From this time till the death of Victor Amadeus the First, in 1637, tranquillity remained nearly uninterrupted, except by the violent writings of Rorenco, and the monk Belvedere, which were subsequently refuted by Gilles, pastor of La Tour, and author of the history of the Vaudois.* * Printed at Geneva, 1644. CHAPTER X. Before we enter upon the dreadful tragedy which took place in the valleys during the regency of the Duchess Christina, sister to the king of France, (which succeeded the reign of Victor Amadeus;) it is necessary to call the attention of the reader to the state of the valleys at this period. For years, the continual partial and individual persecutions had held them in a state of alarm, even in the midst of peace, and now they had suffered most severely by pestilence, and were reduced to want or poverty by the great scarcity of provisions which succeeded it. After a calm of thirteen years, under the regency, what must have been their dismay to hear that councils, for the propagation of the faith and extirpation of heresy, had been established in all Catholic countries, after the model of that at Rome; and that one was now instituted at Turin, in 1650. This establishment was divided into two bodies of supporters; the archbishop being the head of the male, and the Marchioness di Pia-nezza of the female, devotees. The eagerness of the ladies engaged in this pious enterprise can hardly be imagined, they sent forth spies to promote dissensions in private families, offered money to new converts, and even penetrated into the prisons to make proselytes. To support their expenses, they went round even to the shops and inns to collect contributions. The secular arm also assisted them, if required, in their labours to deserve the plenary indulgence for all their sins granted them by the court of Rome.