Kl 



VAUDOIS. 



VAUDOia 



B71 



M Embrun and BrUn^on, and northward* to the banks of the Don. 

 The valleys of y in ire* and Frassiniere in France, awl that of Pragela 

 in the province of Sun, at the foot of Mount Genorre, profaned their 

 cuiuniunton till within comparatively recent time*. I u the two former 

 vUcYi there are atill scattered evangelical congregations, iu Uie . 

 village* of Dormilleuse, Frauiniire, and Violin. 



Concerning the persecution* which the VaudoU have sustained, and 

 hith fill up a largo portion of their hUtory, we must not tru.it . 

 citly oiUr to Leger and the other VaudoU writer*, who were them- 

 selves actor* or sufferers in these ooourrenoee, nor to the acoounU of 

 liTsecuton. Wo prefer following a modern hUtorian, Botta., a j 

 ontese and a Roman Catholic, but a temperate, discriminating 

 , far removed from those scenes of strife, and from the pa**ion 

 which excited them or wore the consequence of them. The earlier 

 persecution* of the VaudoU were the work of the iuquUitor* cent by 

 Ituuie. Pope John XXII. issued a bull agoinht them in 1332. Walter 

 . Li'liord, who wa* burnt at Cologne in 1350, wa* a VauduU clergyman. 

 'About the year 1400 a persecution ia recorded again*t the inhabitant* 

 of Pragela, ami the valley of Peroea, in which many perished. In 1 4 7 

 Innocent VIII. usued a bull to Alberto de CapiUneU, papal nuncio 

 and oommifiioner for the dominion* of the I)uke of Savuy on both 

 tide* of thd in*"in^ ina , enjoining " him to extirpate the pernicious 

 Met of mliflnt men called the 'poor people of Lyon,' or the 

 Waldenses, who have long endeavoured in Piedmont and other neigh- 

 bouring part* to ensnare the sheep belonging unto Ood, under a feigned 

 pretence of holiness," 4c., and if expedient " to preach the crusade 

 against them." But it was not until the following century that a 

 general proecription took place. When Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin 

 began preaching their reformed doctrines, the Valdense* acknowledged 

 them to be similar to their own. FraneU I. of France, who wa* olao 

 pomcsnod of Piedmont, persecuted all heretics indiscriminately, whether 

 of the. new Ucformed faith, or of the old Waldensis or Vaudois com- 

 muuion, and determined on extirpating them. The massacres of 

 DauphiniS and Provence, especially at Meriudol and Cabriere, are 

 lad in hUtory. lie at the same time wrote to the parliament of 

 Turin, enjoining it to enforce religious conformity within its juris- 

 diction. The Vaudois of Piedmont then drew up a list of their articles 

 of faith and laid it before King Francis, begging to be allowed to retain 

 their ancient form of worship ; to which Francis replied, that as he was 

 putting to death the heretics in France, he could not tolerate them on 

 the other aide of the Alps. The parliament of Turin commanded the 

 VaudoU to drive away their barbcs, or pastors, and to receive Roman 

 Catholic priest*, who would be sent to instruct them. The Vaudois 

 refused, and persecution followed. Several VaudoU who refused to 

 renounce their faith were burned alive. (Botta, b. iv. : A.U. IS 11-4.) 

