Account Of The Persecutions In The Valleys Of Piedmont

Many of the Waldenses, to avoid the persecutions to which they were

continually subjected in France, went and settled in the valleys of

Piedmont, where they increased exceedingly, and flourished very much for

a considerable time.



Though they were harmless in their behaviour, inoffensive in their

conversation, and paid tithes to the Roman clergy, yet the latter could

not be contented, but wished to give th m some disturbance; they,

accordingly, complained to the archbishop of Turin, that the Waldenses

of the valleys of Piedmont were heretics, for these reasons:



1. That they did not believe in the doctrines of the church of Rome.



2. That they made no offerings or prayers for the dead.



3. That they did not go to mass.



4. That they did not confess, and receive absolution.



5. That they did not believe in purgatory, or pay money to get the souls

of their friends out of it.



Upon these charges the archbishop ordered a persecution to be commenced,

and many fell martyrs to the superstitious rage of the priests and

monks.



At Turin, one of the reformed had his bowels torn out, and put in a

basin before his face, where they remained in his view till he expired.

At Revel, Catelin Girard being at the stake, desired the executioner to

give him a stone; which he refused, thinking that he meant to throw it

at somebody; but Girard assuring him that he had no such design, the

executioner complied; when Girard, looking earnestly at the stone, said,

When it is in the power of a man to eat and digest this solid stone, the

religion for which I am about to suffer shall have an end, and not

before. He then threw the stone on the ground, and submitted cheerfully

to the flames. A great many more of the reformed were oppressed, or put

to death, by various means, till the patience of the Waldenses being

tired out, they flew to arms in their own defence, and formed themselves

into regular bodies.



Exasperated at this, the bishop of Turin procured a number of troops and

sent against them; but in most of the skirmishes and engagements the

Waldenses were successful, which partly arose from their being better

acquainted with the passes of the valleys of Piedmont than their

adversaries, and partly from the desperation with which they fought; for

they well knew, if they were taken, they should not be considered as

prisoners of war, but tortured to death as heretics.



At length, Philip the seventh, duke of Savoy, and supreme lord of

Piedmont, determined to interpose his authority, and stop these bloody

wars, which so greatly disturbed his dominions. He was not willing to

disoblige the pope, or affront the archbishop of Turin; nevertheless, he

sent them both messages, importing, that he could not any longer tamely

see his dominions overrun with troops, who were directed by priests

instead of officers, and commanded by prelates instead of generals; nor

would he suffer his country to be depopulated, while he himself had not

been even consulted upon the occasion.



The priests, finding the resolution of the duke, did all they could to

prejudice his mind against the Waldenses; but the duke told them, that

though he was unacquainted with the religious tenets of these people,

yet he had always found them quiet, faithful, and obedient, and

therefore he determined they should be no longer persecuted.



The priests now had recourse to the most palpable and absurd falsehoods:

they assured the duke that he was mistaken in the Waldenses for they

were a wicked set of people, and highly addicted to intemperance,

uncleanness, blasphemy, adultery, incest, and many other abominable

crimes; and that they were even monsters in nature, for their children

were born with black throats, with four rows of teeth, an bodies all

over hairy.



The duke was not so devoid of common sense as to give credit to what the

priests said, though they affirmed in the most solemn manner the truth

of their assertions. He, however, sent twelve very learned and sensible

gentlemen into the Piedmontese valleys, to examine into the real

characters of the inhabitants.



These gentlemen, after travelling through all their towns and villages,

and conversing with people of every rank among the Waldenses returned

to the duke, and gave him the most favourable account of those people;

affirming, before the faces of the priests who villified them, that they

were harmless, inoffensive, loyal, friendly, industrious, and pious:

that they abhorred the crimes of which they were accused; and that,

should an individual, through his depravity, fall into any of those

crimes, he would, by their laws, be punished in the most exemplary

manner. With respect to the children, the gentlemen said, the priests

had told the most gross and ridiculous falsities, for they were neither

born with black throats, teeth in their mouths, nor hair on their

bodies, but were as fine children as could be seen. "And to convince

your highness of what we have said, (continued one of the gentlemen), we

have brought twelve of the principal male inhabitants, who are come to

ask pardon in the name of the rest, for having taken up arms without

your leave, though even in their own defence, and to preserve their

lives from their merciless enemies. And we have likewise brought several

women, with children of various ages, that your highness may have an

opportunity of personally examining them as much as you please."



