REXEE
1040
KEN NIGER
of Forrara. and became the mother of live children; and in the literature and art
bin- made the court ofFerrara a centre of culture which emulated that of Florence and the Medici. Her sym- pathies, directed no less by personal conviction than by the traditions "t' her family and her early education, were with the Reformation. She encouraged Bruccioli to prepare an Italian version of the Bible, and allowed him to dedicate to her the first edition (1541 - afforded a refuge to fugitive Protestants. Calvin availed himself of this asylum in 1535, and thus began a rela- tion which was o( great value to tin- duchess while he
I. was allowed to pray ami expound the Script- ures in a chapel which is still shown, until remon- strances from Rome induced the duke to banish him. and with him all the Protestant friends of his consort, down tn the servants brought with her from France.
■ influence led to the persecution of Rene'e in The relations of Ferrara with France had been broken off, and political added to religious prejudices aggravated the situation; hut beyond restraints and -lie suffered little, until in 1545 the Inquisi- tion was established in Ferrara and the reconquest of the land to Romanism began. The co-operation of Henry II of France was secured: Pence was compelled to listen to sermons in denunciation of her principles: her husband caused her to lie imprisoned with two of n, and placed her daughters Leonora and Lu- cre! ia in a convent. These measures broke her spirit and brought her to confession and attendance on the I to liberty Dec. 1, 1554, after an imprisonment of two and a halt" months. She had en- joyed the counsel ^>( Protestant friends during much of her period of trial: Calvin had written frequent letters. and had sent Francis Morel (of Collanges) to act as her spiritual adviser: and her former secretary. LeonJamez,
sustained her faithfully: but. in the heat of a
in in which but few stood firm, her resolution gave way. The unfaltering fidelity of the whole of her i life atoned for that single and temporary lapse. I'he experience of Pence was sufficiently trying in other .1. Her daughter Anna was married, against the earnest protest ^>i' her mother, to the chief opponent of the Protestant cause, duke Fran- ciaofGuis - .29 48). Her eldest son, Alphonso, quarrelled with his father and tied the country in 1552. Her husband died Oct.:!. loo:1, after exacting from her an oath that she would no longer correspond with Cal- vin, from which she was, however, absolved by Calvin. Alphonso succeeded his father, and. influenced by pope Pius IV. at once compelled his mother to renounce his country or her faith. She chose the former alternative, and returned to France in September. 1560, leaving her children in Ferrara. France was at this period troubled with the disputes of Navarre andConde with the Guises, and Conde lay in prison awaiting death. Renee did not hesitate t" censure the disloyal cruelty of the Guises; and when their power was broken, on the death of Fran- cis II. -he became the open promoter of the Reforma- tion. She invited 1'rotestant clergymen into the coun- try and caused Protestant worship to be held at her -eat of Montargis and wherever -lie might make a tem- porary home in other places; but she was none the less earnestly engaged in promoting peace between the con- tending parties. At Montargis -he -,. compromise d their bat they were definitively laid aside. Her charities and her conn-els were expended upon appli- : .--. When her son-in-law, the duke of • ar which during thirty year- drench- ed France with ! ■'. 1. -lie determined that Montargis
should be a i Protestant fugitiv< -.
of Guise died Feb. 24, 1563, and the peace of Amboise
.red in March of the same year; and. a- she was thereafter forbidden to celebrate the worship of her Church in Paris, even in her own house, she retired per- manent!} ' i though she subsequently accom- panied Charles IX* on his tour through the kingdom.
She founded a school, enlarged and beautified the town. and took a lively interest in the translation of the New- rest, into Spanish. At this time she received a last let- ter from tab in. written (.April -1. 1564 ) while be w a- on his death-bed. by the hand of his brother. From this peri.nl the re, ords of her life become rare. The eecond religious war (Sept, L567, to March. 1568) did not dis- turb her. She was al the H6fe lde LaOD in Paris during St. Bartholomew's Night, but was exempted from the general massacre, and succeeded in rescuil _ ot her coreligionists, whom she carried to Montargis and aided to effect their ultimate escape. She ended her noble life .lime 12, 1575. An eloquent testimony to her faith was included in her will. Her remain- \\ . re in- terred in the church at Montargis. Sec Munch Ernst j, Renota von Este und ihn - I] ."..;. 2 vols.), not
important and not always trustworthy; Catteau-Calle- ville. 17. dt Renh d< Frana (BerL 1781 83). Brief biographies are given in MCrie. Hist, of th> Ref. tn Italy; and Gerdes, Specimen Italia Reformata : and a more detailed life in Young, Life and , Paleario (Loud. I860, 2 vols. I; Bayle, /../ /'/ testante, viii; Bonnet [Jules], La Vi» i'l and Lettres dc Jean Calvin. — Ilerzog, lUal-Enci/klop. s. v.