 Still their communion was not extirpated ; and years after, Piedmont 

 having been restored to the house of Savoy, Duke Emmanuel Philibert, 

 after being repeatedly urged by the inquisitor Uiacomello, sent by 

 Pope Paul IV., ordered, in 1560, the VaudoU to attend the Roman 

 Catholic service, and forbade them the exercUe of their own form of 

 worship under penalty of 100 golden "scudi" for the first transgression, 

 and of the perpetual galley* in case of relapse. The' VaudoU wrote an 

 humble supplication with an apology for their faith to the duke, who, 

 being little conversant with theological controversy, proposed a con- 

 ference between the VaudoU and Roman Catholic divines. But Pope 

 Paul IV. disapproved of thi* ; and at last, being importuned by the 

 inquUitor and the nuncio, and the court of Spain, the duke resorted to 

 arm* to enforce obedience, lie sent into the valleys 7000 men under 

 the Count of La Trinita, to whom the French king joined two regi- 

 ments on the side of France. The French court at that time was 

 persecuting the Huguenot*, who were numerous in Dauphine, and who 

 were disposed to make common cause with the VaudoU. The VaudoU 

 defended themselves bravely, and in one instance defeated the ducal 

 troop* at Pra di Torre. Many atrocities were committed in thU desul 

 tory warfare, and women and children were not spared. Some of the 

 prUoners were burnt alive at Carignano, Susa, and Pifierola. At last 

 Duke Emmanuel Philibert, disgusted with thi.4 war, into which he 

 had been pnesul against bU wuh, and urged by the intercession of hU 

 wife, Margaret of Franco, who pitied the VaudoU, granted\hem, in 

 June, 1601, peace and an amnesty, with the exercise of their i 

 within certain stated limit*, in the valley* of Lucerna and San Martina, 

 on condition that the Roman Catholic service should also be performed 

 simultaneously, in ehurche* appropriated to the purpose iu the various 

 villages. ThU edict was signed by Philip of Savoy, lord of Racconigi 

 on one part, and by two of the principal pastor* of the VaudoU on the 

 other. The court of Roma and the monks in Piedmont declaimed 

 loudly against these concessions of Duke Emmanuel Philibert. and 

 almost called him a heretic. (BotU, b. x. ) 



In 1601 and 1602 Charles Emmanuel I. confirmed to the Vaudois 

 their religious immunities, but the Inquisition was molesting them at 

 the satno time, and even imprisoned some individual*, and when re- 

 monstrances were made to the ducal minuter*, they replied, " These 

 matter* do not concern hU highness." (BotU, b. xv.) Tho duke how- 

 ever Usued two rescripts, dated 1608 and 1620, guaranteeing to the 

 VaudoU the exercise of their religion within the limits prescribed in 

 the three valleys of Lueeroa, Perosa, and S. Martino. The Vaudois 

 had asked the same favour for their co-rcligionUU in the Marquisate of 

 Baluzzo, but this was refused, Charles I. of England sent twice an 



mbassy to the duke to intercede for the Vaudois, in 1627 and 1 

 Appendix to G illy 'a ' First Excursion to the Mountain* of Piedmont 



Victor Amadous I., who succeeded Charles Emmanuel, published sn 

 diet enjoining the nou-couformUU of the Marquisate of Saluzzo, who 



.11 the communes of Ptasana, PravigUelmo, Bipleto, 

 onui, and Croezzo, to embrace the Roman Catholic religion, under 

 wiialty of death and confiscation of property ; and thi* edict was so 

 enforced, that not one non-conformist remained in those part*. 

 Jut at the same time the duke issued an edict to protect the VaudoU 

 if the valley* of PiheroU, who have always been held 

 )thers, and to chock the prevailing practice among the Roman Catholic: 

 prieot* and laity of kidnapping the children of the Vaudon in order to 

 bring them up in the Roman faith, (Uotta, b. xxi.) After tin 

 of Victor Amadous, and during the civil war which raged in Piedmont, 

 the VaudoU remained faithful to their lawful duke, andoppo* 

 arms the factious marquises of Lucerna and Angrogna, who sided with 

 Prince Thomas and the other pretenders to the Regency, and t In . 



n^'ly continued ill their i<rivileges by the Duchess I: 

 by the young Duke Charles Emmanuel II. But the n 

 Emmanuel afterwards directed a most fierce persecution 

 VaudoU. Botta attributes the origin of this fresh storm to the i 

 lent dUposition of Jean Legcr, a pastor of some name among the 

 Vuldensea, who had more zeal than prudence. In Man-h, 16.' 

 inhabitant* of Villaro, in the valley of Lucerna, rose in a tumul' 

 drove away the Capuchins from their convent, to which they n 

 The ducal troops repaired to the spot, and, after some bloodshed, peace 

 was re-establihhed. But this affair led to further investigations, when 

 the ducal government found out that the VaudoU had transgressed 

 against their engagement* by purchasing property and establUhing 

 schools and places of worship beyond the limits fixed by former edict*. 

