1. Francois, born in 1614, and died Nov. 1, 1682. was the son of Pierre, a public functionary of his native city. As lieutenant of the presidial, he aided in the war against the Huguenots, who pillaged his house in 1662. He left an Abregedu Sacrament de VAutel,\\\\\c\\ Balthasar, one of his sons, published in 1594.
2. Henri, nephew of Pierre 3, was born in 1620, and died Dec. 28, 1693. As coadjutor of his uncle (after 1652), he scrupulously attended to the duties of the see.
3. Jerome, brother of Pierre 2, died Jan. 18, 1626. He acted as clerk of the French Parliament in 1694, and canon and architect of Vienne, where he became bishop in 1599. He was active in subserving the in- terests of the Council of Trent.
4. PiKRRE (1), brother of Fran9ois, was born in 1617. He graduated at the University of Padua (1639), and attached himself to cardinal Tournon, who occupied him with several important errands. In 1655 he became clerk of Parliament, in 1661 bishop of Mirepoix, and in 1676 archbishop of Vienne. He sustained Henri III against the Estates of Blois. In 1586 he resigned all his dignities, and lived in retirement till his death, Nov. 14, 15!t2. He is the author of some ascetic treatises.
5. PiKRRE (2), nephew of the preceding, was born March 3, 1545. He was made doctor by the Sorbonne, and in 1675 succeeded his uncle as bishop of Mirepoix and in 1587 as archbishop of Viemie. In 1599 he re- signed his office, and retired first to Annonay, and after- wards to Lyons. He died July 18, 1613, at Saint-Genis- Laval, near Lyons.
6. Pierre (3), cousin of Pierre 2, became his coad- jutor in 1612, and succeeded him in 1626 as archbish- op of Vienne. He died in 1663.
Villefroy, Guillaume de, a French Orientalist, was born in Paris, March 5, 1690. He studied at the Abbey of Tiron and at the Seminary of Besanc^-on, and after ordination and reception of the doctorate he be- came abbot of Blasimont, in (inienne, and finally (1752) professor of Hebrew in the College de France at Paris, where he died April 4, 1773, He made known several valuable Biblical MSS., founded the Societe des Capucins Hebraisants, and wrote several archaeological works, for which see Hoefer, Now. Biog. Generale, s.v.
Villegaignon, Nicolas Durand de, a Maltese knight who achieved an unenviable notoriety in con- nection with one of the most interesting episodes of the French Reformation. He was a native of Brittany, and had distinguished himself as an officer of the royal navy. In 1664 he held the rank of vice-admiral of Brittany. A dispute with the governor of Brest threat- ened to deprive him of the royal favor, and he conceived that a successful expedition to South America would be
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the readiest means to obviate that loss. To secure the king's consent, he approached admiral Coligny, giving himself out as a Protestant, and representing that a col- ony in South America would provide the surest refuge for his coreligionists against the persecutions they were so constantly made to endure. He sailed from Havre de (irace July 15, 1555, with two vessels bearing a large number of colonists and a body of soldiers and laborers, and reached Brazil in the following November. Tlie colony was located on an island near Kio de Janeiro, to which thej' gave the name of Coligny. Here the work of fortifying engaged the attention of the commander to an extent that, joined with the insufHcient and un- palatable food the men received, produced much dissat- isfaction among his subordinates; but the display of zealous energy for the establishing of a Protestant Cluirch, wliich he still kept up, served to quiet the col- onists. In March (7 or 10), 1557, a second expedition from France arrived, which brought about three hun- dred souls, among them the preachers Peter Richer and AVilliam Charlier; a reputed doctor of the Sorbonne named Cointa; .John de Lery, the principal historian of the enterprise; and six females. Villegaignon repeated the pledges he had made respecting the evangelical worship and organization, and Kicher preached, on the day of arrival, a sermon which was probably the first evangelical sermon heard in the New World.
The arrival of reinforcements relieved the governor of the fears which a conspiracy among his people had excited. He at once employed the new colonists on the fortifications, but allowed them the free exercise of their religion, so that a sermon was preached to them each secular day and two on Sundays. Tlie Lord's supper was to be administered once a month ; but dis- putes, originated by the Sorbonnist Cointa, arose on the tirst occasion of its celebration. He demanded, on the authority of the Church fathers, that water should be mixed with the wine; that the ministers should wear sacerdotal robes, etc. In bajitism he required that oil, spittle, and salt should be added to the water. Ville- gaignon supported his demands, and criticised the con- stitution of the Church of Geneva, upon which the col- ony was to be modelled. The matter was finall}' re- ferred to Calvin at Geneva, with the proviso that Rich- er should not discuss controverted points in the pulpit while his colleague Chartier was absent to obtain Cal- vin's decision. Chartier departed, and at this juncture Villegaignon threw off the mask. He had learned that his heretical colon}- had excited the anger of his po|]ish masters in France, and he now pronounced Calvin a heretic, and declared that he would accept no other de- cision than that of the Sorbonne. He required the re- ception of the doctrine of transubstantiation, and after a time forbade pid)lic worship, ami even the exercise of common prayer. He also oppressed the pious colonists, whose conscientious scruples (irevented resistance by force. At this time a trading-vessel visited the island, and a large number of the colonists resolved upon a re- turn to Europe ; and the governor thereupon conliscated their provisions, books, and tools, and drove them (o the mainland. Here they gave themselves to missionary labor. Lery wrote down a brief vocabulary of words in the language of the Topinambus, the fruitage of a brief sojourn extending over no more than two months. The natives had received them kindly, but demanded remu- neration for everything needed by the exiles; and when the latter had bartered away even their clothes, they were compelled to embark for France. The vessel was found to be uiiseaworthy, and, after voyaging a week, live of the returning emigrants preferred to risk their lives in an open boat rather than continue in the shi|). This boat was driven to the shore and fell into the hands of Villegaignon, who had four of the five passen- gers put to death as heretics. The fifth was spared be- cause he was the only tailor in the colony.