MARTYRS
MIRROR
[The exordium to the entrance of this century is taken from the places where most of the martyrs suffered at this time, as also from the circumstances of their suffering and death.
The manner of inquisition over the believers in these times, shown in divers articles, for the year 1301, according to the account of jean Paul Perrin Lyonnois.
Dulcinus and his wife Margaret, who, as L. Kreutzheim says, founded a sect alike in every respect to the Anabaptists, are torn limb from limb; and with them one hundred and forty others, burnt for the same faith, at Novaria, in Lombardy, A. D. 1308.
Very many persons at Crema (probably Krems), in Austria, burnt for the religion of the orthodox Waldenses; also at Steyer, in the same Austrian territories, and at Zuidenitz, in Poland, all of whom are put to death by being burned, A. D. 1315.
Two years after, namely, A. D. 1317, four persons, called Brethren of the Poor Life, or Waldenses, miserably perish, on red-hot coals, at Marseilles, in France.
A persecution of the believing Waldenses, instituted by Pope John XXII, set forth for the year 1319, from the accounts of the ancients. This persecution extended A. D. 1330, into Bohemia and Poland; one Eckhard burned for the before-mentioned faith.
NOTE.-For the years 1336, 1340, 1350 and 1360, of the frankness of John de Pistoia, Conrad Hager, John de Landuno, John de Rupe Scissa, who did not hesitate to point out to the pope his errors. Also what happened to them on this account.
Another persecution of the Waldensian brethren in France, originated A. D. 1365, by Pope Urban VI, adduced from his own bull.
Eight years after, namely, A. D. 1373, still another persecution is shown, which arose in Flanders, Artois and Hainault, in which Peronne, of Aubeton, a pious woman of the Waldensian religion, offered up her life to God, by fire.
Thirty-six persons called Waldenses are burnt for the faith, at Bingen, A. D. 1390.
A severe persecution of ancient Waldenses arises again on the Baltic Sea, four hundred and fortythree of whom are severely tortured, and put to death, in the Mark and in Pomerania, A. D. 1391.
The sufferings of the Christian believers, caused by those of the Roman church, in which one William Santrus, who censured the pope, loses his life, circumstantially shown, for the last year of this century, A. D. 1400,
In a note, the testimony of Franciscus Petrarcha against the pope is brought to recollection; on account of which opposition he had to suffer expulsion and persecution from the Roman dominions. Conclusion of the tragedy of the fourteenth century. ]
With few steps we shall make a long journey, and our course will be not less wonderful than sad. The places through which we will first travel are the mountains of Lombardy, near Novaria. In the midst of our journey, we will come to the cities Crema and Steyer, in Austria, Zuidenitz, in Poland, and Marseilles, in France. Thence we propose to proceed into Bohemia; and at last to finish our journey in the countries on the Baltic Sea.
What will we meet on our way, dear friends? Certainly nothing that is pleasing to the flesh; for fire and flames shall threaten us on our right hand, and deep waters on our left. Between them there is nothing but bloody scaffolds, gallows, wheels, stakes and countless horrible instruments of death and torture, which cause men to die slowly, as by a thousand deaths. The company is composed altogether of bodies burned, drowned, beheaded or otherwise murdered; so that our footsteps must tread through the midst of skulls and dead men's bones; to say nothing of the crimson blood, which seems to flow in rivulets, yea, sometimes in large streams, along the ways which we must travel.
Nevertheless, our heart is full of joy, and we are delighted with this journey, and draw life in the valleys of death; for here is the portal of heaven, the door of the blissful palace, which is indeed strait, yea, on the posts of which flesh and blood remain; but through which is the entrance into the spaciousness of the heavenly halls, and into the infinite and ever-blooming garden of the blessed paradise. Here are heard, with the ears of faith, as near by the glad voices of the holy angels,* to which no singing of nightingales in earthly groves can be compared; nay, the most lovely instruments of music, when compared with these sound harshly and unpleasantly to the ear. There are also beheld, as with unclouded eyes, the majesty of God, Jesus, the Saviour of the world, and the heavenly societies. We dare not further speak of it,** for human ear hath not heard nor eye seen; neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. I Cor. 2:9.
