threats prayers nor promises for hee promised them that hee would treat with the Legat for their peace and would accept thereof for their good and contentment The Pope was aduertised of the intention of the Earle of Foix and therefore hee ioyned with the first Legat in the Earledome of Foix another that is to say the Cardinall of St. Ange accompanied by the Archbishop of Narbonnes de Folae Guillaume de Torration Bishop of Couserans Bernard de la grace Peter Abbot of Bolbonne Iohn Abbot of Comelonge William Abbot of Foix Peter de Thalames the Legats Lieutenant Lambert de la Tour and diuers others Being arriued at St. Iohn de Berges in the Earledome of Foix there appeared also the Earle of Foix with the Nobilitie and principall men of the Land The Legat related to the Earle of Foix the great contentment that the Pope had Holagaray in the life of Roger Earle of Foix. to heare that after so many combats and bloudy warres there was hope to finish them in peace that he was come to conclude that and to bring it to effect that was begunne in behalfe of the Pope that there remained nothing but to know what his resolution was and to receiue from him the promises and oathes of fidelitie to the Church which are requisire in such a case The Earle Roger replyed to the Legat and the rest that were present as followeth Messieurs I haue long since bid Rhetorick a dieu hauing made profession to pleade my cause and to make my entries with engins and speares which must be my excuse if like a Souldier I vtter my intentions My Couzen the Earle of Toulouze hath procured for which I thanke him that my enemies will now be pleased with reason to heare the causes of our leuies and why wee haue taken Armes which to this present would neuer be granted as also hee desireth that we should giue ouer the pursuit of those that desire to wrong vs vpon an assurance saith he that the King of France shall maintaine euery one with Iustice and Equitie Truly I confesse that I neuer desired any thing more than to maintaine my libertie being as yet as it were in the swadling clouts of my freedome Our Country owes onely one simple homage to the Earle of Toulouze for raising it to an Earldome but it acknowledgeth no other Master but my selfe and as for the Pope I neuer offended him for he hath neuer demanded any thing at my hands as a Prince in which I haue not obeyed him Hee is not to intermeddle with my Religion since euery man is to haue it free My Father hath alwaies recommended vnto me this libertie to the end that being setled therein though the heauens shake I might looke vpon them with a constant and assured countenance and a perswasion that they could neuer hurt me Nothing troubles me but this For in consideration that the Earle of Toulouze holds mee discharged of that homage which he pretends to belong vnto him I am ready louingly to imbrace the King and to doe him seruice in the same condition vnder the dependance of my other rights which maintaine me in Regall authoritie in that Country It is not feare that makes me stagger or yeeld to your desires and that constraines me to humble my will and desires to the earth or dunghill-like to submit my selfe to your appetite but being prouoked by that benigne and generous feare of the miseries of my Subiects the ruine of my Countrey the desire not to be accounted mutinous braine-sicke and the fire-brand of France I yeeld my selfe to this extremitie otherwise I would bee as a wall without breach or escalado against the brauest of mine enemies I giue you therefore a gage of my affection for the good of the peace in generall Take my Castles of Foix Mongaillard Montreal Vicdesos Lordat whilest that I yeeld him that homage that you demand As for the Earle of Comminge and the Prince of Bearne it was impossible they should continue firme in their resolutions to make resistance being destitute of these two props the Earles of Foix and Toulouze For they were but weake both in money and men Behold then the end to the outward appearance of the Albingenses when in the yeare 1234. there arose a certaine bastard of the Earle of Beziers who tooke armes for the Albingenses or craued their assistance to reuenge the death of his deceased Father CHAP. IX The last warre of the Albingenses by Trancauel Bastard of the Earle of Beziers The progression thereof The last expedition leuied against the Albingenses A treatie betweene the Legat Amelin and the said Trancauel The end of the warre MAtthew Paris an English Writer saith Matthew Paris history of England in the yere 1234. That in the yeare 1234 the warres began againe against the Albingenses and that there came a great Army of the Crosse against them yea that they lost aboue a hundred thousand men all at once with all their Bishops that were in that battell and that none escaped He was no doubt mis-informed For the Historiographer of Languedoc who relateth all that passed in those times hath made no mention thereof neither is it likely that he would haue forgotten so famous a victorie ouer the Albingenses whom hee hated to the death True it is that at what time the Earle of Toulouze of Foix Comminge and the Prince of Bearne tooke part with them and were their Leaders Trancauel the Bastard of the Earle of Beziers deceased did not appeare but as a priuat man of small importance but when the Albingenses were destitute of all support there were that awakned this Souldier and made him
