A new spirit, unknown to their ancestors, now began to animate many of the Genevans. Ab Hofen's mission had not been without effect. Besides a goodly number of persons, who were called indeed 'by the name of Luther,' but whose sole idea of reform was not to fast in Lent and not to cross themselves during divine worship, there were others who desired to receive the Word of God and to follow it. The Romish clergy understood this well. 'If these Genevans cling so much to the Swiss,' said the priests at their meetings, 'it is in order that they may profess heresy freely. If they succeed, we shall perhaps see Savoy, Aosta, and other countries of Italy reforming themselves likewise.'
The duke, being determined to extinguish these threatening flames, resolved to claim the influence of the pope, with his treasures and even his soldiers; for the vicar of Him who forbade the sword to be drawn possesses an army. Besides, Clement VII. was one of the cleverest politicians of the age, and his advice might be useful. As Pietro Gazzini, Bishop of Aosta, was then at Rome, the court of Turin commissioned that zealous ultramontanist to inform the pope of what was going on at Geneva. Gazzini begged an audience of Clement, and having been introduced by the master of the ceremonies on the 11th of July, 1529, he approached the pope, who was seated on the throne, and, kneeling down, kissed his feet. When he arose, he described all the acts committed by the Lutherans at Geneva and in the valleys of Savoy. 'O holy father,' said he, 'the dangers of the Church are imminent, and we are filled with the liveliest fears. It is from Upper Burgundy and the country of Neufchatel that this accursed sect has come to Geneva. And now, alas! what mischief it has done there!... Already the bishop dares not remain in his diocese; already Lent is abolished, and the heretics eat meat every day; and, worse still, they read forbidden books (the New Testament), and the Genevans set such store by them that they refuse to give them up, even for money. These miserable heretics are doing extreme mischief, and not at Geneva only; Aosta and Savoy would have been perverted long since, had not his highness beheaded twelve gentlemen who were propagating these dangerous doctrines. But this wholesome severity is not enough to stop the evil. Although his highness has forbidden, under pain of death, any one to speak of this sect and its abominable dogmas, there is no lack of wicked babblers who go about circulating these accursed doctrines all over his territories. They say that his highness is not their king; and, making a pretence of the great expenses of the war, they vehemently call upon us to sell the little ecclesiastical property we possess.... The duke, my lord and master, is everywhere destroying this sect. He is the barrier that closes Italy against it, and in this way he renders your holiness the most signal service; but we need your help.' Gazzini closed his address with a demand for a subsidy.
=BISHOP OF AOSTA AND THE POPE.=
Clement had listened with great attention; he understood the mischief and the danger which the Bishop of Aosta had pointed out, and the dignitaries and other priests around him seemed still more affected. Thoroughly versed in philosophical and theological questions, endowed with a perspicacity that penetrated to the very heart of the most difficult matters, the pope saw how great the danger would be if heresy should find in the south, at Geneva, a centre that might become far more pernicious than even Wittemberg; he felt also the necessity of having a prince, a zealous catholic, to guard the French and Italian slopes of the Alps. This pontiff, perhaps the most unlucky of all the popes, saw the Reformation spreading under his eyes over Europe without having the power to stop it, and whatever he did to oppose it served but to propagate it more widely still. Now, however, he met with a sympathising heart. He wished to prevent Geneva from being reformed, and to save a fortress from being delivered up to the enemy; while a powerful prince offered to carry out the necessary measures. Clement therefore received Gazzini's overtures very graciously; and yet he was ill at ease. In the Piedmontese ambassador's speech there was a word, one word only, that embarrassed him—the subsidy: in fact, he had not recovered from the sack of Rome. Clement VII. replied: 'I look upon his highness as my dearest son, and I thank him for his zeal; but as for money, it is impossible for me to give him any, considering the emptiness of the treasury.' Then, appealing to the wants of the Church and the duty of princes, who ought to be ready to sacrifice for it their wealth, their subjects, and their lives, the pope added: 'I pray the duke to keep his eye particularly upon Geneva. That city is becoming far too Lutheran, and it must be put down at any risk.'[812] Gazzini, having been attended to the gates of the palace by the pontifical officers, regretted his failure in the matter of the subsidy. His chief object, however, had been attained: the papacy was warned; it would watch Geneva as a general watches the enemy.
=INTERFERENCE OF THE EMPEROR.=
As the pope was won, it next became necessary to influence the emperor. That was an easier task for the duke, as Charles V. was his brother-in-law, and the empress and the Duchess of Savoy, who were sisters, and strongly attached to Rome, could write to each other on the subject. The protest drawn up at Spires by the evangelical princes, in April 1529, had irritated that monarch exceedingly; and he therefore prepared, in accordance with the oath he had sworn at Barcelona, to apply 'a suitable antidote against the pestilent malady under which christendom was suffering.' When Geneva was mentioned to him, his first thought was that it was a long way off; yet, as it was an imperial city, he determined to include it in the plan of his campaign, and resolved immediately to take a preliminary step to restore it to the papacy. On the 16th of July, 1529, the emperor dictated to his secretary the following letter, addressed to the syndics of Geneva:—
'Faithful Friends,
'We have been informed that several preachers hold private and public meetings in your city and in the frontier countries, that they propagate the errors of Luther, and that you tolerate these proceedings. These practices cause the Church most serious damage, and the pontifical majesty, as well as the imperial dignity, is grievously insulted by your conduct. Wherefore we order you to arrest the said preachers, and punish them according to the tenor of the severest edicts. By this means you will extirpate impiety from your country, and will do an act agreeable to God and conformable to our express will.
'Carolus, Imp.'[813]
This letter, which savoured so strongly of the absolute monarch, excited much astonishment in Geneva. The citizens did not deny that the emperor might claim a certain authority over them, since theirs was an imperial city. They have resisted the bishop-prince, they have resisted the duke: will they also resist this powerful sovereign? His demand was clear, and some of them said that to oppose so great a prince would be the height of madness, in a little city of merchants. But the Genevans did not hesitate, and, without any bravado, returned the emperor this simple message: 'Sire, we intend to live, as in past times, according to God and the law of Jesus Christ.'