The Story of Switzerland

by Lina Hug; Richard Stead

XXV.

THE CATHOLIC REACTION.

The benefits conferred by the Reformation on Switzerland were counterbalanced by a religious schism which divided the land into two antagonistic moieties, and paralyzed political progress. The religious enthusiasm in Europe had spent itself in the first half of the sixteenth century, and the energy it had displayed had roused amongst the Catholics a corresponding activity. They were led by the famous Philip II. of Spain, but fortunately Queen Elizabeth of England was able to withstand the attack directed against her country. But the new order of Jesuits, lately launched on the world to undo the work of the religious reformers, took the field with united ranks; whilst, on the other hand, the Protestants, split as they were into sections, and stumbling over questions of dogma, lacked the unity of aim and purpose necessary to stand successfully an attack so formidable. The wars of Schmalkalden (1547-49) were as injurious to Protestant Germany as the catastrophe of Kappel had been to Reformed Switzerland. The tide of Reformation rolled back in Germany, and the men of Zurich beheld with grief and indignation the fall of their strong ally in the work of religious reform, Constance, after its desperate stand against the Emperor, Charles V. Zurich was prevented by internal dissension and Catholic intolerance from assisting Constance, and, moreover, was compelled to release Mulhausen and Strasburg from their evangelical union with her. Thus Geneva, which the Papists threatened to level with the ground, was forced into an isolated position, and was near becoming the prey of invading Savoy. Considering the internal condition of the Confederation, we may well ask what it was that saved the little republic from complete destruction in the terrible storm of the reaction which swept over Europe, if it was not the very strength of the Federal union, and the common possession of the different Swiss bailiwicks, which bound the parts so strongly together, and which triumphed over both party feelings and private interests. Thanks to the moderation of the Protestants, war was avoided, and the country settled into a state of comparative repose. Through Zwingli's efforts Switzerland extended the droit d'asile to all, and she henceforward followed out her mission as a neutral power. It is the protection so freely given to refugees by Geneva, Zurich, and other Swiss cities that brightens the history of this gloomy reaction period.

Henry II., anxious to win over Switzerland to the Catholic cause, requested the Swiss to stand as sponsors to his daughter, Claudia, and received their embassy with marked distinction. Bern and Zurich, however, were not coaxed into an alliance with France by these blandishments. France wished for the preservation of peace from self-interest. But she extolled greatly the prowess of the Swiss, and called them the very "marrow" of her army. The Swiss excelled in single feats of arms, and amongst the Catholic captains stands out conspicuously the valiant Ludwig von Pfyffer, of Lucerne, who played a part, as regards political influence, not unlike that of Waldmann, and was nicknamed the "Swiss King." The wealth he had hoarded up during his French service he freely spent in the Catholic cause.

Pre-eminent amongst those who worked for the Catholic revival was the famous Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, and nephew of Pius IV. He lived the life of a saint, and in due time was canonized. To his see belonged the Swiss bailliages in the Ticino and Valtellina. Indefatigable in his labours, constantly visiting every part of his diocese, toiling up to the Alpine huts, he gathered the scattered flocks into the Papal fold, whether by mildness or by force. Shocked at the state of religious matters in the Forest Cantons, he founded a seminary for priests, to which Pfyffer at once gave a very large sum of money. For the spread of Catholic doctrines he hit upon three different means. He called into being the Collegium Helveticum in 1579 at Milan,[60] where the Swiss priests were educated free. He sent the Jesuits into the country, and placed a nuncio at Lucerne, in 1580. In 1586 was signed, between the seven Catholic cantons, the Borromean or Golden League, directed against the reformers, and in the following year a coalition was, by the same cantons, excepting Solothurn, entered into with Philip of Spain and with Savoy. The Jesuits settled themselves in Lucerne and Freiburg, and soon gained influence amongst the rich and the educated, whilst the Capuchins, who fixed themselves at Altorf, Stanz, Appenzell, and elsewhere, won the hearts of the masses by their lowliness and devotion. In this way did Rome seek to regain her influence over the Swiss peoples, and the effect of her policy was soon felt in the semi-Protestant and subject lands. To the impression made by the efforts of the Capuchins the great dissension in Appenzell bears witness, the canton actually breaking up into two hostile divisions. The Catholics removed to Inner, and the Reformers to Outer Rhoden, and each managed its own affairs independently of the other; the latter, however, soon began to prosper more than the former. In the Valais, the Protestant party, though strong, was quite swept out by the Jesuits, before 1630, and fled to Vaud and Bern. The history of lacerated Graubünden will occupy the next chapter.