All this is there perceived in the soul, though the bodies suffer great distress; but this is soon over. Have we no reason, then, to long for this journey? Certainly. Hence, let us go on. The Lord guide us and show us the right way, that we may not only begin well, but also finish well.
O ye slain and martyred multitudes, who have testified with your blood to the name of your and
NOTE.-Before we approach the sad mountains and fields of the miserable, but nevertheless well comforted martyrs, it will be necessary to give an account respecting the mode of the inquisition which, having commenced in the preceding century already, had continued even to this time, and was the cause of all the harm and distress which now came upon the believers, and through which they had to suffer, first in their consciences, and then in their bodies, yea, were subjected to the most bitter and cruel death.
In the preceding century, for the years 1214 and 1215, we showed the beginnings of the inquisition; we now come to its progress and extension.
As regards the deceitful course," says the translator,"which the afore-mentioned inquisitors were wont to take in the execution of their office, we would have no knowledge, save what some believers who escaped the Spanish Inquisition, could have told us concerning it. But it was not the will of God that these, their wiles, should remain hid, and that we should obtain no copies thereof, written by themselves. Behold, then, the cunning artifices of the inquisitors, which served them for rules and instructions, in conducting the processes against the Waldenses.
1. It is not permitted or advisable to dispute concerning the faith in the presence of the laity.
2. No one is to be regarded as converted, if he will not accuse all those whom he knows to be such as he is.
3. He who does not accuse those who are such as he is, must be severed from the church as a diseased member; that the sound members may not become corrupted by it.
4. After any one is delivered to the secular judge, great care must be exercised, that he be not allowed to prove his innocence, or show his harmlessness before the people; for if he is put to death, the people will take offense; and if he is discharged, the (Catholic) faith will be endangered.
5. Care must be taken not to promise his life; before the people, to him who is condemned to
death (namely, if he indicates his willingness to become converted); seeing that no heretic would allow himself to be burned, if he could escape by such a promise; and if he should promise conversion before the people, and his life would not be granted him thereupon, the people would take offense at it, and think that he were put to death unjustly.
6. Observe: The inquisitor must always take the deed for granted, without any consideration, and ask the questions only in regard to the circumstances of the matter, not saying: Have you made confession to the heretics? but, How often have _you made your confession to the heretics? Again, do not ask: Have they slept in your house? but, In what room of your house did they sleep? and the like.
7. The inquisitor may look into a book, as though he had noted down in it, the life and conduct of the accused, together with everything in regard to which he is interrogating him.
8. The accused must be threatened with death, if he will not confess, and be told that his doom is sealed; that he must regard his soul, and, first of all, forsake his heresy;"For," it shall be said,"you must die; accept with patience whatever shall befall you." If he then answer, "Since I must die, I would rather die in this my faith, than in the faith of the Roman church," rest assured, that previously he only pretended to be desirous of becoming converted; and therefore he must then be brought to justice.
9. The thought is not to be entertained of overcoming the heretics by skill of learning, or knowledge of the Scriptures, since the learned men are much sooner confounded by them; the result of which is, that the heretics are then still more confirmed and encouraged, seeing they thus outwit even those who are educated.
10. It is to be well observed, that the heretics never speak right out, and that, when compelled by much questioning, they generally allege that they are simple and unlearned men, and, hence, know not how to answer; and that, seeing that the bystanders are moved to compassion for them, as though they were wronged, regarding them as simple and harmless people, they take courage from this and pretend to weep, as poor, miserable men, and, imploring their judges, make strenuous efforts to free themselves from the inquisition, saying;"My Lords, if I have erred in any matter, I will gladly accept the penance for it; but assist me to free myself from this reproach, in which I have fallen throu0 hatred and envy, without having transgressed. '
But the courageous inquisitor must then in no wise be moved by such entreaties, nor give credit to such dissimulations.
11. Moreover, the inquisitor shall announce to them beforehand, that they will gain nothing by swearing falsely (from necessity); since they (the lords) have matter enough to convict them by wit nesses; and that therefore they need not think that by means of swearing they will escape sentence of death; but it must be promised them, that as far as they voluntarily confess their error, they shall obtain mercy; for in such perplexity many are found, who confess their errors, in order to escape., "Behold," says the writer of this inquisition,"these are the cunning artifices formerly employed by the inquisitors throughout Europe against the Waldenses," etc. In the second book of the first part of the History of the Waldenses, by J. P. P. L., pages 62, 63, 64.
