in 1538, addressed a letter to the Senate of Venice, from which it has been inferred, though probably without suf hæc calamitas, quam hîc, ubi totus viget Antichristus. In consequence of the danger and the sufferings to which they were thus exposed, these Reformers supplicate Luther to intercede for them with the German Protestant princes, in order to induce them to take up their cause and prevail on the Senate to allow them the free exercise of their religion, while they abstained from political offences : Nam, cum tanta passi fueritis, ob eam duntaxat causam, ut nomen Christi ad nos usque perveniret, non est credendum, quod cum agnoverimus illum, et sequamur, in medio pene cursu deseramur à vobis, quorum voce ad id vehementer incitati sumus, et ad hunc usque diem mirificè impellimur. Id autem est, quantum huc usque è Spiritu Christi colligere potuimus, et fortasse vobis quoque non displicebit, ut, quamprimum fieri poterit at Serenissimos Germaniæ Principes, qui ex nostra sunt parte, et eorum bonus est numerus, auspice Christo, sicut à multis accepimus, hanc rem totam deferatis, eosque per Christum rogetis, ut litteras commendatitias ad Senatum Venetiarum pro nobis conscribant, rogando monendoque ut sese temperent ab ea decernendi licentia, atque judicandi libidine, quam ministris Papæ tam inconsulto concessere ac quotidie sævius impertiuntur in pusillos Christi sub prætextu fidei et religionis impiè cruciandos, sed, permittant quemlibet ritu suo vivere, dum tamen seditio, et publicæ quietis perturbatio caveatur, eamque rem ad generale concilium, quod ajunt, in promptu esse, licet nunquam futurum esse arbitremur, omnino referant, interim neminem cogi aut trahi ad fidem sinant. In the course of this letter, the learned and pious writer took occasion, in the spirit of charity, to lament the disunion and the angry disputes which had been excited among the Protestant Reformers in Germany and other places on the subject of the Lord's Supper, and to recommend to his correspondent to put an end to such dissensions. He learnt, however, from Luther's answer, that his benevolent wish, on this head, was not likely to be soon accomplished. The notice of the subject seems to have roused all the angry feelings of the Saxon Reformer against his opponents in this controversy; for he particularly cautions the Italians against the "pestilent errors" of Bullenger, Bucer and others, whom he stigmatizes as false prophets, who, at the instigation of ficient reason, that the members of that venerable body were not unfriendly to the cause of the Reformation. In this epistle, the writer gives a brief exposition of the principal doctrines which were professed by himself, and the other German Reformers: but he subjoins to this statement an admonition to the Senators against the tenets of Servetus, warning them not to permit such heresies to be promulgated in their territories.* There is extant a curious document which, if it be, as it purports, the genuine production of a sincere Catholic, may serve to shew, on the authority of its adversaries, the extent and strength of the feeling which existed in the North of Italy in favour of the Reformation. This professes to be a letter addressed by Gerardus Busdragius, a suffragan Bishop in the diocese of Padua, to Cardinal Pisano. The writer expresses his serious apprehensions that the whole of Italy would be shortly infested with what he calls "the plague of Lutheranism;" the inquisitors finding themselves, it seems, unequal to the task of staying the ravages of the malignant disease which was threatening the very existence of the Papal authority. This let Satan, were knowingly fighting against the truth. This language was afterwards severely censured by Melancthon. Besides the references above noted, see De Porta, Hist. Reform. Eccles. Ræticarum, Tom. I. Pt. ii. p. 10. It has been doubted whether Melancthon did actually address such a letter to the Venetian Senate, it appearing unlikely that he should write in such terms and upon such a subject to a body known to be attached to the interests of the See of Rome; and it has been conjectured that the report might have arisen from his having addressed a letter "to some Venetians devoted to the study of the gospel." Ad Venetos quosdam Evangelii studiosos. But Bock saw the original edition of the letter referred to in the library of the University of Konigsberg. It was printed at Nuremburg, in 1539, by Jerom Formschneider, and is intituled Epistola Philippi Melancthonis ad Senatum Venetum. Oratio publice habita Wittenbergæ in promotione Doctoris Juris. De scripto Jure et Dignitate Veterum Interpretum Juris. Bock, ut supra, II. pp. 397, 398. De Porta, Hist. Reform. Eccles. Ræticarum, Tom, I. Lib. ii. p. 63. ter is dated the 15th December, 1558, and the writer asserts, upon information which he had been at considerable pains to collect, that, antecedently to that time, nearly eight hundred persons, tainted with this contagious malady, had fled from Italy on account of their religious opinions; "among whom," he writes, are to be reckoned some men of distinguished learning and sagacity." He next complains that those who yet remained in the country pursued the same measures as their predecessors, in promulgating their sentiments, by their discourses and the distribution of books. "These men," he observes, "sadly