of all euill rapine lying vaine and idle speeches oaths blasphemies against God ill example the losse of time Thus by playing a man winds himselfe vniustly into the goods of another man An Exposition on the 9. Commandement En aquest Commandement non es solament deffendu la messogna ma tot a offensa c. Thou shalt not beare false witnesse against thy Neighbour IN this Commandement we are not onely forbidden to lye but all offences that may be done vnto our Neighbours by false or fained words or workes For all such as loue lying are the Children of the Diuell as also they that impeach the honour of their Neighbour by lying or beare false witnesse for the wicked Hee that beares false witnesse saith Saint Augustine wrongs these three First God whose presence is thereby contemned Secondly the Iudge who is deceiued by him that lieth And thirdly he wrongs the Innocent partie who is oppressed by his false witnesse All detractors sinne against this Commandement A detractor or slanderer is compared to an open sepulchre as Dauid speaketh Their mouth is an open sepulchre There is no graue so loathsome vnto God as the mouth of a slanderer And this was that that made S. Ambrose to say that a thiefe is more to be boren-with then a detractor for the one robbeth a man of his corporall substance onely the other of his good name The slanderer deserueth to be hated of God and man The stroke of the whip maketh markes in the flesh but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones An Exposition of the 10. Commandement En aquest Commandement es defendua la Cubititia de tui liben c. Thou shalt not couet c. IN this Commandement is forbidden the couetous desire of all goods that is of wife seruants fields vineyards houses c. As also the concupiscence of the eyes and of the flesh The lust of the flesh is like a running water but the lust of the eyes is like earth by reason of our earthly affections And as of water and earth there is made a materiall dirt so of concupiscense is made the spirituall durt and dunghill of the soule which maketh a man odious vnto God From hence ariseth the pride of life which like a violent winde disquieteth the soule and turneth this earthly lumpe into dust The conclusion of the Exposition of the Commandements Aquesti son li dies Commandament de la Ley c. THese are the ten Commandements of the Law whereof the first concerne our duty to God the latter toward our neighbour And whosoeuer will be saued must keepe these Commandements Many excellent blessings are promised to those that keepe these Commandements and to those that transgresse them many grieuous and horrible maledictions As Deut. 28. If wee truely acknowledge our sinnes we know that we are farre from God For saluation is farre from sinners and the knowledge of sinne bringeth vs to repentance for no man can repent that knoweth not his sinne The first degree to saluation is the knowledge of sinne and therefore acknowledging our fault we approach with confidence to the throne of the grace of God and confesse our sinnes for hee is faithfull and iust to pardon our sinnes and to clense vs from all iniquitie and to bring vs to the life of grace Amen A briefe Exposition of the Waldenses and Albingenses of the Apostles Creed con firming the Articles thereof by expresse passages of the Scripture CHAP. IIII. Nos deuen creyre en Dio Paire tot Poissant c. WEe must beleeue in God the Father Almightie maker of heauen and earth which God is one Trinitie as it is written in the Law Deut. 64. Heare O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord. And the Prophet Esay I am Lord and there is none other neither is there any God but I And Saint Paul in the 4. to the Ephes There is one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one God and one Father of all And Saint Iohn 1. Epist 5.7 There are three that beare record in heauen the Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three are one And in the Gospel by Saint Iohn it is said Chap. 17.11 That the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost are one when our Sauiour saith That they may be one as we are one Againe wee must beleeue that this holy Trinitie hath created all things visible and that he is Lord of all things celestiall terrestriall and infernall as it is said in Saint Iohn Chap. 1.3 All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made And in the Reuelation it is said Chap 4.11 Thou art worthy O Lord to receiue glory for thou hast created all things the heauens the earth and the sea and the fountaines of water And the Prophet Dauid saith And thou O Lord hast founded the earth in the beginning and the heauens are the workes of thy hands And againe The heauens are framed by the word of the Lord and all the powers thereof