NOTE: About this time (A. D. 1303) Peter Johannis taught that the pope was the antichrist, and the Roman synagogue the great Babylon. About his martyrdom, however, we have not been able to learn anything. See P. J: Twisck, Chron., Q. 643, col. 2, from Georg. Pac., cap. 11.
About the year 1305, the light of the evangelical doctrine began to arise with power also on the mountains of Lombardy, called the-Alps, through a pious man, called Dulcinus of Novaria, and his wife, who, having accepted the orthodox faith of the Waldensian brethren, excelled most gloriously in doctrine and life, so that Dulcinus by his doctrine, and his wife by her good example, and both by their living and effective faith, opened the eyes of several others, and caused them to separate from popery, and follow Jesus Christ, in true penitence and uprightness of life, which they did in full earnestness for the love of Jesus Christ and the salvation of their souls.
But even as it was in the time of John the Baptist, that many unregenerated Pharisees and Sadducees came to his baptism, so it seems also to have been here; for it appears that some who seemed to adhere to his doctrine, lived at the same time in anger, revenge, and after the flesh; which, as may be presumed, grieved this good man and his wife, as also the church which he had founded, and which desired piously to adhere to the doctrine of Christ, very greatly.
In the meantime, about the year 1307, Pope Clement V, receiving information thereof, condemned said pious man Dulcinus and his wife Margaret as arch-heretics, and commanded them, as well as their adherents, to be exterminated. To accomplish this, many Romanists, who had marked themselves with the sign of the cross, lent their services; who charged the misdeeds of the hypocrites also upon the pious, and thus endeavored to extirpate them both together; the pious, however,
with far more severe and intolerable torments, than the hypocrites.
Thus it happened that this pious man Dulcinus and his wife, refusing to depart from the faith,
were torn limb from limb by them, burnt to ashes, and the ashes scattered to the winds. The principal members of the church, one hundred and forty in number, loving Jesus Christ, whom they had confessed, more than this temporal life, were all, as they steadfastly adhered to the accepted truth burnt alive, and thus, having commended their souls to God, offered up a living sacrifice acceptable unto God, about the year 1308.
NOTE.-These were the people of whom Leonhard Krentzheim has written in his Chronicle, as already noted, saying, "Dulcinus and Margaret founded a new sect or heresy (thus speak the papists) alike in every respect to the Anabaptists, which continued until, etc."
Touching their martyrdom, A. Mellinus writes, from some ancient books of history, that they were first torn limb from limb, and then, as we stated above, burnt to ashes. This martyrdom, the papistic historians themselves confess, not only the men, but also the women, endured very steadfastly unto death, in the city of Novaria, in Lombardy. In the second book of the Persecutions, fol. 477, col. 4, fol. 478, col. 1, from Prat. de Haeres. Tit. Dulcin. ex Bernhardo Lutzenburgh.
"This year," he writes,"many pious people were cruelly destroyed for their religion, by order of Pope Clement V. Over four hundred persons were killed by hunger, cold, and the sword (of these, however, we do not speak here), and one hundred and forty were burned (these are the ones of whom we speak), the principal teacher of whom, together with his wife, very steadfastly endured death." Chron., page 649. A. from Henr. Boxh., fol. 26.
NOTE.-The reader should observe here, that said hundred and forty martyrs, who at Novaria were put to death by fire, are called special followers of the doctrine of Dulcinus, are to be clearly distinguished from a certain other number of about four hundred persons who, having been surrounded on the mountain, by the pope's crusade, lost their lives by hunger, cold, and the sword; for not the latter, but the former, are the ones whom we would notice here.
Concerning their faith, A. Mellinus says, "From this it can be clearly inferred, that Dulcinus and his wife, and many other martyrs with them, died for the true confession of the doctrine of the Waldenses; because they opposed the Pope of Rome, and the Roman church, maintaining him to be the antichrist, and her the Babylonian whore prophesied of in John's Revelation." Second book, fol. 478, A.
