would have disgraced the worst of the pagan Roman Emperors. The simple Vaudois had retained the purity of their Christian faith and worship from the earliest times, uncorrupted by the materialistic rites which had found their way into the wealthier and more elegant churches. They had recently hailed the doctrines of the Reformation as in accordance with their own faith-a circumstance which drew the attention of Europe to these hitherto-unnoticed and obscure heretics.

On New Year's Day, 1545, Francis I. addressed a letter to the Parliament of Provence, demanding the execution of the decree which it had passed in 1540 for the suppression of heresy, but which had been suspended hitherto by the intercession of the German Protestants. This atrocious edict required all fathers of families who persisted in heresy to be burned, their wives and children to be reduced to serfdom, their property to be confiscated, and their dwellings to be destroyed.

The

A Vaudois colony settled in the rugged mountain region north of the Durance, which their patient industry had converted into a fruitful garden, was the special object of the French king's persecution. Baron d'Oppède, whose forces had been trained by the plundering and devastating campaigns of the French in Italy, was a fit instrument for this work of desolation. His bands soon overran the Vaudois country, laid waste the vineyards, orchards and grain-fields, and massacred the innocent inhabitants. The little town of Cabrières was induced to surrender by a promise that no one should be put to death-a promise that was violated as soon as the population were in the power of their cruel foes, who slaughtered their innocent victims without the least show of mercy. Those who had sought refuge in the mountains were hunted like wild beasts; and some of the strongest were chained to the galleys, while the others were butchered.

This cruel persecution of the simple Vaudois horrified most of Europe; but the French clergy, who had demanded it of

their king, boldly avowed and sanctioned the atrocity. The fires of persecution were kindled throughout France, and Protestants were publicly burned at Paris, Meaux, Sens and Issoire. Briçonnet, the good Bishop of Meaux, had introduced the Reformed doctrines into that city twenty years before; and it became one of the centers of the Reformation in France. One of its martyrs was Stephen Dolet, a celebrated French scholar and author, who was highly esteemed by the literary men of that period.

Notwithstanding his many faults and vices, Francis I. was one of the greatest of the Kings of France. His great weakness was his subserviency to his wicked mother and mistresses, who ruled him thoroughly, and whose folly was accountable for most of the reverses which had befallen him. But his great sagacity clearly perceived the danger with which France and all Europe were menaced by the towering ambition of the illustrious royal Austrian House of Hapsburg. He struggled single-handed for thirty years against the most powerful monarch that had reigned in Christendom since the time of Charlemagne, and left France to his successor wholly unimpaired and even increased in territorial extent.

Francis I. was called the Restorer of Letters and the Arts, because of the wise and liberal encouragement and patronage which he gave to the revival of learning and the arts which distinguished his era; and many of the noblest monuments of France had their origin during his reign. He died March 31, 1547, of a painful malady from which he had long suffered, and which had been caused by his immoral life; and was succeeded by his son HENRY II. Henry VIII. of England died the same year.

Thus two of the six great contemporary European sovereigns of the first half of the sixteenth century passed from the world's stage. The four remaining were the Emperor Charles V., Sultan Solyman the Magnificent of Turkey, the Czar Ivan the Terrible of Russia, and King Gustavus Vasa of Sweden.

S THE Emperor Charles V., after the Peace of Cambray, in 1529, seemed determined to suppress the religious Reformation in his dominions, the Protestant princes of Germany, with the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse at their head, united in 1531 for their own protection, and formed an alliance, known as the League of Schmalkald, which was joined by the Kings of England, France, Denmark and Sweden.

The Emperor of Germany was obliged to avoid hostilities with his Protestant subjects at this time, in consequence of the formidable invasions of the Austrian territories by the Turks, who were then the most powerful people in Europe. Thus these constant Turkish invasions were highly favorable to the cause of the Reformation, as the Protestants of Germany refused to assist the Emperor in driving back the infidels, so long as the sword of Catholic vengeance was raised over their heads. The plans of Charles V. for the extermination of heresy were thus frustrated, and he found himself obliged to conclude with the League of Schmalkald the Peace of Nuremberg, in 1532.

The Peace of Nuremberg, which was confirmed by the German imperial Diet at Ratisbon, granted full liberty to preach and publish the doctrines of the Augsburg Confession. By this treaty both parties agreed to refrain from hostilities until a Council of the Church should be assembled to settle the division which thus distracted Christendom. Pope Clement. VII. had been vehemently urged to convene such a Council. In the meantime the law proceedings were to cease. While the treaty bound the Protestants, it gave them no assurance for the future; but it afforded great opportunities for the diffusion of the Gospel throughout every portion of Germany.