by the breath of his mouth All these and diuers other testimonies and reasons drawne from the Scriptures doe affirme that God created all things of nothing whatsoeuer they be Againe we must beleeue that God the Father hath sent his Sonne from heauen vnto earth and that for our sakes hee hath taken vpon him our flesh in the wombe of the Virgin Mary for our saluation as the Prophet Esay speaketh Chap. 7.14 Behold a Virgin shall conceiue and beare a Sonne and his name shall be Emanuell which is God with vs. And the Lord saith in the Gospel that this hath beene accomplished saying I am come from my Father into the world and againe I haue left the world and goe to my Father And againe Saint Iohn saith Chap. 1.14 The Word was made flesh and dwels amongst vs. And in the first Epistle of Iohn 5.20 Wee know that the Sonne of God is come and that hee hath taken our flesh vpon him for vs and is raised againe from death for vs and hath giuen vs vnderstanding that wee may know him that is true and wee are in him that is true euen in his Sonne Iesus Christ This is the true God and eternall life And in the fourth to the Galatians 4. When the fulnesse of time was come God sent foorth his Sonne made of a woman made vnder the Law to redeeme them that were vnder the Law who by the commandement of God the Father and his owne free will was lifted vp vpon the altar of the crosse and crucified and hath redeemed mankinde with his owne blood which hauing accomplished he arose from death the third day hauing dispersed in the world a light euerlasting like a new sunne that is the glory of the resurrection and heauenly inheritance which the same Sonne of God hath promised to giue to all those that in faith serue him For ascending vp vnto heauen the fortieth day after his resurrection and the tenth after his assention
which cause let it be and dwell alwayes in vs that wee may addict our selues to holinesse and righteousnesse Lo teo regne vegne Thy Kingdome come YOu must vnderstand that God the Father hath two Kingdomes the one of glory life eternall the other of grace the life Christian And these two Kingdomes are ioyned together in such manner that betwixt them there is no middle but the point of death But according to the order of diuine Iustice the Kingdome of grace is before the Kingdome of glory And therefore they that liue in the Kingdome of grace by which we are to passe if wee will enter the Kingdome of glory without doubt they shall raigne in the Kingdome of glory and no man can reigne there by any other meanes And therefore Christ our Lord saith vnto his Disciples Seeke first the Kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof that is the Kingdome of grace and vertue as Faith Hope Charity and the rest But forasmuch as you cannot performe this of your selues without the heauenly grace beg it at Gods hands saying O our Father which art in Heauen thy King dome come that is to say the loue of vertue and the hatred of the World La toa volunta sia faita enaimi es faita en cel sia faita en terra Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heauen A Man cannot affect desire or doe any better thing in this life then to endeuour with all his wit and vnderstanding and with all his heart to doe the will of God as the Angels doe it in Heauen Now to doe the will of God is to renounce himselfe that is to say his owne proper will and to dispose and employ that which is in his owne soule and heart or that is without him in things temporall according to the Law of God and the Doctrine of the Gospell of Christ Iesus And to be well content with whatsoeuer it shall please God to doe or permit both in aduersity and prosperity Many there are who thinke they are to be excused because they know not the will of God But these men deceiue themselues For the will of God is written and plainely manifested and proued by the word of God which they will not reade or vnderstand And therefore saith the Apostle Conforme not your selues vnto those that loue the World but be reformed and renewed in the truth of your vnderstanding to the end you may know what is the will of God And againe this is the will of God euen your sanctification There is no worke that is little if it be done with a willing and feruent affection And our Sauiour teacheth his Disciples both by words and examples that the will of God must be done not theirs saying I am come into the world not to doe my will but to doe the will of my Father who hath sent me Againe being neere his passion and seeing the torments of death which he was to endure as he was man he cryed out O my Father if it be possible let this Cup passe from me but yet not my will but thy will be done To be briefe we must thus pray in all our affaires O our Father which art in Heauen Thy will be done in vs by vs and of vs in Earth as it is done by the Angels in Heauen without idlenesse continually without fault vprightly without humane desire doing that which is good leading a vertuous and a pure life obeying our superiours and contemning this World Dona nos lo nostre pan quotidian enchoi Giue vs this