(AUTUMN, 1532.)
THE news of the meeting of Francis I. and Henry VIII. alarmed Germany, Italy, and all Europe. ‘The kings of France and England,’ it was said, ‘are going to take advantage of the emperor’s campaign against the Turks, to unite their armies with those of the protestants and gain a signal victory.’
fd265 But nobody was more alarmed than the pope. Abruptly addressing the bishop of Auxerre, the minister of France, he made the bitterest complaints to him. fd266 Already he saw France, like England, shaking off the yoke of Rome. ‘I have it from good authority,’ says Brantome, ‘that the King of France was on the point of renouncing the pope, as the King of England had done.’ fd267
On leaving Boulogne, Francis went to Paris, where he spent the winter and took his measures for ‘the great effort’ with which he threatened the pope.
The priests were very uneasy, and began to dread a reform similar to that in England. Calling to mind that in Denmark, Sweden, and elsewhere, a great party of the ecclesiastical property had been transferred to the treasury of the State, they granted the king all he asked; and the prince thus obtained between five and six hundred thousand ducats, which put him in a condition to do ‘the great things’ with which the cardinals were to menace the pontiff. fd268 An unexpected event furnished the opportunity of employing the priests’ money in favor of the Reformation.
The haughty Soliman had invaded Hungary, in July, 1539, at the head of numerous and terrible hordes. Displaying a luxury without precedent, he gave audience on a golden throne, with a crown of solid gold at his side, and the scabbards of his swords covered with pearls. But erelong the sickly Charles succeeded in terrifying this magnificent barbarian. Having raised an army which combined the order and strength of the German
lansquenets with the lightness and impetuosity of the Italian bands and the pride and perseverance of the Spanish troops, he forced Soliman to retreat.
The emperor was all the more delighted, as the conference between Henry and Francis made him important to settle with the Mussulmans. It was even said ‘in the empire that it was this conference which brought Charles back, as he desired to join the pope in combating projects which
threatened them both. The emperor passed the Alps in the autumn of 1532. fd269
Among the nobles and warriors who accompanied him, was a young prince of eighteen, Christopher, son of Duke Ulrich of Wurtemberg. He was only five years old when his father was expelled from his duchy by the
Austrians; and the latter, wishing to make him forget Wurtemberg, resolved to separate him from his country and his parents. The little boy and his guardians having left Stuttgart, stopped to pass the night in a town near the frontier. A lamb was gambling in the yard; the poor boy, delighted with the gentleness of the animal, ran and took it up in his arms, and began to play with it. In the morning, just as they were leaving, little
Christopher, less distressed at their taking away his scepter than at their separating him from his pet companion, kissed it with tears in his eyes, and said to the host: ‘Pray take care of it, and when I return I will pay you for your trouble.’
Christopher was taken to Innsbruck, where his life was a hard one. The young prince who, in later times, filled his country with evangelical
schools, had no one to cultivate his mind, and he who was one day to sit at the table of kings was often half-starved; his dress was neglected, and even the beggars, when they saw him, were moved with compassion. From Innsbruck he was transferred to Neustadt (Nagy-Banya) in Hungary, beyond the Theiss. One day a troop of Turkish horsemen, having crossed the Carpathians, scoured the country that lay between the mountains and the river, and, catching sight of the prince, rushed upon him to carry him off. But a faithful follower, who had observed their movements, shouted for help, and succeeded in saving Christopher from the hands of the Mussulmans. And thus the heir of Wurtemberg grew up in the bosom of adversity.
The noble-hearted man who had saved him at the peril of his own life was Michael Tifernus. In his early childhood he had been carried off by the Turks, and, being abandoned by them, he had succeeded in reaching a village near Trieste, where some kind people took care of him. Tifernus (who derived his name from the place of his adoption, for his parents’
name was never known)was sent to a school in Vienna, where he received a sound education. King Ferdinand, who was guilty of negligence towards Christopher rather than of ill-will, gave him Tifernus for tutor. The latter attached himself passionately to the prince, who, under his care, became an accomplished young man. In the midst of the splendors of the court of Austria and of the Roman worship, grew up one who was erelong to rescue Wurtemberg from both Austria and Rome. An important circumstance occurred to agitate the young prince deeply, and throw a bright light over his dark path.
Christopher accompanied the emperor in 1530 to the famous diet of Augsburg. He was struck by the noble sight of the fidelity and courage of the protestants. He heard them make their confession of faith; his elevated soul took the side of the oppressed Gospel; and when, at this very diet, Charles solemnly invested his brother Ferdinand with the duchy of Wurtemberg, — when Christopher saw the standard of his fathers and of his people in the hands of the Austrian archduke — the feeling of his rights came over him; he viewed the triumphant establishment of the evangelical faith in the country of his ancestors as a task appointed him.
