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Download (1613Kb) University of Warwick institutional repository: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap/47069 This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. Vrais Chrestiens: Strangers in the martyrologies of Jean Crespin Jameson Tucker A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History University of Warwick, Department of History October, 2011 CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Declaration ii Abstract iii Introduction 1 1. ‘Il envoyera après moi de plus vaillans prescheurs’: The Hussites in the Livre des Martyrs 33 2. ‘Luther n’est point mort pour moy’: Crespin and Lutheran Martyrs 113 3. ‘Si peu de vraye lumière qu’ils avoyent’: The Vaudois in Crespin’s histories and martyrologies 188 Conclusion 267 Bibliography 277 Acknowledgements Throughout the writing of this thesis, I have been supported by by my family, to whom I am extremely grateful. I could not have done it without them. I must also thank John Sutherland for all of his kindness. The help provided by the Scholarship for Huguenot Research, courtesy of the French Protestant Church, Soho Square, and the Huguenot Society of London, has been much appreciated. First and foremost, I owe a great deal of thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Penny Roberts, for her patience and advice over the course of this project. Professor Mark Greengrass has assisted me with access to some of the holdings of the Huguenot Library, London, and made me a loan of his facsimile of the Quatrieme Partie. Without this help, much more of my time would have been spent on research trips. On such trips, Ian Holt of the Zentralbibliothek Solothurn has been most accommodating, as has Margaret Thompson of the library of Westminster College, Cambridge. I have also benefitted from the willingness of the Huguenot Library, London, and the library of the Société de l’histoire du Protestantisme Français to allow me to photograph some of their holdings. Dr Albert de Lange of the German Waldensian Association provided valuable guidance at a key juncture in the writing of my third chapter. Finally, I would like to thank Laura for all of her support, during this thesis and always. i Declaration This thesis is entirely my own work. It has not been published before, nor has it been submitted for a degree at another university. ii Abstract This thesis examines the portrayal of outsider, or ‘stranger’ groups in the series of Protestant martyrologies known as the Livre des Martyrs. The book’s compiler, editor, and publisher, Jean Crespin, placed the defence of religious doctrine as a mark of a true martyr, and a central theme of the book. He also, in the manner of his contemporaries John Foxe and Ludwig Rabus, wished to write a history of the true persecuted Church, which led him to search for martyrs from a wider range of groups who had come into conflict with the Catholic Church. These two impulses, towards theological purity and the inclusion of outsiders, respectively, came into conflict with the inclusion of ‘strangers’ who held views divergent from the French Reformed norm. Comparison of the succeeding editions of the martyrology with each other and, where possible, with the original sources allows us to see that Crespin often altered the content of his narratives, especially by removing theological elements which conflicted with official Reformed doctrine to in effect render their content ‘safer’. The changes that he made to Lutheran and Hussite passages reveal a marked concern with the nature of the Eucharist, one of the primary disputes between Protestant denominations of that period, while omissions from his passages from the German Peasants’ War and the Vaudois reveal an uncertainty about the permissibility of resistance to the State. The Livre des Martyrs, by presenting an idealised vision of the wider Protestant movement allows us some insight into the self-definition of the French Reformed Church, and the ways in which they perceived their relationship to other groups. iii Introduction Writing about the execution of Henry Voez and Jean Esch in the second edition of his Livre des Martyrs, Jean Crespin explained that they died ‘pour la doctrine Evangelique, & pour les escrits Apostoliques, comme bons & vrais Chrestiens’.1 It was dying for the Gospel and for correct doctrine that made these two men true Christians in Crespin’s eyes, and yet we know that he altered their confession of faith significantly, bringing their statements into line with those of his own French Reformed Church. His motivations for doing so stemmed from a contemporary controversy about sacramental issues, but also from Crespin’s essential understanding about the nature of his Church. In the first lines of the sixth edition of the martyrology, Crespin expounded on the worthiness of the martyrs of his own age to be compared with