FRANCIS LAMBERT OF AVIGNON: (1487-1530) A Study in Reformation Origins ROY LUTZ rt INTERS Thesis, submitted to the University of Edinburgh, Faculty of Divinity, for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 1936 II PREFACE The purpose of tnis dissertation is to present for the first time to English readers an account of the life of Fran­ cis Lambert of Avignon as well as to show the place which he filled in the drama of the Reformation. Various short sketches of his career are found in French, German and Latin writings and many references to him have been made by English historians. A German, Johann Wilhelm Baum, produced in 1840 a biography entitled "Franz Lambert von Avignon", which is rated as the best work on this subject. But as far as the writer is aware no competent study has appeared in English. To obtain first hand information of the activities in wnich the subject of this thesis engaged, the author visited a number of the places in which Lambert lived and laboured. Included among these are Basel, Eisenach, Frankenberg, Homberg, karburg, Metz, Strasbourg, Wittenberg and Zurich. An endeavour is made in the following pages to depict the man in his various aspects - as friar, as wanderer for the sake of the Gospel and as reformer and theological professor; and at the same time to outline uis scheme of church government and the religious doctrines tnat animated, him. It has been our aim, further.nore, to sicetcn briefly the bacK^round of his life-story, to set, as it were, the stage for his achievements. Ill CONTENTS Page Preface II I. Introduction 1 II. Lambert in Avignon 1. The ILarly Years of Francis Lauitert 5 £. his iaoruistic Career 9 III. Lambert, aanoerint; for the Sake of the Gospel 1. In Switzerland a. His Flight to Lausanne 19 b. Preaching in Bern 2* c. The Conversion of Lambert in Zurich 28 d. His Last lays in Switzerland. 53 2. In Germany a. Lambert in Eisenach 39 b. La.mbert and Luther in Wittenberg 48 c. His Experiences in Metz 65 d. The Strasbourg Sojourn 71 IV. Lambert, the Reformer and Theological Professor 1. The Synod at Homberg a. The Background 83 b. The Syaodical assembly 95 2. Trie Reformatio Seciesiarum Hassiae, 1526 107 3. Lambert at the University of Marburg 139 4. His Theological Convictions 156 V. Estimate of Lambert's Character and Aork 172 Appendix - List of Lambert's Writings 178 Bibliography 1. Primary Printed Sources 1G4 2. General Sources 192 1. INTRODUCTION Of the various periods into which the subject of church history may be divided, there is probably none that has fur­ nished such a fruitful field of study as the Reformation in the sixteenth century. It has doubtless been more thoroughly explored than any other age. Historical research into this phase of ecclesiastical activities has been so profitable and so extensive because of the far-reaching significance of this movement. Its beginnings must be dated many years before Martin Luther nailed the Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg in 1517; clamour for church reform nad been heard generations before. The Reformation was like­ wise exceedingly wide in its sweep; scarcely a land in Western Christendom was left untouched by its transforming influence. The implications of this historical phenomenon were extremely complex, because the Reformation penetrated the political, social and industrial developments of its own and succeeding centuries. Armies pitched battle i'or the sake of the redis­ covered Gospel; princes set up territorial churches based upon their own particular religious beliefs; the common man demanded a larger place in society; and in some quarters it is main­ tained that the freedom vvhich the individual obtained through the Reformation lies at the base of the modern capitalistic system. One of the great achievements of this movement was the contention that an individual could approach God directly through Jesus Christ. This claim proved also to be one of its shortcomings; for, if man was permitted to stand before God without any other intermediary than Jesus Christ, it was but natural that a variety of responses would be made to the Chris­ tian revelation. Into the developments which ensued were moulded nationalistic temperaments, linguistic tendencies and political reactions. The degree of loyalty or disloyalty to the medieval ecclesiastical system, and tne extent to which the Renaissance had pervaded the various countries were likewise de­ cisive factors in this -orocess. Consequently, there evolved the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, tne German, the Swiss and other national churches. Already in the early stages of the reforming process it was evident that doctrinal preferences within the national boundaries demanded recognition. Rugged and robust religious leaders emphasising their own particular