CHAPTER XII.
SENTENCE OF DEATH.
(July 1534.)
The judges and priests, though determined to free the Church from such a dangerous enemy by pronouncing the capital sentence upon him, resolved to make a last effort to obtain a condemnatory confession from him. The procurator-fiscal, looking at Baudichon, said: ‘Considering the arrogance and temerity of the accused, considering that he is not sufficiently attainted by the witnesses, we order that he be constrained to answer concerning his faith, and to that end be put to the torture.’ The noble-minded citizen was to be exposed to the horrible torments practiced by the inquisitors, but there were no instructions as to the kind of torture to be employed.[[578]] De la Maisonneuve was imprisoned under the roof. Was the order of the Court carried out? That is more than we can tell; we have discovered nothing relative to his punishment; we can only find that he was treated in a harsh and cruel manner. Appearing before the Court on the 13th of July, he complained strongly of the indignities to which he had been exposed. ‘They have behaved tyrannously to me,’ he said, ‘and shown me much rudeness and cruelty.’ The judges answered that he had no grounds of complaint, and that if he wished any favor he had only to answer concerning his faith. ‘If I were to remain here a prisoner all my life,’ said Baudichon, ‘I would never answer you, for you are not my judges.’[[579]]
The Court then resolved to try if they could not obtain from him some semi-catholic formula which would authorize them to publish his recantation, or, in default of that, some very heretical declaration which would justify their burning him. A few words uttered with the lips were enough for certain judges to give life or death. Evangelical Christianity prescribes an opposite way; words will not satisfy it: truth must penetrate into the depths of the heart and abide there by means of a thorough assimilation which transforms man to the image of God. But, above all, it protests against constraint; and to those officials, those inquisitors who imagine they are helping the cause of truth, it exclaims: ‘Leave to God what belongs to God!’ This was Maisonneuve’s opinion.
Charges Against Baudichon.
The Court and the canons of St. John, having failed to obtain any confession from Baudichon, resolved to call a witness before them who, they thought, must crush him. At their request, the Bishop of Geneva, who was then at Chambéry, desired father Cautelier, superior of the Franciscan convent, to proceed to Lyons and give evidence against the prisoner. On the 18th of July the monk appeared before the Court, and declared that ‘he had preached daily at Geneva all through Lent, doing the best he could; that he had known Baudichon, notoriously reputed as a favorer of the Lutheran sect, and one Farellus, a very bad man, who preached that heresy, and others more execrable still, of which he was the inventor; that one day, being unable to obtain a license for Farellus to preach, Baudichon came up with his accomplices; that, in the presence of a very great multitude of people, he declared he would have Farellus preach; that thereupon some of his party went and rang the bell three different times, and that in the same monastery where he, Cautelier, had preached in the morning, the said Farellus preached publicly, according to his accursed doctrine, which he continued to do all through Lent, wearing a secular dress.’ Then, speaking of the visit made him by Maisonneuve and Farel, the father superior continued: ‘They asserted that the pope is the beast of the apocalypse, and that the holy see is not apostolical but diabolical; ... and Baudichon was so transported with rage and anger, that he would have set the monastery on fire.’[[580]]
De la Maisonneuve was then brought in. The two great adversaries met face to face and kept their eyes fixed on each other. The energetic huguenot, speaking with calmness, almost with disdain, said: ‘I know that witness; he is a bad man.... He preached several heresies at Geneva, and excited much disturbance among the people.’—‘Heresies!’ exclaimed the astonished judges. ‘What heresies?’ An heretical father superior! that was strange indeed!—‘If I was at Geneva,’ answered the accused, ‘I would tell you, but here I shall say no more.’[[581]]
At the same time the crafty monk had with him a weapon which, he thought, must infallibly procure Baudichon’s death. Pierre de la Baume, in his quality of bishop and prince, had given him a sealed letter addressed to the judges, praying them to send the culprit to him, or at least, to treat him with all the rigor of justice. Coutelier handed it to the Court. The bishop informed his ‘good brothers and friends’ that Maisonneuve had already been convicted of Lutheran heresy (this was five or six years back), that he had done penance, and promised him, his bishop, that he would not go astray again. ‘Cum nemini gremium ecclesia claudat,’ continued La Baume, ‘as the Church shuts her bosom against no one, I was content to pardon him, but threatened him with the stake in case of relapse.’ It is possible that De la Maisonneuve may formerly have had some conversation of this sort with the bishop, who took advantage of it. The law threatened very severe penalties against such as relapsed; they were not allowed a trial, and were delivered up immediately to the secular arm to be put to death. ‘I beg you to transfer him to me’ continued the bishop, ‘to execute justice upon him to the contentment of God and the world, and the maintenance of our holy faith.’ But a rivalry worthy of Rome existed between the Bishop of Geneva and the primate of France; each wished to have the honor of burning the Genevan.[[582]]
The struggle was natural. The affair had all the more importance in the eyes of the bishops and priests inasmuch as Maisonneuve was guilty of a blacker crime in their opinion than that of Luther and of Farel. He was a layman, and yet he presumed to reform the Church. The clergy believed that the intervention of the laity was the most menacing circumstance possible. A great transformation was going on: opinion was changing; as the understanding became enlightened, it condemned abuses and reformed errors. One of the evils introduced by catholicism, aggravated still further by the papacy, had been to nullify the faithful in religious matters. It was endurable that a bishop should go to war; but for a layman to have anything to say in the Church was inadmissible. This perversion of the primitive order was pointed out by the reformers: in their eyes the despotism of priests was still more revolting than the despotism of kings. A man might, they thought, give up to another man his house, his fields, his earthly existence; but to give up to him his soul, his eternal existence, ... impossible! One of the forces of protestantism was the influence of the laity; one of the weaknesses of Roman-catholicism was their exclusion from the direction of religious interests.
The Bishop of Geneva thought that, by putting that powerful layman, Maisonneuve, to death, he was dealing the Reformation a heavy blow. The officials of the archbishop-primate of France thought the same. There was no doubt what would be the fate of the proud Baudichon: it was only a question whether the flames of his funeral pile should be kindled at Lyons or Chambéry. The judges consequently asked him if he desired to be sent to Chambéry to be tried by the Bishop of Geneva; and the prisoner declared that he preferred remaining in the kingdom of France. De la Baume gave way, but insisted that the Court should make haste and punish such a turbulent man. ‘Chastise him,’ said the bishop, ‘according to the good pleasure of the king, who has shown in his letters that he is quite inclined that way. Nay, more, you will do a very meritorious work before God.’ The Court accordingly began their preparations for offering up the sacrifice.[[583]]
Proceedings Of The Magistrates.