day our daily bread WEe may heere vnderstand two kinds of bread Corporall and Spirituall By Corporall bread wee are to vnderstand our meates and drinkes and clothing and all things necessary for the body without which we cannot liue naturally The Spirituall Bread is the Word of God the Body of Christ without which the Soule cannot liue And of this Bread Christ spake vnto his Disciples Whosoeuer shall eate of this bread shall liue eternally And therefore it is the dutie of euery man in all humilitie to aske this Bread at Gods hands who can giue it him saying O our Father doe vs the grace and fauour that wee may obtaine by our iust labour the bread that is necessary for our bodies and to vse it with sobriety and measure yeelding thee alwayes thankes and praises and that wee may charitably bestow some part of them vpon the poore Moreouer we beseech thee that thou wilt bee pleased so to deale with vs that wee may vse this bread with sobriety to thy glory and the good both of body and soule For the Prophet Ezekiel saith Chap. 16.49 That fulnesse of bread and abundance of idlenesse was the cause of the iniquities and abominations of Sodom which were so great in the sight of God that he sent downe fire and brimstone to consume them Whereupon a certaine learned Father saith that costly apparrell superfluitie in diet play idlenesse and sleepe fatten the body nourish luxurie weaken the spirit and leade the soule vnto death but a spare diet labour short sleepe poore garments purifie the soule tame the body mortifie the lusts of the flesh and comfort the Spirit The spirituall Bread is the Word of God Of this Bread the Prophet speaketh Thy bread quickeneth mee And Christ saith in the Gospell Verily I say vnto you that the houre commeth when the dead shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God and they that heare him shall liue And this is found true by this experience That is that many being dead in their sinnes hearing the Preaching of the Word of God haue departed quickned raised by the said Word of God betaken themselues to true repentance which giueth life This bread of the Word illuminateth the soule according to that of Dauid Psal 119.130 The entrance of thy word giueth light it giueth vnderstanding to the simple that is to say to the humble to the end they may know what to beleeue and to doe what to feare to flye to loue to hope This bread delighteth the soule more then honey and the honey-combe And therefore saith the Spouse Canticles 2.11 Let me heare thy voyce for sweete is thy voyce and thy countenance is comely There is another Spirituall Bread and that is the Body and Blood of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ In the Sacrament they that receiue it worthily receiue not onely grace but Christ the Sonne of God spiritually in whom are hid all the treasures of wisedome Pardonna a nos li nostre debit o pecca coma nos per donnen a li nostre debitor o offendadors Forgiue vs our trespasses as we forgiue them that trespasse against vs. IT should not seeme or bee grieuous to any man to forgiue his neighbour those offences hee hath committed against him For if all the offences which haue beene or can bee committed against all the men in the world were put into a ballance they would not weigh so much
declaring that it was never his design nor of his Royall Predecessours by any act done or to be done nor his intention much lesse his will to enlarge their bounds and that if any thing hath been done or published to the contrary it was both against his own orders or those of his Magistrates but a meer usurpation against the disposition of those Acts as it is manifest and therefore the transgressours have undergone the penalties mentioned in his Declarations Besides that his Highnesse doth intend that in all those places and each of them where they are lovingly tolerated the sacrifice of the holy Masse be celebrated Prohibiting all subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion to give any molestation in deeds or words to the Fathers Missionaries and those that officiate under them much lesse to disturb or divertany of the pretended Reformed Religion from turning Catholiques under pain of death Charging and particularly commanding each particular Minister of the pretended Reformed Religion to see the forementioned injunctions inviolably observed as they will answer it at their utmost perills Declaring his intention to be that the execution hereof be done by posting or fixing Copies of these presents which shall be at the like value as if they had been made and intimated to each in particular Given at Lucerne the 25th of January 1655. Andrew Galstaldus Commissioner A second Apology in the behalfe of the Reformed inhabiting the Valleys of Piedmont THe History of the Reformed Churches whom God hath preserved in a corner of Italy in the valleys of Piedmont as miraculously as he did Moses his Bush in Horeb not onely since the yeare 1100 when the poore Vaudois and Albigeois retired themselves thither well knowing that the traditions of the Romish Church namely the modern had