harass our inquisitors: for they clandestinely penetrate the whole of Italy, sometimes in person, and sometimes by their emissaries, who disperse their books and sermons, and infect more in one day than we are able, with all our inquisitions and pains, to cure in a year.' "The zealous bishop, if such he were, then recommends that, on account of their proved inefficacy, they should thenceforth abstain from the cruel proceedings of the Inquisition, by which, he states, that within a period of forty years, or since the beginning of the Reformation, more than one hundred thousand persons had been put to death, without effecting any thing towards healing the disorder which they were designed to extirpate. He advises that a new expedient should be tried, in order, if possible, to prevent the whole country from being contaminated. He proposes that the Pope should interdict all intercourse whatever between Italy and Germany, so that no person from one country should be allowed to visit the other;" in order," he writes, "that our Catholics may not know what our enemies say, or, if they should be inade acquainted with it, that they should not at once adopt their opinions." As, however, obvious obstacles suggested themselves, which would render the execution of this plan impracticable, he expresses himself obliged to conclude that it was extremely difficult, if not wholly impossible, to preserve Italy. He reproves the Venetians for crippling the powers of the Inquisition in their states; complains of Poland because it favoured Lutheranism; blames the Pope because he would not acknowledge Fer dinand Emperor, and expresses his wish that his Holiness would not further persecute the Lutherans with his thunders, but would extend to them the same toleration as he granted to the Greeks, and by this means promote the peace and augment the treasures of the Church. Bock, who has given the preceding account of this singular epistle, justly observes, that it wears more of the appearance of a piece of satire, than of grave advice. It is, indeed, by some, and not without probability, attributed to Vergerius, who was one of the earliest of the agents sent by the Pope into Germany to oppose the proceedings of Luther, but who afterwards gave up his bishopric, and joined the Reformers.* Although the states of Venice contained so great a number of persons who had become converts to the doctrines of the Reformation, it does not appear that here, any more than in Naples, separate societies had been formed for religious worship. The vigilance of the agents of the Inquisition, notwithstanding the restraints which were imposed upon their proceedings by the Venetian Senate, rendered it, no doubt, impossible for the Reformers to take so decisive and public a step. The society which is stated to have met at Vincenza, and to which the origin of Socinianism is commonly ascribed, is probably not to be considered an exception to this remark. Mosheim, indeed, and with him some other writers, doubt whether this much-famed society had any real existence; but the reasons they assign for their scepticism are in the extreme weak and inconclusive. Very little is known of the constitution of this association. From the title of college, which is so generally applied to it, the presumption is, that it was founded merely for conversation, or, for the Bock, ut supra, II. pp. 399, et seqq., Gerdes, Lib. cit. p. 9. Alterius, in the letter to Luther, above referred to, expressly intimates that they had no separate churches. His words are:-Ubi nullas publice habemus, sed quilibet sibi ipsi est Ecclesia, pro cujusque arbitrio atque libidine, &c. The English reader will find these reasons stated and discussed in the Historical Introduction to Rees's Racovian Catechism, pp. xxi. &c. Note, discussion of literary and religious to pics. The period assigned for its dispersion is the year 1546: and it is worthy of observation, that on the first of May, in that very year, the Pope addressed a Bull to the Senate of Venice, directing them to suppress the Lutheran heresy at Vincenza. There can be no question but that it was this Papal mandate which occasioned the breaking up of the Protes tant society at that place. There belonged to it at this period, James de Chiar, Julius Trevisanus, and Francis de Ruego, who were seized by the inquisitors; the first died in prison, and the other two were put to death at Venice:-Lælius Socinus, Niccola Paruta, Valentine Gentilis, Darius Socinus, Francis Niger, and John Paul Alciatus, who all escaped, and obtained an asylum among the Reformers on the other side of the Alps. † The Senate of Venice, by permitting the Pope's Bull to be acted upon with such promptness and sanguinary violence, departed, for the first time, from that cautious and lenient policy which it had usually observed towards the favourers of the Reformation in the countries under its jurisdiction. What ever might have been the reasons of its conduct in this instance, they did not at once cease to operate: for the measures to which it now assented proved to be the forerunners of others upon a still larger scale, which ultimately effected the ruin of the cause of the Reformers in these states. The Pope, finding that the Reformed doctrines were gaining over proselytes in great numbers throughout Italy, issued strict orders to