A. D. 1315, very many orthodox Christians were sought, found, and burnt as heretics, by the Dominicans, or inquisitors, in the city of Crema, (probably Krems), under the bishopric of Passau, in the archduchy of Austria. In the second book of the Persecutions, fol. 479, col. 1, ex Trithem. Chron. Hirsaug., A. D. 1315, p. 211, edit. Freheri.
The papist Trithemius says, "There were further, in Austria, in different places, very many burnt alive at this time (namely, A. D. 1315), all of whom unanimously, yet obstinately (we say steadfastly), continued with great joy, unto death. Trith. in Chron. Hirsaug., and Chron. S¢onh., same dear.
In Austria, near Passau, a great number of the Waldenses or believers were apprehended for their religion, and publicly burned alive in the city of Crema, adhering steadfastly to their faith, and evincing in the midst of the flames, that the death and pain which they suffered for the honor of God, and the truth, were sweet to them. Chron., p. 657, col. 1, from Henr. Boxh., fol. 27. Phil. Marnix Tafer., fol 141.
NOTE.-Immediately after the account of the martyrs, noticed for the year 1315, the same author speaks of their teacher, their great number, and comfortful martyrdom; for, after saying, that to many of them death and pain were sweet, he adds these words, "Which, among others, appeared also in the case of their teacher, called Lolhard, who confessed in his trial, that in the countries of Austria and Bohemia alone he could find eighty thousand persons who were one with him in religion." Chron., page 657, col. 2, taken from the writers cited.
NoTE.-These are the same people whose confession relative to baptism, the swearing of oaths, and other articles, we have shown to accord well with that of the Anabaptists. Concerning this, see our account of the orthodox faith for the fourteenth century, year 1315, and the testimonies adduced there.
Matthias Flaccius Illysicus (Catal. Test. herit., lib. 19, Tit. Stier.) declares to have heard from the lips of Michael Stifelius, that in a certain monastery, in the city of Steyer, situated between Austria
and Bavaria, three large books containing the confessions and examinations of very many persons who had departed in belief from the Roman church, were found.
I presume, says Illyricus, they were Waldenses, a great number of whom were formerly scattered not only in Austria and all Germany, but also throughout all the countries of Europe., "And truly," says a certain author,"Illyricus is not mistaken in his conjecture." In the meantime he calls them martyrs, but does not state in what their martyrdom consisted, or with. what death they confirmed the power of their faith. See the large Book of Christian Martyrs, fol. 479, cot. 3, 4.
Albert Krantz also writes, in his History of the Vandals, of very many such (so-called) heretics, namely, Waldenses, in Poland, in the city of Zuidenitz, concerning whom, he says, according to the manner of the papists, that they disturbed the church there, in consequence of which, having been convicted of heresy against the Roman church, great numbers of them ended their lives in the flames. Hist. Vand., lib. 8, near the end. Also, A. Mell., 2d book, fol. 479.
Their confession, which agrees with that of the Anabaptists has already been explained, which explanation it is not necessary to repeat; hence it is not to be doubted, but is an established fact, that these people were all pious witnesses of Jesus Christ, who for His name's sake did not spare their lives even unto death.
Now when the light of the Gospel began to break forth greatly from the doctrine of the Waldenses, which militated against the papal inventions, this also manifested itself in a monastery, among the Franciscan monks; so that particularly four of the order of the Minorites, their eyes being opened, separated from monachism, and at the same time from the superstitions of popery, desiring thenceforth to follow and serve Jesus Christ, their Savious, not in a simulated, but in true poverty, with, in, or among the cross-bearing church of God, called the Poor Men of Lyons, Brethren of the Poor Life, or Waldenses; who also opposed infant baptism, the swearing of oaths, revenge against enemies, and other articles of the Roman church.
Against this, Pope John XXII issued a papal decree, directed against the Fratricelli (Little Brethren) or the Brethren of the Poor Life, prohibiting them from holding secret or public assemblies, from electing pastors or teachers over them, and from practicing their worship; becouse they despised the sacraments of the (Roman) church, and had departed from the Roman Cath olic faith; hence they were excommunicated by him together with all those who in any measure defended or followed them, and therefore delivered to the inquisitors, to be examined concerning their faith. See Bzov., A. D. 1317, art. 18.