no accesse there but also time out of minde that is alwaies and from all time as saith the Monk Belvedere in his book intitled a Relation to the Congregation de propagandâ fide and as it is gathered out of Thuanus his History and many others is at large described in several books written to that purpose by Mr. du Perrin and lately by Master Giles Pastor in those quarters and shall yet further be seen God willing by a second Edition which will come forth with an exact addition of what hath happened since and very suddenly by as ample a Manifest as the case doth require it that will be more particularly made manifest which now in these few lines is but slightly touched concerning their number their extent their fights their deliverances the Edicts Priviledges and Concessions by vertue whereof they have enjoyed the peaceable habitation and the exercise of their Religion the disturbances which from time to time the Romish Clergy hath raised unto them and the deliverances the Lord hath vouchsafed them until these latter dayes wherein he hath broken down their hedges and the Boars of the wood have utterly wasted that Vineyard and the Hawks have chased and torne to pieces that Dove even in the very clefts of the Rocks In the years 1560. and 1561. Emanuel Philebert Duke of Savoy and Prince of Piedmont at the instigation of the Komish Clergy sent a mighty army to destroy the poore Reformed of the Valleys of Lucerne Perouse and Saint Martin in the said Piedmont hard by the Dauphinè under the command of the Count de la Trinité That Warre was long and bloody After they grew weary of it both parties came to an agreement bearing among several other heads the permission unto all of the Reformed Religion to inhabit all places and lands of the aforesaid three Valleys wherein were any afore the Warre begun In consequence of which agreement and Concession they were restored into Lucerne Lucernette Saint John la Tour Fenil Bobiane and Saint Second which places are lower towards the plaine about Turin and Pinerol as well as into the more remote places towards the neighbouring Mountaines of Dauphiné and they have been preserved there and protected by their Princes until the year 1602. Then Charles Emanuel Duke of Savoy and Prince of Piedmont of glorious memory after the banishment of the reformed out of the Marquisate of Salluces gave leave to his Delegates to pubblish several Orders against the inhabitants of the Valley of Lucerne who dwelt towards the South of it beyond the river called Pelice viz. the Reformed of the Borroughs of Lucerne Bobiane and Fenil which are but small dependences of the Church of Saint John but would not suffer them to touch the rest And indeed it shall not be found that during the former persecutions any Duke of Savoy hath ever pretended that all the other places nor any of them of those marked in the Order be out of the limits of the habitation granted to the Reformed It is very remarkable that soon after viz. in April 1603. he made a Decree whereby he ordered to those of Lucerne Bobiane and Fâ—nil who alone had beene turned out to inhabite againe their houses and enjoy their estates recalling all orders to the contrary He confirmed the same by a Decree of the 29th of September in the same yeare in the first Article And he kept them in the possession untill the year 1620 at which time yet they offered to stirre against those of the same Lands of Lucerne Bobiane and Fenil but the clemency and Justice of his said Royall Highnesse was yet such that he no sooner had granted the order for their banishment but presently he recalled it and granted them againe a fine Decree whereby he declared That he was willing and intended that all the pretended Reformed for such are his words should peaceably enjoy their habitation in all the places formerly granted and accustomed such as the aforesaid were Ordered that they should be no more molested therein and even granted them the enjoyment of some Temples pretended to be lower towards the plaine then the limits of the preaching extended unto and that he granted for a Sum of 6000 Ducatoons he exacted from them All these have been confirmed by the Ducal Chamber and the Senate and were observed during all the rest of the life of the same Charles Emanuel After him Victorio Amedeo his successor of glorious memory left them also in the full enjoyment of whatsoever his Predecessors had granted unto them and specially the free commerce in his Dominions and the peaceable habitation in all the places which are questioned in the order which shall follow having only deprived them contrary to their ancient Concessions of bearing any publick Office saying that if his Father and Granfather had granted them that priviledge for his part he was not willing to continue it or as now the Marquis of Pianess doth speak that graces of Princes are not unalterable Afterwards Madam Royall during the time of her whole Regency hath yet preserved them in the same state without disturbing them for their habitation and even in 1638. issued out a fine Decree bearing an expresse promise