[82]. Beroalde ridicules the shaved priests of those days. He says it was ordered so, in order that the regret which they have at not daring nor being willing to partake of the pleasures of this world, may in no wise appear; to which you may add that they ought to be merry (venite exultemus), and that theirs is a state of perpetual joy, which must be made appear so, though it were not; and this is the reason why they wear their chins shaved, because a man thus polished up about the gills is always laughing ... from thence came this canon of the council of Quarante: THE PRIESTS SHALL SHAVE WITH HOG’S SWARD, in order that they may always appear laughing, dainty-mouthed, airy, &c. Moyen de parvenir, chap. Allegation.
The major part paid but little attention to this ordinance; some, more scrupulous, obeyed, but not without repugnancy: there were a few of the latter however, according to Gentian Hervet, who had reason to repent of their exactness: among others, he speaks of one Leonicus Thomeus, an old man of ninety, who was no sooner shaved, according to the decree of the pontiff, than he was seized with such a confounded tooth-ach, that he was obliged to solicit the pope’s clemency. Cardinal Bembe sent him forthwith a permission to wear his beard a reasonable length.
Let us now proceed to France, where the pope’s brief, obtained by Francis I. gave beginning to the envy which the shaved priests bore the bearded ones. Their jealousy had been brewing a long time, and only waited, to show itself, for the death of that prince, whose orders seemed still to be respected. Their animosity, already too much increased by this obstacle, broke out at length on the person of William Duprat, the son of the famous chancellor of that name: he was returning from the council of Trent, where his eloquence had made him conspicuous, and was going to take possession of the bishopric of Clermont, which he had been given some time before. The reader should take along with him that he had one of the finest beards in the kingdom. One Easter-day, when he came to his cathedral church to perform divine service, he found the gates of the choir shut; three dignitaries of the chapter were waiting for him at the entrance: one of them held a razor in his hand, the other a pair of scissars, and the third the book of the ancient statutes of that church, and pointing with his finger to these words; barbis rasis.
At the sight of this frightful preparation, the prelate clearly perceived that they aimed at his beard, the dearest object of his attention; two of these fatal enemies seemed to threaten it with the instruments with which they were armed; and the third kept crying: Reverend father in God, barbis rasis. The impatient dean had already laid hold of this episcopal fleece, when our bearded bishop stopped him, and being a little recovered from his fright, he endeavoured to convince him of the impropriety of working on such a great holy-day, and that it was better to defer this operation ’till the next day; but the temporizing prelate’s eloquence made no impression on the minds of these intractable men; the unmerciful dean kept his hold: full of indignation at this mortifying insult, and terrified for the fate of his cherished beard, William Duprat suddenly took to his heels, crying: I save my beard, and quit my bishopric.[[83]] He immediately repaired to his country-house at Beauregard, three leagues from Clermont, and swore he would never more live in that capital.
[83]. William Major, a doctor of the Sorbone and canon of the church of Clermont, in a work intituled defence de feu M. Savaron, &c. maintains, against abbot Faydit, that this anecdote is a story of his invention. In order to free his old brethren from the imputation of having designed to shear their bishop, in the warmth of his zeal, he breaks out into invectives against his adversary; but he proves it least, in his long refutation, that the canons saw with grief a long beard on the chin of their bishop, and that when the latter wished to be present at some synod, he was obliged to ask permission of his chapter to come without being shaved. He quotes several resolutions of the chapter, by which he was granted this permission.
It was in this place of retirement, that, being violently moved at the affront which his beard had received, he fell ill, and died of grief.[[84]]
[84]. See the 8th vol. of the Causes célébres, a canon refused for being too little.
These fatal news made all the bearded clergy tremble. The standard of the revolt was set up, and the destruction of all clerical beards determined on; but Henry II. always took their part. Every new bishop put his beard under this king’s protection. The letter which he was obliged to write, the 27th December, 1551, to the clergy of the city of Troyes, who refused Anthony Caraciole for bishop on account of his long beard, is a proof of the interest he took in the beards of the clergy of his kingdom; “Dear and well beloved, it is said, but which we doubt, that you make a difficulty of receiving into your church our well beloved and trusty cousin Anthony Caraciole, your bishop, without his being shaved first, in consequence of some statutes which you have been used to observe in such cases: therefore, we have thought fit to write you these presents to request you will not stand upon this matter, but, to oblige us, excuse his compliance, as we mean to send him for a short time to some place out of the kingdom on business that concerns us, where we would not have him go without his said beard. Assuring ourselves that you will do so, we shall say no more, but that, by complying with our request, you will greatly oblige us, and may God continue his protection towards you. Given at Fontainbleau, &c.”[[85]]
[85]. This letter is taken de veterum Scriptorum & amplissima collectio, vol. i. by Martenne and Durand.
The pacific tone which Henry II. made use of had but little effect on the inferior clergy; the war was too much kindled; every day produced new scenes and new attacks by the mutineers, and new attempts by the king to quiet them. The canons of Mans refused to receive cardinal Angennes for their bishop, on account of his long beard. The cardinal wrote to them to prepossess them in his favour, and the king wrote to them likewise to calm them, but they would listen to nothing, and the prince was obliged to send an absolute order to the chapter of Mans, requiring them to receive the said bishop without insisting on his being shaved. Some years after, the canons of Orleans made a difficulty of receiving Morvillier for their bishop: the king was again obliged to write to the canons, to desire them to receive him with his beard. The canons of Amiens likewise refused their bishop, and he was obliged to have a famous law-suit with them to sustain the cause of his long beard.