In the meantime, it appears, the above four persons, refusing to depart from the truth which they had confessed and accepted, were condemned to death as heretics, and, having commended their souls to God, were burnt alive.
In regard to this, the papistic writer Vignier says, "In the same year (A. D. 1317) four Minorite friars were burnt alive on St. Michael's eve, at Marseilles, in France, because they maintained against the pope the heresy of poverty." Also, A. Mell., 2d book, fol. 480.
NOTE.-AS regards their faith, said Pope John XXII, who had first excommunicated them, made, the following year, A. D. 1318, in a certain decree, among other things, this statement, "Their third error coincides with the error of the Waldenses; because they maintained that men ought not to swear on any account, teaching that it is a sin unto death." Bzov. Annal., Tom. 14, A. D. 1318, art. 1.
At the close of the fourth article are these words"So that it appears from this, that these Franciscan monks had apostatized from popery to the doctrine of the Waldenses." A. Mell., 2d book, fol. 480.
A. D. 1319, Pope John XX:II again began to persecute the Waldenses in France, through his inquisitors, the Jacobine, or Dominican, monks;-who, having convicted many of them, as papistic writers say, of their belief (namely, that they were Waldenses), delivered them to the princes and secular authorities for punishment. Bzov. Annal. A. D. 1319, Art. 10, from a manuscript in the Vatican library. Also, in the second book of the Hist. of the Persecutions, fol. 480, cot. 3.
Touching the names of these people, as also the manner of their martyrdom, suffering and death, I have not been able to ascertain anything, except that, professing the belief of the Waldenses (as we have already stated), they were therefore subjected to persecution and suffering.
NOTE.-A. D. 1328. At this time Marsilius de Padua enjoyed distinction; he wrote against the pope, and also various things against the Roman church, but his work was condemned as heresy, and the reading of it strictly prohibited. Merul., fol. 870, Georg. Pac. cap. 11, compared with P. J. Twisck, Chron., page 685, cot. 1.
A. D. 1330, the afore-mentioned persecution against the Waldensian brethren rose to its highest
point in Bohemia and Poland; concerning which the following account is found in ancient histories, "In that year, A. D. 1330, very many of those who adhered to the doctrine of the Waldenses, were persecuted unto death and executed, by the inquisitors, in the kingdoms of Bohemia and Poland." In the large Book of Christian Martyrs, 2d part, fol. 483.
Richard, also called Eckhard, formerly a Dominican monk, was condemned as a heretic, because he fearlessly preached the Gospel, and reproved the abuses of the papists. And in the kingdom of Bohemia and Poland many were put to death for their religion or faith. Chron., page 685, col. 2, extracted from Hist. Adri., fol. 64, Herm. Mod. fol. 271, Henr. Boxh. fol. 27.
NOTE.-John Aston, a well learned man of Oxford, for teaching that the bread of the holy Supper remained unchanged, was apprehended as a heretic, A. D. 1330, by the archbishop of Canterbury, and died in prison. See the authors referred to above in connection with Eckhard.
Others add here, says Nicholas Vignier, that in said year (A. D. 1330) a certain jacobine monk, Eckhard by name, whom others, though erroneously, call Richard, was publicly burnt, because he steadfastly maintained said opinions of the Waldenses. Nich. hign., Hist. Eccl., A. D. 1330. Also in the second book of the Hist. of the Persecutions, fol. 483.
"I am of the opinion," writes A. Mellinus,"that this Eckhard is the same German (apostatized) Dominican, of whom Trithemius makes mention in his Register of Ecclesiastical Writers, stating that he was a very learned man, and wonderfully experienced in the Word of God." A. Mell., from Trithem. De Script. Eccles., fol. 483.
NOTE.-A. D. 1336, on the 23d of June, John de Pistoia was publicly burnt at Venice, because he maintained the supposed heresy of the evangelical poverty. Chron. van den Ondergang, page 689, col. 2, compared with Merula, fol. 873.
Also A. D. 1340, Conrad Hager, having about this time, taught for twenty-four years, that the mass was by no means a sacrifice either for the living or the dead, and, that the taking of money by the priests, for dying men, was nothing but theft and sacrilege-in consequence of which many departed from obedience to the Roman church-was apprehended and secretly murdered. See in the last mentioned chronicle, page 691, col. 2, from John Munst., fol. 169, Hist. Andr., fol. 64, Pac. cap. 11.