The Lutheran form of worship was intro

duced into the Duchy of Wurtemberg. Duke Ulrich of Wurtemberg, a hot-tempered and cruel prince, had with his own hand murdered Hans von Hutten, a knight of his court, from motives of jealousy. He had so ill treated his wife that she fled from him, and he had conquered the imperial city of Reutlingen. He was at length outlawed for disturbing the peace of the country, and was driven from his land and his vassals by the Suabian League.

For fourteen years Ulrich was forced to lead a wandering life in exile from his dukedom, which meanwhile came under the dominion of Austria. At length the Landgrave Philip of Hesse resolved to restore Würtemberg to its exiled duke, who was then living at his court. Philip accordingly led a wellequipped army into Suabia, defeated the Austrian governor at Laufen on the Neckar, and reëstablished Ulrich in the government of his duchy. Ulrich was joyfully welcomed by his subjects, who had forgotten his former tyranny, and who were easily induced to accept the Lutheran doctrines, which Ulrich had embraced during his exile, and which he now caused to be disseminated by Brenz and Schnepf. The Lutheran Church was firmly established in the Duchy of Würtemberg, and the University of Tübingen was one of the most celebrated Lutheran seats of learning.

As we have seen, there were extremists in the new Church. Thomas Münzer's death had not suppressed the doctrines of the Anabaptists, who regarded their own passions as divine inspirations. In spite of the opposition of the leaders of the Reformation, and the discouragement given by all the lawful magistrates, the Anabaptists would make their appearance at various places in Germany. These fanatical doctrines displayed themselves in the most formidable manner in Münster, where the Reformation had made violent headway and driven the bishop and canons into exile.

It was soon apparent that Rottman, an influential preacher of the Reformation at Münster, was infected with Anabaptist ideas. He was at length aided by Jan Matthys and his countryman and disciple, the tailor, John Bockhold, called John of Leyden; whereupon the Anabaptists acquired such ascendency at Münster that they soon had possession of all the city offices, drove all such of the inhabitants who refused to accept their doctrines out of the city in the midst of winter, and divided their property among themselves. They then established a religious commonwealth in which Jan Matthys had absolute power, introduced the communistic plan of a community of goods, and conducted the defense of the city against the besieging force of the Bishop of Münster.

The fanaticism of the Anabaptists of Münster was heightened when Jan Matthys lost his life in a sally against the besiegers, when John of Leyden was placed at the head of the new commonwealth. John of

was

Leyden selected twelve elders from the most violent of the fanatics, and entrusted them with the government of the city of Münster. Among these, Knipperdoling, who burgomaster and executioner, acted the most conspicuous part. He introduced the practice of polygamy, and put to death without mercy all who denounced this outrage on Christian morality.

When the fanaticism of the Anabaptists of Münster had reached its height, John of Leyden assumed the title of "King of the New Israel," which he claimed by Divine inspiration. This "tailor king" had for his insignia a crown and a globe suspended by a golden chain. With this insignia, and magnificently attired, he set up the "Chair of David" in the market-place of Münster, where he sat for the administration of justice. He introduced a government in which tyranny and fanaticism were mingled, and in which spiritual pride and carnal lust were associated in the most repulsive manner.

The Anabaptists for a long time made a courageous and successful resistance to the attacks of their imperfectly armed foes.

They still resolutely maintained their defense when the besieging army of the Bishop of Münster had been reinforced by imperial troops, and when the beleaguered city began to suffer the horrors of famine. They resisted with the courage of desperation even when the enemy were within the walls of the city. Rottman was slain while fighting. John of Leyden and Knipperdoling were put to death by torture, and their dead bodies were suspended in iron cages on the tower; while many were executed, and the rest were driven into exile. The bishop, the canons and the nobility returned; and Roman Catholicism, which was then reëstablished in all its rigor, has ever since prevailed in Münster.

A few decades later the Anabaptists experienced a complete reformation of their doctrines and discipline under the direction and leadership of Menno Simon; and in that condition, under the name of Mennonites, they have continued to the present day, and have been distinguished for their simplicity of dress and manners, and for their rejection of a separate priesthood, of infant baptism, of oaths, of military service and the use of law. Under Menno Simon's direction they abandoned those principles of an earlier period which were in direct antagonism to Christian morality and the public welfare. In their old ancestral homes their descendants lead a quiet life as tenant farmers and peasants. Many are now living in the

United States of America.

We have seen that the leading Protestant princes of Germany were the Elector John the Steadfast of Saxony and the Landgrave Philip of Hesse. The Elector John the Stead. fast, who succeeded his father Frederick the Wise in 1525, died in 1532, and was succeeded by his son John Frederick. The Duke of Cleves was also one of the greatest of the Protestant princes of Germany; and inherited Guelders and Zutphen, in the Netherlands, through the extinction of the family of Egmont, as well as his father's duchy of Cleves and his mother's inheritance of Berg, Jülich and Ravensberg. His estates lay along the Rhine, from Cologne,