the officers of the Inquisition to use the utmost vigilance to detect and seize the heretics, and to suppress their books. These orders obtained the ready adoption and the active co-operation of the several governments into which they were sent. The Senate of Venice, on this occasion, evinced its zeal for the interests of the holy see, by re-enacting a decree which it had passed against heretics in the year 1521, probably on the Gerdes, ut supra, pp. 71, et seqq. This writer has given the Bull at length. + Rees's Racovian Catechism. Historical Introduction, pp. xx. &c.; with the authorities referred to in the Note. publication of the Bull against Luther, but which it had allowed to remain a dead letter upon its statute-books. In consequence of the severity with which it was now carried into execu tion, Balthasar Alterius again interested himself for the persecuted Protestants, and, with the view of obtaining some mitigation of the edict which had been passed against them, wrote on their behalf to the Duke of Saxony, and the other leaders of the Reformation in Germany, and went himself with the same view into Switzerland to intercede with the Swiss Governments to take up their cause. His benevolent exertions failed of their object, and only served to incense against himself the power which he had aimed to soften for on his return he was ordered either to rejoin the Church of Rome or quit the states, and he immediately chose the latter alternative.* Besides the territories of Venice, the principles of the Reformation obtained a favourable reception in other states in the north of Italy. The celebrated Paguinus, writing to Pope Clement VII., in January, 1525, states, that many of the citizens of Florence were infected by the Lutheran heresy; and he is careful to add, that he had laboured among them not without benefit to many souls. + There were, also, several Protestants at Modena in 1542 and 1545, who attracted the notice of the See of Rome; and at Milan, so late as the year 1536, Pope Paul III. complains, in a letter to Moronus, bishop of Modena, that there were many heresies condemned by the Church, openly professed. The same Pope, writing to Cardinal Mantuanus in 1545, states, that he had been informed that there were at Mantua some of the clergy and others who not only doubted but denied the doctrines of the Roman Church, whom he exhorts him to take the proper methods to punish or reclaim. At Bologna, also, there were many converts to the Protestant cause; and, it is stated, that in their number they reckoned one individual of such influence and authority, that 1 he offered to furnish six thousand Whether at Ferrara, any proselytes Whilst the spirit of the Reforma tion was spreading through the other states of Italy, it was found impossible to prevent its manifesting itself in the Pope's territories, and at the very threshold of the church of St. Peter's. For it appears, that even here, particularly in the town of Faenza, some men were zealous and intrepid enough to preach against the Roman power. The little republic of Lucca is enti tled to particular notice, in connexion with the history of the Italian Refor. mation. It has been already observed, that Peter Martyr, after quitting Na ples, obtained the situation of prior of the monastery of St. Fridianus, at Lucca. After entering on this prefer ment, he established a kind of collegiate institution for the education of young persons, in which Paul Lacisins taught Latin; Celsus Martinengus, Greek; and Imanuel Tremellius, Gerdes, pp. 59, 71, 84. + Idem. p. 23. Hebrew; whilst Martyr himself attended to the department of theology, and delivered lectures on the Epistles of Paul. By the measures which he now pursued, he soon imbued his companions and fellow-labourers with the principles of the Reformation, and gained over other converts from among the persons who were admitted to attend his lectures. In the number of these proselytes was the celebrated Jerome Zanchius, at that time a monk, but who was afterwards Professor of Divinity in the university of Strasburg. Some idea of the success with which Martyr laboured may be formed from the fact, that within one year after he gave up his cowl, and went into voluntary exile, not less than eigh teen of his associates at the monastery, quitted the place and joined the Reformers in Switzerland and Germany. Martyr finding it no longer safe to remain in Italy, went to Zurich, in company with Bernard Ochini, in 1542. He was followed by Celsus Martinengus, who was afterwards pastor of the Italian church at Geneva, by Imanuel Tremellius, Jerome Zanchius, and others. * This sketch of the Italian Reformation must not be concluded without some notice of the churches which were formed in the Rhætian Alps. It seems, that so early as the year 1523, the attention of the court of Rome was drawn to the progress of heretical opinions in the valley of Tellina, in this district. The efforts that were then made to suppress the rising spirit of religious inquiry, proved vain and ineffectual; and, in a short time, the population of those parts which were included in the Swiss government of the Grisons, became converts to the doctrines of Zwinglius. The Italian Les mœurs depravées de l'Ordre being the language in common use, Ecclésiastique et de la Cour de Rome the exiles from Italy were naturally