Also A. D. 1350, John de Landuno, of Ghent, a highly learned man, vigorously attacked and cen sured the high power, supremacy, and false doctrine of the pope; but what happened to him on this account, our author has omitted to say. Page 703, col. 1, compared with Joh. Munst., fol. 168.
Also A. D. 1360, John de Rupe Scissa publicly spoke against the pope, saying, "Who is there among you, most holy father, and most gracious cardinals (for these were the titles by which they were called) that dare say that Peter or Sylvester (namely, the upright) ever rode with a train of two or three hundred horses, as is now common for you . . . to do? but they were reserved and quiet, and like other pastors and preachers, made no parade or display, and were also well content with simple food and clothing." He also said that the popes employed the goods given, or received by them, in pride, wantonness, and tyranny. Who would think that the pope received this candid censure in good part? Compare Joh. Munst. Tract., fol. 53, with the account in the Chron. van den Ondergang, page 711, col. 2.
In the meantime, we learn that said John de Rupe Scissa, three years afterwards, was burnt at Avignon, because he defended the truth. See the last-mentioned chronicle, for the year 1363, ex Georg. Pae., cap. 11.
A. D. 1365, it is recorded that Pope Urban VI charged all the prelates in France, and the inquisitors of the faith there, by an express bull, that they should not suffer the heretics (the Waldenses, who were then called Beghards and Beguines) to live with impunity, but should exterminate these erring spirits (thus he calls these pious people) together with their errors, with the sickle of ecclesiastical discipline. See the papistic writer Bzovius, for the year 1365, art. 8; also, the Calvinist Mellinus, 2d book, fol. 488, col. 1.
As to how the Waldenses in those times were called Beghards, and were persecuted, see A. M., same book, fol. 479, below in the fourth column.
The confession of faith of these people we have shown in its proper place, and repetition is not necessary.
In the midst of these persecutions, which, in the years 1372 and 1373 were carried on against the Waldenses, who were called Turilupins, because in Flanders, Artois, and Hainault they had to live in forests inhabited by wolves (as we have already stated), it occurred, that among a great number of these people, who were burnt as heretics, with their writings, books, and clothes, also a certain woman, called Peronne of Aubeton, who had accepted that doctrine and faith, and refused to depart from it,
was condemned as a heretic to be publicly burned; which, as is stated, took place with her, at Paris, A. D. 1373; and thus, continuing steadfast, she testified that the"Trial of her faith was more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire." (I Pet. 1:7)..
NOTE.-Respecting the offering of this woman, as also, the accusations, cast by the papists against the Waldenses, called Turilupins, and how A. Mellinus, preacher of the Calvinists, replies in their stead, saying that these poor people were lamentably slandered, and that they were upright Waldenses; also, that the papists imputed to them whatever they would. See large Book of Christian Martyrs, 2d part, fol. 497.
The holy apostle Paul very aptly wrote (II Tim. 3:12), "And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution;" for this appeared, A. D. 1390, in the case of certain pious Christians, who, being citizens of the city of Mentz, in Germany, had not less their citizenship in the new and heavenly Jerusalem; having accepted the faith and doctrine of the Son of God, whereupon they, as obedient followers of Christ (as may be inferred) had been baptized according to the confession of the Waldensian brethren, in order thus to work out, in the footsteps of faith, their salvation with fear and trembling, according to the rule, Phil. 2:12.
But since the rulers of darkness could not bear this light of truth, it came to pass, in the city of Bingen, that thirty-six (not of the least) of said children of light, were apprehended, and, refusing to depart from the truth once confessed, were condemned to death, namely to be executed with fire; that is, to be burnt alive; which was also done with them, and thus they, through fire, offered up a living, holy sacrifice acceptable unto God.
Concerning the offering of these people, mention is made in the 2d book of the Hist. of the Persecutions, fol. 505, cot. 3, ex Matth. Flacc. Illyr. Catal. Test. Tier. Said Illyricus also confesses that at that time (A. D. 1390) thirty-six citizens of Mentz were burnt alive at Bingen, for the faith of the Waldenses.