He would recover his inheritance, and, uniting with the noble confessors of Augsburg, would bring an unexpected support to the Reformation.
The emperor, after the war against the Turks, desired the prince to accompany him to Italy and Spain; perhaps it was his intention to leave him there; but Christopher made no objection. He had arranged his plans:
two great ideas, the independence of Wurtemberg and the triumph of the Reformation, had taken possession of his mind, and while following the emperor and appearing to turn his back upon the states of his fathers, he said significantly to his devoted friend Tifernus: ‘I shall not abandon my rights in Germany.’ fd270
Charles V. and his court were crossing the Alps in the autumn of 1532.
The young duke on horseback was slowly climbing the passes which
separate Austria from Styria, contemplating the everlasting snows in the distance, and stopping from time to time on the heights from whose base rushed the foaming torrents which descended from the sides of the mountains. He had a thoughtful lock, as of one absorbed by seine great resolution. The news of the interview of Francis I. and Henry VIII., which had alarmed Austria, had inflamed his hopes; and he said to himself that now was the time for claiming his states. He had conversed with his governor about it, and it now remained to carry the daring enterprise into execution. To escape from Charles V., surrounded by his court and his guards, seemed impossible; but Christopher believing that God can deliver out of the mouth of the lion, prayed him to be his guide, during the rest of his life. As etiquette was not strictly observed in these mountains, Christopher and his governor lagged a little in the rear of their traveling companions. A tree, a rock, a turn in the road sufficed to hide them from view. Yet, if one of the emperor’s attendants should turn round too soon and look for the laggards, the two friends would be ruined. But no one thought of doing so: erelong they were at some distance from the court, and could see the imperial procession stretching in the distance, like a riband, along the flanks of the Norican Alps. On a sudden the two loiterers turned their horses, and set off at full gallop. They asked some
mountaineers to show them a road which would take them to Salzburg, and continued their flight in the direction indicated. But there were some terrible passes to cross; Christopher’s horse broke down, and it was impossible to proceed. What was to be done? Perhaps the imperialists were already on their track.
The two friends were not at a loss. There was a lake close at hand; they dragged the useless animal by the legs towards it, and buried it at the bottom of the water, in order that there might be no trace of their passage.
‘Now, my lord,’ said his governor, ‘take my horse and proceed; I shall manage to get out of the scrape.’ The young duke disappeared, and not before it was time. ‘What has become of Prince Christopher?’ asked Charles’s attendants. ‘He is in the rear,’ was the reply; ‘he will soon catch us up.’ As he did not appear, some of the imperial officers rode back in search of him. The little lake into which the prince’s horse had been thrown was partly filled with tall reeds, among which Tifernus lay concealed. Presently the imperialists passed close by him; he heard their
steps, their voices; they went backwards and forwards, but found nothing.
At last they returned and mournfully reported the uselessness of their search. It was believed that the two young men had been murdered by brigands among the mountains. The court continued its progress towards Italy and Rome. All this time Christopher was fleeing on his governor’s horse, and by exercising great prudence he reached a secure asylum without being recognized, and here he kept himself in concealment under the protection of his near relatives the dukes of Bavaria. Tifernus joined him in his retreat.
The report of Christopher’s death was circulated every. where; the Austrians, who had no doubt about it, felt surer than ever of Wurtemberg;
they were even beginning to forget the prince, when a document bearing his name and dated the 17th of November, 1532, fd271 was suddenly circulated all over Germany. Faithful to his resolution, the young prince in this noble manifesto gave utterance to the bitterest complaints, and boldly claimed his inheritance in the face of the world. This paper, which alarmed Ferdinand of Austria, caused immense joy in Wurtemberg and all
protestant Germany the young prince had everything in his favor: an age which always charms, a courage universally acknowledged, virtues, talents, graceful manners, an ancient family, a respected name, indisputable rights, and the love of his subjects. They had not seen him, indeed, since the day when he had bedewed the pet lamb with his tears; but they hailed him as their national prince who would recover their independence. Protected by the Duke of Bavaria, by the Landgrave of Hesse, and by the powerful King of France, Christopher had all the chances in his favor. He had more:
he had the support of God. As a friend of the Gospel, he would give fresh strength to the great cause of the Reformation. Du Bellay would use all his zeal to reestablish him on the throne, and thus procure au ally for France who would help her to enter on the path of religious liberty.
We must now return to the country of Margaret of Navarre, and see how this princess began to realize her great project of having the pure Gospel preached in the bosom and under the forms of the Roman Catholic Church.