The duke, after accepting the apology of the twelve delegates,

conversing with the women, and examining the children, graciously

dismissed them. He then commanded the priests, who had attempted to

mislead him, immediately to leave the court; and gave strict orders,

that the persecution should cease throughout his dominions.



The Waldenses had enjoyed peace many years, when Philip, the seventh

duke of Savoy, died, and his successor happened to be a very bigoted

papist. About the same time, some of the principal Waldenses proposed,

that their clergy should preach in public, that every one might know the

purity of their doctrines: for hitherto they had preached only in

private, and to such congregations as they well knew to consist of none

but persons of the reformed religion.



On hearing these proceedings, the new duke was greatly exasperated, and

sent a considerable body of troops into the valleys, swearing that if

the people would not change their religion, he would have them flayed

alive. The commander of the troops soon found the impracticability of

conquering them with the number of men he had with him, he, therefore,

sent word to the duke, that the idea of subjugating the Waldenses, with

so small a force, was ridiculous; that those people were better

acquainted with the country than any that were with him; that they had

secured all the passes, were well armed, and resolutely determined to

defend themselves; and, with respect to flaying them alive, he said,

that every skin belonging to those people would cost him the lives of a

dozen of his subjects.



Terrified at this information, the duke withdrew the troops, determining

to act not by force, but by stratagem. He, therefore, ordered rewards

for the taking of any of the Waldenses, who might be found straying from

their places of security; and these, when taken, were either flayed

alive, or burnt.



The Waldenses had hitherto only had the new Testament and a few books

of the Old, in the Waldensian tongue; but they determined now to have

the sacred writings complete in their own language. They, therefore,

employed a Swiss printer to furnish them with a complete edition of the

Old and New Testaments in the Waldensian tongue, which he did for the

consideration of fifteen hundred crowns of gold, paid him by those pious

people.



Pope Paul the third, a bigoted papist, ascending the pontifical chair,

immediately solicited the parliament of Turin to persecute the

Waldenses, as the most pernicious of all heretics.



The parliament readily agreed, when several were suddenly apprehended

and burnt by their order. Among these was Bartholomew Hector, a

bookseller and stationer of Turin, who was brought up a Roman catholic,

but having read some treatises written by the reformed clergy, he was

fully convinced of the errors of the church of Rome; yet his mind was,

for some time, wavering, and he hardly knew what persuasion to embrace.



At length, however, he fully embraced the reformed religion, and was

apprehended, as we have already mentioned, and burnt by order of the

parliament of Turin.



A consultation was now held by the parliament of Turin, in which it was

agreed to send deputies to the valleys of Piedmont, with the following

propositions:



1. That if the Waldenses would come to the bosom of the church of Rome,

and embrace the Roman catholic religion, they should enjoy their houses,

properties and lands, and live with their families, without the least

molestation.



2. That to prove their obedience, they should send twelve of their

principal persons, with all their ministers and schoolmasters, to Turin,

to be dealt with at discretion.



3. That the pope, the king of France, and the duke of Savoy, approved

of, and authorized the proceedings of the parliament of Turin, upon this

occasion.



4. That if the Waldenses of the valleys of Piedmont, refused to comply

with these propositions, persecution should ensue, and certain death be

their portion.



To each of these propositions the Waldenses nobly replied in the

following manner, answering them respectively:



1. That no considerations whatever should make them renounce their

religion.



2. That they would never consent to commit their best and most

respectable friends, to the custody and discretion of their worst and

most inveterate enemies.



3. That they valued the approbation of the King of kings, who reigns in

heaven, more than any temporal authority.



4. That their souls were more precious than their bodies.



These pointed and spirited replies greatly exasperated the parliament of

Turin; they continued, with more avidity than ever, to kidnap such

Waldenses as did not act with proper precaution, who were sure to

suffer the most cruel deaths. Among these, it unfortunately happened,

that they got hold of Jeffery Varnagle, minister of Angrogne, whom they

committed to the flames as a heretic.