those of the primitive Church: ‘Les Martyrs anciens, dira-on, estoyent excellents en plusieurs sortes. Cela est vray, mais si ceux qui ont este jadis spectateurs, regardoyent aujourd’huy les tourments & afflictions de ces derniers temps, ils verroyent choses merveilleuses & nouvelles. Les nombre des anciens estoit grand: le nombre des nostres quel est-il ? Ceux-la ont apporté grand fruict & advancement à l’Evangile: la constance des nostres se fait si bien sentier aujourd’huy, qu’elle donne assez, à cognoistre que la fureur des tyrans n’avance pas de beaucoup ce qu’ils desirent: plustost fait croistre le nombre de ceux qu’ils veulent exterminer.2 1 Jean Crespin, Recueil de plusieurs personnes qui ont constamment enduré la mort pour le nom de Nostre Seigneur. [Geneva]: Jean Crespin. 1555, pp. 146-47. (For the doctrine of the Gospel, and for the Apostolic writings, as good and true Christians). 2 Jean Crespin, Actes des Martyrs, ([Geneva], 1565), sig. a iii verso. (The ancient Martyrs, we say, were excellent in many ways. That is true, but if those who were spectators long ago, saw today the torment & afflictions of these last times, they would see new & marvellous things. The number of ancients was great: the number of ours, what is it? They have brought great profit & advancement to the Gospel: the constancy of ours is so well known today, that they give enough to know that the fury of tyrants does not achieve what they desire: rather it has increased the number of those they would exterminate). 1 This idea, as Frank Lestringant noted, was a touch-stone for works like Crespin’s martyrology.3 The first edition began by explaining that: ‘Entre les marques de la vraye Eglise de Dieu, ceste-cy a esté l’une des principales, à savoir, qu’elle a de tous temps soustenu les assauts des persecutions.’4 In 1570, the prefatory section was entitled ‘Preface Monstrant une Conformité des Persecutions et martyrs de ces derniers temps à ceux de la premiere Eglise.’5 This section depicted the deaths of some of the biblical martyrs, including John the Baptist, St. Stephen, and Christ himself, before discussing the role of martyrdom throughout history, and God’s intervention in human affairs.6 This was, however, only a short passage in comparison to Rabus’ approach, which filled his entire first volume with primitive and ancient martyrs.7 If these men and women were the equals of the ancients, then they should be commemorated as were those early martyrs, their deaths and more importantly the beliefs for which they died recorded for wide distribution and for educating future generations. Inclusion in the martyrology was therefore an implicit sign of approval of the martyr and his message. The Vaudois of Provence had written that their conception of the church was one of a ‘belle confrerie, en laquelle sont enregistrez tous les vrais Chrestiens.’8 Crespin took issue with many of the facets of the Vaudois congregation, but he shared their interest in collecting together all true Christians. If persecution was an inevitable companion to truth as Crespin 3 Frank Lestringant, Lumière des Martyrs. (Paris, Honoré Champion, 2004), p. 194. 4 Jean Crespin, Receuil de plusieurs personnes qui ont constamment endure la mort pour la nome de N. S. Jesus Christ. ([Geneva], 1554). Sig. ii recto. (Among the marks of the true Church of God, this is one of the principal: to know that she at all times sustains the assaults of persecutions). 5 Jean Crespin, Histoire des vrays tesmoins de la verité de l’Evangile, ([Geneva], 1570), sig. a iiii recto. (Preface demonstrating the conformity of persecutions and martyrs of these latter times to those of the primitive Church). 6 Crespin, 1570, sig. a iiii verso to [vi] recto. 7 Ludwig Rabus, Der Heiligen ausserwöhlten Gottes Zeugen, Bekennern und Martyrern. (Strassburg, 1552). 8 Ibid. (A beautiful confraternity, in which are registered all the true Christians). 2 suggested, then to understand the reach of the martyrs would be to understand the limits of the true Church itself. It is recognised that the content of the Livre des Martyrs was sometimes subject to editorial interference by Crespin, who is known to have altered the theological statements of some of his martyrs.9 This study hopes to illustrate some patterns and key points in this sort of behaviour: if Lutheran confessions of faith, for example, were to be altered, what other points might draw Crespin’s editorial attention? What might cause the martyrologist to regard a group as worthy of inclusion in his book, but in need of doctrinal correction? What issues and questions were deemed in need of the strictest policing? As the Livre des Martyrs was primarily composed of reprinted tracts and collected letters, with relatively little text penned by Crespin himself, it is in these editorial decisions that we may most easily see his own hand.
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