 In January, 1655, the duke caused his auditor Andrea Gasfcil 

 proceed to Lucerna, when he Usued a manifesto ordering all V . 

 families to evacuate within three days the communes of Luceru 

 Oiovanni, La Torre, Dibbiaua, Fenile, Campiglione, Brioherasoo, and 

 San Secondo in the lower part of the valley of the Police, and retire to 

 the higher part of the valley, to the communes of Villaro, Hobbio, 

 Kora, Angrogna, and lioneti. Within twenty days they w 

 sell their property situated in the former districts or to embrace the 

 Roman Catholic faith. Tho VaudoU resisted thU command, and the 

 duke sent the marquis of PUnezza with a body of regulars and KOIIIO 

 militia in the following April The VaudoU deserU-'t their villages, 

 carrying their provisions to the mountains. Tho marquU fo, 

 them there, but he could not subdue them ; and hU soldiers, finding 

 nothing to eat, withdrew. The VaudoU then issuing from 

 recesses, under two determined leaders, Jayer and Janavel, fell upon 

 several Roman Catholic villages, and plundered and bin nt them. They 

 then entered La Torre, but being surprised by Piaiu-z/a. they fought 

 desperately and most of them fell, but not without killing mi 

 of the ducal troops. In thU warfare cruelties were committed by 

 both parties, but the VaudoU, being the losing party, were, with 

 their families, the greatest sufferers. Many atrocities were committed 

 against the women and children by the Pieduiontese soldier*, but 

 still more by the mercenary French and Irish soldier* in the 

 of the duke, which horrors Jean Lcger, who was an actor in the 

 struggle, has detailed at length, and, Botta thinks, has exaggerated 

 in hU ' Narrative.' But there U a document in the University Library 

 at Cambridge which tells strongly against the marquis l I' 

 himself. It U a declaration by Captain Du Petit Bourg, wl. 

 serving in a French corps under I'nnc/./u, protesting again 

 cruelties which he saw committed, ami for which he retin ,1 ami , 

 his corps. He says that the marquis ordered to give no iji 

 saying that hi* highness was determined to have none of their religion 

 in his dominions. This protest, a copy of which is given by Uilly in 

 hU first work. U dated Piflerola, 25th November, 1655, and U attested 

 by other officers. It appears, however, that Pianezza ordered the 

 women and children to be spared, and ho rescued many from the hands 

 of the brutal soldiers, and distributed them in the neighbouring die- 

 tricts of Piedmont. A number of Vaudois took refuge across the 

 mountains in the French valley of Queiras, and returned after the 

 fury of the massacre had abated. Others perished iu the snow, and 

 others lurked for a time iu the recesses of the mountains, under their 

 chief Janavel, who carried on a partisan warfare until he was killed 

 some years after. 



The new* of the massacre of the VaudoU spread far and wi.lo 

 throughout Europe. The Protestant cantons of Switzerl .-md, th 

 teotor Cromwell, and the States of Holland, sent envoys to the duke of 

 Savoy, to remonstrate in favour of the VaudoU. Cromwell sent Sir 

 Samuel Norland, who collected numerous documents, and published 

 thorn in hi* ' HUtory of lical Churches,' fol., IOCS. Crom- 



well's Latin letters to the duke and other princes on the subject were 

 written by Milton, who in one of hi sonnets has feelingly lamented 

 the cruelties committed against the Vaudois. Subscriptions were 

 made in England and other countries for the survivors. At last, at 

 Cromwell's request, LouU XIV. offered his mediation, which Ih 

 accepted, and a convention was concluded in August of the same 

 1666, at Piiieroln, which then belonged to Franco, by which a g- 

 amnesty was granted, and the Vaudois were allowed to remain on the 