tenets of faith and practice became the centres about which like-minded adherents gathered. In this manner Luther and Calvin, Zwingli and Knox won their followings; and as the vari­ ous groups developed-often, indeed, in animosity to one another - tney took on the name of their champion or the type of church polity represented. It is rather difficult to locate in the annals of this religious upheaval a person who did not belong to a territorial church or who did not give his allegiance to a denominational group or party. One can be found, however, in Francis Lambert. He was supra-confessional and international in his evangelical outlook. Born into a family in which the conventional piety was cherished, he entered the Minorite cloister at Avignon and devoted twenty years of his life to a monastic career. During the last stages of tnis long period he read the writings of Lutner, who made a deep impression upon his-dissatisfied soul. After his escape from the monastery he wandered to Zurich where he participated in a religious debate on the doctrine of the in- , tercession of saints. Convinced of the error of this tenet, Lambert rejected it in favour of the teaching that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. Having been 7«on to the evangelical cause, tne Frenchman journeyed to the headquar­ ters of the German Reformation where he was privileged to asso­ ciate with Luther aric Melanchthon. Through the Wittenberg group ne was brought into contact with the more conservative aspect of the new impulse. In the liberal-minded city of Strasbourg where he later sojourned he abandoned the Lutheran conception of the Lord's Supper for the symbolical view of the eucharistic ele­ ments as it was taught by Zwingli. Through his refusal to sub­ scribe to the theological opinions of a man with whom he no longer agreed - even though that man was Martin Luther - Lambert testified that he would not be bound to any particular evangel­ ical party. "In ihm war so wonl der Samen den Luther, als der- jenige, welchen Zwingli gesat hatte, auf einem reichen, frucht- baren Boden in einander verwachsen, zur Frucht geworden," wrote /lilneLu Ebert in his "Geschichte der evangelische Kirche in Kurnessen". (p.28). In like manner it can be said that he was beyond the nationalistic approach to the religious question. He was born in France, he accepted the Reformation in Switzerland, and he matured his evangelical tninking in Germany. Vt'hen he sought in vain to become a reformer in his native country, he turned to Hesse where he attempted to improve the church of that land by reconstructing it upon Scriptural principles. Frustrated in this endeavour because his scheme of church government did not commend itself to Luther, Lambert was appointed by Landgrave Philip to become a member of the newly founded theological faculty at the first regularly established evangelical school for higher learning, the University of Marburg, Germany. (Yith such a training and such a religious history we are. not surprised to find that Lambert is difficult to place in any of the accepted denominational categories, for he has affinities with a number of these. LI. LAiffiSRT IN AVIGEON. 1. The Early Years of Francis Lambert. For seventeen centuries the city of Avignon, now in tne Repuolic of France, nas been an important centre of Roman Catholicism. As early as the third century Avignon became a diocesan seat and in 1475 its jurisdiction was enlarged to an archbishopric. Before this date, however, its ecclesiastical glory had already begun to dawn, for in 1309 Pope Clement V established his official residence in this city, and thus commenced that period whicu in church history is usually named Tne Babylonian Captivity (l). Completely dominated by King Fnilip IV of France, the first Avignon pope was induced, in part at least, to select Avignon as his papal seat in order to be domiciled rather closely to his regal patron. Its advan­ tageous position, however, could not have been entirely disre­ garded by Clement V in deciding to remove the poatificial chair to this prominent city in the domain of the Count of Provence. Situated on an elevation on the east bank of the Rhone River (2), and at a point where the crossing is difficult, Avignon did offer to a terrified pope a certain sense of security. In addi­ tion, it is located at a strategic point for traffic; the Durance River empties its waters into the Rhone a few miles south of Avignon. (1) e Gallia, maxime ab inclyta Avenione, urbe Romano Pontifici subjecta. Dedication, Lambert's "In Divi Lucae Evangelium Commentarij." Scnellhornius, J.i>., "Amoenitates Literariae", Tome IV, p. 333 (2) Lambert writes in his "In Primum Duodecini Prophetarum nempe Oseam Com^entarij", M e nostra Avenione quae ultra Allobroges in ripa fluminis Rhodani sita est".