persuadèrent à bien des personnes, que induced to resort hither, and great tous les maux, qu'on éprouvoit, étoient numbers of them chose this district en exécution des jugemens de Dieu, qui for their permanent residence. From venoient venger les grands abus, qui se the Italian churches of this state, committoient journellement. On em- others were afterwards formed at Zubrassoit en conséquence la Reforme, dans les maisons, et divers villes, particulièrement à Faënza, quoique Terre du Pape, on y prêchoit contre l'Eglise Romaine; de manière que de jour en jour, le nom bre des Lutheriens, qui se faisoient nommer Evangelistes, s'augmentoient. Giannone Hist. Civ. de Naples, apud Gerdes, P. 22. rich and Geneva, which had to boast, among their ministers and members, of numerous individuals of distinguished learning and talents, and of noble and • Adam in Vita Petri Martyris, pp. 33, 34; Gerdes, p. 80. illustrious rank, who had been forced, by the terrors of the Inquisition, to bid adieu to their native Italy.* The preceding statement contains a brief abstract of the history of the Reformation in Italy, as far, at least, as respects the first manifestations of open hostility to the doctrines and discipline of the Roman Church. The subsequent ecclesiastical history of that country would supply many additional facts of an interesting kind, which cannot now be noticed, but which might be used as materials for a work that is yet a desideratum in this branch of literature-an Italian Protestant Martyrology. In tracing the means by which the work of reformation was carried on in Italy, it is evident that a great part of its success is to be attributed to the labours of churchmen, who, like Peter Martyr, employed themselves in explaining the Scriptures, and instilling into the minds of their hearers the principles of the German or the Swiss Reformers. But the most extensive effects in this way were produced by the general circulation of the writings of these eminent men, which were translated into the Italian language, and read with great avidity. ↑ Ano * De Porta, ut supra, Tom. I. Pt. ii. Cap. i. ii.; Gerdes, p. 86. ther circumstance to which important consequences are deservedly attached, was the translation of the Scriptures into the vernacular tongue. In 1530, Antonio Bruccioli printed, at Venice, an Italian version of the New Testament; and he followed up his design, by a translation of the Old Testament, which was published in 1540. These translations are erroneously classed, by Le Long and Father Simon, among the Catholic versions; but they were instantly disowned by the Roman Church, and placed in the catalogue of prohibited books.* Exclusively of those who appear to have acted in concert, or as associated bodies, there were many individuals of distinguished eminence who sided with the friends of the Reformation in Italy, and became exiles on account of their religion. In the number of these, we may here just mention the names of Olympia Fulvia Morata, a native of Mantua; Cœlius Secundus Curio, born of a noble family in Piedmont; Minus Celsus, a native of Sienna; and George Blandrata, a physician of Piedmont, afterwards the opponent and persecu tor of Francis David, in Transylvania. It may be remarked, in respect to the Italian Reformers in general, that most of those who were in circumstances to emigrate, and were fortunate enough to escape the agents of the Inquisition, transported themselves, in the first instance, to Switzerland, and obtained settlements in the Grisons, at Geneva, and in some of the other states. Some of them were readily admitted into the Swiss churches, whose opinions they had embraced, and to whose discipline they did not object to conform. One of the earliest of the works that were translated was Melancthon's "Loci Communes," which was printed at Venice about the year 1529, under the following title: "Principi della Theologia, di Ippofilo de Terra Nigra." Afterwards appeared, without the author's name, Luther's explanation of the Lord's Prayer, and his Catechism, which latter, not be ing suspected to be an heretical work, was greatly esteemed by the Catholics. About the same period, Bucer published an Italian edition of his Commentary on the Psalms, under the feigned name of Aretius Felinus. Calvin's Catechism was also printed in Italian, without his name; and, in 1557, his Institutes were translated into Italian by Paschali, and dedicated to Galeazzo Caraccioli. In 1526, Bucer translated Luther's "Postillas" from the German into Latin, for the use of the Italian Reformers. Having taken some liberties with his original in omitting and altering some passages relating to the doctrine of Consubstantiation, he drew upon himself the severe displeasure of Luther, who styled his preface sacrilege, * Gerdes, pp. 14 and 56, In the course of time, as has already been observed, churches were formed of their own body, to which ministers were appointed from among their exiled countrymen. Some of the more learned of the ecclesiastics were appointed to professorships in the Swiss and his notes poisonous glosses-venenatorum glossematum. Bucer, in consequence of this complaint, afterwards printed the altered passages in their original state, in a separate book, in which he inserted Luther's letters of remonstrance. See De Porta, ut supra, Tom. I. Pt. ii. p. 8. |