§ 109. THE LEADERS OF THE LIBEKTINES. 501
beyond measure if I did not prefer this condition to all the riches and honors of the world." ^
Beza says : " It was owing to Calvin that this horrid sect, in which all the most monstrous heresies of ancient times were renewed, was kept within the confines of Holland and the adjacent provinces."
During the trial of Servetus the political and religious Libertines combined in an organized effort for the overthrow of Calvin at Geneva, but were finally defeated by a failure of an attempted rebellion in May, 1555.
§ 109. The Leaders of the Libertines and their punishment : — G-ruet, Perrin, Ameaiix, Varidel, Berthelier.
We shall now give sketches of the chief Patriots and Libertines, and their quarrels with Calvin and his system of discipline. The heretical opponents — Bolsec, Castellio, Servetus — will be considered in a separate chapter on the Doctrinal Controversies.
1. Jacques Geuet was the first victim of Calvin's discipline who suffered death for sedition and blasphemy. His case is the most famous next to that of Servetus. Gruet^ was a Libertine of the worst tyj^e, both politically and religiously, and would have been condemned to death in any other country at that time. He was a Patriot descended from an old and respectable family, and formerly a canon. He lay under suspicion of having attempted to poison Viret in 1535. He wrote verses against Calvin and the refugees which (as Audin says) were "more malignant than poetic." He was a regular frequenter of taverns, and opposed to any rules
1 The French original in Henry, II. Beilage, 14, p. 112 sqq. ; also in Bonnet and in Opera, XII. 64-68. The Latin editions date the letter April 20 instead of 28.
2 A son of Humbert Gruet, notary public of Geneva ; not to be confounded with Canon Claude Gruet. See Opera, XII. 546, note 9 ; Bonnet, Letters fr. I. 212, and Henry, II. 440.
502 THE EEFORISIATION IN FRENCH SWITZERLAND.
in Church and State which interfered Avith personal liberty. When in church, he looked boldly and defiantly into the face of the preacher. He first adopted the Bernese fashion of Avearing breeclies with plaits at the knees, and openly defied the discipline of the Consistory Avhich forbade it. Calvin called him a scurvy fellow, and gives an unfavorable account of his moral and religious character, which the facts fully justified.
On the 27th of June, 1547, a iew days after the wife of Perrin had defied the Consistory,^ the following libel, written in the Savoyard patois, was attached to Calvin's pulpit in St. Peter's Church : —
"Gross hypocrite (Gj-os panfar'), thou and thy companions will gain little by your pains. If you do not save yourselves by flight, nobody shall prevent your overthrow, and you will curse the hour when you left your monkery. Warning has been already given that the devil and his renegade priests were come hither to ruin every thing. But after people have suffered long they avenge themselves. Take care that you are not served like Mons. Verle of Fribourg.2 We will not have so many masters. Mark well what I say."^
The Council arrested Jacques Gruet, avIio had been heard uttering threats against Calvin a few days previously, and had Avritten obscene and impious A'erses and letters. In his house were found a copy of Calvin's work against the Libertines with a marginal note, Toutes foUes, and several papers and letters filled with abuse of Calvin as a haughty, ambitious, and obstinate hypocrite who wished to be adored, and to rob the pope of his honor. There were also found two Latin pages in Gruet's handwriting, in Avhich the Scriptures
1 On the date see Opera, XII. 546, note 7, and Annal. XXI. 407, sub Lundi Juin 27: "Un e'crit violent contre Calvin et ses collegues est trouve' dans la chaire d'un des temples." Calvin's letter to Viret, July 2, 1547: "Postridie reperitur charta in suggestu qua mortem nobis minantur,"
2 Peter Wernly, a canon of St. Peter's, was killed in a fight with the Protestants, while endeavoring to save himself by flight. May 4, 1533.
3 " Nota bin mon dire." See the original of the placard in Opera, XII. 546, note 8. Gaberel and Ruchat give it in modern French. The editors of the Opera refer panfar to Abel Poupin ("Panfar ventrosum dicit Poupinum").