ecclesiastical authority of the Bishop and his vicar. Furbiti was
compelled to appear before the Council and the deputies of Bern, and to
answer to Farel and Viret on Jan. 27th and Feb. 3rd (1534). On the
afternoon of the latter day the partisans of the Bishop got up another
riot, in which one of them poniarded an Evangelical, Nicolas Bergier.
This riot seems to have exhausted the patience of the peaceable citizens
of Geneva, whether Romanists or Evangelicals. A band of about five
hundred assembled armed before the Town Hall, informed the Council that
they would no longer tolerate riots caused by turbulent priests, and
that they were ready to support civic authority and put down lawlessness
with a strong hand. The Council thereupon acted energetically. That
night the murderer, Claude Pennet, who had hid himself in the belfry of
the cathedral, was dragged from his place of concealment, tried next
day, and hanged on the day following (Feb. 5th). The houses of the
principal rioters were searched, and letters discovered proving a plot
to seize the town and deliver it into the hands of the Bishop. Pierre de
la Baume had gone the length of nominating a member of the Council of
Freiburg, M. Pavillard, to act as his deputy in secular affairs, and
ordering him to massacre the Evangelicals within the city.
When the excitement had somewhat died down, the deputies of Bern pressed
for a renewal of the proceedings against Furbiti. The monk was again
brought before the Council, and confronted by Farel and Viret. He was
forced to confess that he could not prove his assertions from the Holy
Scriptures, but had based them on the Decretals and the writings of
Thomas Aquinas, admitting that he had transgressed the regulations of
the Council of Geneva. He promised that, if allowed to preach on the
following Sunday (Feb. 15th), he would make public reparation to the
Council of Bern. When Sunday came he refused to keep his promise, and
was sent back to prison.[82]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account