From Peasant to Throne - French Reformation

....but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

And they that understand among the people shall instruct many:

yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.

Daniel 11:32,33

"In France the Reformation not only opposed infidelity and superstition, but it had to rise up against a new foe of immorality. The sin in this regard in the Church in France was vast. Such wickedness rose from the peasant to the throne itself. In the Alps of that country lived a family named Farel, who, amidst the immorality, a reformer would emerge.

In 1510 Farel arrived in Paris. Here Louis the XII had called the French clergy to meet at Tours. The

Farel

conference was to decide if Louis should wage war on the Pope and enforce the decrees made at the council of Basle. The spirit of conversation all through the universities rose upon this topic, and Farel, being in the midst of that, must have been sorely influence by these thoughts at the timing of the Reformation.

Among the doctors of the university there was one who stood out among the crowd. His name was Lefevere. He had received a “mean” education, but his masterful intellect overcame this where the education cut him short. He was a very devoted man and Farel desired to know him well because of his practical piety and great learning.

Lefevere began studying the epistles of Paul and conveyed his findings to his students. Justification by faith alone was finally proclaimed at Sorbonne. Farel, listened to this new doctrine and began to be won over to sovereign election and justification – the cornerstones of the Reformation.

At the time Luther was in a cloister performing monkery, Lefevere was proclaiming the Gospel of 

Lefevere

Jesus Christ to the world through his students. Though Lefevere was the first preacher of the formal Reformation, Luther still remained the great workman of the Reformation. Lefevere is not as well rounded as either Luther, Calvin or Farel. It was under the reign of Francis I who succeeded Louis XII that the country moved from being in the dark ages to modern times. Francis had the possibilities of being a good king.

Margaret, the cousin of the king, was a very poised, moral young woman. She wrote tenderly and had great virtues amidst the wickedness of the social climate. She would be the first in high courts to be converted in France and take hold of the Reformation. It happened through a nobleman named William of Montburn who resided at the court, and decided to enter the church after his wife died.
Margaret found sustenance in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Amidst the immorality, the Lord Jesus Christ was her Strong Tower. After a while, she conversed with Farel, Lefevere and Roussel and was overwhelmed by their characters and morality. Margaret even recorded in her own poetry the movements of her soul towards the light of the Gospel through these varied influences at the court of Francis I. Many accused her of heresy, and she was ridiculed before Francis, but Francis refused to believe it.

Louisa of Savoy, the mother of both Francis and Margaret, was an immoral woman who desired to stop the preaching of the Word. She possessed a huge influence over her son that made her dangerous. She had Anthony Duprat nominated as chancellor and he, also being a horrible man, was more opposed to the Gospel than she was. Both Louisa and Anthony held allegiance to the Pope and desired to set themselves against the heretics of Protestantism by shedding their blood.

King Francis I

Briconnet invited Farel and the others to come to Meaux to join Lefevere and the ability to preach the Gospel. Margaret was becoming saddened at the loss of her friends and went to visit with her mother’s sister, Philberta. She learned of the grace of God but was too immature to really defend the faith where Margaret needed a strong Christian friend. Philberta died at the age of twenty six even before she was able to give her consent to the Reformation. Margaret found no consolation with all of her friends leaving her and wrote to Briconnet a number of times in hopes of some encouragement. Though Briconnet wrote back and exchanged letters, she still found it difficult, almost impossible, to live on in the midst of those who hate the Gospel.

 Francis Lambert quitted France and traveled to Wittenberg to see Luther. He had been a monk beginning at age fifteen, but hated the debauchery of the monks, and so left. He read Luther’s works, was converted by the Gospel and left France to go where the Gospel was flourishing in Germany.

 Leclerc, a wool-comber who wrote vehemently against the Antichrist of Rome.
Leclerc was cast into prison by the Franciscans who hated his preaching. He had taken placards and posted them around the cathedral of the city saying that God would destroy it for the rejection of the Gospel. He was sentenced to be whipped and then burned, but because of the his mother who cried “Glory to Jesus Christ and to his witnesses”, out before the sentence was carried out, the enemies of the Gospel were thrown into confusion and Leclerc was set free. Later he was caught again and burned slowly at the stake for Gospel in Menz. He was the first martyr in France.

Persecution was flowing through France. People were being put to death for 

Margaret

adhering to the Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Grace found in the Bible. Many in the North were persecuting the Gospel where it had sprung up, but the South was about to give way to it.

Farel decided to go from house to house and from school to school teaching the Bible. Many were concerted who took up their mouth or their pens to spread the good news throughout the land. Among these was Anemond of Coct who wrote in both Latin and French.
Anemond decided to leave France, as Paul left the Jews, because of their rejection of the Gospel. He visited with Luther ...Anemond then wrote Farel and told him of the move of God in Germany and Switzerland and prompted him to come over. Farel did in 1524.

Farel desired to spread the motto of Meaux to the universities of Switzerland but the council of Basle would not allow it. They held a formal council and Oecolampadius and Farel spoke, demonstrating the truth that the Word of God is the only all-sufficient authority.

After Farel was ordained to the ministry, he left with Esch to go to Montbeliard. This was to be his new post. He began his ministry there preaching with great fervency, so much so that Erasmus wrote to the French saying one their Frenchman was making trouble in these regions.

In France, Margaret began to show more resolve, and had Michael d’Arande at her side as a friend and encourager in the Gospel. Michael was bold for the Gospel and preached everywhere, especially with the nobles. Margaret also had Anthony Papillon translate Luther’s works into French from Latin so she would be able to read them.

Toussaint, came to visit and found the town in commotion about the preaching of Farel. The Franciscans had arisen to counter the work that Farel was doing. Farel did not mind this opposition and it excited him to greater diligence. Oecolampadius wrote to Farel exhorting him not to resort to any kind of public demonstration or violence and simply to preach and allow God to work in drawing men to the truth.
But Farel was exceedingly troubled that the people were given over to image worship all through the city. He watched, one day, a procession go by where the priests held some of the saints as idols. He snatched them up and cast them over the bridge into the water and began to preach to them about their wickedness. They remained silent for a time, until one in the crowd said the image was drowning. The crowd turned into a frenzy and Farel escaped their clutches. Farel had to leave there and went to Oecolampadius and remained at Basle. However, he stayed only a time and ultimately went to Strasburg.

Calvin

Margaret thought Francis would receive the Word of God with eagerness, but the exploits of Beda and others still hindered the work in the highest of courts. Even her mother Louisa was still in the thrall of persecuting a few Frenchmen in order to win the favors of the Pope. Francis was taken prisoner at Pavia, and his mother took this as a political coo on her part to take possession of some political authority.

Briconnet seem to give up on the church and even attacked her by siding with Rome and offering his submission to her dictates. He never seemed to have the full resolve of Luther or Farel, and did not further the Reformation in France as he could have done.

In Noyon the Reformation would gain its greatest theologian. The name of the young man was John Calvin. While Calvin was growing up, being a second-generation reformer, the flames of persecution were still burning through Paris. Even Margaret fled to Spain to avoid the disruptions seen by the absence of her brother." APM