NOTE.-Someone may ask himself, whether these martyred persons, who were called citizens of Mentz, and were put to death at Bingen, were not the same martyrs spoken of in a certain place in the preceding century; since it is also stated of them, that they were inhabitants of Mentz, and lost their lives at Bingen; however, this cannot well be reconciled, since there is a great discrepancy, in regard to the time, as well as the number of the persons. For as regards the time, the former lived one hundred and eighty-seven years earlier than the latter, as they were dead already in the year 1212 (according to the account of Bruschius, in his History of the German Monasteries; also A. Melt., fol. 457, cot. 3); but these last-mentioned ones were put to death A. D. 1390, as has been shown. Regarding the number of persons, that of the former is given as thirty-nine, but that of the latter as thirty-six-a discrepancy of three. As to their citizenship or residence at Mentz, which is stated of both, as well as that they were both put to death at Bingen, are facts that need not cause any one to think, that because there is an agreement in these respects, that the same people have been noticed twice by the writers; for it may be, that at that time those of Mentz had no court of their own, or power to pronounce sentence of death, and that, hence, they had to deliver those of their prisoners who were confined for capital crimes, to those of Bingen, or at least had to bring them to trial there, as is customary, even at the present day, in many other cities.
About the year 1390 there began, in the countries on the Baltic Sea, the very severe persecution of the Waldenses, of which we made mention of our account of the true faith in the fourteenth century; which, continuing until into the year 1391, was the cause that, among very many others, four hundred and forty-three of these people, whose names. are mentioned, in Pomerania, the Mark, and the adjacent places, were brought to torture or the rack; who, refusing to apostatize, freely confessed their faith, and how many long years they had believed and confessed the truth of their faith, which was called a heresy. They are stated to have been sober and frugal people, discreet in their speech, careful to avoid lying, swearing, etc. Second book of the History of the Persecutions, fol. 505, cot. 3, 4, ex Catal. Test. Verit., lib. 18. Matt. Flacc. 1llyr., lib. 15. Tit. de Wdldensibus. hignier recutil de histoire de t' Eglise, A. D. 1391.
NOTE.-It seems that these people were not only persecuted and tortured for the faith, but also put to death; according to the account of P. J. Twisck, who says, "Of the believers or Waldenses more than four hundred and forty were apprehended and put to death for their religion, in the countries of Saxony and Pomerania, whose confession showed that they had received that doctrine from their parents, and that their teachers came to Bohemia; and the proceedings in their trial shows among other things that they were sober, and discreet in their speech, carefully avoiding lying, swearing, and all dishonorable practices."* P. J. Twisck, Chron., page 743, B., from Henr. Boxh., fol. 27.
That the intelligent and God-fearing J. Tauler called the prelates of the Roman church blind and leaders of the blind, and taught his fellow-believers much concerning the persecution and suffering of the true Christians, we set forth in our account of Holy Baptism, for the year 1400.
In the meantime some of the sheep of the flock of Christ were devoured by the Roman wolf; their names,- however, are not known to us, except one, and even respecting him we have not been able to obtain sufficient information with regard to his whole faith, save this much, that in his belief he was opposed to antichrist, that is, the Pope of Rome; on which account the cruel death by fire was inflicted upon him, because he would not apostatize.
Concerning this, the following words, among others, are found in the Chronijck van den Ondergang, "William Santraus also opposed the (Roman) antichrist at this time; he fell into the power and custody of the archbishop of Canterbury, where he, after a whole year's confinement, ultimately, though with great steadfastness, ended his life in the flames." Chron., page 750, col. 1.
NOTE.-A. D. 1400, Franciscus Petrarcha wrote mightily against the Pope, saying, 1. That the pope was antichrist; 2. That his court was Babylon and the whore that sitteth upon many waters (of which we read in John's Revelation), yea, the mother of all idolatry and whoredom; 3. That Rome was a school of errors, a temple of heresy, and a nest of treachery. But speaking thus the truth, the writers say, he could find no shelter, but was persecuted and driven away by the pope. P. J. Twisck, Chron., page 750, col. 1, compared with the twentieth letter of F. Petrarcha, and the poem composed on it; also, Phil. Marn. Tract, fol. 213.