They then solicited a considerable body of troops of the king of France,

in order to exterminate the reformed entirely from the valleys of

Piedmont; but just as the troops were going to march, the protestant

princes of Germany interposed, and threatened to send troops to assist

the Waldenses, if they should be attacked. The king of France, not

caring to enter into a war, remanded the troops, and sent word to the

parliament of Turin, that he could not spare any troops at present to

act in Piedmont. The members of the parliament were greatly vexed at

this disappointment, and the persecution gradually ceased, for as they

could only put to death such of the reformed as they caught by chance,

and as the Waldenses daily grew more cautious, their cruelty was obliged

to subside, for want of objects on whom to exercise it.



After the Waldenses had enjoyed a few years tranquility, they were again

disturbed by the following means: the pope's nuncio coming to Turin to

the duke of Savoy upon business, told that prince, he was astonished he

had not yet either rooted out the Waldenses from the valleys of Piedmont

entirely, or compelled them to enter into the bosom of the church of

Rome. That he could not help looking upon such conduct with a suspicious

eye, and that he really thought him a favourer of those heretics, and

should report the affair accordingly to his holiness the pope.



Stung by this reflection, and unwilling to be misrepresented to the

pope, the duke determined to act with the greatest severity, in order to

show his zeal, and to make amends for former neglect by future cruelty.

He, accordingly, issued express orders for all the Waldenses to attend

mass regularly on pain of death. This they absolutely refused to do, on

which he entered the Piedmontese valleys, with a formidable body of

troops, and began a most furious persecution, in which great numbers

were hanged, drowned, ripped open, tied to trees, and pierced with

prongs, thrown from precipices, burnt, stabbed, racked to death,

crucified with their heads downwards, worried by dogs, &c.



These who fled had their goods plundered, and their houses burnt to the

ground: they were particularly cruel when they caught a minister or a

schoolmaster, whom they put to such exquisite tortures, as are almost

incredible to conceive. If any whom they took seemed wavering in their

faith, they did not put them to death, but sent them to the galleys, to

be made converts by dint of hardships.



The most cruel persecutors, upon this occasion, that attended the duke,

were three in number, viz. 1. Thomas Incomel, an apostate, for he was

brought up in the reformed religion, but renounced his faith, embraced

the errors of popery, and turned monk. He was a great libertine, given

to unnatural crimes, and sordidly solicitous for plunder of the

Waldenses. 2. Corbis, a man of a very ferocious and cruel nature, whose

business was to examine the prisoners.--3. The provost of justice, who

was very anxious for the execution of the Waldenses, as every execution

put money in his pocket.



These three persons were unmerciful to the last degree; and wherever

they came, the blood of the innocent was sure to flow. Exclusive of the

cruelties exercised by the duke, by these three persons, and the army,

in their different marches, many local barbarities were committed. At

Pignerol, a town in the valleys, was a monastery, the monks of which,

finding they might injure the reformed with impunity, began to plunder

the houses and pull down the churches of the Waldenses. Not meeting with

any opposition, they seized upon the persons of those unhappy people,

murdering the men, confining the women, and putting the children to

Roman catholic nurses.



The Roman catholic inhabitants of the valley in St. Martin, likewise,

did all they could to torment the neighbouring Waldenses: they destroyed

their churches, burnt their houses, seized their properties, stole their

cattle, converted their lands to their own use, committed their

ministers to the flames, and drove the Waldenses to the woods, where

they had nothing to subsist on but wild fruits, roots, the bark of

trees, &c.



Some Roman catholic ruffians having seized a minister as he was going to

preach, determined to take him to a convenient place, and burn him. His

parishioners having intelligence of this affair, the men armed

themselves, pursued the ruffians, and seemed determined to rescue their

minister; which the ruffians no sooner perceived than they stabbed the

poor gentleman, and leaving him weltering in his blood, made a

precipitate retreat. The astonished parishioners did all they could to

recover him, but in vain; for the weapon had touched the vital parts,

and he expired as they were carrying him home.