It is painful to read of an act of violence committed by the Papists in the expulsion of the Evangelians from Locarno, in the winter of 1555, where a little band of two hundred adherents of the Zwinglian Church had formed round Beccaria. Zurich supported them, notwithstanding the opposition of France, and even of some of the Protestant cantons, and Bullinger was their comfort and strength in all transactions. However, Beccaria was compelled to flee to Misox valley, whence he ministered by stealth to his flock. In January, 1555, stronger measures were taken, and men and women were driven over the snowy heights to Misox, a sorry substitute for the luxurious homes some of them had left in Locarno. But they were soon moved on by the Papal legate, and in May some 120 of the band arrived at Zurich, where Bullinger had arranged for them a hospitable welcome. These new-comers revived the old trade with Lombardy, and reintroduced the silk manufacture, which, being a monopoly, became a source of great wealth to Zurich. Thus the town was rewarded for its hospitality. Some of the aristocratic Zurich families of to-day trace their origin to these Locarno refugees.

The city of Zurich was indeed at this time a general asylum for religious refugees from all quarters. Germans, Italians, and English fled there, and especially the Marian exiles from England. We find Peter Martyr from Oxford established as a professor at the Carolinum; and Occhino as minister to the Italian congregation in Zurich; Socinus and other famous Italians.[61] Martyr and Socinus both died at Zurich, and lie buried in its minster. For several years Peter Martyr and Bullinger had lived on terms of the closest friendship with each other, and their letters show how close was the tie between them. Their respective religious views naturally tended to greater mutual resemblance. Bullinger, like Calvin, kept up an immense correspondence with the reformed churches, and was in frequent communication with monarchs, princes, powerful nobles, and learned doctors. The readers of the present story will naturally feel most interest in the relation between the Swiss and the English Churches, and it will perhaps be better to leave on one side the tangled skein of religious dissensions which agitated Europe, and show from authentic sources[62]—letters chiefly—how the Swiss Churches and Swiss divines influenced the Reformed Church of England.

Though the English Reformation under Henry VIII. was greatly influenced by Luther, under Edward VI. the Church veered round more to the Swiss views, Cranmer especially leaning strongly towards Zwinglianism. Since 1536 the prelate had been on most friendly terms with Bullinger, and in this same year some young Englishmen, Butler, Udrof, and Partridge, by Cranmer's desire, settled in Zurich, to study its religious aspect and enjoy intercourse with the distinguished Bullinger. In the following year Eliot and others arrived with similar intent, and a great attachment sprang up between the young men and their spiritual guide. At the request of the students, Bullinger addressed to Henry two treatises on the "Authority of the Scriptures," and on the "Dignity and Office of Bishops," respectively, and was afterwards told that the treatises greatly interested both the king and the archbishop. "It is incredible what fame you acquire in England by your writings," says Eliot in his letter to Bullinger in 1539; "the booksellers are growing rich through you." Under Edward VI., Bullinger's relations with Cranmer and Hooper, with Warwick and Dorset, and with Coxe and Cheke, grew closer and closer, and the Church of Zurich regained its ascendency. At Bullinger's house Hooper passed his second exile, and he says he was received with delight, "being a true Christian," and he states that his faith was greatly quickened by the writings of the famous Zurich divine. The friendship between the two men was most intimate. At Hooper's desire, Bullinger dedicated a series of his sermons on the "Christian Faith" to Edward, who was greatly delighted with them, and had them translated into English. During his imprisonment Hooper composed a remarkable treatise addressed to Parliament in defence of the Zwinglian teaching with regard to the Lord's Supper, and Traheron states (1548) that England at large was inclined towards the Zwinglian view. In 1550 King Edward sent an envoy to ask the state of Zurich to unite with England with regard to a Church Council, and, curiously enough, with regard to reconciling that country with France.[63]