The monks of Pignerol having a great inclination to get the minister of

a town in the valleys, called St. Germain, into their power, hired a

band of ruffians for the purpose of apprehending him. These fellows were

conducted by a treacherous person, who had formerly been a servant to

the clergyman, and who perfectly well knew a secret way to the house, by

which he could lead them without alarming the neighbourhood. The guide

knocked at the door, and being asked who was there, answered in his own

name. The clergyman, not expecting any injury from a person on whom he

had heaped favours, immediately opened the door; but perceiving the

ruffians, he started back, and fled to a back door; but they rushed in,

followed, and seized him. Having murdered all his family, they made him

proceed towards Pignerol, goading him all the way with pikes, lances,

swords, &c. He was kept a considerable time in prison, and then fastened

to the stake to be burnt; when two women of the Waldenses, who had

renounced their religion to save their lives, were ordered to carry

fagots to the stake to burn him; and as they laid them down, to say,

Take these, thou wicked heretic, in recompense for the pernicious

doctrines thou hast taught us. These words they both repeated to him to

which he calmly replied, I formerly taught you well, but you have since

learned ill. The fire was then put to the fagots, and he was speedily

consumed, calling upon the name of the Lord as long as his voice

permitted.



As the troops of ruffians, belonging to the monks, did great mischief

about the town of St. Germain, murdering and plundering many of the

inhabitants, the reformed of Lucerne and Angrogne, sent some bands of

armed men to the assistance of their brethren of St. Germain. These

bodies of armed men frequently attacked the ruffians, and often put them

to the rout, which so terrified the monks, that they left the monastery

of Pignerol for some time, till they could procure a body of regular

troops to guard them.



The duke not thinking himself so successful as he at first imagined he

should be, greatly augmented his forces; ordered the bands of ruffians,

belonging to the monks, should join him; and commanded, that a general

jail-delivery should take place, provided the persons released would

bear arms, and form themselves into light companies, to assist in the

extermination of the Waldenses.



The Waldenses, being informed of the proceedings, secured as much of

their properties as they could, and quitting the valleys, retired to the

rocks and caves among the Alps; for it is to be understood, that the

valleys of Piedmont are situated at the foot of those prodigious

mountains called the Alps, or the Alpine hills.



The army now began to plunder and burn the towns and villages wherever

they came; but the troops could not force the passes to the Alps, which

were gallantly defended by the Waldenses, who always repulsed their

enemies: but if any fell into the hands of the troops, they were sure to

be treated with the most barbarous severity.



A soldier having caught one of the Waldenses, bit his right ear off,

saying, I will carry this member of that wicked heretic with me into my

own country, and preserve it as a rarity. He then stabbed the man and

threw him into a ditch.



A party of the troops found a venerable man, upwards of a hundred years

of age, together with his grand-daughter, a maiden, of about eighteen,

in a cave. They butchered the poor old man in the most inhuman manner,

and then attempted to ravish the girl, when she started away and fled

from them; but they pursuing her, she threw herself from a precipice and

perished.



The Waldenses, in order the more effectually to be able to repel force

by force, entered into a league with the protestant powers of Germany,

and with the reformed of Dauphiny and Pragela. These were respectively

to furnish bodies of troops; and the Waldenses determined, when thus

reinforced, to quit the mountains of the Alps, (where they must soon

have perished, as the winter was coming on,) and to force the duke's

army to evacuate their native valleys.



The duke of Savoy was now tired of the war; it had cost him great

fatigue and anxiety of mind, a vast number of men, and very

considerable sums of money. It had been much more tedious and bloody

than he expected, as well as more expensive than he could at first have

imagined, for he thought the plunder would have discharged the expenses

of the expedition; but in this he was mistaken, for the pope's nuncio,

the bishops, monks, and other ecclesiastics, who attended the army and

encouraged the war, sunk the greatest part of the wealth that was taken

under various pretences. For these reasons, and the death of his

duchess, of which he had just received intelligence, and fearing that

the Waldenses, by the treaties they had entered into, would become more

powerful than ever, he determined to return to Turin with his army, and

to make peace with the Waldenses.



This resolution he executed, though greatly against the will of the

ecclesiastics, who were the chief gainers, and the best pleased with

revenge. Before the articles of peace could be ratified, the duke

himself died, soon after his return to Turin; but on his death-bed he

strictly enjoined his son to perform what he intended, and to be as

favourable as possible to the Waldenses.



The duke's son, Charles Emmanuel, succeeded to the dominions of Savoy,

and gave a full ratification of peace to the Waldenses, according to the

last injunctions of his father, though the ecclesiastics did all they

could to persuade him to the contrary.